Thoughts on taking kids out of school

[BarefeetMom]

My first child will begin kindergarten this year. Yay!

Anyway I'd really like to book a cruise for Oct. 2014. Will missing 3 days of school make a huge impact? It's been a long time since I was in school, lol.

 

[RHSTigerMom]

I'd say no, it won't make a huge difference that young so do it. I think most teachers are understanding and my give an "assignment" or two. You could engage some cast members in helping your child learn about different countries and maybe do "show & tell" when you get back. Go for it!

 

[missyp]

I would imagine that this would vary based on where you live. In our schools teachers start getting uptight if you take kids out of middle school. Once they are in middle school they also have a lot of work to make up. I never found elementary school to be an issue, especially Kindergarten. Enjoy it while you can! Pull them out and enjjoy less crowds and lower fares! I had to pull mine out of 8th and 4th grade this year for our Disney cruise this year because we combined it with a wedding we were going to in Key West. Both kids survived and their grades didnt suffer. This year we are going on our second Disney cruse, we have to go Easter week. I cant pull my 9th grader out of High School. So relax and enjoy the years you can do it!

 

[amyh13]

We took our son out of school for 2 days in first grade for a cruise. It did not have any impact but I felt guilty But I assure you he will never forget his 7th birthday!

 

[4mousefans]

Because of work schedules and pricing, we have found it necessary to take our family vacations during the school year since the time our girls were very little. I always provide several months notice to the teachers and now that the girls are older, they are able to work with their teachers to be sure and have the work either done in advance or make arrangements to complete it upon our return. Even at the high school level, we have never had a problem taking four or five days...the teachers and administration have been very supportive. The greater problem was with school sports, but both girls were willing to take any consequences that would result from their absences as were we as parents. I should add that both girls are A students and rarely, if ever, have additional absences. It may not work for everyone, but with a little advanced planning and good communication, it works for us.

 

[RubenCamacho]

If the schools cared about your kids education they wouldn't have Such a huge break called SUMMER SCHOOL. A ridiculous unnecessary break that imposes on families struggling . If they were so worried about how many days your kid is learning throughout a year they wouldn't have so many OTHER breaks like spring break or winter break.

School system SUCKS, go on vacation and live life

 

[klineyqueen]

If the schools cared about your kids education they wouldn't have Such a huge break called SUMMER SCHOOL. A ridiculous unnecessary break that imposes on families struggling . If they were so worried about how many days your kid is learning throughout a year they wouldn't have so many OTHER breaks like spring break or winter break.

School system SUCKS, go on vacation and live life

Maybe you should home school or cyber school.

 

[klineyqueen]

My first child will begin kindergarten this year. Yay!

Anyway I'd really like to book a cruise for Oct. 2014. Will missing 3 days of school make a huge impact? It's been a long time since I was in school, lol.

Take your child out of school and enjoy your vacation.

Missing those days will have a huge impact on your family, making memories, experiencing new places, foods, ect. The perfect kind of huge impact. An impact that can't happen behind the walls of a school in the same way. Life is about an education. But you can get that in many ways.

Have fun.

 

[Sandy1892]

I agree with the majority missing a few days kindergarten is nothing compared to the holiday experience that you can give. As they get older they can't afford to miss school so take it why you can.
Have a great vacation

 

[darkwing818]

I agree with the majority missing a few days kindergarten is nothing compared to the holiday experience that you can give. As they get older they can't afford to miss school so take it why you can.
Have a great vacation

I think we stopped taking our kids out of school for vacations when the oldest finished the 1st grade.

 

[MND]

My first child will begin kindergarten this year. Yay!

Anyway I'd really like to book a cruise for Oct. 2014. Will missing 3 days of school make a huge impact? It's been a long time since I was in school, lol.

I suggest taking your child out of school. My experience is that 3 days will not make a difference at all. It's kindergarten, not high school. They will learn more on the cruise than they will in school at their age.

You're the parent and you know what's best for your child. At that age, I wouldn't even think twice about it.

Enjoy your cruise!

Mike

 

[MND]

If the schools cared about your kids education they wouldn't have Such a huge break called SUMMER SCHOOL. A ridiculous unnecessary break that imposes on families struggling . If they were so worried about how many days your kid is learning throughout a year they wouldn't have so many OTHER breaks like spring break or winter break.

School system SUCKS, go on vacation and live life

 

[georgiasmom]

My DD will be in 5th grade this year. We always take her out in January for a Disney vacation. Usually MLK week so she only misses 4 days. We travel a lot both domestically and internationally. I believe they learn so much through travel that it's fine to miss a few classroom days.

 

[lbgraves]

We took the kids out of school for 6-7 school days each year until DS was in 7th grade. We had booked Alaska with friends before he had been accepted out of district into a year round middle school. He missed 7 days just two weeks after school started, with the principal's blessing. It was the first time he had a ton of classwork to do while on the cruise and it took him a few weeks to catch up with everything else he got when he returned. Most of this was from his honors math class. After he caught up he asked us to please never do another cruise while he was in school. That means not cruising as often since we can't take advantage of the lower priced season. We are all thankful for the experiences we were able to share up until that point and the places we were able to travel to together. I know the kids didn't miss anything that they didn't make up easily until 7th grade.

 

[ahain]

We took our dd out of school for a week when we took our cruise/vacation in October 2012. She was in 9th grade at the time. We asked her ahead of time if she thought she would be able to take the time away from class and still maintain her grades, and after some thought, she said "yes," so we proceeded with plans. We gave plenty of notice to all her teachers and some opted to provide her with lessons/homework to do while we were gone. While she was able to maintain her grades (she's an A student), it was very difficult for her to get caught up because she missed a fair amount of classtime discussion which would have been helpful in understanding some basic concepts. Again...doable, yes. But it took alot of work on her part and caused her alot of stress. Although she says it was the best vacation we've ever taken, she specifically asked me not to schedule vacation again if it means missing more than 1 or 2 days of school.

 

[Bree]

I always pulled my kids out of school for vacation and never had issues until our vacation this past May. I won't go into details, but it was a nightmare trying to get my DS (4th grade) caught up. I think if you have a child that is struggling as it is on a daily basis with school it's not a good idea. We thought that we could handle it and took all the necessary steps to keep him on track and it blew up in our faces. So for now on we will stick to the school calendar for vacation time and just pay the premium prices.

 

[mymainmouse]

We have always taken our daughters out of school for a week of vacation. It is hard for my husband to get time off of work during the summer so we usually end up going in the fall. Both of our daughters are good students so it doesn't seem to bother them. The school system here has a policy of makeup work being due at the end of the same amount of time you were gone. So if you miss 5 days you have 5 to make it up. I feel that kids grow up so quickly that our family time is just as important as school time so we will vacation with them while we can. The teachers have always been very helpful too.

 

[LILRERE]

We are taking our kindergartener out for a family cruise in Feb 2014 I have already told the principle and teacher. The teacher was excited for us Yes I feel a little guilty but it was so much more affordable then summertime. Next year I will try to plan it around spring break but it is just k-5 and my son is a great student! So I say make some family memories!

 

[Moxin]

Because of work schedules and pricing, we have found it necessary to take our family vacations during the school year since the time our girls were very little. I always provide several months notice to the teachers and now that the girls are older, they are able to work with their teachers to be sure and have the work either done in advance or make arrangements to complete it upon our return. Even at the high school level, we have never had a problem taking four or five days...the teachers and administration have been very supportive. The greater problem was with school sports, but both girls were willing to take any consequences that would result from their absences as were we as parents. I should add that both girls are A students and rarely, if ever, have additional absences. It may not work for everyone, but with a little advanced planning and good communication, it works for us.

Growing up, I don't have too many memories of elementary school. Some, but nothing of any import. I can tell you nothing happened to make a huge impact on me school wise. I was never a great student, but not a bad one either.

I can tell you, though, than in 1982, my parents took me and my sister out of school for a week to Disneyworld. The one and only vacation we were able to afford. I can pretty much tell you what we did every day on that vacation.

I don't have a problem taking my daughter out of school once in a while for such trips. If you talk to the teachers, and talk to your children, you can make it work with a negligible impact on their grades.

The memories you give them are priceless.

 

[canadiandisneycruise]

There's more to education than sitting in a desk! That's coming from a teacher! We take our kids out every year. I work it so we miss the least amount, but we still go! My oldest is graduating high school this year, & she can't miss due to a university program she participates in. First year we ARE NOT going away during school! But we have one booked for the summer!! ;-)