To take kids out of school or not?

[CaliDisFan]

aprilgail, I just want to say that I am so sorry about the loss of your godson. He looked like a sweet person from his picture. He was born the same year as my son, and would've been the same age now. I'm so glad you have great memories of trips spent with him- you're right, you can never expect what life might bring.

To the others who have added more responses to this thread- thank you for your thoughtful replies. It's been very beneficial for me to read all of them and I appreciate the advice.

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by CaliDisFan
aprilgail, I just want to say that I am so sorry about the loss of your godson. He looked like a sweet person from his picture. He was born the same year as my son, and would've been the same age now. I'm so glad you have great memories of trips spent with him- you're right, you can never expect what life might bring.

Thanks....he was a really great kid, member of the volunteer junior fire dept and looking very forward to being a full memeber when he was 17 and driving. Life really sucks sometimes. He was also my daughters god father and he was very proud of that, when we were out together I coldn't even push the stroller, I would be pushed out of the way LOL...he would tell me "I'm her godfather thats my job", he adored he so much and she adored him. She was only 2 1/2 when he died but she still talks about him all the time. He was my life from the moment he was born, I waitedin the hospital while his mom and dad were upstairs in the delivery room...his dad died when he was 2 so I was a big part of his life from then on.
Anyway sorry to ramble on...do what you think is right for your kids, don't let anyone bully you into not taking them out for vacation if you want to!

 

[cnids00]

We took our DD out of school for a week last year when she was in 3rd grade, we always go in September. This year it will be the same as she starts 4th grade. It's the week of Labor Day which she has off anyways and she will be able to get homework done anyways. I don't feel bad about it as she is so young and the homework isn't that "massive". When she told her teacher of 3rd grade we were going to WDW, she just smiled and said "Can I go with you?"

I would go this time of year anytime, it wasn't really crowded at all, Labor Day weekend was at MK, but we went to other parks and BB. Then it all kind of died down crowd-wise, which was really nice

And it also saves money not going in peak season for us which also is a plus!

Not long left and we're too excited for our own good, even bought Disney's "Scene-It" DVD game yesterday..

 

[wdwobsessed]

Since I have been qouted a couple of times on here I just wanted to clarify a few things.

I agree that the school system sets the policy and It's not the lady at the front desks policy .... but she was VERY nasty about it and this is when my son was in Kindergarten for goodness sakes! He was only going to miss 4 days! Plus, they didn't "do" anything about it so it was just a dig to show her dissaproval.

I also do not expect a teacher to plan things in advance for my child but let's get real here ... 90% of my child's work is done out of a workbook each day. The workbooks could be sent home with a note saying "Next week we are learning chapter 4". Honestly in my DS's school they have A LOT planned ahead. Last year the entire 2nd grade did the same writing assignments each week.
My children are also in Elementary school. Perhaps things will be different when they are older. But, for now ... I don't think it would be a hardship on the teacher to send a few dittos or workbooks home.

I also respect those who won't take thier children out! That is the best decision for them and I think that is great!

WDWO

 

[eeyore kelly]

A good way to get work in advance is to offer to copy it. I am a SAHM and spend two mornings at the school a week, copying papers, etc. I have taken the kids out of school before to see my sister who lives 8 hours away on a Friday. I copied the tests earlier in the week, and on the Thurs. DD and DS misses recess PE and DS even stayed after school to do tests. When I take the Kids out of school to go to WDW, I will offer to copy the week I will miss volunteering papers a head of time, that way I know my kids can get the work.

 

[Figment_Faerie]

It depends on the students schedule. I will be a senior next year and we have block scheduling which means I have 4 classes a day and they each last 1hr 30mns. My first semester will be pretty easy and will not cause problems because of the easy class load: Drama/Speech
Chorus
Newspaper
Government

But on the other hand my Second Semester would be a tough place to take a vacation: AP German IIII (4)
Advanced Calculus
Chorus
Physics

 

[Bethshaya]

To me, the mantra always is, "Nothing is more important in life than to be important in the life of a child".

Whatever I can do to add to memories that my child will have years to come to reflect on his childhood, I do.

Your child will never remember what they did the week after thanksgiving at school 20 years from now when talking to their children.

But if you take them to Disney, in years to come, they will talk about the togetherness and wonderful memories they have of your trip together.

They can always make up the work. You can even find ways to incorporate whatever the topic is at school for the week they will be away into your trip. There are lots of learning experiences in science, literature, biology, and math at Disney. Be creative about it. Ask the teacher for what her lesson plan will be covering that week and try to incorporate it into your days.

 

[CaliDisFan]

aprilgail,

Thank you for sharing some more about your godson. It's heartbreaking to read, but you and your daughter have lasting memories and it touched me to hear about them.



And to everyone, thank you again for your input on this subject. It has certainly helped me with my decision-making, and I feel better now about taking my kids out of school for a WDW vacation next year. I feel confident everything will work out in the end.

 

[weezer64]

Forgive me if this has been repeated, I didn't read the entire thread.

For the first time ever I am pulling my children out of school for 6 days. I am doing it guilt free as they both are very bright students and I don't see a problem with them slipping as a result of missing 6 days.

But my MAIN reason for not feeling guilty is the shorter and shorter summer vacations we get each year. Before you know it, the kids will be attending school year round! The way I understand it (coming from a teacher in my district who happens to disagree with the current contract and amount of days off) is that the reason is so that the teachers and administration can have their days off during the year...like the much dreaded MID winter break (yeah, they really need a break 6 weeks after returning from the first of the year and goodness! it's another 6-8 weeks before spring break!) We, as parents, are expected to make OUR arrangements for our children around the scattered days off or holiday weeks throughout the year. We have to either plan around THEIR schedules or be accused of being selfish for pulling them out to accomodate when WE can get OUR time off of work.

In MI, the passed a law that the schools had to have the Friday before Labor Day off as the earlier start to the school year was affecting tourism. So guess what? They are starting back earlier than ever this year. I am fuming about that....there is no excuse for starting prior to Labor Day...NONE. Oh yeah forgot....gotta have that week off in February!

This is not just my opinion, but the opinion of EVERY parent I talk to......and that's quite a few as secretary of a local sports team.

So ya know what? What's one MORE disruption in the midst of the school year? My kids are used to it!

 

[CaliDisFan]

So guess what? They are starting back earlier than ever this year. I am fuming about that....there is no excuse for starting prior to Labor Day...NONE

When I went to school, we always started back after Labor Day weekend. We also finished the school year the first week of June, so we had nearly three months of summer break in all. The schools here all start back in late august. My kids didn't get out of school until the 18th of June this year, and have to start back on August 24- barely two months of vacation. So, I agree that it does seem like summer vacations are getting shorter everywhere. I prefer summer vacation as it was when I was growing up.

 

[samnbilly]

Bumping for those who have questions re:this on the AP thread

 

[earldale97]

My sons teacher actually thanked us and said this was the best thing for kids to experience life. Kids learn more out of school then in.

We took him out last Oct when we went on a carribean cruise-he picked up lots of culture and was able to report what he saw in class to avoid homework during vacation.

Taking him out this yer also for wdw. They can always make up the work. I think as long as your children are not failing they should be ok

 

[cnids00]

My daughter starts 4th grade tomorrow..1st day is half a day, they get out at noon, 9:05 - 12:05. Now me and my husband both works and she is not old enough to be home by herself, imho. Now tomorrow will work out as grandma is coming to pick her up at school, she lives 30 minutes away. What I can't remember is the numerous days per month after school starts, that they have 1/2 days and days off...Every month there is at least 2 days. It's hard to work 6am - 3pm (me) and my husband works 8:30am-5:30pm. It's all fine and dandy if I was a housewife (which I wish I was at times!!!) but why is it that they have different days with like "teachers collaberation days etc..

My work has put up with my rescheduling my days, but I miss out in hours. I just can't remember being out of school unless it was holiday, like christmas, thanksgiving, easter and summer time.

It's so frustrating :-(

 

[TexasErin]

I'm taking my 2nd grader out October 30- November 7 this year. My child's principal gave me the okay last year but told us not to take DD out again for a vacation. I agreed, but then all 6 days were counted as unexcused.
That ticked me off so I decided I'll take her out again this year.
My question is should I tell them that she is going on a family vacation? My dad said what he would do is just about 2 days ahead just send a note to DD's teachers saying that she will be gone "due to a family situation" and leave it at that. What do you think?
The school handbook talks about prosecuting for more than 4 days unexcused absences in a 4-week period and also that only 70% of their grade will be allowed for missed work. My daughter got all A's last year and my husband is a teacher (just not currently teaching) plus its 2nd grade so I don't think it will hurt her grades (or else we wouldn't go).

 

[punkin]

Who cares what their grades are like in 2nd grade anyway. The fact that she goes from an A to a D due to teachers refusing credit for missed work is meaningless. As long as she does not fall significantly behind the class and can catch up by the end of the year i would not give it a second thought.

 

[TexasErin]

Hmmm, this is true. Now that you mention it, what I made in 2nd grade has never been brought up in any job interviews.

 

[splashfamily]

CaliDisFan~

Take your kids out of school and enjoy yourselves!

 

[Bojangles]

Originally posted by TexasErin
My dad said what he would do is just about 2 days ahead just send a note to DD's teachers saying that she will be gone "due to a family situation" and leave it at that.

You need to be honest and upfront. The teachers won't think much of you when they find out you lied and went on vacation. No matter how much coaching and prompting you do, you child will go back to school talking about her disney trip.

 

[TexasErin]

Bojangles,
I know you're right. I had thought that myself about when they find out our "family situation" is a trip to WDW.
Do you think I should tell them now or wait until closer to our trip in October? If I wait, they will know that she is a good student and doesn't have an absenteeism problem.
And with my child, I know there is no way she can keep a secret. Not that I want to teach her to hide things.

 

[Belle0101]

I'll admit to not having fully read each and every post but thought I'd throw in my opinion anyhow.

December 2002 we took all our sons to WDW - 4 of them. Of the two that were school age we had 1 in 2nd grade and 1 in 11th grade. The majority of the comments we got were negative - they'll fall behind, we're not obligated to accomodate requests for work in advance or make-up work, you really should choose another time for this, they'll be marked as unexcused, threatened to turn in us for prosecution for not sending our children to school and such. We went anyhow and had the best time we have ever had as a family. I might mention the we are a blended family - his, hers and ours as far as children go. This was the first, and I imagine the only, trip we took as a family. The memories we have of us all being together are beyond anything that they remember from school. Now the 2 older boys have jobs, serious girlfriends, basically they're grown up now but I'm so grateful to have had that time together.

We're taking the 2 youngest this year in October. Only one is of school age and he'll be in 4th grade. We've moved from the previous school district and all I've read about attentdance is that students are not excused from school for private lessons, personal appointments, other than medical, family shopping trips, parties, babysitting, visits to friends and relatives, or going on business trips. School starts here on the 19th of August so I haven't spoken with the teacher yet to know what he will say.

We were sent a school calendar and they have 1 day off in Sept., 2 days off in Oct., 2 half days off, a 2 hour delay on 1 day plus 2 full days off in Nov.. That's just through November, not counting the days for the rest of the year. And the last day of school is June 1, provided we don't have any snow make-up days.

I'm a stay at home mom so having to make sure we have adequate day care is not an issue but I can see how if both parents worked it could really be an issue.

Sorry to ramble, my opinion - yes school is important and I would never take my out children if they were not already good students but ours were/are so I will continue to do so until I feel it would ngatively affect them.

Good luck!!