Taking Kids out of school About This Page:

[hildai]

MyDH and I are both teachers and we're pulling our two girls (1st and 4th grade) out of school for three days in December. The district we teach in is off for those days and our kids are not, soooo we're pulling them out of school. I figure as long as their teachers know ahead of time, it won't be a problem.

[crossfamily]

My husband doesnt' get a choice on the weeks he gets off of work. He can request a week but unless you have 25+ years forget it. My husband usually gets an Early December vacation or late January vacation so thats when we go. I have never had any problems with teachers as they understand our situation.

[Joy J]

My son is a teacher so I asked him his opinion, from a teacher's point of view on this subject. His reply was that very little gets taught in the first three days of the school year. It's more a time for settling in and a review of material covered in previous years. He said that personally he has no problem with it and in fact thinks a child would actually benefit greatly from such a trip as opposed to anything they might be missing at school during those first three days.

Joy

[mdobereiner]

We also are pulling our children out of school for a total of 5 days (around Labor Day.) It would have only been 4 days, but our return flight is really late. Our kids are 1st and K. Our 1st grader is actually repeating this year, so we feel fine pulling him out. Our K'er is only doing 1/2 days, so I reason it's only 2 1/2 days for her, lol! Honestly, our son's birthday is the 29th and we figured it was well worth pushing it around his birthday and avoiding some of the crowds. We made teachers aware on their first days 2 weeks ago, and have made arragements to make up and missed work. I personally grew up in a family where we were pulled from school for vacations all the time, so it's normal to me. It's not so normal to DH, and i think when the kids get a little older, it will require a lot more discretion. But we are happy with our choice, and I'm sure we will be seeing lots of other kids there this week anyway!

Mel

[wyomom]

I failed to mention in my prior posts that DH & I use DW as a tool for school. If the grades are good and kids are moving forward, then we get a vacation that happens to fall during the school year. Kids know that if they are falling behind, I will fly Granny out here in a heartbeat to watch them while DH & I enjoy a much needed vacation!
Plain and simple, I really don't give a fig if the teachers like it or not that we pull our kids out of school. I want my kids to do their very best in school and be rewarded properly, but we also don't want them falling behind on their studies or having to work extra hard to play catch-up. I thank the lucky stars above that Wyoming has a lenient absence "law" that allows families to partake in vacations and also give the kids ample time for make-up work.
With that said, I will admit that I do volunteer the kids to do reports or show & tell for the class in regards to the vacation. If it helps my family to take a vacation without the guilt then so be it!

[lukeandbrookesmom]

I sent it a letter with Luke yesterday on his first day of 1st grade letting the teacher/principal know that he would be out 8/30-9/10 missing a total of 7 days for our family vacation. Luke said the principal came into the classroom and asked Luke if his mommy and daddy had a really big suitcase he could fit in so he could come along!

[DoraDoug]

We took DS out for a week last year but he was in child development (like Pre-K) so the attendance guidelines weren't enforced yet. This year we'll be doing two long weekends instead when they have school closed on Mon./Tues. for teacher work days. We received a booklet this year stating that any child missing 3 consecutive days or 5 days total would be considered truant and counseling with the parents, teacher, and principle would be the first step. Family vacations are considered unexcused absences. They will go so far as family court for any child missing 10 days in a school year! Needless to say, we are going in October and DS will be missing 2 days and when we go in Jan. he will again miss 2 days. He's in kindergarten so I am truly amazed at the lengths they will go to in order to make sure children don't miss school for any reason other than doctor's appt. or funerals.

[wyomom]

Originally Posted by DoraDoug

We took DS out for a week last year but he was in child development (like Pre-K) so the attendance guidelines weren't enforced yet. This year we'll be doing two long weekends instead when they have school closed on Mon./Tues. for teacher work days. We received a booklet this year stating that any child missing 3 consecutive days or 5 days total would be considered truant and counseling with the parents, teacher, and principle would be the first step. Family vacations are considered unexcused absences. They will go so far as family court for any child missing 10 days in a school year! Needless to say, we are going in October and DS will be missing 2 days and when we go in Jan. he will again miss 2 days. He's in kindergarten so I am truly amazed at the lengths they will go to in order to make sure children don't miss school for any reason other than doctor's appt. or funerals.

This is what chaps my boo-hiney...family time is considered "unexcused absences"!! If the parents ok the absence, it should be the end of discussion.... PERIOD!

[Angileyze1]

I'm facing this next year but its so much more serious as the kids will be a Junior & Senior in high school. I am worried because they will be missing like 6-7 days around thanksgiving. In high school you have to do well on mid-terms, ect. They won't be missing any, but a LOT of work!!!

[lukeandbrookesmom]

I think as a parent this is where we need to really know our children. Will they be able to make the work up without a lot of extra stress? I guess I equate it to working FT and going on vacation. When I come back, I have A LOT of catching up to do, and it's stressful without a doubt. I have to weigh being with my family, having quality time with them on vacation against what I'll have facing me when I return. I guess in my opinion, and that's all it is - my opinion, this just helps our children prepare for the real world. We need to take vacations.....period. It is healthy, both mentally and physically, and grown-ups do it all the time (or at least they should!). We also need to play catch-up when we return. Is it worth it? In my opinion, yes. It think too many adults have a difficult time balancing home and work and maybe if we teach children this at an earlier age they will be better off than we are with it all.

[wyomom]

Originally Posted by lukeandbrookesmom

It think too many adults have a difficult time balancing home and work and maybe if we teach children this at an earlier age they will be better off than we are with it all.

This is so true; especially in this day and age. If we don't show our children that family is more important than work/tv/computers/etc. then what are we teaching them? Naturally, no one wants to take their kids out of school and cause them more work, but sometimes schedules/finances only allow certain times to travel. What galls me is schools systems telling us parents when and how we are allowed to raise our children. Yes, sadly, due to a few bad apples, we all pay the price when it comes to state regulations on excused vs. unexcused absences. Again I preach; our rights are slowly diminishing.

[emtpej]

Originally Posted by Angileyze1

I'm facing this next year but its so much more serious as the kids will be a Junior & Senior in high school. I am worried because they will be missing like 6-7 days around thanksgiving. In high school you have to do well on mid-terms, ect. They won't be missing any, but a LOT of work!!!

That's why we plan everything around the school schedule. Our older son is in a few honors classes and we don't want him missing anything!

[Buffalogirl18]

I too have taken my kids out of school to go to Disney. It has been wonderful, because that way we are able to take full advantage of the "off" times to go. It is much less crowded, the airfare, and often the hotel rates are much cheaper that way. I always tell their teachers in advance, and they usually get most of their homework done before we go, and finish it the day before they return to school, that way they are caught up when they head back to class. I personally call their teachers and explain that we will be away about a month prior, and I always send an email reminder to the teachers asking for their work again about a week or so before we are ready to go. I think they really appreciate my diligence. I have done it also when the boys have been away for various illnesses and surgery/family emergencies as well. As far as missing the first few days of school, I don't know if I would do that, as that is when the kids are getting acquainted with their teacher, making new friends in the class, learning the "ropes" if you will. But, that is just my opinion. I think that is too early on in the year for an absence of that sort. I usually save a "luxury" absence for a couple months into the year or later. Thankfully we don't have a school district that threatens truency with legal action, that is absurd in my opinion. I think that should be left to parent's discretion. I am sure there are parents that may abuse the privilege, and those powers that be may feel that kids are suffering, but come on now! But, if it were me and I lived in an area that did take legal action, then I would just not tell anyone in advance, I would say my kid was "sick", call him/her in to school each morning while on the trip, and get their work to make up when I got back. I think that is the lesser of two evils in my opinion. As others have said, kids need a vacation as badly as adults, and also, during spring and Christmas break it is way to busy and crazy at WDW - that's not a real vacation down there - it's just waiting in really long lines.

[Buffalogirl18]

Originally Posted by emtpej

That's why we plan everything around the school schedule. Our older son is in a few honors classes and we don't want him missing anything!

My older son is 14, learned to read at 2 1/2, did multiplication & division at 5, is in several honors classes, we go on vacation during school days all the time, he gets his work in advance, does it in the evenings before we go, and he never misses anything. We plan it when we know there won't be any major tests or projects, and it works out really well. It can be done.

[goofylaw]

We also take our DS(9) out of school for our annual Sept trip. I always did feel a little guilty. However, this year at open house, the teachers told us that they realize not everyone can take a summer vaca and all you need to do is fill out a leave form, and make up any work. No argument from me. WOOHOO WDW without the guilt. 21 days till our date with the world and the Poly for the first time.