Have you taken your kids out of school for vacation?

[Bee2u]

Oh and we are going during MEAP standardized testing time. I hate these tests. It seems the schools are always prepping kids for the test and reviewing so hopefully she wont miss much of anything new.

I wouldn't count on the teachers or schools being real cooperative since your children will miss a standardized test. Attendance during testing is a HUGE deal since it can effect a school's accreditation.

 

[luvmikids]

I wouldn't count on the teachers or schools being real cooperative since your children will miss a standardized test. Attendance during testing is a HUGE deal since it can effect a school's accreditation.

Oh she will be taking the test, its before we leave, I was just hoping that they dont start a ton of new information before testing and she wont miss too much before we get back.

 

[friend2Figment]

I have taken my kids out of school for vacation. Our school is good with family time and were great with homework. My kids for the most part do very well in school and have not had problems getting caught up.

You say it is other families going, well my kids have some of the funniest stories to tell about Grandma at Disney. They are special memories they will always have. We will be doing something special on our next trip in memory of her.

Sorry to hear of the damage caused by the storms. Hopefully your next trip you will be able to enjoy.

 

[wrighter]

Because I really wanted to get to MNSSHP, I convinced DH to let me pull our kids out last year for a WDW trip in October. They were in 1st and 3rd grade at the time, and the week they missed was a full week of half days due to school conferences. The school and teachers were aware of the trip at the start of the school year.

While both teachers were accommodating, it doesn't mean that we actually got all the work the kids needed in advance - and to be truthful I'm not even sure one of them got it once we returned!

The point I want to make is that even though we had an AWESOME trip - both of my kids said they would not like to miss school again. Even for Disney! They didn't like "missing stuff," and feeling like they were "behind." Their words, not mine. So in the future I would consider allowing them to miss a day - maybe two. But we'll do what we can to avoid it.

Every district is different. Teachers are different, families are different, kids are different. We tried it, but it looks like we're stuck with spring/summer/christmas break for the foreseeable future.

 

[KristiKat]

We have done it the past two years but always around a long holiday weekend so they usually only miss one day. In 2013 the school has changed up the holiday weekend that we usually go so that it's not as long so they will probably miss two days. We have had no problems so far getting assignments made up.

 

[dismichelle]

I'm thinking of taking the kids out next year at Thanksgiving. My elementary kid will be okay, but the other two will be 9th and 10th grade. They will miss the Friday before Thanksgiving and then the next Monday and Tuesday (school is out Wednesday-Friday anyway). I'm hoping that although they will miss 3 days of school, that it will only be one "real" day of work being missed. I'll pay attention this year, but I'm pretty sure that the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving are kind of "lazy" days, with not much really going on.

 

[princesskimberella]

We will be pulling ours rght before Christmas Break, we have a 3rd, 4th and 7th graders. I am honestly not worried about it. I made a mental note to see how the weeks leading up to break this past year was. All they will really be missing is busy work and class parties at the elementary level, nothing they could not make up durng the time we will be off between Christmas and New YEars. For my middle schooler, he does get modifications thru his IEP and I talked with his social worker and spec ed teacher before school was out for the summer and they said not to worry. He will have plenty of time to complete the heavily wieghted assignments and not to worry about busy work.

 

[Alice's Mommy]

I took my kids out of school. I had incredible guilt doing it though we had the best time!!! I scheduled it so that we only had to take the kids out of school for four days since the kids were out of school for Memorial Day. Would I do it again? Probably not, but I am happy that we were able to do it without issue for our first trip to WDW.

 

[Aliceacc]

I'm thinking of taking the kids out next year at Thanksgiving. My elementary kid will be okay, but the other two will be 9th and 10th grade. They will miss the Friday before Thanksgiving and then the next Monday and Tuesday (school is out Wednesday-Friday anyway). I'm hoping that although they will miss 3 days of school, that it will only be one "real" day of work being missed. I'll pay attention this year, but I'm pretty sure that the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving are kind of "lazy" days, with not much really going on.

I can't speak for other teachers.

But my 10th grade math classes don't do "lazy days."

 

[ain0004]

Hello, (we were too affected by the high wind storm and didn't get power back until monday of this week) We too are taking the kids out of school for the 1st time in Nov. Already spoke to our principal. We are taking them out partly before thanksgiving. They have that week off, so we have more time to make up when we return.
I'm looking forward to possibly lower crowds, and cooler weather.

 

[DisneyMom93]

We talk both our daughters out of school for Disney World. We just don't want to deal with the crowds during the various school vacation time and the heat during the summer.

We last took them out for 10 school days... for a total of 16 nights in Disney. (We were afraid 16 days would be too much but we would do it again in a heartbeat if we could.)

The teachers didn't give us a problem and they seemed accommodating enough, but they were only in Kindergarten and First Grade. I did find out that if we took them out for MORE THAN 10 consecutive days they would have to re-enroll. We didn't want that.

We are taking them out again at the end of October for 7 school days (a Friday, the following week, and a Monday). They will be in Second and Third Grade. We're hoping it will not be a problem. We plan to give the teachers advance notice. Possibly even the second week of school. (We want them to have the chance to get to know our children before we spring it on them.)

What we did was just politely inform them of our plans. We didn't "ask" them for "permission." We wrote each teacher and the Principal a letter. Our girls made up half the work before our trip and the other half when they got back.

I'm hoping no other parent is taking their kids out because I'm sure all this must give the teacher extra work and the more children that do it the more work for her. I actually feel bad about it. I feel guilty more so for the teacher than for my kids. They do well in school and I don't think it will affect them. I'm hoping we get the schoolwork BEFORE our trip so they can work on it before we go and maybe on the plane. I do not intend to have my children do schoolwork during vacation. It would be nice, but I don't see it happening. Unless maybe we bring it to the restaurants with us and they can do it while we wait for our meal, instead of coloring in the menus.

I'm not sure what we will do once our children are older, but it's nice to know we are not alone in this decision.

 

[agmmbolam426]

I took my daughter out of school for a week last year in September. I was so worried about her missing school! Well I wrote a letter to the school letting them know the dates should we be out and to please send home any work she needed to complete. It wasn't a big deal but I just had to make sure she didnt have many more unexcused absences for the year.

 

[Arynrm1]

I also take my kids out of school for vacation. We usually go in Sept for a week and the teachers have been fine. They gave us some work for the week that they got finished and they did fine.

This year we are going the week before Thanksgiving break. I'm hoping that the week will be slow since everyone will be winding down for the vacation. I have a 5th grader and 8th grader who take advanced classes.

I think after this year it will be hard to take them out during school, so we need to make this one count!

 

[Tara D]

We have taken my dd out of preschool. This year she will be in kindergarten and will miss seven days in feb. I'm not worried about it but I do feel bad for the teacher.

 

[katyjeka]

This is a sore subject with so many. We have 4 dd's and have traveled with them since birth. My dh's job will not allow him time off in the summer, or holidays. He has worked for the same company for 31 years, and they will not budge. Several people have suggested we make up a story, "funeral, for example" and not disclose our trip. This is something we will never do, so yes we take our children out of school and will continue to do so. I don't feel guilty and do not feel sorry for the teacher. They are paid to do a job, and sorry, that is part of their job. Our only other option is to not vacation. Our oldest is a honor student in highschool. We have been lucky as the teachers have been very understanding and helpful throughout the years. Our biggest complainers have been the coaches, who hate when someone misses practice or god forbid a game. I understand teams depend on one another, but life happens!!!

 

[kohlby]

I would not take two college students out of school for Disney unless they were just missing a day or two max. Or they cleared it with all of their professors first. I'd figure that the college students might not be able to make it as a result. You won't know that until they've spoken to their professors. Perhaps they could come for just part of the trip so they don't miss as much school.

When it comes to high school, look up your school's rules. Often there are compulsory attendance laws with public schools. When I taught high school, students were allowed a max of 5 unexcused absences a semester, since it was block/semester scheduling. If you were sick and didn't go to the dr, then it was considered unexcused! So it wasn't a good idea to gamble with too many of those days. When I taught middle school, the law was no more than 10 a year. That gives more wiggle room than the 5 a semester. However, most of my Alg I students would have been too far behind if they had missed a week. Same of the English I students. The kids who were in the more average track actually were likely better off missing or the advanced kids in earlier middle school. By 8th grade, the advanced kids had some courses for high school credit and missing a week of those was much harder.

For elem kids, I'd think most kids would be fine with missing academically - again, paying attention to your state's laws.

 

[kohlby]

I can't speak for other teachers.

But my 10th grade math classes don't do "lazy days."
__________________

Never heard of that concept either. At the middle and high school level, we just kept plowing ahead. Work was definately done Thanksgiving week before vacation. (And before Christmas break, and before Spring break). There was usually some sort of chapter test or unit test right before a break too, so we could start at the beginning of a new chapter when we came back. I don't assign school work over vacations so it was important to be wrapped up. I needed every possible day we had for that!

 

[jimandami]

We have taken DS8 out for 5-6 days every year since Kinder and will take him out this coming year as well. Our school does have the 5 unexcused absenc es policy but they also have a once a year "Outside Learning Opportunity." There is a form to fill out and hand in to the principal that details how your trip will be educational and meet the objectives of the child's grade. If that is approved, you can have 5 days of absences for your vacation excused. We have done this for DS every year and it has always been approved. He does have to write a report when we return home about his experience and what he learned.

 

[Greenfield1984]

We haven't had to deal with this before but will be taking DD out of school for 6 days this year...but she's only in kindergarten. We will probably continue taking our vacations during the school year as long as our children are doing well in school and the school's policy allows it.

 

[Arynrm1]

After talking to the teachers, my dd13 has plenty of work before Thanksgiving. Because of that, we are taking a week off in October, where the kids have a few days off. I guess the lazy days of school before vacation are a thing of the past.