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

[Toby'sFriend]

I took my oldest son out of 6th Grade for 4 days last year.

It was ok -- but he did have to spend some vacation time working on his assignments. Math was the biggest problem. I especially didn't want him falling behind in Math, so we did an assignment worksheet every day of the vacation.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

I don't have kids but my sister & her kids come along with me every other year.

Last year my older niece had a devil of a time catching up...I don't think she actually made it & wound up with lower grades for the year. Next year, guess what, we will be going around their vacations.

Realistically the cut off is somewhere between 6th and 8th grade. Grades 9 through 12 are the ones that count for college and you don't want to take them out and THEN find out that you shouldn't have. For the middle school students (6 through 8) I wouldn't go in October...that's a time of year with at most just one holiday. I'd go for Nov & Dec and even the first week in January...

 

[Princess_Aurora]

Well, I get to see it from two perspectives. The first time I went to WDW was my senior year of HS. I missed a Thur, Fri, and Mon. I was responsible for getting my make-up work ahead of time and I finished it all upon returning back. There was one small price for this though...A day in Saturday school to make up my absenses (of course, I had gone over since I had previously missed some days and we're only allowed to miss 10 per school year.) I would GLADLY pay that price again if I had to because it was worth getting to go to Disney World

Now I have two kids. One will start school next year. I already have a plan laid out. Leave on Wed evening after school, return Monday evening so they can go back to school Tuesday. Then when they get old enough if they can't catch up with their school work, then mom and dad get to go and they can stay with grandma . Or their grandma can bring them up after school on Friday and we'll return Monday so at least they can spend a few days there.

I REFUSE to go to Disney during peek season. How can anyone get anything done then???

 

[NancyIL]

My kids missed school the week after Thanksgiving last year, and they were in 6th, 9th, and 12th grades. The year before, oldest DD missed 3 weeks of school when we were in Europe. I wouldn't hesitate to have my own kids miss school during K-12. College is a different story.

 

[JerseyJanice]

I think it depends on your school system; some are quite flexible, others not.

I took my son out of his last "week" of kindergarten to go to WDW this past June. That week was actually 4 half-days, so he missed only two days in reality.

We will plan our trips in late August/early September or in June as he gets older and missing school is a bigger deal. I'm not sure how that effects your DVC points, but we hope crowds will be lesser than going in the middle of summer or Christmas and Easter breaks.

 

[Laurabearz]

We are going to pull our kids out of school for family vacations to WDWuntil they are in 6th or 7 th grade..... We may pull them out when they are older, but never for WDW... for family trips to Williamsburg, Va, Washington DC and other such places....... Just because I think 14 and 15 years old is the perfect time to visit historical sites........

But heck.... I could be wrong!

 

[Terry S]

Pinnie.... My kids are in Elementary school in a Livonia Public School and they are fine with family vacations. (I noticed that is where you live, I know it is not necessarily where you teach). I did notice in the Livonia Dialogue (School/City Flyer) that they frown on absenteeism for the middle school and high school though.

 

[ZerasPride]

We are dealing with this problem right now with our DS. He starts high school next week and we've taken him out of school for each of our Disney trips except one where we left a few days before school ended in June.

He has asked specifically that we do not take him out of school because it is getting very hard for him to catch up when we return. I respect that. Now that he is in high school I was concerned about taking him out for the three days before the Thanksgiving break but our school has added the Wednesday before (some kind of teacher day) and now he will only miss 2 days so I don't feel so bad and DS is fine with missing just the 2 days.

Since we are DVC and the 11 month window is so important, I am trying to plan a strategy for the next couple of years to satisfy my son's school schedule and my hubby's work schedule (which are clashing). I think next year we'll stay at our home resort (Hilton Head) beginning the day after Xmas (winter break for DS and DH's plant closes the last two weeks of the year) for 10 days returning home the day before school resumes. Now 2004 is another issue but someone suggested the time around 4th of July - that might work - I appreciated this thread, it has given me some good ideas!

 

[4greatboys]

Mamu..only 2 days a semester? Thats harsh. Our kids can miss up to 10% of class time (about 9 days) with an excused absence. Sounds like missing a few or there wouldnt be that hard but my oldest ds has block scheduling--means they go to 4 classes one day and 4 other classes the next day. So he can only miss 4 of each. Out of town doesnt count as an excused abs. here. I will prob still take them out sometimes but it will have to be a day or 2 following a long weekend. And just as I get my 2 oldest out of school to vacation whenever I like, I have 2 little ones just starting, lol. I am taking them out for 1 week at the end of Sept staying YC--cant wait to get there.

 

[manning]

quote

____________________________________________________
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.
____________________________________________________


This policy really bugs me! If the kids are able to do the work, pass the exams, and earn a promotion, then they should be passed. I'm from Illinois. It is more of an issue of getting money from the state. They allocate money based on attendance.

 

[AF Brenda]

I'm with you manning - as long as the kids can catch, I don't see why it should be a big deal.

I think that sometimes schools forget that they are NOT the parents, we are.

 

[leanne2255]

I agree with luzdzny- Spending time with family is sometimes more important than school. After all, how much time is left to spend vacations with your kids after they are out of high school? I take my DD's out once per year in November, and have never had a problem, though the HS is not too crazy about it. The girls have never had a problem with catching up.

 

[dalepool]

Our daughter graduated from high school this year---She also took college credits that doubled as HS credits--so she also has 1 year of college.

Jan/Feb we go to Hawaii--daughter has come over every year. Once stayed for 3 1/2 weeks ( grade school years). As she progressed in school her stays got a little shorter, until she was going for 10 days but only missing 3 days of school. ( got to love the teacher breaks, end of semester break, and presidents holiday).
No matter what I would have had her continue the trips as they were always learning experiences. She has gone swimming with the dolphins at Sea life park. She would go to the Honolulu Zoo everyday. She got to meet new friends from--Germany, Ireland, Japan, and Argentina to name a few, this besides the friends from other areas of the United States and Canada.

We never called the trips vacations----they were always called learning experences.

One word of advice----get home work done before you go and have each child keep a journal of the trip. My advice take kids out of school----It's only a short time and the school can have them the rest of the year.

My .02.

 

[aprincessmom]

It is my responsibility to ensure my child receives an education. Part of that requirement is making her physically available to be taught during the school year.

IMHO, it is inconsiderate to both the teacher and classroom to disrupt the learning process for your convenience.

(flame away!)

 

[AF Brenda]

IMHO, it is inconsiderate to both the teacher and classroom to disrupt the learning process for your convenience.

How is it disruptive if the kid isn't even in school? I would imagine that it would take one heck of a problem child to disrupt a class in Massachusetts all the way from Florida!

 

[kinlaw6450]

As long as he's keeping up with school why do you have to stop at all? My parents took us out all the way through graduation for WDW trips...

 

[aprincessmom]

How is it disruptive if the kid isn't even in school?

Because if a new skill or concept is taught while that child is not in the class, the teacher has to take time away from daily lessons to get that child up to speed with the rest of the class upon his or her return.

Disruption of daily lesson flow to provide individual attention because that child missed school is also disruptive to the other students who were in class during regularly scheduled class time.

Illness and emergencies can not typically be avoided. Vacations can.

My two SILs are elementary school teachers, both with over 20 years in education. It is now not uncommon for them and their collegues to avoid the introduction of any new concepts or skills during the ENTIRE months of February or April because parents schedule vacations throughout the month, rather than during the allotted time, to avoid crowds and cost. They joke that if they were to hold class independently during those two scheduled vacation weeks, they would most likely have 80% attendance rather than the 50% or less they have throughout that month.

To me, that is a disruption and inconvenience to the teacher and the classroom.

 

[AF Brenda]

Because if a new skill or concept is taught while that child is not in the class, the teacher has to take time away from daily lessons to get that child up to speed with the rest of the class upon his or her return.

Gee, this is a tough one. When we took our kids out in March, we were given the class assignments before we left. DH and I, the parents, without a teaching certificate or anything, were actually able to answer any questions that our kids had about their homework. Voila!!! No lost time when the kids came back, they were on top of everything, and the teacher didn't have to disrupt class to teach what they had missed.

Our teachers thought it was wonderful that we were able to take a family trip, and supported us completely. I guess that is the difference between teachers that are there for the kids and teachers that are there for the money.

 

[Kallison]

Oldest DS missed 3 days last year in 5th grade. He had a hard time catching up, he does not like to miss school, gets very worried and upset. It really depends on the individual student. Next year he starts middle school and has already told me - no way does he want to miss for trips. I can't even get him to skip a day of school with me to do something fun -- I was like "Who's kid are you?" My Mom used to occasionally take me and my bro out to go to NYC for the day. It didn't hurt us and we have some great memories.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

DH and I, the parents, without a teaching certificate or anything, were actually able to answer any questions that our kids had about their homework. Voila!!! No lost time when the kids came back, they were on top of everything, and the teacher didn't have to disrupt class to teach what they had missed.

yep. It wasn't that difficult. My son returned to his Algebra class ahead of the rest of the students - because the teacher hadn't covered as much material as she had anticipated when she gave us the assignment list.