How do you feel about pulling kids out of school?

[married2grumpy]

My DD just started full day Kindergarten this year. We have been told by the principal at orientation that any absences that are not due to illness are considered illegal absences. They do not want you to pull your kids out for vacations. They also said after 5 absences they will call you for a conference and 10 absences you will be contacted by a social worker! We have always taken our trips to Disney in the off season because it's cheaper, nicer weather, less crowded but most importantly, thats when my husband can get off. I am feeling extremely guilty for wanting to pull my DD out of school. Am I setting a bad example for her that school and good attendance is not important? How do you all feel?

 

[disneyterri]

Hi:

I am also from Long Island (East Rockaway) with a full-day kindergardner. We are going to DW December 7-14 (taking DS out of school).

I have spoken to several people about this. It seems that kindergarden is not a state mandated requirement and those absence rules do not apply. If you want to take him out of school for a vacation, I would definitely do it this year. It could get more complicated in the years to come, depending on your school district. My neighbor works on some sort of school attendance committee and confirmed this for me. The schools have more of a problem if there seems to be a pattern developing.

I hope this helps you.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

Ok I am sure I am going to get some very angry responses for this one but here goes....I teach 1st grade and I DO NOT have a problem with someone pulling their child out for a family vacation. I only ask that they let me know 2 weeks in advance so I can get work together for the child. I think family time is very important. A lot of my children have parents who both work and who only get to see their children from 5:00 til bedtime. Vacations are important. I always give the parents the work the child will miss plus a few stamps, and a blank notebook to record a daily diary. The child is responsible for filling in the diary daily and writing out a few post cards to mail the class. I have the children share their diary when they return and we look at the map to see where they traveled. I think because I teach 1st grade it may be a little easier for the children to make up missed work. I tell the parents that they are responsible for helping me even when they return get the student back on track. I photocopy all reading books, science chapters etc so they do not have to take bulky books etc. I try to make the lessons fit into the vacation. One of my children did a great littel science talk on all the insects they saw in Florida complete with pics. Another student wrote a few sentences about the Italian pavilion in Epcot as her ancestors were from Italy. I make sure the work will not take up to much time. I try for 1/2 hour a day. I don't think that is to much time to ask for. My school also frowns on taking a child out but they do not go to the extent that your school seems to go. It also depends on how many times you do this in a school year...once ok twice ....nope. I also think missing 5 days is the max, that gives you a week for vacation. I would suggest talking to the teacher and the prinicipal. With the way the world is today family time is very, very important!!! We need to have well-adjusted children in the world family time is imperative. Talk to the teacher before you go...give ample time for her/him to get things together. Bring a disposable camera for your child (even though they are young..they can take pics of special things they do and see).My vote..........Have a wonderful trip. Ok I'm ready.........let's hear it....

 

[LKS]

Most people on these boards will berate the school for even having the audacity to encourage you to avoid absences. I personally think kids can be pulled out with no adverse effects. I still don't do that with my kids - perhaps because my mother was a teacher and I never missed growing up. My kids get perfect attendance a lot and are quite proud of it. Really, WDW is just fine in June, when we went, and I don't personally have any reason to pull my kids out. We got great codes so our rooms were just about as cheap as they get, and we only like to swim when it's nice and warm, so June suited us.

You need to do what feels right to you. I would at least wait until the second half of the year, if your husband's work schedule permits, so that you can see how many absences your child has. You don't want to use your 5 days and then have him get sick a lot in the spring and go over that limit.

 

[teachingmykids]

You have to think about what is more important and what will have the most lasting affects on your family. If your child was a senior and it was finals week, you may want to think twice.
But at the Kindergarten level, you are making bonds and memories. You mustn't let a school policy dictate your family lifestyle. Threatening to send a social worker after you seems a bit over the top, but that's another subject. They are probably just conserned with uncaring parents, and I would hope once you told them it was a family vacation they would understand.

Have fun! Your daughter will remember the two of you riding rides and eating junk food forever. She can make up her lessons at night snuggled up to you in her brand new Princess Jasmine night gown with matching tiara!


~~georgia
p.s. And thanks D&Ls Mom, for a rational teacher perspective.

 

[abaldacci]

I am pulling both my kids out of school in Dec. I like to think the teacher will understand. I don't feel one bit guilty about it. MY kids don't miss alot of school this will be it for the year.

 

[married2grumpy]

Thank you D and L's Mom...You have made me feel a little less guilty about taking her out of school. I think family time is important and with my husband working extra hours now( I am recently unemployed!) we don't get to spend as much time together as a family as we used to. My daughter's kindergarten teacher told us on open school night to please not send kids in sick. She said that since the school has this new attendance policy, parents are scared to even keep their kids out when they are sick. She said that they are only 5 years old and should be home resting. She kind of made a joke about the attendance policy. I also mentioned to the teacher one day that my daughter said she would rather go to school than Disney World. Her teacher was flattered but said to please take her to Disney. So, as far as I am concerned, I have gotten the teachers approval. I am just afraid to annoy the principal since I have 2 little ones who will be attending that school shortly. If I do pull her out, I will be sure to give the teacher plenty of notice.
School in New York doesn't let out until the very end of June so that month is no better than the others for us.
P.S..The principal has also said that vacations should be scheduled when school is out and that no homework or assignments will be given out to those students who are on vacation. Who is she punishing? In a perfect world all parents would have off when their kids do. Wouldn't that be wonderful!

 

[welovemickey]

I pull my kids out of school every year. The first year I was very intimidated by the response I got from the teachers. After that DH explained to them and to me that they are OUR children and we will do as we feel we must. Our kids are good students and make up all of their work. If they weren't doing well in school then I would think twice about pulling them.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

We also have it written somewhere in our school handbook that homework will not be given out but that it has to be made up upon returning. Well I'll tell you a little secret.........We (the teachers in my school) all give it out before. That does not mean there is not some make-up work when your child gets back. I am guilty of forgetting to put worksheets in the packet finishing a chapter earlier etc. You know your child better than anyone, if they are good students and you are going to help them with the work. (I'll tell you another teacher secret...nothing gets me more annoyed than getting the work together and photocoping etc and then having the children bring it back untouched!!!!! It has happened) .You have to remember we really do care about the children first and foremost if we didn't we wouldn't be there. Who would let a child struggle to catch up when they could take some of the work with them and work with Mom and Dad (I just love your senario Teachingmykids...all snuggled up....wonderful)My principal has never really paid to much attention to the vacation policy as long as it is not abused.I think it may be a policy that is instituted by the state, county or district you live in. I know if a child misses more than 30 days (I can't be positive on the number as I have never had anyone come close) then the principal gets involved. We no longer have a perfect attendence policy in the school only because a few...and I want to make it quite clear..only A FEW parents really pushed the children to come to school when they really were not up to it. As I said before I have it a little easier since I teach first grade. DH is a H.S teacher and he said it is really hard for kids in his classes to make up the work as a lot of it is from lecture type classes. I am guilty of taking DD and DS out of school when she was in 1st grade (his school does not go by grades). DS is a special needs child and the heat in the summer and the long lines were just not something he could handle. I got permission to take a long Thanksgiving holiday, talked to their teachers and we went to Disney. I can't tell you how wonderful it was. The memories are priceless.Sometimes there are special circumstances. I could probably get permission to take a long holiday so the perfect solution might be to take me along to tutor your DD while in Disney!!!! Have a wonderful time....relax and enjoy the special time you will have with you DD and DH.

 

[compmom]

We just pulled our 7 year old out of school for 4 days plus one over a teacher work day/ Originally when I spoke to DD teacher a month ago; she said the absences would not be excused by the principal.

Well as the time approached I spoke to the principal and he gave me a educational leave, form to fill out and return to him. With many assurances to the principal and teacher- the form was approved and the absence was not a problem. My husband and I are the types of parents to give our DD homework, even if she had been excused by the teacher. That sort of iniative made the teacher and principal know that we were treating the trip with respect and understanding/

The only problem was the 3 worksheets and travel journal my DD had to do during her absence. She thought vacation was freedom from homework. In the end she figured out the assignments were small in comparison to the fun she had.

I may not do this when she is in junior high or high school, but I feel comfortable that we can accomplish this family trip during school for several years to come/

compmom

 

[laurenk]

I am pulling my 3rd grade twins out in 10 days. They will miss 7 days of school. I let their teacher know about our trip on the first day of school, and have repeatedly reminded her( she asked me to). She will be sending home their weekly assignments, and will have to make up a test when we return. We really can't go in the summer because my DH is always VERY busy at work then.

 

[Jordan's MOM]

I have found that what schools have as a written policy and what happens is often very different. Our handbook has noted what are excused and unexcused reasons to miss school. My DS is in 4th grade and has missed many more days for travel than he has for being sick or doctor visits. Never has this been noted on a report card or anything else I have received. Pehaps it is somewhere on some dark record that we will never see! LOL. We took DS out for a full week in kindergarten and 3rd grade. He missed 4 days in first and I can't remember about second. It has never been a problem. Up until 3rd grade he was never given any work at all. Third he had his makeup work but it was a resonable amount. We are educational minded people and look for learning experence everywhere so i never worried that he had any written work or not during these times. We have no school year trips planned for this year but aready have one booked for next year when he is in 5th grade. It does make me a little more anxious as he get in higher grades. I think this will be the last trip we will take him out for a week for. Looking at the Disney cruise the next year during the summer. Bottom line-would not bat an eye over kindergarten!!

Jordan's mom

 

[teachingmykids]

Jordan's Mom,

I know you have plenty to time to consider the future, but please don't write off the possibility of more 'off season' trips. As the kids get older and more independent, family time is harder to come by. I think it would be a wonderful way to spend time with a pre-teen (or even grown children.)

~~g.

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Hey teachingmykids,

Thanks for the encouragement!

We love to go off season and would love to continue it. I can see those teen years comming too fast. The past two week-ends DS has had friday night plans that were different from ours. Ds is a good student and that has made going off season easy. I would love to hear from others who have taken middle school kids out for trips. Thanks so much.

Jordan's mom

 

[nkjzmom]

Going during an off-season time is so worth time away from school. It's so much less stress-ful and isn't that what a vacation is about?

D and Ls Mom...thanks for your expert opinion and thoughts! I think that we as parents/teachers can find all sorts of ways to make Disney (or any vacation) educational. Epcot goes without saying....AK is great....

For our last trip I gave my 7 year old the guide for kids and he "researched" and made up some great plans for our trip. Then I gave him and my 5 and 3 yr old DD's their own disposable cameras. I'll just say that many of the pictures on our family website came from my 5 year old's camera! We've had them each take a notebook for writing/drawing in and used their autograph books to count and keep track of how many and which characters' autographs they'd gotten.

We've also given them their own Disney Dollars and had them keep track of how much they had, what purchases they wanted to make, and how much would be left, etc. I didn't realize how many good things we actually did!! I'm sure many of you are even more creative than this...

 

[goofy4tink]

We took my dd out of kindergarten for a week, out of first grade for a week and out of second grade for a week. Once for a trip to visit grandparents in Florida and the other times to WDW. She has always had to keep a journal of her travels. Also had work from the teacher, except in second grade. THere nothing was given. I don't think the teacher even cared dd was gone for a week. But we had issues with that teacher in many ways! Anyway. We are going in Aug '03 this time. My dd will be going into fouth grade, a new school with triple the number of kids. She is, at present, struggling in math. So we don't feel that the time away from school is a good idea. So, we will have to deal with the heat and the crowds. I have no problem with taking little ones out of school. The rewards are just too great. Go and don't feel guilty. It is YOUR child and you do what you feel is best for your family.

 

[Ballybunion3]

I have on in K and 3 High Schoolers. Obviously, can't do an off-season with the teenagers - just not possible. But I would if it was just my little one. In fact, I'm planning a trip in two years when she's in 2nd grade, and the 3 older kids are in college. We'll be in the poor farm, but at least we'll be happy!

I think it's perfectly reasonable to take a kid for vacation up to 6th grade. And the ideas from previous posts; make it a learning experience as well, make all the sense in the world.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

I love, love , love the idea of keeping track of the Disney Dollars. Great Math tie-in........of course if I myself had to keep track of all the $ I spent on my trip...well, let's just say first graders don't have to count that far...or high schoolers for that matter..hee hee

 

[goofy4tink]

My dd's grandparents always give her DisneyDollars for her birthday and Christmas. We have her do 'the math' as she buys stuff. And now, since she's 9 and wants to stay at a deluxe, we are comparing costs with her! She gets to see how much the Poly is compared to CBR, then sees what she can get extra with the money saved!! Disney is a great learning tool!! You just have to be creative!

 

[MELSMICE]

We have pulled our kids out numerous times. I think there were only 2 years we didn't go during off season & went at peak times.

We leave in 11 days & are surprising our 3 DD's with this trip. I contacted the middle school for my oldest daughter's work & was told that the teachers will not give it out in advance. My 2 5th graders teachers seemed pretty receptive to giving out the work, but we'll see. I didn't argue with the middle school, but find this ridiculous. If they know what they will be doing they should give it out.

Fortunately for us we have a "homework hotline" in our school system that is updated daily with homework from each teacher. We will take all books with us & call the "hotline" each day. That way there won't be as much to make up when we return.

I'm a little nervous about pulling them out because they are getting older, however, I feel that family time is important. We have never had a problem with making up work. All my kids are good students & as long as they remain good students I don't have a problem pulling them out.

Anyway, what if they were sick & couldn't go to school. My children have been out for illness (bronchitis & pneumonia) on different occasions. Two of them were out for over a week one year. I didn't get any flack for that!

I feel you should do whatever you feel is right, no one should make you feel guilty about it. Maybe the educators get upset because they can't take their vacations to WDW at off peak times!!!