Which days for kids to miss school? Can any teachers help?

[triplefigs]

We are planning a 4 day trip to go to MNSSHP next October. My triplets will be entering Kindergarten August 2006. I have 2 options for missing school, and I would appreciate any teachers (public school especially) chiming in.

Option 1: go the end of Sept/beginning of October when it is value season. The kids would miss 3 full days of Kindergarten.

Option 2: Go Oct 18-22 when the kids have 3 half-days for teacher conferences (they get out at 12 noon). That means I'd miss the parent/teacher conference and have to schedule them for a different time.

Since they've never been in public school before, is it better to miss 3 full regular days or 3 half-days which means I'd also miss their conferences? Which days would the teachers be less upset over them missing?

Thanks for any help and insight!

 

[sarahsmom73]

I'm a teacher (Please don't flame me) and my guess would be the 3 half days.. It seems like not much gets accompished on these days. At our school the teachers do conferences on days other than official conference days if necessary and it has never been a problem. However, I have always said if I weren't a teacher I WOULD pully my kids out of school to go to Disney... BTW, my DD (my first) will start kindergarten in September..

Good Luck with your decision!

 

[KeepSwimming]

As a former teacher, I also would recommend the half days. I often had to reschedule parent/teacher meetings for various reasons and never had a problem as long as proper notice was given.

Also, (I'd say please don't flame me, but I could care less ) I find that half days are a waste of everyones time. I always had some brief lesson plan for the day, but with the excitement of the short school day very little was ever accomplished. The children were always on overdrive and too excited about the half day for me to accomplish much. I spent many of those "half days" wondering why I bothered to show up!!!

Have fun at Disney!

 

[staci]

I have my teaching degree but I stay home with ds.

I would go with the 3 1/2 days as well. End of September school is just finally getting into full swing, and I would think that the trip may not be at the best time.

As far as 1/2 days, really not that much gets accomplished anyways. Especially during conferance week. The teachers are busy preparing for conferences, they have their mind on them, more than likely they are not going to introduce new concepts during a week with 3 early dismissals and 20 conferences they need to prepare for. jmho

 

[sarahsmom73]

We in fact have a half day today... Tons of people are already leaving or have left for Thanksgiving.. WE are in fact leaving after school... And I really do agree that the half days are a waste of everyones time!

 

[pedro2112]

At Kindergarten it really shouldn't make that much of a difference when you pull the kids out of school. This will become a big issue as they get older.

Seeing that all of the teachers who posted are suggesting that the 1/2 days are the best to miss, I'd go with the experts on that one!

 

[TammyJ]

I'm not a teacher but my daughter routinely has half days at her kindergarten (every Monday!). And it always sounds the same...not much happens. I'd definitely pick the half days. Just be sure to be appreciative to your teacher if she has to schedule a special time for your conference.

 

[CleveRocks]

At Kindergarten it really shouldn't make that much of a difference when you pull the kids out of school. This will become a big issue as they get older.

Seeing that all of the teachers who posted are suggesting that the 1/2 days are the best to miss, I'd go with the experts on that one!

I don't know how things are at the schools in North Central Illinois, but here in my small South Jersey beach town kindergarten is chock full of academics. My son is learning more in kindergarten than I did! I just recall finger painting and story time and roleplaying and stuff like that. I know that we were not taught to read until 1st grade. It's November and my son is reading, and he couldn't read in September when he started kindergarten. He's a super-bright kid who already knew a lot of things, but MAN has he learned a lot over the past 2 months. I wouldn't pull him out of too many full days in kindergarten because I'd be afraid of him missing too much. Even after my father died last month the only day my son was out of school was the day of the funeral. Just my experiences ....

-- Eric

 

[Pinnie]

Here in the district in which I teach, we have a literacy based kindergarten and our kids are already reading and doing journal work on their own. By January, they are expected to take a 12 sentence dictation and write each word in a square.

I don't claim to know what your curriculum looks like, but I'd go with the half days, too. I urge you to remember that the teacher is going to have to reschedule 3 conferences for you, so even with the minimum of 20 minutes each, that is going to be an hour that she will have to find to sit down with you.

pinnie

 

[Blondiex46]

this is the first time I am taking any kids out of school for a vacation in 25 years (different kids obviously) and will be taking monday and tuesday next week

 

[Marimar]

You have great advice already, but have to say...

Yikes! I guess I should feel guilty for pulling dd out for a whole week and a half! She is in KG, btw and we will be taking along all the materials that her class will be working on while we are away. I am going to ask her teacher to give her an extra assignment dealing w/Disney for dd to present to the whole class as well.

I should, but I don't! She will have many days of school, but only be able to celebrate her sixth w/Cindy once in her lifetime!

 

[jodifla]

Here in the district in which I teach, we have a literacy based kindergarten and our kids are already reading and doing journal work on their own. By January, they are expected to take a 12 sentence dictation and write each word in a square.

I don't claim to know what your curriculum looks like, but I'd go with the half days, too. I urge you to remember that the teacher is going to have to reschedule 3 conferences for you, so even with the minimum of 20 minutes each, that is going to be an hour that she will have to find to sit down with you.

pinnie

Oh my god! What part of Michigan is this in? 12 sentence dictation in kindergarten?

 

[rileyroosmom]

You and I are from the same county and I wanted you to be aware of how strict they are regarding absences. A vacation is considered an unexcused absence. Excessive absences, early check-outs or late check ins may have the family referred to the School Social Worker, Juvenille Court, State Court and or Department of Family and Children Services. A parent who violates the compulsory education law shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof, shall be subject to a fine not less than $25.00 and not greater than $100.00, imprisonment not to exceed 30 days, community service or any combination of such penalties a the discretion of the court having jursidiction. Each day's absence from school is considered a violation.

I've heard of people receiving a court summons after returning from vacation.
3 late check ins/early releases equal 1 unexcused absence.

Just wanted you to know because your trip is early in the school year and you never know what can happen. The 3 1/2 days you are considering will be 3 unexcused absences.

Over Labor Weekend I took my middle schooler out early so we could go to Florida to see my father in the hospital. The absence was considered unexcused because I didn't get a note from my dad's doctor!

Just wanted you to know.

 

[jodifla]

You and I are from the same county and I wanted you to be aware of how strict they are regarding absences. A vacation is considered an unexcused absence. Excessive absences, early check-outs or late check ins may have the family referred to the School Social Worker, Juvenille Court, State Court and or Department of Family and Children Services. A parent who violates the compulsory education law shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof, shall be subject to a fine not less than $25.00 and not greater than $100.00, imprisonment not to exceed 30 days, community service or any combination of such penalties a the discretion of the court having jursidiction. Each day's absence from school is considered a violation.

I've heard of people receiving a court summons after returning from vacation.
3 late check ins/early releases equal 1 unexcused absence.

Just wanted you to know because your trip is early in the school year and you never know what can happen. The 3 1/2 days you are considering will be 3 unexcused absences.

Over Labor Weekend I took my middle schooler out early so we could go to Florida to see my father in the hospital. The absence was considered unexcused because I didn't get a note from my dad's doctor!

Just wanted you to know.

And this is when I'd have a lawyer. Parents in school districts like these need to let school boards know who has control of their family's life.

It's an abuse of power, pure and simple. Sorry you had to go through that, and hope your dad is doing better.

 

[triplefigs]

You and I are from the same county and I wanted you to be aware of how strict they are regarding absences. A vacation is considered an unexcused absence. Excessive absences, early check-outs or late check ins may have the family referred to the School Social Worker, Juvenille Court, State Court and or Department of Family and Children Services. A parent who violates the compulsory education law shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof, shall be subject to a fine not less than $25.00 and not greater than $100.00, imprisonment not to exceed 30 days, community service or any combination of such penalties a the discretion of the court having jursidiction. Each day's absence from school is considered a violation.

I've heard of people receiving a court summons after returning from vacation.
3 late check ins/early releases equal 1 unexcused absence.

Just wanted you to know because your trip is early in the school year and you never know what can happen. The 3 1/2 days you are considering will be 3 unexcused absences.

Over Labor Weekend I took my middle schooler out early so we could go to Florida to see my father in the hospital. The absence was considered unexcused because I didn't get a note from my dad's doctor!

Just wanted you to know.

How many unexcused absences does Forsyth allow? Fulton and Gwinnett each allow 5. I'll take my chances.

 

[rileyroosmom]

I was going through my student handbook and I couldn't find a number. Just says "excessive" I thought last year year it said 5. Strange how I can't find the number.

Last year my kids missed 2 days for our WDW trip. I wrote a note (a note must be sent in within 5 days of the student's return to school) saying they missed school due to family matters. They were marked unexcused. My dh called the principal of the middle school. He was understanding, understanding the need for family trips etc. said it is a district policy. Forsyth is trying to distance themselves from the rest of Georgia in academic standards.

Have fun on your trip, just wanted to give you a heads up!

 

[triplefigs]

I was going through my student handbook and I couldn't find a number. Just says "excessive" I thought last year year it said 5. Strange how I can't find the number.

Last year my kids missed 2 days for our WDW trip. I wrote a note (a note must be sent in within 5 days of the student's return to school) saying they missed school due to family matters. They were marked unexcused. My dh called the principal of the middle school. He was understanding, understanding the need for family trips etc. said it is a district policy. Forsyth is trying to distance themselves from the rest of Georgia in academic standards.

Have fun on your trip, just wanted to give you a heads up!

Thanks for the info. This would be our only vacation next year. I'm with your DH!

I just searched Forsyth Co on-line and only found "excessive" too. We will probably check them out around noon on Wed and then they'd miss 2 full days (Thurs and Fri). If the school feels 2.5 days is excessive, then I'll deal with that. I will let the teachers know ahead of time (can't hide a Disney trip!) to see if the kids need to do anything extra. I don't think we're going the school conference week as it is bad timing for DH. Looks like we'll go Oct 25-29, so they will have been in school 2 full months.

Thanks for checking for the days.

 

[Pinnie]

Oh my god! What part of Michigan is this in? 12 sentence dictation in kindergarten?

Suburban public school district outside of Detroit. We are MEAP driven in this state!!!

pinnie

 

[patchchild]

Another teacher poking her head in.

For kindergarten, go and have fun. The half days are probably better since much less gets done those days, but even missing three days of regular school shouldn't be that big an issue. Please let the teacher know, see if there's anything she'd like you to work on while you're gone, and then go enjoy yourself.

Most of us are fine to have one less conference during conference day. They can be crazy! Just be flexible with the teacher when finding a time to meet either before or after the vacation to chat.

 

[jodifla]

Suburban public school district outside of Detroit. We are MEAP driven in this state!!!

pinnie

I am also currently in a suburban school district outside of Detroit. And since kindergarten is not even a required grade in the state, how can this be?