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

[crisi]

In some districts its a problem no matter how good your kids are.

Minnesota partially funds on attendance. The schools don't get paid for the kid unless their chair is occupied! Since you still need to heat the school and pay the teacher, regardless if 10% of the kids are gone, this makes attendence important for balancing the school budget.

I like oogieboogie's note. If you are required to give "educational" details, do so - if not, don't. If you do give educational details, don't get so carried away you make one week at Disney sound like a Rhodes scholarship. Do let them know you will cooperate to make this as disruptive to your child and others as possible (i.e. requesting homework, and FOLLOWING THROUGH, one of the teachers here said she stopped pre-prepping homework because very few children turned it in - so why should she bother to do the work).

 

[ls1222]

We will be taking our children out in September for 6 days (1st, 3rd, 5th) and we have done this before but the school does require a 2 week notice and there is a vacation form that has to be filled out. I agree with the other posters "don't ask permission" just state the fact that the children will be out of school for these particular dates. We took out the children two years ago and the teachers were not all that helpful and two weeks after we got home we received a letter in the mail stating that they had "excessive unexcused days missed". I took it into the school and they said it was just a form letter that gets sent out if there are 6 or more days missed in a 9 week period. I was a little ticked as I followed their "vacation policies" and did not appreciate a letter. This will be the last fall vacation for us as my oldest will go to middle school next year.

 

[hokiefan33]

Personally, I could give a rat's #&$ what the school thinks about it. They're not their kids, they're MY kids, and as their parents WE will decide what they do. I'm not saying school isn't important, just that if a family vacation has already been planned, we're going whether it interferes with school or not. They're only missing 4 days (Sept. 6-9), and that's at the beginning of school, but they'll have already went to the first 2 days as well as the first full week, so they'll be fine.

I could care less whether they give us make up work to do, or whether they "excuse" the absence or not or give us "permission" or not. It's not up to them.

 

[crisi]

Personally, I could give a rat's #&$ what the school thinks about it. They're not their kids, they're MY kids, and as their parents WE will decide what they do. I'm not saying school isn't important, just that if a family vacation has already been planned, we're going whether it interferes with school or not. They're only missing 4 days (Sept. 6-9), and that's at the beginning of school, but they'll have already went to the first 2 days as well as the first full week, so they'll be fine.

I could care less whether they give us make up work to do, or whether they "excuse" the absence or not or give us "permission" or not. It's not up to them.

Check your state law. Because most states do have mandatory attendence laws. Your kids are not yours to do what you will with them, the state feels they have an obligation to make sure you feed them, don't beat them mercilessly, and send them to school. (You can, however, still dress them funny and name them "original" names).

Four days is going to get no one in trouble (except perhaps a letter from the school). But in many states, at some point, it IS "up to them" by law.

All states also offer the option of private schools or homeschooling, where "mandatory attendance" laws are not necessarily followed. But regulations vary by state, and even if you homeschool, its a good idea to know what you will be responsible to the state for (in some cases, not much, in some cases, quite a bit). Most parents I've met who homeschool are really aware of what their accountability is.

 

[hokiefan33]

Check your state law. Because most states do have mandatory attendence laws. Your kids are not yours to do what you will with them, the state feels they have an obligation to make sure you feed them, don't beat them mercilessly, and send them to school. (You can, however, still dress them funny and name them "original" names).

Four days is going to get no one in trouble (except perhaps a letter from the school). But in many states, at some point, it IS "up to them" by law.

All states also offer the option of private schools or homeschooling, where "mandatory attendance" laws are not necessarily followed. But regulations vary by state, and even if you homeschool, its a good idea to know what you will be responsible to the state for (in some cases, not much, in some cases, quite a bit). Most parents I've met who homeschool are really aware of what their accountability is.

My kids ARE mine to do with, the state just wants to make sure I don't do BAD things with or to them. I'll grant you that. And as you say, 4 days is no problem, and any letter resulting from that absence will go straight to File 13, I can guarantee you that. I think the states want to avoid excessive absences, which obviously this is not.

 

[Dizzyworld]

I never thought I'd pull my kids out of school for a vacation, but it will be the 3rd time this Dec. The first time (DS 4th gr. & DD 2nd gr.) I arranged with the teachers to do a journal while we were in WDW. The first morning we woke up, my neighbor called and asked how the weather was since they were snowed in. Schools were canceled for 2 days. This meant my kids did more work being away then if we wer home. Trip #2 with DD (4th gr.) I told the teacher I was taking her for pure fun. I told him if he needed me to put an educational spin on our trip I could, but I was really doing it for fun. The teacher sent home a packet for her to do with 1.5 inches of paperwork to do for all her missed assignments. My DH was worried how long it was going to take her to do the work. When we got home and pull out the package, there really was only about 5 dittos on top and 1 on the bottom, the rest was blank papers. I got a good giggle out of it. This year she will be in the 5th gr. I figure we'll make whatever we need to do when we get back. My thought is in 20 years what will mean the most to her? She won't remember what she learned those few days, but she will remember her special trips with just mom.

This will be the last year because when she gets to middle school it won't be as easy for her to catch up on all the work. This is why her brother opted out last year and this year. (He does other fun things at home while we are gone like go camping from Fri. - Sun.)

BTW, I'm an elementary ed. teacher currently working as a part-time preschool teacher and part-time teacher at a local community college. I figure anything either of my children would miss while at WDW I could teach them in a fraction of time. Also, the preschool director loves that I go to WDW since I but all the additional parts for Mr. Potato Head. We try and do mostly non-commercial things, but Mr. PH was a big hit.

Go have fun. You really only have them a short time befoer they are off on their own.

 

[Nik's Mom]

My school district is very strict when it comes to attendance. I didn't realize some states are not as strict. As I mentioned earlier, we did the vacation journal, but we were also required to complete an independent study form, where we listed the educational aspects of the trip. I was surprised when the teachers gave it to me. Now, the teachers made it clear that it was required by the school district, but they personally loved the idea of the trip. For autistic children (like my son), "community time" is very important. So the teachers gave us a big thumbs up.
I know some will disagree, but I really don't see a problem in pulling kids for a family trip. Life is so short. If a family is fortunate to have the money to take a family vacation, the school district shouldn't step in the way. There's more to life than what you read in a text book.

 

[rt2dz]

Here you are supposed to be in attendance, if you attend public school, 80 days of the semester. What days you miss are your business, well parents business. And can vary from semester to semester. If you aren't at school at least 80 days, then and only then, you must account for your abscences. It is then reviewed and accepted or not. If most your abscences are medical or due to family issues (whatever the reason), it is always accepted. Basically, if you have a child who is skipping school a lot, then you have a problem.

My question is, how does the school know, unless you tell them, if your child is on vacation, out of town for a funeral, or sick? If they don't excuse vacations, they are a lot less likely to get people to be upfront/honest with them. And I'm not supporting lying, just what is to stop a parent from calling and saying "little Suzy will not be at school today and will not be returning unti next week"? Reasons do not have to be given.

 

[isla bonita]

I always tell them the truth. My husband works construction and it is the time he is able to get off that we take our family vacation. I do 2 weeks in Feb. I tell them being a family is as important as school. I also ask if anything can be done on the plane while we are gone.

 

[ls1222]

Well, if the teacher is going to pile on the work then I will keep them out an extra day when we get back to get it done. I'm not paying big bucks to do school work on vacation. It can be done on the plane to and from and that is about it. The way I look at it, is if the school is going to have a major issue with the vacation then I will home school for the rest of the year. I do agree that it is important for good attendance but I feel that the final decision should rest with the parents. It burns me up that some parents have to bend over backwords to take their children on a family vacation!!

 

[marcyinPA]

Most of the teachers in our school won't even give you your kids work before you leave on vacation. They give it to you when your child returns, and they have a week to complete it. I like it better that way...I don't want my kids doing school work when they are supposed to be on vacation. I do make them journal and read every day, but that's it for the work!

 

[TinkABoutIt]

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

I am a teacher and agree with oogieboogie....use that form and as long as you talk to the teacher about the work, don't worry about it! Go and have fun! Don't ask if it is ok, just tell them you are doing it....

 

[crisi]

My question is, how does the school know, unless you tell them, if your child is on vacation, out of town for a funeral, or sick? If they don't excuse vacations, they are a lot less likely to get people to be upfront/honest with them. And I'm not supporting lying, just what is to stop a parent from calling and saying "little Suzy will not be at school today and will not be returning unti next week"? Reasons do not have to be given.

When I was growing up I went to a very strict school. Doctors notes were required for any excused illness. If you were going to claim funeral leave, come back with the obit and prayer card from the funeral. If people start lying, I suspect honest ones will soon hate them, since you don't want to haul your kid into urgent care for every tummyache.

 

[beattyfamily]

I mention it to the teacher in September at open house. I see how she reacts and if she says anything and go from there. Usually they say, just send in a note as it gets closer.

I then send in a note a couple weeks before and then maybe a day or two before.

My DD has never gotten work before we left. She has been asked to keep a journal 2 times now and that's about it. She quickly makes up the work when she gets back.

I am going to try and avoid missng school after 4th grade. It's getting more and more difficult in that she misses a lot of work and doesn't like the pile sitting there on her desk when she returns. I may try for a long October weekend next year. She'd miss 3 days.

Good luck!

 

[Rhonda]

When my son was in elementary and middle school we took him out for 2 weeks every February for vacation. We told the teachers a few days ahead of time. Some of them gave some homework and some did not.

It's amazing how he could be out of school for 2 whole weeks, and not be behind when we got back!! Or if he was behind he was able to catch up in one day!

This was partially the reason for our decision to pull him out of school and homeschool him when he got into highschool. Public schools are just not able to cover as much material. In the 6 (or so) hours they are at school, it seems like maybe 2 hours is actually spent on learning.

Once he started homeschooling, I didn't need to tell the teacher when we went on vacation anymore.