what grade to stop taking kids out of school for dvc vacations?

[imgoingtodisney]

I made a comment the other day that before we get on the Disney Magic in Nov we get to book our WL vaca for next Oct. DH said we better wait and see how the school reacts to this year.
We took DS10 out of school last Oct when he was in 4th grade and are now planning on taking him out for 5th grade. Did you feel there was a certain grade to stop taking your child out?

Or should I go ahead and book our VWL vaca for next Oct?

 

[dianeschlicht]

7th grade seemed to be the magic number for us. They get so busy by that age.

 

[Big Dude]

We took our 2 out of school up to when our eldest reached 6th grade. I made all of the arrangements with the principal, teachers and staff prior to the trip. Both of my school-aged children are on the honor roll but my DS (6th grade) had a bugger of a time catching up when he returned. This year was the 1st time we "family vacationed" in the summer as opposed to September.

Adam aka Big Dude

 

[4greatboys]

We took our 2 oldest out when they were 7 and 10, we now have a trip planned for this Sept are taking the boys out for a week.
They are in 7th and 9th grade. It seems more difficult now and if we take them out for any more trips I think I will just limit it to
3 days of missed school instead of 5. Like a maybe a couple of days preceeding or following a long weekend. As for our 2 little ones I will just wait to see how the school is by then, they are 2 yrs and 5 months so who knows what will change in the school by then. Schools seems to be getting much stricter about student abscences.

 

[LvsTnk]

We only do a few days at a time now....2 days before Labor day...2 days before Christmas vacation. DS is in 10th DD 8th. I always get very nervous about it, but it works out O.K.

 

[Mamu]

While I do not have children in school any more, we always planned vacations around us not them.

Things have changed a lot since then. My children never got behind when we vacationed. It different today, we are taking our 2 oldest grandchildren during February vacation. They are 8 and 12 the school now has a policy where they cannot have more then 2 days a semester or else they will not pass on to the next grade unless they attend summer school. They will not excuse vacation days.

 

[poohlover]

We took our kids out when the oldest was in 8th grade and it was hard for her to catch up. I think it depends on the school system and how willing they are, but by HS it will be impossible.

This year we are splitting our trip. I am going down on the weekend with the 3 younger ones(4,6,9) & my DH & the 3 older ones(16, 14, 12) will join us the day before Thanksgiving.

This seemed to be the best for us, the older ones only miss 1 day of school.

We took our kids out of school last spring for a trip to Colorado. My 2nd DD had won an Odyssey of the Mind competition and had an international competition in Col. My oldest had a VERY hard time catching up right before finals.

 

[we3luvdisney]

We really do not have a problem with this, our daughter (3rd grade) attends school year-round. She started in July and has her first break in September, which is when we plan to head down to WDW. However, we have looked into taking her out and the school STRONGLY encouraged us not to (she is an excellent student - A's). We always book our vacations around her school breaks. When it comes to our daughters education, school takes priority!

 

[jx3smom]

Ours had no problems right on through high school. One was in AP courses and still did not fall behind. We always set time aside for homework everyday.

 

[Debbie in Townsville]

I've never taken them out for a whole week. I did take them out of school for a few days at a time (right before or after a 3 day weekend to give us a couple of extra vacation days). When DD was in fourth grade, SHE said she didn't want to miss any school days for vacations because she would come back and feel out of the loop. Her teachers never complained and her grades didn't suffer. After that we limited her time out of school, unless it was absolutely necessary.

But now we homeschool - so we vacation whenever we want!

 

[Patricia]

We took our girls out every year until my oldest entered HS. THe last two years for her, 7th and 8th were a bit tough but she was able to to it and maintain her grades. I have to say though, going in the summer without any hw along is a wonderful and free feeling and we wouldn't go back to the worry of "what am I missing" .A lot depends on the teacher. We had a few who were not helping in any way and just demanded that the work she missed be handed in on the day she returned. That is why she carried all of her books along and called a friend every night from the room to keep up. That was NOT fun! Good luck with your decision.

 

[Towncrier]

We've only taken the kids out of school for a vacation once, in January of this year. Our son was in 8th grade and our daughter in 6th. We let their teachers know the plans and both of my kids did their assignments ahead of time where possible. Our school system treated their absence as unexcused (since vacation is not a valid excuse). Their teachers did not have to let them make up any work, but fortunately our they did.

It turns out that the 4 days that we pulled our son out of school were the only 4 days that he missed during 8th grade. I felt kind of bad that he missed out on a perfect attendance certificate. But then again, he did get to take a cruise to St. Maarten and St. Thomas.

I guess your decision boils down to whether or not you think that your DS can catch up on the missed school work.

 

[luvdzny]

We started taking our kids out in 1st grade, they have missed at least 5 days a year due to WDW vacations since then. DS graduated in June, we took him out in Nov. of his senior year. He was never an honor roll student, but he had no problems. DD is always on the High Honor Roll, in Nov. she was in 7th grade, and had no problems either. In our family we fell that the time spent together at WDW is more important than anything they are missing in school.

 

[DVC-Don]

We had been taking the kids out of school every year for WDW vacations.

However, my son has had a hard time catching up lately. Next month he starts middle school and we are only going to WDW on school vacations from now on. My daughter has never had a hard time catching up though.

 

[Pinnie]

I guess it all depends on the district/school your child attends. Where I teach, the district strongly discourages vacations being taken during class time. They are considered "unexcused absences". The district sends out a newsletter at the beginning of the year that spells out the policy for unexcused absences so there are NO surprises.

There are certain assignments that really "can't" be made up such as group work, special labs, etc.

When my kids were in school, I never took them out for a vacation. I wanted to instill in them the value of school and I wanted them to know that school was their "work". I always felt that they were provided ample days off during the year and that it was more important to be in school than stand in a shorter line.

Right now, as a teacher, I am under pressure to have kids perform well, and I can't do it if they aren't there.

Just MHO...no flamers please.



Pin
remember the magic
DVC/BCV 2002

 

[pollyanna]

Only two days ,and always right before X-Mass break when things started to "slow down".October is in the middle of the first half of school year, and probably a vERY busy time.

I think this is one thing folks with very young kids who buy into the DVC don't think about.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

I think middle school would probably be the cutoff for me. Since I'm a teacher I can't take mine out, except for our 2 days last December when I used my personal days to see the Christmas decorations!! That won't happen again. I know that soon summers will also be busy with various camps, etc. so I've planned next summer around 4th of July week, when I know most camps/programs will have the 3rd and 4th off so they will only miss 3 days.
If you do take kids out of school, please check the school schedule first for state tests, etc. We always have our proficiency tests for 9th graders in October. Also watch for exams.
Robin M.

 

[AF Brenda]

Ours are still young (starting first grade and third grade), and this past year was the first time we took them out for a vacation. They missed 8 school days, and it was no problem whatsoever. The teachers were happy to work with us, and much of the work was done before the kids even left school.

As they grow older, we'll see how it goes, but as long as the kids are doing well in school and the school doesn't have a problem with it, we'll continue to take them out for WDW vacations.

 

[CamColt]

Since my oldest is just starting Kindergarten, this really isnt an issue yet, and my opinion may change. The way I feel now though, is as long as the kids are good students and can handle making up the missed work, I would have no problem with taking them out at any age. I feel family time and what they learn on the trips cant compare to a week of classroom activity.
I was taken out of school 3 times for vacations, the last time I was 9th grade and my sister was 12th. We both did fine. And, the nuns who you would think would be the strict ones, actually thought going to WDW on a family vacation was wonderful!

 

[Mic]

Elementary school seemed to be a lot easier to catch up than middle. My oldest DD was in the 6th grade the last time we took a week off, and she had no trouble making the work up. We submitted the request 6 weeks before the trip, and the principal had no problem with it. Her teachers were very accomodating as well, letting her do most of the work before we even left. By the 7th grade, though, she was just too busy for us to try it. She was on Student Council, a cheerleader, in band, etc. She did miss 2 days in 8th grade, but that was the limit. We have a week-long trip planned this Oct.during their Fall break, and just found out that the High School will cheer and play football the week school is out. I booked a cruise on the Wonder for that week(assuming there would be no conflicts, other than the 3 soccer games we would miss on Sat. for my 3 youngest kids), so my daughter will just have to miss that 1 football game. I discussed it with her cheerleading coach a few days ago, and she seemed surprised that athletes did not have the week off. I am really going to hate being restricted to summer/holiday vacationing, but I see it coming!