When do you stop your kids from missing school for WDW?

[Sillyminny40]

Our eldest had to miss grade ten work and oh my gosh! Not a good idea. Up till now it has been no problem.
We can only go at Christmas and we HATE crowds. What does a Canadian do when kids are doing pre-calc etc and are good students? Manitoba math is a real ride for them and they can't miss a thing!
Your experience and comments?

 

[wee-haggis]

Our eldest had to miss grade ten work and oh my gosh! Not a good idea. Up till now it has been no problem.
We can only go at Christmas and we HATE crowds. What does a Canadian do when kids are doing pre-calc etc and are good students? Manitoba math is a real ride for them and they can't miss a thing!
Your experience and comments?

My kids are now in grade 10 and 11 and we have taken them out for several days at a time for the past 3 years (as well as their early school years).
Personally ,we have never encountered a problem. The teachers were helpful (we sent a message to each one them requesting a document indicating the catch-up work they would have to do). In some cases they took the work with them to WDW and in other cases we allowed at least a couple of days where they could do their catch-up upon their return home.
Luckily for us this has never been a problem and the teachers were very helpful and co-operative...for the most part. (they all indicated that our kids were good students and they had no problem with doing this).
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that it is up to you whether you think your kids will have any problem keeping up with their school work or whether the school will give you a hastle when you bring it to their atention.

 

[Ham Ham]

Our DD 13 is entering high school this fall.

My DW doesn't want her to miss any days during her first year. I don't think it is that important but will get behind my wife on this decision.

I think that choosing the time of year, length of the absences and students academic performance is more critical when choosing dates to pull them out of school for a vacation.

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

My ds' is starting gr 9 in the Fall too and I'm thinking that vacations are going to have to be put into March break, summer and Cmas for us for a few years. He struggles enough with school as it is that I'm sure missing won't help him any!!

 

[minnie56]

When they hit Grade 10 and up....Not worth the stress they had about what they'd be missing and the catching up after! DH always felt even though the homework would get completed, those days lost, were never recovered and there would be things they would miss and never know. Not life altering- but something that made me think.

 

[disyady]

We started taking our annual WDW vacation in late August when our now 18- year old daughter who is in her first year of college started High School in 2003. My youngest 2 daughters are 13 and in Grade 7, so we are finally getting an April trip in a few days - . Once they start HS in 09 we will be back to late August only.

 

[esdras]

We started taking our annual WDW vacation in late August when our now 18- year old daughter who is in her first year of college started High School in 2003. My youngest 2 daughters are 13 and in Grade 7, so we are finally getting an April trip in a few days - . Once they start HS in 09 we will be back to late August only.

Here's a second for going in very late August or early September. Generally, if your kids are in elementary grades, you can probably get away with missing the first week of school after Labour Day - we did that in '06 where our son missed the first week of Grade 1. It didn't seem to cause any problems at all.

This year we are planning on going until Labour Day itself - flying back on the Tuesday. This will mean that he misses the first day of Grade 3 - again, shouldn't be a problem.

Once kids are in high school - some can miss a week, especially right at the beginning of the year, without a problem. Others, not so much. If you can book the last week of August, that can be one of the best times to go - but there are still drawbacks. Benefits include the fact that one of Disney's best promos (Free Dining) has included at least the last full week of August (except for the Bounceback '08 offer), and since most schools in the southern U.S. have been back in session for about a week or so, the parks are less crowded - the week after Labour Day is even better for low crowds though.

The drawbacks - it IS hurricane season. While this won't likely affect Disney World itself - the risk is flights in/out of Orlando being delayed or cancelled. We've gone twice during hurricane season though and had no problems.

The second drawback - the HEAT! The humidity is just gross. But, if you are smart and get to the parks first thing as the open, have an early lunch, take a break in the afternoon and return after dinner, you can often avoid the worst of the heat and the longest lines of the day (from about 11am to 4pm).

In some ways, we would rather go at a different time - when the weather is better - a little less hot, but still great for swimming there, and when there aren't hurricane risks. BUT, those times would require our kids missing school during the main part of the school year, the parks might be busier (definitely the case during March Break and Christmas break), Free Dining would not be offered, and some of those times will be during higher rate seasons.

Considering all the options and the pros and cons, we feel that a late August or very early September is the best time for us - it works in terms of school, cost, and park crowds.

 

[SandraC]

DD14 is in the 9th grade. She misses A LOT of school already because of her Sick Kids days [she was born very ill and still needs constant care].

HOWEVER, I don't mind taking her out of school for vacations. I think vacations feed the spirit as much as math feeds her academics.

Next year, she'll be in grade 10 and I want to go to Disney World in April. DH says, NOPE, make in March Break.....but I LOVE going in April!

So, we debate.

 

[disneymath]

... missing school for a vacation isn't such a big deal as long as parents (and students) use some general common sense:

1. Check your child's school year calendar ... report card dates, exam dates, and new semester start dates are clearly listed. As a rule, don't plan a vacation in those last weeks leading up to exams or a report card! It is generaly better to miss classes early in the semester.

2. Check you child's course schedule ... plan your vacation during the child's "easier" semester if at all possible. For example, if your child really struggles in math, don't take them out of school during that semester unless absolutely necessary.

3. Minimize the days a student will be absent ... try to attach vacations to school holidays or teacher PD days. A student who isn't strong academically will likely have trouble catching up on a week's worth of work. While average to strong students would probably be fine with a week, longer than that could see things get difficult. In a semestered high school, two weeks of class is a long time to miss! Also, if your child misses a lot of school for other reasons (illness, sports, extracurricular involvement), you may not want to add on more missed days for a trip.

4. Give teachers plenty of notice so that they can prepare work. Please keep in mind that for extended trips (more than a few days) it may be difficult for a teacher to judge exactly what will be covered while your student is gone ... they may only be able to provide some of the work before you leave. There may very well be more work waiting for students when they return. Also, make sure your child is prepared to put in some of his or her own time when he or she returns from the trip. For example, your child may have to wait to do a science lab until he or she returns from vacation - and this may need to be done during lunch hour or after school.

Guess that's it. For what it's worth, I have provided work for a number of students who have gone on vacation during the school year. For those that prepared ahead of time, and were willing to do what it takes to catch up on missed work, it was usually not a big deal and the child's grades did not suffer in the least!

 

[East Coaster]

We allowed our children to miss 2 weeks of school in grade 10 and 11 with no real problems. My oldest was in grade 11 on our last trip and you might say I bribed him! He struggled with math so I asked him to speak to the teacher the month before we were leaving and ask her for extra homework and the pages she would be going over while we were away. Then I challenged him to have the math work all done (with the teacher's approval), the deal was if it was finished before we left I would get on any rollercoaster he wanted me to. Of course he picked the big green thing (Hulk) at Universal and I chickened out!! But when we got Disney I rode Rockn Roller Coaster just to make him happy! He did manage to graduate with honors, so I guess it really didn't hurt to miss a few weeks of school after all.

 

[Disneyof3]

The first year we took a vacation my kids were younger and I took them out of school for a week and 1 day. Now 5 years later I only take them out of school for 2-3 days and that is it. Now things might be different once they hit high school. Right now they seem to be fine and catch up with no problem. So far also the teachers have been sending them on there trip with minimal homework. I also like the threads above check the calendar and see if any important tests are being done that week also. In Ontario there is these EQA tests for certain grades by the government and they don't like any kids missing them no matter what. My girlfriend's daughter last year had to do it before they went away while the rest of the kids did it on the scheduled dates. This past March, my son did all his homework and while we were away the schools were closed due to the snow storms. When my son got back he was ahead of the class and did nothing the first 2 days back:sad

 

[tgropp]

Our children always came with us until they entered university. I figured that if I was paying that kind of money for them to go to school, they should miss as little as possible. When the children were in High School I always let them decide if they felt that they could afford to miss school and only once when my daughter was in grade 12 was that she felt she could'nt miss a week so she came with us on the Saturday and went home on the Tuesday, thus only missing two days. That was the first year that Grade 13 was phased out and my daughter felt that she needed the best grades possible to get into university since she was competing with both grade 12 and 13 students.

 

[dreamscometrue101]

Since my divorce, my DS spends all school breaks and holidays with his dad in BC so any and all vacations we take need to happen during the school year. I try to work the vacations around long weekends or quiet times for him at school, but it's not always possible.

Our first trip to WDW was the 2nd and 3rd week of September, just into the start of the school year. Workload wise it didn't cause any problems, but he missed signing up for extra-curricular activities.

For our next trip, we are going the 3-13th of February '09. DS will be in his first year of Junior high and that time should be relatively quiet for him. I am also taking my niece (kindergarten) and newphew (grade 2) and it will be their first time being pulled out of school so I'm hoping it doesn't impact them too much.

I find that when I do take my son out of class for a week to go on vacation, he's much more focused on his work when he gets back. He needs the mental break, just like the rest of us.

 

[disneymath]

This past March, my son did all his homework and while we were away the schools were closed due to the snow storms. When my son got back he was ahead of the class and did nothing the first 2 days back:sad

... it's always tricky to balance out how much work is "enough" to send versus how much is "too much" ... unpredictable events such as snow days make it necessary for everyone involved to be a bit flexible ... maybe there'll be catching up to do - maybe there'll be none - maybe there'll even be some relaxed days as the class catches up to you!

 

[F4disneyfan]

Our eldest had to miss grade ten work and oh my gosh! Not a good idea. Up till now it has been no problem.
We can only go at Christmas and we HATE crowds. What does a Canadian do when kids are doing pre-calc etc and are good students? Manitoba math is a real ride for them and they can't miss a thing!
Your experience and comments?

Well our oldest is only in grade 6 but we will have no quams about taking her to Disney or any of the kids for that matter for 2 weeks a year and having her and the others miss school. It will ultimatley be up to them if they no longer wish to go and miss school if they want to come with us they will be missing school for it.