Taking kids out of school ?

[Andoria]

Ever noticed how the parents who defend pulling their kids out for a week long cruise always add that their kid is "bright" or "gifted"? Too bad we can't get their child's teacher honest take on this rather than the very biased, hide behind the keyboard opinion of the parent!

 

 

Well I'm the parent of an ex gifted son. Puberty has washed away any brilliance my child might have had. I still have no problems pulling him out of school for a week.

[what to go here and there]

the best learning experience IMHO is travelling, besides learning about the country they get a better understanding about how other people live. The understand that they have a great life and have a way lot more than other kids. They will learn to be greatful.

 

I missed school one year from the first week of April to the end of June then did not start school until the middle of November. I passed both years with no problems. I might not of been at the top of class but i made it through. PS i only had three days of class durning that whole time.

 

the school can say anything they want but you are the parent and you know your kids the best..

 

But i would not think twice about taking them out of school, the best learning experience they can get. :D

[Gailerina]

if you go back and look at my post i said nothing about my kids being gifted or bright, mine are average students, and if one week out of a school year is going to hurt my kids education them the teacher isn't doing a very good job in the first place. my kids have never struggled with school after we got back from a cruise.:cool:

 

I disagree. If they miss something important it is your fault for taking them out for a non excusable reason.

 

 

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[cruisnhillbilly]

I disagree. If they miss something important it is your fault for taking them out for a non excusable reason.

 

 

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doesn't anyone read all the the post before they comment on something if you go back and read my first post i always check with the teacher at the start of the year always check in a few times before the cruise just so they won't miss anything important!:cool:

and i'm not talking about my kids teachers they are great thy do a great job.

[yoursurfer]

My husband was active duty Army for 24 years. We have been fortunate enough to have lived all over the world. When we lived in Europe my kids attended Dept. Of Defense schools. The schools encouraged traveling and learning. I think schools today are way to caught up in "curriculum" and standardized testing. (in no way teachers faults, I just want to add). I think traveling, whether on ship, train,land or whatever gives kids and adults much needed perspective that no book ever could. My children's teachers on many occasions have voiced their delight when teaching about a particular country and my kids could say " oh I have been there!". My son also excelled in geography because " I've been there.". We can always find learning moments in our travels. By the way, my daughter was the only child in 6th grade out of 100 students who even had a passport and had ever left Texas much less the country. I want my children to be more "world focused" and less "test focused" in 20 years are your kids going to remember which math problem they did in 6th grade? I bet they will remember which country they visited! By the way, I also want to recognize how much school time is spent in athletics , football especially. No one ever complains about that!!!

[pafam4]

I guess I'm wondering about some of these school districts or private schools. I know many elementary schools have little or no homework, but at our high school, the amount of work, both in and out of school, would really prohibit prolonged vacation absences. And intelligence or "giftedness" doesn't make it easier. In fact, those kids who are in advanced classes, AP or honors classes have even more work. Sure I guess you could take a vacation, but based on our school, the make-up for more than a week of school would be extremely heavy, and probably something the kid wouldn't want to do.

[drafterdw]

Sorry as a teacher you feel put out by parents trying to connect with their children. We took our children out approx. every other year for their entire school time....never had a teacher give us a hard time and oh by the way...they both had partial scholarships to college and they both did post grad work...one has a master the other her PHd both of which were paid for by grant money so I think maybe we did the right thing. Sorry if it inconvienced anyone

[MawganTr]

If holidays are educational - and yes, of course some are, then do them in school holiday time to add to their education.

Btw - not jealous at all about not being able to take time off work. Wouldn't dream of wanting to do so. I love my job and love the holiday time we get out of term time too.

 

 

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[SraLiz]

to the teacher who takes the time off from teaching your child to cruise just because it is cheaper???

[cruisnhillbilly]

If holidays are educational - and yes, of course some are, then do them in school holiday time to add to their education.

Btw - not jealous at all about not being able to take time off work. Wouldn't dream of wanting to do so. I love my job and love the holiday time we get out of term time too.

 

 

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some times work won't allow people to take off at this time. if kids are out of school then their business increases.:cool:

[Gailerina]

Sorry as a teacher you feel put out by parents trying to connect with their children. We took our children out approx. every other year for their entire school time....never had a teacher give us a hard time and oh by the way...they both had partial scholarships to college and they both did post grad work...one has a master the other her PHd both of which were paid for by grant money so I think maybe we did the right thing. Sorry if it inconvienced anyone

 

Their entire school time? Why? How did they pass?

 

 

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[Holders3]

There is a reason for the growth of homeschooling in the US.

 

A quarter and a perfect attendance certificate doesn't get you much in the real world. Sadly the same is now being said for your run of the mill Bachelors degree?

 

A willingness and desire to color outside the lines might just be the ticket to making it and being satisfied with the path you choose. "Choose" being the keyword here.

[sparkysj]

We take a cruise every fall and try and plan it around our school's fall break but our school has never given us a problem when taking them out. We have what is called a pre-arranged abscence and I go in as soon as school starts each year to turn in the form and have never had a problem. It is way cheaper and yes that is a reason- we are able to give our kids a nice vacation once a year rather than waiting 2-3 years in between for the exact same thing. My sons are now 21 and 17 and we will be taking the 17 year old out again this fall as well. Our daughter is just 3 but I know already it will not be a question when she is in school-we will take her out as well.

 

Aside from it being cheaper our work schedules are just too busy through the summer so we vacation in the fall and I'm not about to leave my kids at home while we go on a "family" vacation LOL

 

I disagree with those who don't think of the importance of family time or education- we drive to the ports so we have a couple days there and back of total family time not to mention while on the ship. My kids have swam with the stingrays, went to a sea turtle farm, visited the Mayan ruins among other things which IMO seeing these things with their own eyes is way better than in a book!

 

Yes getting an education is important but that doesn't have to be limited to sitting in a boring classroom.

[Gailerina]

In college we knew eventually having a bachelors would not mean a lot. It is why I am currently working on a dual Masters program.

 

The problem with some schools is not the teachers but the systems. Schools are be stripped of too much. I mean really....1st graders have to take 3 boxes of Kleenex to school???

 

 

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[Shipbound]

If I asked my father to take me out of school for a cruise he would still be laughing and that was 20 years ago!!!!!

 

Gary

[deborahjo]

I have done this to our sons on our cruise in 2003. Would have done it again. It was the week after Thanksgiving.

 

Today I do have another question for you from another perspective. If it was your childs teacher how would you feel if she/he took a week off for a cruise? Youngest son is a teacher and he has 10 days of personal time to use. 5 days have to be used for professional education renewal. So he actually has 5 days he can use for a cruise but feels he cannot use it for that because he has made a commitment? to his students. (he has 847 students plus teaches private lessons before and after school. He is a music teacher.)

 

He fells he gets all summer off plus 5 weeks thru the school year off. He feels this is enough time off. So he has to pay higher fees for cruising unless he goes during spring break (high season) or in october (low season) which is not to bad.

 

 

Just ask for your opinion. Not gripping please.

[Illyria]

All I can take from all of these comments is that education is very different in America to the UK. You clearly have no idea of the amount of work teachers do nor value the impact of school on your child's life.

I had completed 9 grades in another country (not UK, though) before coming to the US starting with my sophomore year in high school. No offense to anyone - but I thought the US public school system was a joke. The school spent the first 2 months of the school year moving me up the ladder to more advanced classes, because I was bored out of my mind (for example, their 10th grade geometry course taught stuff I had learned in 6th grade - and that's the best high school in the entire state!) Starting with 5th grade I had studied ACTUAL algebra, geometry, biology, chemistry, physics, geography and a number of other subjects - not "social studies" or "nature & science" or whatever they call the generic middle school curriculum in the US.

 

So with that said - I don't have kids yet but if I did, a European cruise would provide more education value for them than spending equivalent 2 weeks in school (unless they are in high school, getting ready for SATs, college admissions, etc.)

[DKF97]

We are taking our kids out of school for 6 days in December. We've never done it before and they usually have perfect attendance unless seriously ill. I was back and forth about it and then realized that if my parents would have taken me out of school to cruise to 3 foreign countries, it would have been an amazing thing for me and I would have been impacted by that to this day. I can't say that I have any strong memories about any one particular week of my school career. Its 6 days out of many many school days in their life. So, yes, the cruise is more important to us.

[CimW]

I took my son out of school for 4 days when he was in 3rd grade for a trip to Disney World. Our school's policy was to not provide work prior to the trip. We were able to keep up with some things by keeping in email contact with a classmate; however, when we got home, he had so much make up work to do, he pleaded with me to never take him on vacation during the school year again. I had planned this to be only time anyway, so it all worked out.

 

.

 

I would have no problem with taking my son out of school for vacation but I worry the make up work would be so much and so overwhelming. Not worth it.

[Bakincakes]

Not hard to figure out why American students consistently have low rankings globally.:(

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/us-students-still-lag-beh_n_1695516.html

[djcass4199]

DW and I do not have kids but she and I have talked about this very topic before. She is a teacher. She has her reasons as to why she does not think that kids should be taken out of school for vacation.

 

My two cents, it's your child. Take them out if you want to. However, I don't feel that the teacher should have to provide make up work to the child for an unexcused absence. I also feel that the teacher has every right to give a child a 0 on any tests missed while out on unexcused absence/vacation, no opportunity to make up, whether the vacation is a learning experience or not.

 

The school district/county puts out a school calendar for a reason. When you put your child in school, you inherently agree to follow the school calendar. If you want to break the calendar, go for it, it's your kid. Don't expect the teacher to have to accommodate your choice to take vacation on a school week.

 

Now if you want to home school your kids using a private home schooling organization that lets you go at your own pace, that's a different animal.

[pafam4]

Just another note....I have noticed (not by any posters here), but among other parents in my area....people are very willing to take kids out of school for vacations and state that the school better be cooperative. These same people put tons of time into scheduling vacations around the kids' sports team schedules, because the coach doesn't tolerate absences. Kind of funny!

[cruisnhillbilly]

Not hard to figure out why American students consistently have low rankings globally.:(

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/us-students-still-lag-beh_n_1695516.html

 

no it's not "School system isn't worth the money we pay for it"

and no fault of the teachers "at least most of them":cool:

[Me76]

Like everyone else, I have to add my opinion.

 

This is the 3rd (school) year in a row we are taking our two youngest out for a Cruise, each time missing a week of school. This year it will be the 3rd week of school that they will miss, and I am a little concerned because the older of the 2 will be in Middle School. So far, each time, we do give the teachers a lot of warning, asking for homework ahead of time, if possible. Every time the teachers have just said not to worry about it, because my kids are good students and work hard in school. I won't use the "G" word, but they are in those classes, which means they do have extra homework. But, to us, the family time and learning and exploration is a good reason to miss school, though we make sure they do learn everywhere, not just on vacation or in school. To us, time in the car can be a learning experience, shopping at the grocery store (my children, 9 & 11 know how to select things, find coupons, check-out, make change, ect..), everything is and most of the time is a learning experience.

 

Many of my good friends are teachers, and I see how hard they work, but I don't see how taking my child out for a week disrupts the class so much. In fact, our "gifted" classes (in our school district, it is called "Scope",) every spring the class takes a field trip for 3 days away from school, where the children miss all of their other classes, for learning experiences traveling. So, I do not feel bad for doing it with my children. It also does get them excited about learning, as someone else has mentioned, my children can say, "I've been there" or "I've done that".

 

And, honestly, I wouldn't miss this time with my children for anything. Yes, we could take our vacation during the summer, spring break, or even the holidays, but it would mean only taking one every few years, and probably only the short cruise to Nassau, where the first time (with the children) we took a day tour with a local person, telling us the history of the islands, showing us interesting places not normally seen, and was even talking about the duties they must pay for everything including cars, how they get their mail, education, ect..

 

This year, I was actually planning on taking a cruise during fall break, but circumstances have changed, and my oldest DD can go with us, but only before Sept.1 (she starts school Sept. 4, and is not gifted, and struggles in school, so there is no way I would let her miss school for a cruise). So, it worked out that I have to take the kids out of school again, and I will do so without a guilty conscious.

 

(My grammar is probably horrible, but I do strive for my kids to be better than I am, and to learn more than I ever learned :))

 

P.S. The person who said they took their kids to see poverty in their own town and now their kids want hair extension, Cadillacs, ect.. Best reply I have seen in a long time!

[Gailerina]

The problem with American schools is simple.....education is not as important as many claim it is.

 

Schools and teachers have no support. When I read about the things teachers pay out if their own small pockets it's heartbreaking.

 

 

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