Would you take your child out 2 extra days to save $150?

[KathyM2]

I wouldn't bat an eye over it either. I'd take them out if there was no financial savings and we do that every year - our kids are 12 and 9 now. As long as you explain to them that yes, school is important but so is family time and travel. They are learning at that age no matter where they are - and often a whole lot more than when they are in school. Just my two cents.

 

[monica9]

No, I wouldn't do it. In fact, I wouldn't pull kids out of school for Disney period. I think it sends the wrong message to the kids about priorities. I know others do it all the time, this is just my opinion.

True, and everyone's opinion matters but I believe it depends on which priorities are important to you as they are different for everybody. For some, sending the message that school and education are more important than vacation whereas another person who might have grown up with working parents that never did anything with them because work came first would want to send the message to the child that family time is priority one above all and sometimes it's ok to break the routine and spend time with family. I'm glad the latter was not my situation growing up by I know far too many people who were were in that situation.
I beleive it's all about balance. Fall vacations just work best for our family.

 

[Allison]

Nope.

 

[prudence64]

I would not if s/he was already missing a week. We pulled my 3rd grader for 3 days and although I don't regret it, it caused her stress when she returned. Then, she ended up missing 3 more days with strep. You never know what can happen so I wouldn't push it.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Would you still save based on needing extra hotel days, food, etc? Or will you be staying with family so the extra expenses would be minimal?

Yeah it's always "just the airfare" but that's two extra hotels, lots more meals, possibly park tickets and rental car etc... It all adds up pretty quick

7 days is a lot even in 2nd grade. Most teachers aren't going to bend over backwards to assist you with this, and honestly they shouldn't have to so... And yes, the work she gets to do takes "five minutes" but that's because it's reinforcement of what she did during the day LOL! If your child is only learning for five minutes a day I would be looking for a new school

 

[anniemae]

She explained that it is the same number of days, just Wed to Wed instead of Sat to Sat, so no extra hotel or meals.

 

[BattyKoda]

We are currently trying to decide whether to pull our daughter out for five days next Sept, she will be in third grade, so this is a great thread.

There have been some really good comments here. We were looking at early Sept, which would mean only a couple of days after the school year started. Her current teacher said that she didn't see an issue with it, based on how she is currently doing... but some of the comments make me wonder if maybe we shouldn't either wait or go earlier (we are scheduled for first week in Sept but want to change it for a week later).

Thanks for starting this thread.

 

[cmorris303]

I am teacher and a parent. Here's the way I look at it: You are never going to have that same exact opportunity to make the memories you will make on this trip (especially if you have some extra money to spend). I also don't think that you will look back on the memories and regret having had her miss the two extra days of school.

 

[cmorris303]

We are currently trying to decide whether to pull our daughter out for five days next Sept, she will be in third grade, so this is a great thread.

There have been some really good comments here. We were looking at early Sept, which would mean only a couple of days after the school year started. Her current teacher said that she didn't see an issue with it, based on how she is currently doing... but some of the comments make me wonder if maybe we shouldn't either wait or go earlier (we are scheduled for first week in Sept but want to change it for a week later).

Thanks for starting this thread.

I teach third grade and have had quite a few students miss time in September for vacations. I cannot remember any of them that had a hard time adjusting when they came back. Unless your daughter is starting a new school and doesn't already know anyone, I really think she'll be fine. She'll remember this trip for years, but she won't remember missing the beginning of school by the end of the year.

 

[lauradis]

I am a teacher and I would say this... whether or not I consider it inappropriate depends on a couple factors:

1. Does the child struggle in school? (In your case, OP, you say, no... so no worries if that's true)
2. Total length of vacation/disconnection with school. For instance, I have an average student currently leaving for a two week vacation. Then, upon returning, the school goes on it's week-long break. It amounts to three consecutive weeks without instruction. That's iffy.

In general, I don't disapprove of this. I understand families can save a lot of money vacationing in the "off season."

I will note that from my perspective the OP's mind seems quite made up already and that this post was really not looking for the pros and cons, more just hoping for affirmation of her own point of view to use in her discourse with her husband. Just the way I read the thread. Just my opinion. *shrug*

Don't forget that some families cant take vacations during the peak off school times, due to parents demands at work during the perk travel season.

Which is a blessing and a curse with children in school.

 

[senadler]

We have taken our kids out of school for trips, so I don't have an issue with that. But if the savings are only $150 for the same time at Disney, I would minimize the missed time at school and pay the extra money. If the savings were more, or the crowd levels very different, I might consider the extra time off.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

I say go for it! The magical memories from Disney are much more important than 2 missed days of school, at least that's my opinion!


Have a wonderful trip!

 

[supersnoop]

I am teacher and a parent. Here's the way I look at it: You are never going to have that same exact opportunity to make the memories you will make on this trip (especially if you have some extra money to spend). I also don't think that you will look back on the memories and regret having had her miss the two extra days of school.

This makes no sense. "Never going to have the exact same opportunity?" "If you have some extra money to spend?" They do have the exact same opportunity; at least five days overlap. She's taking two extra days out of school to save $150. With "extra money to spend," she can have the vacation and not miss the extra days of school.

 

[anniemae]

We are currently trying to decide whether to pull our daughter out for five days next Sept, she will be in third grade, so this is a great thread.

There have been some really good comments here. We were looking at early Sept, which would mean only a couple of days after the school year started. Her current teacher said that she didn't see an issue with it, based on how she is currently doing... but some of the comments make me wonder if maybe we shouldn't either wait or go earlier (we are scheduled for first week in Sept but want to change it for a week later).

Thanks for starting this thread.

I think you will be fine. Sept will be much less crowded, I would not switch it to earlier. My dd is in third grade and a bunch of kids took a week off to go to Disney in Oct.

 

[monica9]

I really don't think she is going to fall behind. That is not my problem at all. She and only 3 other kids get taken out for both math and reading for advanced studies and get work during the day that is above grade level. The homework she is getting is yes, reinforced throughout the day but she already knows the work before the teacher teaches it. I'm not saying she is a genius and this might not be the case a few grades from now but for some reason she and a few others are way ahead with math and reading as I know all classes have kids like this and at this point I can say she will learn a lot more science, history etc and physical fitness on her vacation than she would in school!

I'm not trying to get my mind persuaded to take the extra time, just seeing how others felt about this situation but now that I'm typing this, it really all depends on the child's situation.

These are all great comments though so please keep them coming if they don't help our situation, hopefully they help someone else's!

 

[jerivera]

Oh fun! One of the "should my kids skip a few days of school" threads! Yay!

Here's the deal: Some folk immediately get on their soapbox and insist if you take your child out of school for any days it will immediately start a downwards spiral of irresponsibility that eventually leads to bad grades, gang membership, and probably tattoos and piercings. They cite as proof: "personal opinion/nothing".

Some other folk don't see the problem with taking their kids out for 2 (or more) weeks. They... well in the end, they just don't care, really.

MOST folk are likely going to fall somewhere in the middle. Especially in Elementary School, missing a couple of days isn't going to lead to your kids not understanding differential equations.

My two cents:

If for whatever reason (financial, work related, other), this is the best time to take your vacation, go for it.

If this is a "once in a lifetime" (as in you prob won't be doing it again for several years if ever again) kind of trip, go for it.

If it's for a longish period of time (say 5 days of missed school) either talk to the teachers on what material they'll be covering and try to cover it while you're on vacation, or just take some books for them to read at night and maybe a math workbook for them to do while they're in Disney. Spending time with the WHOLE family is as important as learning to be responsible. Lifelong memories and all that. I just probably wouldn't make it a yearly habit.

If it's more than 5 days, I'd probably not add the 2 days.

If it's just 2 days they're missing, and your kids are in Elementary, then seriously I really don't think you'll need to worry about your kids somehow thinking school is not important (they go the rest of the year), or go into a downwards spiral and end up joining the neighborhood tricycle bike gang.

 

[Disfan1968]

Don't forget that some families cant take vacations during the peak off school times, due to parents demands at work during the perk travel season.

Which is a blessing and a curse with children in school.

I don't think you understood me (or maybe I wasn't clear enough). I was saying exactly that... that some people are forced to vacation during certain times of the years due to their various "real life" constraints. But, for some, vacationing in say, October, is valuable because for them, money is the constraint, and the only way they can afford to do Disney is to go during the cut rate off season pricing. Point I was making is that telling anyone they "should vacation during any certain time" is not considerate of the many factors that might play into their decision making. So I think we agree?

 

[ArwenMarie]

Oh fun! One of the "should my kids skip a few days of school" threads! Yay!

Here's the deal: Some folk immediately get on their soapbox and insist if you take your child out of school for any days it will immediately start a downwards spiral of irresponsibility that eventually leads to bad grades, gang membership, and probably tattoos and piercings. They cite as proof: "personal opinion/nothing".

Some other folk don't see the problem with taking their kids out for 2 (or more) weeks. They... well in the end, they just don't care, really.

MOST folk are likely going to fall somewhere in the middle. Especially in Elementary School, missing a couple of days isn't going to lead to your kids not understanding differential equations.

My two cents:

If for whatever reason (financial, work related, other), this is the best time to take your vacation, go for it.

If this is a "once in a lifetime" (as in you prob won't be doing it again for several years if ever again) kind of trip, go for it.

If it's for a longish period of time (say 5 days of missed school) either talk to the teachers on what material they'll be covering and try to cover it while you're on vacation, or just take some books for them to read at night and maybe a math workbook for them to do while they're in Disney. Spending time with the WHOLE family is as important as learning to be responsible. Lifelong memories and all that. I just probably wouldn't make it a yearly habit.

If it's more than 5 days, I'd probably not add the 2 days.

If it's just 2 days they're missing, and your kids are in Elementary, then seriously I really don't think you'll need to worry about your kids somehow thinking school is not important (they go the rest of the year), or go into a downwards spiral and end up joining the neighborhood tricycle bike gang.

And when they are adults, their success, and more importantly their happiness and self-fulfillment, will probably not be dependent on whether you took them out or didn't take them out to go to WDW, but will be based on their own talents and interests and how they chose to pursue them.

 

[MrInfinity]

DH doesn't want to, I say we should. Prices keep going up. I've heard the best time to get flights is 6-8 weeks beforehand but can't take that chance since we will be locked in once our ADR's are set at 180 days. $150 doesn't sound like much but it all adds up. That could pay for our Aloha Show.

If this is the same number of days Wed-Wed vs Sat-Sat then I think there is no reason whatsoever to pull them out longer just to save $150. It would be different if you were trying to plan something a little differently to fit in what you want to do, or to meet family, or to do this and that, or whatever. But Wed-Wed is terribly inefficient, gets them a Mon-Tue in school and a later Thu-Fri the day after returning. Those are broken, the Thu they'll be exhausted and have no interest in doing makeup work when you get home Wed night. Compare to otherwise coming back on a Sat and having Sun to recover. The $150, while it is true that every little bit counts only counts inasmuch as it's not costing you in other ways. Presumably you can afford the trip, so you don't need the $150 to make it happen, so I would get those Saturday flights in an instant. You're leveraging 9 days off (a week plus the weekend before and after) for an 8-day trip which makes everything fit nicer.

As you put it, you'd essentially get the Aloha show paid for. Well, for 2 days of school and a schedule that fits way nicer, I'd sooner skip one TS meal and get those Saturday flights.

 

[monica9]

If this is the same number of days Wed-Wed vs Sat-Sat then I think there is no reason whatsoever to pull them out longer just to save $150. It would be different if you were trying to plan something a little differently to fit in what you want to do, or to meet family, or to do this and that, or whatever. But Wed-Wed is terribly inefficient, gets them a Mon-Tue in school and a later Thu-Fri the day after returning. Those are broken, the Thu they'll be exhausted and have no interest in doing makeup work when you get home Wed night. Compare to otherwise coming back on a Sat and having Sun to recover. The $150, while it is true that every little bit counts only counts inasmuch as it's not costing you in other ways. Presumably you can afford the trip, so you don't need the $150 to make it happen, so I would get those Saturday flights in an instant. You're leveraging 9 days off (a week plus the weekend before and after) for an 8-day trip which makes everything fit nicer.

As you put it, you'd essentially get the Aloha show paid for. Well, for 2 days of school and a schedule that fits way nicer, I'd sooner skip one TS meal and get those Saturday flights.

Very good comment!