Taking the kids out of School...

[jdxechick]

Hello to all....

i just wanted to see how everyone felt about taking kids out of school to go to wdw. my kids are 11 and 8..they have great attendence (only miss when they are ill) and great grades...we are wanting to go the week after thanksgiving into first week of december..i just can't see going when school is out and spending so much money, fighting the crowds, and standing in lin up to 3 hours to ride one ride. uh-huh.

what do you all think? we aren't opposed to doing extra credit or taking work with us!

 

[hidmickey:myantidrug]

I think it's fine, especially at their ages. It's junior year or so when you may not want to...or if you're my family, don't want to but do anyway because Disney is just worth it. I would have your kids ask their teachers for work to do and if they are confused with the work to schedule a before or after school meeting with his/her teacher for further explination.

 

[ZuZugal]

We have taken DS13 and DD11 out in Oct/Nov every year since they were in grade school. they never miss school otherwise and have great grades. All schools/teachers are different in how they handle the absence, but as long as you are up front about letting the teachers know (well in advance) and make sure all of the missed work will be done in a timely manner it shouldn't be a problem at all.

If you have the time to do a search, this issue comes up quite often, and lots of people have given their opinions/suggestions over the years.

Some schools are more strict with taking the kids out for vacation, and may not give the kids an excused absence. Some teachers are much more willing to work with you on missed homework than others. Good communication with your children's teachers is the key.

 

[bethann1970]

I'm taking my kids out for 3 days first week of December..and I am a teacher's assistant! Some people say I am horrible to take my kids out of school and they will never be able to make up the work or understand what they missed...and I just laugh. I'm sorry, but unless they are in high school and taking an AP course, a few days is not going to kill them. For some reason they are able to make it up if they're sick, so why would it make a difference if it's a vacation?

 

[Aliisa]

I think its fine! Years from now who is going to remember those few days they missed in elementary school, but those family mermories are forever

 

[Tinksmom5]

I am also taking the kids out of school for our trip .They have great grades and never miss.Oddly they all love school.I have 5 .I think as long as you give enough notice most teachers will give you some work to that along and that the kids can get done while on the way there or on down time in the hotle.It should be fine.Have fun.

 

[sunny_]

I think its fine! Years from now who is going to remember those few days they missed in elementary school, but those family mermories are forever

I agree. My son was in first grade last year and we went to Disney for 10 days in September. He missed 6 days of school and didn't miss a beat. He did homework on the airplane trip to Disney and on the way home. He got all A's this year (except for writing) and tested into the gifted classes too, so our trip to Disney did not hurt him in the least. We have another trip planned for this September. We're hoping our 5 year-old who will be in kindergarten has an easy time catching up like her brother! *fingers crossed*

 

[disneynewbee]

We are going the same time you are looking at. My oldest is the only one in school and she will be in 8th grade. We can't go in the summer because of my 3yos medical condition so we take her out. She always makes honor roll so I dont think it's a problem.

 

[daisyduck123]

I say "Go for it!!"

I also have an 11yo & an 8yo. We went to Disney twice this year. They missed a week of school in Jan. & then missed 7 school days in May for our trips!!

I'm a teacher & I got to miss school too!

 

[tammy1210]

We tood ds(5) last year in November and we're going again this year in November for a non-Disney trip - I'm always nervous about it - not sure why, like I have to explain it to the teacher and principal or something - but we do go during Veteran's Day - last year he had a workday and a holiday so we only had to take three days for the week, this year he'll be off four days as he just gets a holiday day.

 

[ont/ohana]

Hi My DH and I have no problem taking our DD's out of school. We went last year and my DD's did 15 mins of homework every day as well as in the plane and at home. She had a science test for the Mon (got home on Sat) and her Teacher(also my friend) had dropped off her science work she had missed in class. She wasn't as happy as I was though!! We met with both Teachers the night before we left and they both explained the work they needed to do. My younger DD did an EPCOT project as per my suggestion and her Teacher loved it. We recorded the info rough first, then recopied on the plane and at home!! I run a home daycare and it's easier for me to take time off during the school year while kids are already in school and the parents only have to get someone to Pu/Drop off after school. Besides, who wants to miss Disney Christmas parties!!

 

[DisneyBrat]

GO FOR IT!!!!!! We took our kids out of school last 2 times for January WDW trips. 3rd to come this January. I spoke to all their teachers and it was the same verdict. GO enjoy its educational as well as FUN!!!! Have them to write a report was suggested about the different countries or future gadgets they saw and experienced. My boys were 8,10 and 11 first trip out of school. Have fun and hey if it feels right for your family then go for it! Everyone has an opinion. Some say go others say what a horrible parent you are to think about taking the kids to Disney.

 

[Harvest02]

Hello to all....

i just wanted to see how everyone felt about taking kids out of school to go to wdw. my kids are 11 and 8..they have great attendence (only miss when they are ill) and great grades...we are wanting to go the week after thanksgiving into first week of december..i just can't see going when school is out and spending so much money, fighting the crowds, and standing in lin up to 3 hours to ride one ride. uh-huh.

what do you all think? we aren't opposed to doing extra credit or taking work with us!

I am going to take my kids out of school next year around their fall break. I am a little nervous also since my kids never miss unless they are sick. They are going to be in 5th and 2nd grades next year. I heard in our school that it depends on the teacher on whether they can make up work. It will only be for 2 days though, and the time I want to take them out is right after parent-teacher conferences and right before fall break. They only have 3 days of school that week anyway, so I figure taking them out for 2 of those 3 days is not a big deal. What are they going to do those 3 days anyway? Probably not much!!! I have a feeling there will be other parents doing the same thing! I agree with some of the other posts....they won't remember the days of school they missed, but they will remember the family time spent at Disney!

 

[kathi29]

My dad used to pull us out of school for vacations every year. I haven't been able to bring myself to do it yet. If we lived farther away I would definitely do it.

We'll see how this year works out. I have a long weekend scheduled for MNSSHP and the Friday is a day off unless we need a hurrican makeup day. If that is the case, my DD will be missing school.

 

[RumpleMom]

Just a suggestion, remember to check that your child won't be missing a special program at school. You know, like a band performance, school musical, or any other thing they might have been practicing for in the classroom that parents aren't invited to until the last minute.

We went once at Christmas. The kids didn't miss the school party on Friday. We went to the airport early Saturday morning. I was amazed that they were upset that our family would not be in our church for the candelight service on Christmas Eve. I really had no idea this would bother them.

Fortunately, I had scheduled the Candlelight Processional Dinner package at Epcot in advance for Christmas Eve. I hadn't told them because they were early elementary age and it just didn't occur to me to run the whole itinerary by them, but it worked out just fine. It was Art Garfunkel reading the Christmas story. This is one of our favorite magical memories.

 

[Bam99]

We are taking our 3 kids out; they will miss 4 days. It was going to be 5 days but there is a teacher workday on that Friday. I think my kids will be fine I don't feel like they get a long enough summer vacation anyway.

 

[laceemouse]

I would say check with your school before making plans. We have moved a lot and never have we been in a district where it was not highly frowned upon. I also worry about my kids missing parties and fun stuff. That is major important to them. By high school, I would say it wouldn't be worth it to have to make up all that work! Ugh! BTW, never in my life have I heard of a TEACHER missing for vacation! If I lived in a district like that I would have no qualms at all about doing it! We homeschool now, but believe me we still have lots of activities and a schedule to work around.
Also, is your oldest in junior high? It gets a LOT more tricky when you have several different teachers to consider. We had some real meanies in public school junior high who wouldn't cut a student any slack even if they were sick! They offered no help AT ALL making up the work and the missed things counted against you BIG TIME! We were always in very competitive districts, our kids were in gifted classes, ect.....

 

[laceemouse]

We are taking our 3 kids out; they will miss 4 days. It was going to be 5 days but there is a teacher workday on that Friday. I think my kids will be fine I don't feel like they get a long enough summer vacation anyway.

Ever kid in the country gets the same amount of time off. If you go back early then you have other breaks and/or get out early. Kids up north who go back in September are IN school way into June. Personally, I feel that having a long summer break is antiquated (it was so kids could help on the farm!) I would love a year round calendar with breaks spread out all over the place. We actually had that one year way back when, but the distict did away with it. If everyone had different breaks crowds would be more uniform at WDW! Now we homeschool but all of our activities still follow the school calendar...YUK!

 

[lyeag]

This will be the first year my kids are being pulled out of school for a trip. They will be in K, 3 and 9th. The last day before Christmas break is the 19th of Dec. Call me terrible, but the last day of value season is the 19th! My younger kids won't miss much those last two days, so I am not too concerned. Yes, they may miss parties, but when I remind them of it, they will be at Disney! My only concern is my oldest. She has been straight As since 5th grade, and very rarely misses, but the high school is on trimesters. I am not sure what she may miss. We don't have any experience with the trimester system. I will inform the teachers as soon as I have a schedule and they will just have to deal with it. This vacation has been planned since late Feb.!


We are driving down from OK., a good, solid 2 day drive. (DH hates to fly) We are leaving the morning of the 16, and using 2 overnights on the way down so we won't be exhausted when we get there, and arrive on the 18th early in the day.

 

[Cinderella_68]

We are taking our oldest two out of school in Sept. It was the only time that DH and I could coordinate our vacations together this year, since he moved to a new duty station after coming back from Iraq. Considering their input, we made this decision and planned out proposals for their teachers for projects and reports they can do while on vacation, and other ways in which they will be learning.
*They will each get two disposable cameras to take photos of their time in WDW.
*They will pair their photos with journal entries that they will make at least once a day.
*They will each get their saved allowance placed onto a Visa or MC gift card and a register to keep track of their balances.
*They are learning to say five key phrases in the languages of each of the pavilions at Epcot and will try them on CM's while we are there. They are also learning to count 1-10, and learning where the countries are and facts about the countries before we go.
*There are a myriad of reports that can tie into Epcot, AK, MGM, even history of MK which can be done.