What do you tell the school if you are taking children out for vacation?

[Iluvthemouse]

DD was in all day kindergarten last year. She will be 3 weeks into 1st grade when we go to Disney this September. She will be out for 6 days. I have never had to do this before so I have no idea how to word it.
I know it will be just review time and trying to get all the kids on the same level but still.....

TIA

 

[oogieboogie]

Principal's name
School name
School address

Dear Principal,

My child, (child's name), room ______, will not be attending school on 06/01/2005 to 06/07/2005 because we will be away on a family vacation.

If there are any schoolwork or homework that must be turned in during that time, I would appreciate it if any work be given before we leave or after we return, and she will make up any school work missed during that period.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at 555-555-1212.

Thank you,



(your name)

cc: Teacher's name


That's my standard letter. I give one to the principal and one to the teacher.

 

[Eeyoreloverforever]

before we left informing her when dd would be out of school.

I am not planning on doing that this time. I will go in and tell her on dd's last day of school before we leave with the dates written on a piece of paper.

The teacher usually asks her to write a report for each day she is gone while on vacation and then she has her work she missed to catch up on when we get back.

We are on vacation and have no time to do homework. So this time and am not letting them know in advance. We will do our best to catch up on the work we missed when we get back.

I don't really care what the school or teacher thinks. It is my family and I make the decisions.

 

[Princess Mommy]

We tell the teachers maybe a few days a head of time. Granted, my oldest is just starting K in the fall so it was just nursery school, but they still gave her the worksheets she'd have missed, etc...

 

[pweyl36]

We Dd Was In Kindergarden The School Didnt Care Why We Took ,it Was Still And Unexcused.also School Work Can Not Be Made Up

 

[3lilprincesses]

at my daughters school, we have to get a form from the office to make it an "excused absence". i need to fill in the dates, where we'll be going, and what makes it an "educational" trip. i asked the secretary what i should put and when i told her we were going to disney, she said, oh then just put that you will visit educational exhibits in epcot, and things like that. she was given an "excused absence", and her teacher gave me her work. although the teacher told me she wouldn't give her much since she thought it was more important she spend the time enjoying her family and her vacation. she was in 2nd grade at the time.

 

[poody1]

I just tell them as a family we need a holiday, give them the dates and pray. The last time we asked it was no problem,but i know they are getting tougher in the uk. I think because my DS has ADHD and my DD is suspected of having ADHD the school is glad of the break as well

 

[SqueakyMouse]

In my school district, you must write a letter stating the educational merits of the trip and asking for permission? Permission is NOT guaranteed, but I have not heard of anyone whose child has missed very few days being denied. It's really important to involve your child's school in plans of this sort. There are times of the year when daily attendance for the school determines the amount of money and staffing the school will receive for the year. I am in a small school; so we can be very, very affected by this. Also, certain state tests cannot be made-up at a later date. Again, these affect the funding and programs offered at our school. I would bet anything that most parents in my school district do NOT know of these ramifications, so...just ask. No one will think any less of you.

 

[Jakesmom1]

My DH was in catholic school at the time, 4th grade, and I just told the teacher a couple of days in advance, they gave me his work to make up and it was no big deal.

 

[Laurajean1014]

We're going on vacation, so don't expect jr.!

 

[Nik's Mom]

We told our son's teachers in September about our plans for our May trip. We did a vacation journal for our son, who is in special ed kindergarten. Every day, we jotted down what we did. And we did make it educational for our ds. For example, if at It's a Small World, we were told to go to line #3, we would point out the # to our ds. We had a color and letter of the day, and would point out the color and letter when we came across it at the parks. In our case, this was important because ds is autistic and does better learning in real world situations, rather than in a normal class setting, so the teachers were thrilled with his educational experience at WDW. They were very impressed and even showed the journal to the school psychology team at the school district.

 

[bctripp]

When we lived in GA, we had no problems as long as my DD did the work that was sent with her and didn't go over the allowed days to be absent. Since we have moved to NC however, the rules seem more strict so I don't think i'm going to do that anymore. We took her out in Kindergarden for 5 days. We asked the teacher about her being out on the open house night before school started. I think we had to write a letter too. Good luck!

 

[Mom to Jordan]

First rule is not to ask permission! State that your child will be absent during these dates.

We always have gone mid Winter so at the first parent conference in October i tell the teacher of the plans. I remind them with a written letter and asking for make-up work ahead of time about 2-3 weeks before the trip. Make up work has varried with the years but never been over the top. We have never delt with anyone higher up than the teacher. Last year the teacher asked if we wanted the paper work to make it excused and we asked what difference it made and she said all it matters is what line the absence is recorded on. We did not do the paper work. We too are in NC and never had a problem but I think it varries from system to system and even school to school.

Good luck!!

Jordans' mom

 

[michvin]

My son will also be in 1st grade when we take him out for 4 days this fall. Last year, he missed one for a family vacation to the beach....the school asks for a minimum of 2 weeks notice and, as previosly posted, educational aspects. I'm not sure if this year he will get assignments on vacation, I mean really, he's in 1st grade and has two younger siblings. However, I do think that Disney is a place they really can enjoy and learn a lot at that age. For example, are you flying or driving? Either way, its an educational experience, ie. geography. Where you live, where you are going. Why its warmer there in the fall, etc. Also, Animal Kingdom and Epcot are obvious learning environments, even if its passive, the ride the Land, or even Soarin. We are hoping to print out a disney kids travel journal... http://www.themouseforless.com/downloads/kids/journal.shtml for us to fill out together. Maybe not all of it, but at least something for us all to have to share in the future. I think that most schools are acceptable to the idea as long as you don't seem like you aren't totally blowing them off. Have a great time!

 

[marcyinPA]

Our district requires that we fill out a vacation request form. Because of the NCLB act, they have changed the policy and from grade 1 through grade 5, they are only allowed to miss 15 days TOTAL for vacations. If you go above that 15 day total, they threaten to fine you.

That being said, I just go into the office and tell the secretary (who I know well!) for a form. I fill it out, and the part where it says "educational purpose" or something to that extent, I put in Disney World...family trip. The principal has to approve it, but even if she didn't, I'd pull my kids out regardless.

This will be the last year we feel comfortable doing that. My oldest will be in fifth grade this year, and pulling him out of middle school frightens me a bit. It is very intense and I don't want him to fall too far behind.

We are also going the last week in September and my youngest will also be starting first grade. Our best friends are going with us, and their kids are in the same school as our kids...so we'll be going into the office together!

 

[tjmw2727]

I have taken the kids out for various reasons including a WDW vacation and at DC vacation. I send a simple straightforward letter much like oogieboogies stating our dates and that we are taking a family vacation. I ask for assignments beforehand if possible, realizing that its lots of work for the teacher. Otherwise for the work to please be put aside on a daily basis for completion at return. Generally speaking they give me most of the work if it is approproate to do on vacation and save the things that take explaining for completion after the vacation, extra homework.

Our last trip with the DC trip, dd's were 8 and 10. I required them to do a journal with an entry and illustration every day. It counted for school work but I wanted it to save for them for the future. FWIW the journals are priceless and I would not have realized how much they really learned and enjoyed the vacation without reading the journals.

I don't sugar coat it and even on our DC vacation I did not list the many educational experiences (and we had sooo many) it was after all a family vacation.

TJ

 

[skiingwife]

Tell them the truth: you're going on vacation. It should not be a problem for a 1st grader.

 

[Nik's Mom]

In case you decide to do a vacation journal, here's a good website.
www.themouseforless.com/downloads/kidsdownloads.shtml
It also has some other good kids print-outs!

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

DS will be in 1st grade this year, when we take him out of school for our trip to WDW. Though, he goes to a Catholic school and I think they are more lenient than public schools when pulling your kids for vacation, giving make-up work etc. We have 3 other families in DS's class that are "Disney people" too. So he won't be the only one this year missing from his class for a trip to WDW.

 

[the kabuki]

Wow, I'm really surprised that some of the schools mentioned give parents such a difficult time with vacations!

I just write a note to the teacher, we're leaving on this day, be back on this day, if there's any homework they can take with them , fine, if not they'll do it when they come back.