Taking DS out of school for Disney advice

[hippiechicken]

I'm a teacher. I didn't take my daughter to her first Food and Wine Festival this year, where she celebrated her 21st birthday. I regretted it the whole week while she was there and I was still at work. I'm taking off next school year to take her!!
Family is important. Take your kid to Disney!! (Can you go over the weekend, so he doesn't miss the whole week?) I'd bring the teacher a souvenir, too.

 

[familyfirsttimer]

I just took my DD14 and DD17 our of HIGH SCHOOL for 4 day for pre-Christmas trip. NEVER thought I'd do it but with a kid heading to college next year, it was the last possible way to see the Christmas decorations for the next 7 years! Our district has something like after 5 unexcused absences. my kids never have unexcused absences so it's not a problem for us. they are both all honors kids so they have a lot of work to do but I emailed the teachers a few weeks ahead (because we were going to do it as a surprise) and the OVERWHELMING response, was go, have fun, she can makeup the work when she gets back, etc. it was heartwarming and actually helped my DD17 feel better when we did tell her about it(she freaked out about missing school.

You have to make the decision based on knowing your child but I would never think stay home for school over family time...that time is so fleeting! good luck

 

[happymommy]

What kind of work will a kindergarten student be missing, is what I am wondering. Go for it!

The only school that we ever had "issues" with as far as pulling our own children out of school for vacations was the Catholic school they attended for two years. They had major issues with this, especially Disney trips. My dear friend, who had been there longer than we had, gave me sage advice. The school's issue was honestly with some jealous parents/students. It was specifically noted in their handbook as "Disney" trips were not approved. So, last full week of kindergarten and second grade, I called my kids in sick each day. From Disney. Only my friend knew. We had a blast!

Life is short.

 

[Dis703]

We just pulled our 3rd grader and kindergarteners out for a week in December and have pulled my oldest out every year since K for Disney. One year we did it twice. I wouldn't think of it twice unless my child was already struggling and I worried about him catching up.

We also don't really have any homework. They have decided to not have required homework and instead ask them to read for a certain amount of time every night. They have occasional special assignments but it's rare to have anything more than once a week.

We also don't have a strict attendance policy and no set number of days they can miss until middle school.

 

[Hikergirl]

I would not bat an eye at pulling a 1st grader out for a week. I wouldn't even be worried about trunacy issues unless you think your 1st grader will be ditching school days during the rest of the year

 

[Dis703]

As a kindergarten teacher I would say as long as he isn't behind that it should be ok. I teach in Texas and children need to know letters,sounds, and some sight words. Talk to the teacher about Ways you can help to catch him up after when you get back.

I just had my two Kindergarteners out for Disney. One is very behind. The teacher actually told us he is at the bottom of the class. In November he only recognized one letter.

Ironically, I think he picked up a lot while on vacation. We did those activity sheets at every meal and he loved doing the crossword puzzles and find a word, unscramble word puzzles. He also wanted to "read" the maps and loved the Wilderness Explorers Club. We used lots of opportunities to work on words, letters, and sounds and I swear he picked up more on this trip than he had in at least a month of school.

There really were a lot of opportunities to make things educational.

 

[kandb]

Take him out and enjoy and don't worry about it. He is still young. I took my children up until 6th grade. We start middle school in 5th grade and I took my twins out for a week. My son could care less but after we got back my daughter said she missed too much work. Since then, we go the last week of August, so they don't miss school. If she was OK getting taken out, I will still pull them out. Vacation is important to the family and IMO they can catch up with the work. Enjoy.

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

We are in WA. They start the school year the week before labor day, so we couldn't go then unless we want to miss the first week of class. The school district does not have off for the Jewish holidays, but you are allowed to take excused absences if that's your faith. The week I am planning to go is early release on Friday, so he will miss less school than other weeks. Our district starts homework in kindergarten. It is not much, neither is first grade as far as I can remember. I have a friend with kids in first grade and will ask more about homework. I was not aware of beginning of the year assessments, but will definitely look into, never heard any parent talk about it here so hopefully won't be an issue. I really do not want to go after DD birthday because that means she will have to pay ticket and dining plan, so it is a big cost difference. We have gone in the summer twice already, and likely go in the summer every time after this trip. This will be the only chance to do MNSSHP for sure.

Go! they are only so little once. (though this is coming from a person that has pulled her kids for a week almost yearly until fifth grade). The kids will learn a ton on the trip. You can email their teacher and see if s/he will give them a homework packet to work on during down time. My daughter's teacher in first grade gave her a trip journal to complete and had her read it to the class when she returned. I have no regrets pulling my kids.

 

[baildrk]

I say do what you want for a vacation as they are your children you make the decisions for them, although school is important so are good family vacation,fun and memories. We are going late spring with 10 of us, 3 of us have jobs that require a bidding process for taking vacations that happens usually october,november the year prior. We all did our planning and were able to secure the same time off, then it was time to plan ahead and talk to the kids teachers. I all will say is I'm glad i called and didnt go in person as i was chastised by the teachers saying what a horrible decision fi was making for my children. even after telling them why we had to do it this way they still wouldnt back down with their comments, I had to call the front desk to find out when the mandated testing was to make sure they didnt need to make that up. So do what you want to make your family happy it all comes down to that.

 

[Carla1183]

For what its worth, my husband is a teacher, and I approached him super gingerly about the idea of missing a few days of school for our trip. He didn't hesitate a bit. Said "We will never stop our kids from living life for school, they'll be fine".

We'll of course approach it well in advance and with humility with her teachers. Hoping for the best!

 

[kreckl]

I honestly don't understand these threads that come up from time to time. He's YOUR child. He should be with his family, on vacation!

 

[GotLabradors]

I teach middle school. When I get an email/note from a parent about missing school for a family vacation, I respond with "Have a great time. We will take care of make-up work when your student returns." If they're going to Disney, I talk to them about all the cool stuff to do. I'm sorry, but school systems need to get over themselves. These absence policies were made for parents who, on the regular, don't make their kid go to school, not for parents who take a family vacation during the school year every few years.

 

[Disney_traveler]

I teach middle school. When I get an email/note from a parent about missing school for a family vacation, I respond with "Have a great time. We will take care of make-up work when your student returns." If they're going to Disney, I talk to them about all the cool stuff to do. I'm sorry, but school systems need to get over themselves. These absence policies were made for parents who, on the regular, don't make their kid go to school, not for parents who take a family vacation during the school year every few years.

We are currently looking for a new superintendent......YOU'RE HIRED!!!

 

[GotLabradors]

We are currently looking for a new superintendent......YOU'RE HIRED!!!

I wouldn't make it a week before I was embroiled in some mess with a parent who couldn't handle the truth about their child. I don't even get invited to parent teacher conferences anymore because I had the gall to ask a parent why it was okay for their kid to misbehave in my classroom.

 

[Disney_traveler]

I wouldn't make it a week before I was embroiled in some mess with a parent who couldn't handle the truth about their child. I don't even get invited to parent teacher conferences anymore because I had the gall to ask a parent why it was okay for their kid to misbehave in my classroom.

You're not only hired, you're my new best friend!

 

[Canooknic]

I am taking my boys out for 2 weeks next month, the are in Grade 3. DH and I have agreed that this is the last time that we will take them out for more than a day or two as the are in a French Immersion school so any time they miss could make a big difference with regard to their language skills

I emailed both of their teachers to confirm the dates that they will be absent.
One teachers has asked me to pick up some things from Harry Potter world for her, the other has let me know that they will be doing an animal studies project after Spring break so has suggested that maybe my son spend some time focusing on one of the animals at AK so he can provide 'real life' info for his presentation. I'm so happy with our school and how supportive they are.

 

[Starbritt]

I know this is a highly debated topic.
I am planning a trip to Disney to celebrate DD turning 3, it will be a surprise, she will turn 3 in Disney. The same week is my birthday. It is the last week of September, which I heard is great time in terms of crowds. The downside is that it is during the school year.
DS will be in first grade. I read the school parent handbook and all the policies regarding unexcused absences say "if children are 8 or over". They only allow 5 unexcused absences before starting teacher parent meetings. This means that because DS will be 7 it will be the last time I could pull him out of school without heavy consequences . I will only be able to give the teacher a 3 week notice right at the start of classes. Teachers in the boards, how would you feel about this?

I could do a girls only trip, but DS heart will break if he learns where we went, specially because we have been at Disney 3 times as a family and what he wants to do most is go to the halloween party.
Also, it will be my big 4-0 and I will like to have the whole family together to celebrate.

he is in Kindergarten now, so I have no idea how hard or easy it will be for him to catch up
he will miss a whole week
I am torn

Do it.. he'll be fine!! Have fun

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Be sure to understand your district's policy on attendance and what constituents a unexcused absence, and how many a child is allowed to have before consequences occur. Although that probably is more of an issue in high school.