Pulling kids out of school?

[Chris0517]

I hope I'm not the only one pulling my kids ages 6 and 9 out of school for a week to go on vacation....I just hope my son does not fall too far behind in a week and I hope the teachers do not give me a hard time - I'm going to give them a month's notice to gather the work the them...any thoughts???

 

[mudnuri]

They are still elementary...I cant see what he issue would be. I'll be pulling out my 6 &7 DDs out for 6 days- 1 prior to spring break, and 5 after. I have already told the principal, and now just have to send in a note to the teachers. I'm going to let them know the first week of April, and then just before we leave remind them, and see what DD's need...Normally at our school, they only have to keep a vacation journal. then they tell the class about their trip upon return.

The one thing I will be doing this year is stopping at Boarder's before we leave and stocking up on the book series that DD's are into ...Junie B Jones, Magic Tree House etc... that way they keep up on their reading while we're gone. Both of them have to read for 20 minutes a night for homework. I"m sure they'll read 2-3 books on our way down/back.

FYI, I'm not asking for permission to take DD's out..I'm telling the school when they'll be gone, and not telling them where...just we are taking a family vacation and will be gone from x to y

Brandy

 

[Efastpitch]

Go ahead and pull your kids out of school if you wish, but don't expect the teacher to provide you with make up work or test. Sorry your kids lose the right to the make up work because of your decission to pull them out of class. Who does it hurt? Only your kids. Hey, but enjoy your vacation.

 

[HeatherC]

Hi - This always seems to be such a hot topic!!! I can see both sides of the picture, but my personal feeling is that if your kids are doing well in school, it won't hurt them in the long run. Many years from now, will anyone remember what they were doing in school that week? But...I can pretty much guarantee you will all remember the time you spent together on a family vacation. Of course, if a child is struggling, I'm not sure if I would pull them out for a full week. Maybe go over a holiday weekend and stretch the time so they only miss 1 or 2 days. Just my 2Cents!
Heather C

 

[Goofynva]

We are pulling our 3 kids out of school in 2 weeks. I notified Principals and teachers over 1 month ago. My husband doesn't and will never get a vacation that goes along with our kids vacations. Is it fair to us as a family or the kids to never get to spend one whole week with thier family learning and experiencing life in different ways? Yes we do 3 day mini trips sometimes 4 but it is not the same as a whole week. We will do this one more time next year. When my oldest gets to High School im sure we will be too busy.

 

[Kevs mom]

I am taking my DS 12, DD 9, and DS 6, out of school next week to go to WDW. Like HeatherC mentioned I chose a week where they have no school on Monday, 1/2 day on Tuesday and Thursday so they will only be missing 2 full days of school. The principals at both the middle school and elementary school excused the absence when I talked to them over a month ago and their teachers have been very supportive, they've already sent them home work to do on the trip so they won't fall behind, my DS 12 science teacher actually sent me the following e-mail -

"I am so jealous.. Have a nice vacation.. I'll make sure Brian is back in the loop upon his return..He is one of the hardest working students I have. Make sure he eats an orange for me while he 's in The Sunshine state.

Have Fun."

I really don't see a problem with it, my kids rarely miss a day of school for anything and they are all excellent students, plus you can't beat the fact that you really enjoy those "off-peak" times in the park more then you do when it is packed! Have fun everyone, school will still be there when you get home

 

[goofy4tink]

I really envy those of you with school systems that work with you. I took my dd, 10, out for a Fri, Mon, Tues, and Wed 2 weeks before Christmas. I told the teachers a month before. Now, I don't expect them to make up packets so my dd doesn't miss anything. Afterall, it's my choice to take her out, but......when we got home, she was given a pile of work about 1" thick to make up! There was a copy of every single piece of paper her class had touched. It took her a week to catch up and do her regular work. Poor kid really needed vacation this year!! I love to travel in Oct or Nov but from now on we'll be back to going in August again. It's just too big an issue when we get back. My dh hates the idea of taking her out of school and this just confirmed his feelings. I think that time with the family is important too. Ah well. He has to be right about something, might as well be this!

 

[Debs5angels]

I never wanted to say this because I can just imagine the response that I will get. But I am for the first time pulling my kids out of school the first week in December. They will be in 11th,9th,6th and two in 1st grades. My husband at first was dead set against it. But then he thought and said any kid could get sick and miss a week of school! I figure I would let all the teachers know way ahead of time. I also told my girls that if they really wanted to go then they would have to really work hard to catch up when they came back. I'm hoping being that it's the beginning of December that there won't be to much going on in class like there would be if I waited to go around this time of year. With mid-terms and all. Good Luck to all who pulls their kids out and wish me luck! Enjoy your trips too!!!!

 

[willow]

we are pulling out our senior and freshman. We've done this before. The problem this year is this... They normally have a 5 day weekend in Feb. (Thur-Mon) well, we had 5 days worth of snow after Christmas break, which not only meant they were out of school for an extra week but now the district has to find days in which to make them up! Well, long story short, instead of missing 3 days of school for our WDW vacation they will be missing 5! My senior is cruising through the year and should have no problem, but I worry about the freshman. Well, this is a once in a life time trip for our family so I guess I won't worry too much.

countin' down the days...hours....and minutes till I get on that plane!!

Willow

 

[Goofynva]

My kids know there is alot of extra work for missing one week. I think the kids should have to work a little harder to get something as wonderful as a trip to sunny Florida in Winter, not to mention a week in the "World". My oldest knows that if he misses another day after we get back he will have to go to Saturday school. That is a chance he wants to take. I even suggested to the Principal that he do this before we leave but she said she wouldn't worry about it until he misses his 6th day. Im glad we will get to do this again this year. I can't wait!!!!!!!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

I never dealt with this before but I see this year I will have to since the 3ds go to 2 different schools. Easter break for the younger 2 is good friday and the whole next week. The hs sophmore has off the week before easter and 2 days after easter. But according to the flights we can get,. I will have oldest ds missing 1 day of school and the younger ones will miss 3 days of school. They are also good students so it wont be a problem. So its the best we can do price wise, school wise, and also with dh work schedules. I will also ask the teachers for the work ahead of time. The youngest ones will probably not do good on the makeup work since their school has an accelerated learning curriculum, but its only l grade so it shouldnt affect their quarter grades too much. The older they get the harder the time frames, work etc. is harder to juggle. I hope all goes well for you.

 

[Jackie824]

This is always a hot topic. We are taking my son out of school for a week the first week of May when we drive down to Disney. We have taken him out every yr since Kindergarten. Its really never been that big of a problem, most of the time the techers give him work to do for the ride down. Hes never failed a grade because hes been taken out of school.
I know alot of people dont like this idea. But, for our family it works.

 

[toystoryduo]

Before becoming a SAHM to my two girls (ages 3 and 1), I taught fifth grade in a Christian school. We had several families that would take their children out of school each year for a vacation. I didn't really mind as long as the parents gave me advanced notice. That way, I could prepare their classwork in advance at my own pace and not have to rush around looking for worksheets, reading assignments, e.t.c.

Since we plan on homeschooling our girls, I think that I can convince the "principal" to pull our kids out of school for a Disney vacation. All kidding aside though... we are planning a family vacation with 15 members of DH's family for the first week in December. (Maybe we'll see you there Debs5angels! ) I am concerned that my BIL and SIL will wait until the last minute to inform the teachers of the vacation. I am not sure what our local school district's policy is on Vacation Absences, but I am sure that the teachers would appreciate the advanced notice like I did.
Any suggestions on how to handle this issue with the in laws?

Thanks! Have a great time with your families at WDW everyone!

 

[Efastpitch]

I can't believe all the excuses for justifying taking your kids out of school. You can come up with all types of excuses, but it still comes down to what you want and not what is best for your child.

I still believe that if you take your child out of school just so you can go on vacation, you should not expect to have make up work or test's provide for you by the teacher.

As to you could get sick, and miss a weeks worth of school. What happens if you take a week off to go to WDW, and you get sick when you get home. Now you have missed two weeks.

Your child's education is very important. Put WDW off until the summer.

 

[Whitegloves]

As the parents of 3 children...23,20 & 12...we have in the past taken our children out of school for vacation. The last few years we haven't had to but this May we will be taking our 12 yr. old out for the trip to WDW for his sister’s wedding.
We have taken family vacations as often as possible over the years. When we have had to take the kids out of school they never had any problems catching up, the teachers were usually pretty good about helping and often times I tried to get work done before we left, if it was possible.
IMHO, it is erroneous to assume taking a child out of school for a family vacation will hurt their education. So far my first two have graduated with honors and make the Dean's list at college. One of the things they have told me, as adults, is how important the vacation and family time were to them. (They still are, we all still vacation together as a family.)
Who is to say that knowledge can only be gained in a classroom setting?

 

[Jana49]

Whitegloves - I agree wholeheartedly that it is wrong to assume that taking a child out of school for a vacation is not in their best interest! I think it depends upon the child in question! No, I would not take a struggling or failing child out for even 1 day of vacation, but a good student is not harmed by a week out.

Thankfully, our local school system has a policy where, with 2 weeks notification, they will get the assignments together beforehand, for the duration of the vacation. So then, who is hurt by this?

Chris0517 - go ahead and enjoy this time with your family and leave the guilt behind!

Jana

 

[EpcotLover]

aahhhh...the debates of what is good parenting...gotta love it.

As an employee of a public school system and mental health professional, let me put in my two cents.

First off, I would believe that any one posting on the DIS forums are loving parents invested in the happiness of their children and families. We all spend time planning Disney trips, for Pete's sake! So no one should be accusing anyone of not keeping their children's best interest at heart.

Secondly, I agree with the majority of this thread that family trips, be it two, five or ten days together are definitely educational and essential to the well being of our young people.

My last point and then I'll quit, I promise. For those of us whose vacations are "told" to us, we don't get to choose, it can be very frustrating to have to go to WDW when the "masses" are there and when our spouses may not be able to take the same vacations. So, take it when you can get it! Life is short, spend the time with your children while they still want to spend time with you.

If that's an excuse to take my kids out of school...then my children are better for it, and I am better for it.

 

[4greatboys]

Gee Efastpitch it must be nice to be an expert on everyones family. You cannot begin to know what is best for every child and family
I have taken my kids out of school several times for trips. Their grades were the same (all good) before and after our trip. They did rec make up work. Many teachers do not mind given the kids make up work. They dont all have you "to bad so sad" attitude.
I do not understand why people cannot express their opinions like yes we do take our kids out or no we dont without feeling the need to put down others.
At teh end of the road my kids are still getting a good education and great family vacations--not an excuse but a fact.

To the OP--sorry to get a little OT and if your kids are doing well in school then it shouldnt be a problem for them when they return. However if they have a hard time in school then I probably would wait til they had a break. Good luck with whatever you decide

 

[willow]

Thank you and AMEN!!

 

[mslangen]

Hi,

While reading this thread I understand that taking children out of scool for a Disney or other vacation is really easy?
I'm from the Netherlands in Europe. In our country there is a sort of learning law. Every child starting at 5 years old, up to 16 years old has to go to scool five days a week. Of course children are free from scool during the vacations the scool has scheduled.
If parents choose to take their children elsware instead of bringing them to scool they are handling against the law.
Only if the parents can prove that they can't go on vacation during the scheduled vacations they can request permission for that by the local mayor of the city they live. (or something like that) If the parents own a tourist company like running a hotel and need to work there when everyone is on vacation they are permitted to take their children out of scool. If someone not owns, but works for such a company, by law the company needs to give a worker a minimum of two consecutive weeks vacation during the time scools are closed if a worker has children and request that a few months ahead of time.
The only matters when you can take children from scool without a problem is: Wedding day from near family members.
Wedding day (12,5 / 25 / 50 years) from near family members
If someone died in the family (one day)
If you transfer between houses (one day)
Going to the doctor
If the child is Ill.

I know some scools are tolerate in some cases about taking children out of scool, but officially if a child isn't present at school without a legal notice they officially need to report to the police office. Many times the parents tells their child is ill and go on vacation anyway.

Aren't there any of those laws in the USA and is it legal to take children out of scool as you please and after you have informed the scool?

Marcel.