What would you do? So confused...update

[hollymattbenmilo]

Hi! I did this with ben last year, he started in sept part time and went full time in jan, we went in nov... didnt miss anything.. he was only part time, and he didnt loose anything from taking time out. i think before they are doing exams, there is nothing wrong with takign them out, i have friends who home educate their children... infact this is a road i am thinking about taking myself... and the children do really well. its only 5 days! or 2.5 days.. if part time! haha, it will be fine, we went in nov and it was lovely and quiet!

 

[frontier_matt]

hi littlemermaid -

i think this is an absolute no-brainer. take the time away. your little one won't miss anything that can't be caught up in a couple of evenings. in fact, if you feel bad about it, take a book or two and do some reading together while you're away. it's easy to obsess over little stuff like this as a parent, but 5 half-days of school will make no difference in the long run. especially, like you say, if she is used to the school already from being in reception class. she'll know the faces, and adapt to the routine.

the absences shouldn't be recorded as unauthorised - tell them that it's a pre-booked holiday, nothing you could do about the dates - but even if they are, don't worry about it - it's not like you'll have educational welfare on your case for 5 days absence.

everyone has their opinion and i'm sure some will be different to mine, but i'm a parent of 3 and a teacher, and that's my 2p worth.

matt.

 

[joolz1910]

Hiya Emma, I had this dilemma last year. My middle DD started school in Sept 2008 and we booked our DLRP break for Jan 2009. We went in the second week of Jan, once they had gone back to school and she missed Mon - Wed, as did my eldest. I had no hesitation in taking her out as it was the cheapest time of year to go. I would have thought twice about the first few weeks in September, but after that, any time was fair game to me!

I wouldn't have wanted her to miss the first 2-3 weeks in Sept or Christmas week (nativity etc) but that is a personal choice. As has been pointed out, your DD is not legally required to attend school until she's 5. It's your choice, but why not consider January?

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

Hiya Emma, I had this dilemma last year. My middle DD started school in Sept 2008 and we booked our DLRP break for Jan 2009. We went in the second week of Jan, once they had gone back to school and she missed Mon - Wed, as did my eldest. I had no hesitation in taking her out as it was the cheapest time of year to go. I would have thought twice about the first few weeks in September, but after that, any time was fair game to me!

I wouldn't have wanted her to miss the first 2-3 weeks in Sept or Christmas week (nativity etc) but that is a personal choice. As has been pointed out, your DD is not legally required to attend school until she's 5. It's your choice, but why not consider January?

January!!! There is no way i can do that to myself again

 

[PJackson]

Hi Emma

Sorry only just saw your message. You've got to do what you think is right at the end of the day and what you feel comfortable with.

My DD is on week 4 now and is still nowhere near au fait with it all - and as I said, she is one of the more able children in there (with regard to dressing/speech etc) - from day one they were expected to dress/undress for PE, ask for the food they wanted at lunch (choice of 3), hold their trays, get their cutlery - it goes on and on. I was totally shocked by how much they expect but as Britchic says some of it has been filtered in along the way so not all together. It is a huge jump from preschool nursery to school - I really didn't know how much but maybe that is just DD's school?

If you recall, I did think about taking DD1 out of school this term earlier in the year but decided against it - hence our trip end Aug before she started. Being totally honest, I'm so pleased I did not take her out - even though she is still only doing part days - starts full days next week. The first two weeks the class was split in half, this meant the teacher only had half a class and was able to get to know the children much better as lower numbers etc. DD1 has had homework from day one - I think that is quite tough in Reception and a lot of people have said it's a bit much - she has coped quite well with it but it is a lot! I have that many books I have to take different days of the week I've had to make a rota

Do what you think is right Emma - you know Kyra best and know how she will handle school. But I will say that although my DD has handled starting v well, she has been overwhelmed by how much there is to do/learn etc. And I believe having taken her out in the first 5-6 weeks of term for a holiday, would not have helped her looking at her now.

I agree that maybe Jan would be a good time. She will be well settled by then. My friend has done this the last 2 years with her DD1 (she is now in year one so did it in Reception and year one). She says it works well although it's v v cold

Hope you get it sorted - it's awful when all of a sudden you feel trapped by school holidays They start school so young!!!

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

Hi Emma

Sorry only just saw your message. You've got to do what you think is right at the end of the day and what you feel comfortable with.

My DD is on week 4 now and is still nowhere near au fait with it all - and as I said, she is one of the more able children in there (with regard to dressing/speech etc) - from day one they were expected to dress/undress for PE, ask for the food they wanted at lunch (choice of 3), hold their trays, get their cutlery - it goes on and on. I was totally shocked by how much they expect but as Britchic says some of it has been filtered in along the way so not all together. It is a huge jump from preschool nursery to school - I really didn't know how much but maybe that is just DD's school?

If you recall, I did think about taking DD1 out of school this term earlier in the year but decided against it - hence our trip end Aug before she started. Being totally honest, I'm so pleased I did not take her out - even though she is still only doing part days - starts full days next week. The first two weeks the class was split in half, this meant the teacher only had half a class and was able to get to know the children much better as lower numbers etc. DD1 has had homework from day one - I think that is quite tough in Reception and a lot of people have said it's a bit much - she has coped quite well with it but it is a lot! I have that many books I have to take different days of the week I've had to make a rota

Do what you think is right Emma - you know Kyra best and know how she will handle school. But I will say that although my DD has handled starting v well, she has been overwhelmed by how much there is to do/learn etc. And I believe having taken her out in the first 5-6 weeks of term for a holiday, would not have helped her looking at her now.

I agree that maybe Jan would be a good time. She will be well settled by then. My friend has done this the last 2 years with her DD1 (she is now in year one so did it in Reception and year one). She says it works well although it's v v cold

Hope you get it sorted - it's awful when all of a sudden you feel trapped by school holidays They start school so young!!!

Maybe i was a bit naive but i had no idea they did PE in reception.....well i have never seen them doing any in the reception area of Kyra's school. I also thought it was play based and they didn't really do anything except play? I thought they started all that acedemic stuff in Yr1.

 

[joolz1910]

Emma, get your thermals out and go in Jan! You could easily afford HNY with all the offers they throw at you. It was £1200 for all 5 of us at DLH with dining and flights this year. Get on the website and price it up...go on, you know you want to.

OK, I've done it for you - HNY 10th -13th Jan (all meals included, under 12's go free, no insurance or transportation = £508.

 

[buttercup1982]

My DS has just started reception and he does P.E too. It is play based but they also learn quite a lot too. They have just started learning phonics and are due to start swimming lessons in a couple of weeks too.
If I was in your position Emma I would take her out of school, it's only for a few days. Sadly I can only take school holidays off work and with how busy and expensive August was for us, I'm not sure when we'll be going back If she was older, taking exams then I'm not sure but I know my DS was settled in within a week. This might have been because he already knew the teachers but I think it depends on the child. Hope you figure it out

 

[britchic4]

Maybe i was a bit naive but i had no idea they did PE in reception.....well i have never seen them doing any in the reception area of Kyra's school. I also thought it was play based and they didn't really do anything except play? I thought they started all that acedemic stuff in Yr1.

No they certainly do PE but probably in the school hall rather than outside.
Of course there is lots of play but they start to learn to read and write in reception. DD won't start to get a book to take home until after half term but then she'll be on Oxford Reading Tree and need to read to us every night. Some schools do start earlier. But although she doesn't get a reading book until November she will have done stuff in class before then. I remember when DS got his first book with words in I couldn't believe it that he could read Kipper, Biff and all the other names of Oxford Reading Tree. They also do lots of number work and even some simple experiments - ie seeing if things float etc rather than using bunsen burners, LOL! It is a big leap to Year One where there isn't much playing, but Reception is certainly where the learning starts.

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

Emma, get your thermals out and go in Jan! You could easily afford HNY with all the offers they throw at you. It was £1200 for all 5 of us at DLH with dining and flights this year. Get on the website and price it up...go on, you know you want to.

OK, I've done it for you - HNY 10th -13th Jan (all meals included, under 12's go free, no insurance or transportation = £508.

Thats for this Janaury and I can't afford to go that soon sadly

Robbing a bank really isn't a option for me anymore

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

I spoke to DD's nursery teachers this morning and asked bout taking time off next October, they said obv holidays during term times need to be authorised but because she won't start full time till after October it wont be detrimental to her education if we missed a few days of Reception class.

Obv if the head doesnt authorise it i will have to pay a fine but whats £50 when if i went during half term i'd paying a extra £200 etc....

Gonna see how DD gets on when she starts going for lunch with the Reception class after Christmas before i make a final decision.

 

[hollymattbenmilo]

Maybe i was a bit naive but i had no idea they did PE in reception.....well i have never seen them doing any in the reception area of Kyra's school. I also thought it was play based and they didn't really do anything except play? I thought they started all that acedemic stuff in Yr1.

no, its alot more acedemic then i expected... ben had the odd spelling test, they have homework, they do pe, have sports day etc. Year 1 is much harder though, ben isnt very happy starting year 1

BUT, there is no harm them having time off, with bens epilepsy developing, he has so so much time off and didnt fall behind. xx

 

[PJackson]

Glad that you have a plan now Emma - at least you have a while to see how it goes

I have to say, it may be my DD's school but she does get a lot of homework already. She's had reading books from day 2! Albeit they are picture books at the moment but it won't be long before it's words as well. She also has a sound book which she has homework for every night As well as a home-school news book that has to be filled in every weekend - oh and sight words to learn by Christmas

I've spoken to lots of parents at the school who say Reception is really hard for them but then in Year One it tails off You would think it would be the other way but apparently they all go into Year One way ahead of the game (or nearly all of them) so Year One isn't such a challenge. Not sure how happy I feel about this but the parents of the school seem very happy so it must work for most kids! Plus the Reception teacher has been there about 7 years and is thought v highly of with Ofsted and parents etc so something must be working!

I asked my DD's nursery teacher about taking time out in the first term of school (this was earlier this year before I booked Aug) and she said she would not advise it due to settling in period etc. She also gave me the 'line' of no child has a right to time out in school time etc - it has to be applied for and cannot be guaranteed etc etc.

I'm with Buttercup - didn't hugely enjoy our Aug trip tbh so not sure I'd choose to go again then - in fact any school holiday puts me off If we do go back during the school holidays it would prob be a day trip as DH is hoping to get a job in London next year which will mean we are v near Eurostar. Yes, it will be busy, but as it would only be a day we'd just do the sightseeing and a few bits and not get too anxious about doing too much I think. Plus, we then can go home to our 'beds' of a night and not worry about busy hotels etc!

 

[wideeyes]

Well she would miss Mon-Friday.

Seeing as I'm getting a free Eurostar ticket or half my return journey free I think i will go during the 2nd week of October, i would rather her miss a morning or afternoon session at Reception then full days which will start after October half term.

She will at least be at school a good 4 weeks before we went, by then i'm sure she would of settled into reception life......Not ideal but the best i can figure out right now. Its either that or don't go at all.

I wouldn't worry about 5 days to be honest if it was my DD. You know your DD best so I would make the decision on how you think she will cope with time socially & academically, all children are different so someones experience on here may not apply to your DD.

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

Found out today from one of the mums who little boy is in reception that they start full time on Monday, so now my going 1st week of October is out the question esp if this is how

I think I'm probably going to take her out the last week of September instead.

Why can't my little girl stay 3 forever???