When do you tell the teacher about a vacation?

[SDSorority]

We are leaving in a month. My 3rd grader will miss 3 days of school. The decison has been made, so it's not debatable.

How much notice do we give?

For me- ASAP.

 

[olwyngdh]

I talked to my DDs teacher at the Parent/Teacher conference yesterday, even though we aren't going until May. I let her know that we are planning on doing the Epcot Passport and the AK Journal while we are there, and that I am printing off the trip journal I found on line. She is excited about seeing those things when DD comes back and is going to try to figure out how to work the passport into a geography lesson.

Her only concern is that when we are going is when they will be doing the reviews for SOL tests. She is going to let me know if there are areas that she is weak in at that point, and we will, together, figure out what I can do to help her with whatever review she is missing, although at this point, we think keeping the trip journal will help as writing is currently her weakest area.

All she wants me to do is remind her a couple weeks before we go, but we both figure that my DD will do a very good job of doing that reminding herself! (This trip is her birthday celebration, and she has been in on all the planning.)

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

This might sound odd, but I talked about it with administrators before we even chose the school for our kids... that was about 9 mos. ahead! We are DVC members and have the dates set far in advance, so I discussed it with them then to see if there was an issue with it.

The Principal told us that they would work with us - no problem. She said that we could mention it to the teachers now briefly, and remind them a couple of weeks before.

As others have said, though, policies and expectations here vary WILDLY from district to district, and even school to school. I would personally always check with the school as soon as I had dates in mind.

 

[disneyfab]

I always give pre warning about a month or so out and tell them that I will send a written letter a week ahead to remind them.

This is exactly what I did. I told them a month beforehand and sent a written note the week beforehand.

 

[MickeyMinnie1971]

But here is the kicker, and I know this is hard to believe, but we were standing in line for a ride on our first day there and my daughter's teacher and her family were in line in front of us. What are the chances this could ever happen?

We saw my son's science teacher in front of EE a couple of weeks ago. We were on fall break though.

I have taken my children out of school several times. I always gave the teachers a couple of weeks notice, and they would give them their work before we left.

 

[chirogrrl]

I sent an e-mail one month beforehand. I sent it to both kids' teachers and the principal. I also spoke with both teachers individually to see if they had any concerns (they both said "have a great time, wish I could come along")!

We leave this Friday and I will send a reminder e-mail to the teachers on Thursday morning, since we are picking them up at lunchtime on Friday to catch our flight.

We have pulled them out for anwhere from 2 days-5 days over the past 3 years for Disney trips and have not had any problems!

Have fun on your trip!!

 

[ccgirl]

we told our son's teacher as soon as we knew...the first week of school for a Dec trip

This is exactly what we do. We usually book many months in advance and let the school know as soon as we book. We had out parent/teacher conference last week and reminded her again. She said she still had my note so we are all set. I will still send in a reminder note the week before we leave. This is for a December trip as well.

I have to admit, I was nervous in the beginning of the year. Her teacher seems very strict. During the parent/teacher conference I asked her if there was anything I should have her do (they make up work when they get back, none is given ahead of time). She just said to let her pay with change if she could. We also mentioned we were excited to see Christmas Around The World at Epcot. She got all excited and say that she is actually teaching a lesson on that and was thrilled Katie would be seeing this first hand. So, I found the Christmas Around the World journal on the Creative Disigns board and she will be doing that. We will try to pick up a little something at each country as well and she can do a little presentation. No extra credit work or anything but she can keep her writing skills up and it's always good to practice speaking in front of an audience.

 

[binab]

I told DD's teacher (2nd grade) about a month ago and then sent a reminder email a week ago. (We leave tomorrow and she will also miss 3 days.) I wasn't sure how it would be taken, but she was excited for DD. DD hasn't missed a day of school this year and does well scholastically. (Can you use that word about 2nd grade?!)

When I dropped DD off at school this morning, the prinicpal came up to me and said she heard that we were going to Disney and could she stow away in our suitcase!? I was relieved that it does not seem to be an issue.

 

[Riviera510]

I let my daughter's 2nd grade teacher know at meet the teacher night but am writing a letter right now to give to her. We are going the week after Thanksgiving.


My twins Kindergarten teacher knew we were going last year. She was also my oldest K teacher and I saw her often last year when volunteering in the school. She had her first Disney trip in May and is really excited for our family. I am writing her a letter though as well (for her files) and plan to give it to her this week.

What's really weird though is her teaching partner (whom I know as well) is taking her family for their first trip to Disney... the same week we are... and staying at the same hotel.

Small world!

 

[ldeflavia]

I just sent an email to my daughter's 3rd grade teacher yesterday. She'll be missing 5 days of school starting 12/6 so gave about a month's notice. This will give the teacher time to compile the work my daughter needs to do while she's out. Our school district also requires a form to be filled out and that needs to be done at least 5 days prior to the absences. But I wanted to give the teacher more notification than that just out of respect.

 

[ancestry]

1st - you need to get a copy of your school district's handbook and see what the policy and procedures are. Some schools are informal and you just let the teacher know -- other require forms filled out and approval by the principal, etc. It really does vary greatly. Some require that you need to let them know by x days in advanced, others have no requirement.

2nd - Our school is one of the informal ones. No notice is required, etc. I usually let the teachers know verbally long in advance and then send in a reminder letter in writing about a week out. Most teacher's won't remember if you tell them too far in advance.

 

[missminniemouse]

I told our 5th grader's teacher about our November trip at the beginning of the school year. I feel it's best to let the teacher know as early as possible that a child will be gone. The kids will miss 5 days of school.

Our 10th grade daughter just got her official slip filled out at school last week, but I'm sure the teachers were all well aware of the trip a long time ago. She never stops talking Disney. She's doing a speech for English class this week all about Mickey Mouse. Can you tell she's getting excited to head to WDW? She got all of her Biology homework for vacation already yesterday. She's hoping to get it finished yet this week. Now if she could get her Algebra homework and get ahead on that it would make for a much nicer time for all of us.

I think teachers appreciate as much notice as possible. I know that we've always expected our children to bring homework along on the trip to keep up with their classes. Teachers appreciate the lead time to get those things ready in advance.

 

[ancestry]

I just sent an email to my daughter's 3rd grade teacher yesterday. She'll be missing 5 days of school starting 12/6 so gave about a month's notice. This will give the teacher time to compile the work my daughter needs to do while she's out. Our school district also requires a form to be filled out and that needs to be done at least 5 days prior to the absences. But I wanted to give the teacher more notification than that just out of respect.

Just as an alternative side -- the teacher's in our district request that you don't give them the official notice this far in advance. This far out they easily forget or simply don't know how far along the class will be at that point. While teacher's do lesson plans, the plans frequently change and get modified. It is difficult to determine exactly what page they will be on 30 days or more in advance. Our usually prefer the official notice about one week in advance.

 

[Rachie0507]

I plan to send notes in 3 weeks before and follow-up with the teachers the next week during Parent/Teacher conferences. I also send a note a couple of days before we leave as a reminder. We've done it this way a few times before and it works well.

 

[AuroraMeansDawn]

I emailed the principal, got approval, got the form from the attendance officer and got it signed by each teacher and get the assigments they can give in advance and have my kid work on them if he can and realize he can make other stuff up when we get back.

It's pretty standard. We are missing two and a half days of school and I made sure it wasn't around midterms or finals but leading up to a major holiday break when they won't be doing much anyway.

And then I tell the teacher, "See ya real soon. Why? Because we're going to Walt Disney World. Can we bring you anything?"

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

Our emails went out yesterday, most of DD16's teachers knew from her telling them and DD11 and DD8's teachers know from them, but the official emails went out yesterday, just over 2 weeks before our trip. We used to give more warning telling them at Open House but they would always say 2 weeks notice was all they needed so we have started doing that. A couple of DD16's teachers have already emailed us back that her work will either be online or will be sent home with her the Friday before we leave so she can spend the weekend getting a head start on it. We have not yet heard back from the other teachers but assume it will be the same. Chemistry will be the hardest for her to catch up on, but she will only miss 2 lab days and he has open labs after school daily so she will be able to make them up then. All of her work is due back the day we return for full credit but with 40+ hours in the car, she will have no trouble with that!

 

[DisneyaHolic23]

I am a teacher, and personally, I just like a good week's notice. (Advance notice is nice, but with 150 students, I am likely to forget, and I really want to put effort into the work I create for the students - I don't just want it to be "busy-work", but feel strongly that I want to keep my students on track as much as possible.)

I hope this doesn't start something, but I had to say one thing about the comment about teachers having so much time off. While it is true that we have several unpaid breaks throughout the year, I am only able to travel during the busiest and most expensive times of the year - summer, Christmas, Spring break... I am very glad my district allows us to be professionals and use our professional leave for short family trips. Just like many of you, my vacations are based on my husband's work schedule, so it is nice that I am allowed to extend a three-day weekend by taking a couple of personal days during a non-busy time... Not complaining - just explaining...

 

[LuvLDM]

I always send a brief e-mail 2 weeks before we are scheduled to leave. I have never had a problem, never had to contact administration.

 

[LWatson]

We told DS4's pre-k teachers back in October because we wanted to give them enough time to think of things they would want him to do while there. Since we will be going the week after christmas break (hubby couldnt get leave during) and have to have a letter from the commander sent to the school (and he requires us to work w/ the teacher on coming up w/ a way to continue education while gone and he wants that b4 he will write it up) we needed a good amount of notice. But, the official letter will be 3wks out.

 

[nicki.momof3]

Dear Mrs. ___________

(Childs name) is going to be absent from school _____ to _______ due to a family vacation. If possible could you please send home any work he will miss.

No need for some silly excuse letter - you are going on vacation - tell the truth.

As a teacher I really appreciate when a parent is honest about why the child is missing school. I HATE those silly - it is an education Diseny vacation letter.