Taking kids out of school ?

[luvdisney2010]

A big part of the question is how old are the kids and how much school will they miss. Before I moved to Florida, DS might miss one day or so a year for a weekend trip to Disney for a special occasion. At the time, he was pre-K up to K. I don't see that as a big deal. We have been in Florida for the first and second grades. Each year, he has missed one to two days for trips. The two days were together and right before holiday breaks. Both trips were planned well in advance of our move to Florida and prior to receiving his new school's calendar. He rarely misses school and is above grade level. In Florida (or at least in our district), we have to get such an absence approved by his teacher, the social worker, and his principal. It has worked out well for us that the days he happens to miss are days in which celebrations or other such activities are planned. If his teacher does not give us work in advance, we get it when we return. It is made up. I fuss at DS until it is. I work with him and explain any concepts he may not understand. I am not teaching my child to break the rules. I am teaching my child to be responsible.

 

Beyond elementary levels, I think it is much harder for kids to be pulled out. They are often gone for so many other activities. I would never pull a child out for a week regardless of the age. I do believe it is the responsibility of the child to complete any and all make up work, including any tests, quizzes, or labs that can be made up. In the districts where I have taught, you had two days to make up missed work. If it wasn't done by then, it was a zero. A week's worth of work could be a lot in two days' time.

 

The OP has to decide what works best for the OP's family. The rest of us don't need to attack each other. We each have our opinions.

[Illyria]

From my point of view, I have always taught my kids that school was their responsibility. Work was mine,. I don't call in sick unless I am actually sick. My kids knew that they could only miss school if they were sick. My kids are adults now and take their responsibilities seriously. To me it is a matter of ethics. I don't skip work to go on vacation and my kids didn't skip school to go on vacation.

I'm guessing that if you didn't "skip" any work to go on vacation, you wouldn't be on this board?

 

Grown-ups (usually) have the luxury of planning their vacation time when it's convenient not only for their bosses but also for them, in terms of prices, seasons, itinerary availabilities, etc. Kids don't have that luxury, since they are tied to a school calendar. As long as the kid can make up the work, nothing wrong with making their schedule work with the adult schedule.

 

I don't call in sick either - our company, like so many others, moved away from the ridiculous "sick time/vacation time" split and just combined them all in a PTO (paid time off) pool of days. I want to take a day off - I take a day off, no need to give a reason (obviously, I'll be considerate of my colleagues, like not deciding to skip work on a day when someone is already out on vacation).

[kerrytens]

For those who sit in judgement saying that kids should only have vacations during the school holidays no matter what....get off your high horse. Some families can not schedule the time during the school holidays because of the parents work schedule. We have run into that problem many times. Some parents can not afford to take the vacations they want to give their families during the peak school holiday times. If their schools allow it and if their kids are willing and able to make up the work, who are you to judge their decisions on what is best for their family.

.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!! You beat me to the punch. I was just about to post something to this effect.

 

No one should be made to feel as if they are doing their child a disservice by taking them on a family vacation. We all know our children the best and as such we can make the decision on whether or not they can handle time away from the classroom. I won't ever allow myself to be bullied or pressured into accepting someone else's view of the matter.

 

OP, I do hope that you aren't feeling any of the above. You know your child. Do what you feel is right for you and your family.

[room010]

Missing a few days of school won't ruin their chances of getting into Harvard. What happens if they miss a week's school due to illness? I don't see parents beating themselves up, or other people beating them up, when that happens. The kids will have to catch up on missed work if necessary, that's life. We get WAY too invested in education, grades, achievement, etc. these days. The kids will turn out just fine, I promise. Give them the experience of travel and help them see the bigger picture.

[Swampbabe]

If you were a teacher you would know. The other days are held in court. Not sarcasm.

 

I'm a teacher and I have NO IDEA what you're talking about. Are you an administrator? A union official? Sorry, my BS meter is going overtime on this post.

[Simplertimes]

My kids didn't have this option when they were in school - I was a single mother and could not afford vacations. So I can't really chime in here as I don't know how I would have handled things if I were in that situation.

 

I will say that one of my kids did miss school on a Friday and Monday because she was in an out of state soccer tournament with a club team. Neither I nor her school had a problem with that - nor did the other schools the other players went to (the team consisted of players from probably 7 different towns overall). Now, if it was a week they were missing, there might have been an issue.

 

I do know people who took their kids out of school for a vacation and I don't remember hearing that they were given any grief over it.

[Holders3]

Missing a few days of school won't ruin their chances of getting into Harvard. What happens if they miss a week's school due to illness? I don't see parents beating themselves up, or other people beating them up, when that happens. The kids will have to catch up on missed work if necessary, that's life. We get WAY too invested in education, grades, achievement, etc. these days. The kids will turn out just fine, I promise. Give them the experience of travel and help them see the bigger picture.

 

Yes

[cruisnhillbilly]

Missing a few days of school won't ruin their chances of getting into Harvard. What happens if they miss a week's school due to illness? I don't see parents beating themselves up, or other people beating them up, when that happens. The kids will have to catch up on missed work if necessary, that's life. We get WAY too invested in education, grades, achievement, etc. these days. The kids will turn out just fine, I promise. Give them the experience of travel and help them see the bigger picture.

 

well said, one of my friends has a masters degree works for a small book firm 50,000 a year my other friend didn't finish high school, had to work to help single mom, he works for a plastics firm 120,000 a year.

 

i'm not bucking education but it is not always the real factor when it comes to the work force work experience counts as education in quite a few job markets

 

"OK bring on the flames"lol:cool:

[zuridog]

I am a high school student and if I was taken out of school for a week I would miss a lot of information.

 

In my Biology class, we covered a whole unit, quiz, and maybe a lab in that amount of time. In World History, we covered so many different people and events with in one week and had many quizzes, too! My French 2 class wasn't so much fast paced, but if you weren't able to write/speak it for a week then you wouldn't be able to for the unit test. Finally, in Algebra 2, we covered 1-2 subject a class block.

 

The only classes I could afford to miss was Gym/Health, Choir, and maybe English (if we weren't reading a huge book, doing in class essays, or group projects.

 

Traveling (cruises) are great to show your kids different cultures (I was fortunate enough to go with Girl Scouts to New Zealand and Australia for 2 weeks last summer), but you might want to consider the kids course load before taking them out of school.

[boaterette]

So you have never taken a vacation while you've been working????

Of course I do. They are called vacation days which I earn. What I don't do is call my boss and say hey I am taking the next week off to go on vacation. I know what and when my vacation days are and I go on vacation at that time. Just like I know when my kids school vacation days were. And we would vacation then. Our vacations were always what I could afford to do during that time. Whether it was camping or cruising.

[mandis]

How many of you take your children out of school to cruise? If you do, does the school give you a hard time?

 

We have never done it but thinking it's a lot more affordable with a family of 6.

 

Would love to hear what others think :confused:

 

Our kids are missing the first 3 days of school this year. The school is aware and they also missed the school year before for a cruise. They just had the kids to reports on where they have been and what they learned. We make all our vacations something they can learn about.

[Goodship_a_k]

My son started cruising at age 9 and I never had a problem taking him out of school for a cruise. His teachers always gave him his make up work and he would get it done. I'm a single parent and this was special time for him, for me, for his Grandmother, and for all of us as a family. We usually take at least one cruise a year so, I took him out pretty much every year he was in school. He graduated high school a few years ago and just turned 21 last week. That cruise time was special and he gained alot in what he's seen, the fun he's had, and the friends he's made while on board. He is going on his 14th Carnival cruise with his Grandma and I next month. (And this time he paid MY way! Just a proud Mom here!!) :)

[bike1964]

I pull my kids out for every cruise. Part of their "homework" assignments are getting up early a.m. and towel saving me 4 chairs near the pool.:eek:

[babyher]

I pull my kids out for every cruise. Part of their "homework" assignments are getting up early a.m. and towel saving me 4 chairs near the pool.:eek:

 

 

 

*LOL* Good one :)

[TracieABD]

I'm a teacher and I have NO IDEA what you're talking about. Are you an administrator? A union official? Sorry, my BS meter is going overtime on this post.

 

Hahaha! Love this!:)

[tcowgs21]

I have taken my children out before for a cruise and will do so again in October. This year my boys will be in 9th and 10th grade. Our school has a policy of only 10 unexcused days and they will be using 4 for the cruise because of the holiday. I have to send a letter in advance to the school and I also talk to each of their teachers. I have never asked nor will I ever ask their permission. When I look at my child's birth certificate it has my name as the parent, not the teacher nor anyone else in the school. My children will miss less time in school going on a cruise then some students do by being sick a day here and there. As far as my children being gifted, far from it. One has an IEP and the other has a 504 for ADD. i have never once told a teacher how to use their personal or sick days, and they do get them, I don't expect them to tell me how to use mine.

[puzzums]

I don't have kids, but when I was of grade school age my Dad was in a junior position with his career with no choice of when to take vacation time. This often meant taking vacation during the school year. My parents approached my teachers who were enthusiastic that what we would see and do on a trip would be every bit the education we would get in class. We would take some kind of homework along as well. Taking that time out of school was never detrimental to my grades and those trips have become some of my favourite memories from childhood and were cherished times of family bonding.

 

In short, I would say go for it and have a great time!

[spunkyhungry]

I don't have kids yet, but I would only do it if the kids were elementary school aged or younger. If the kids are older than that they will miss too much work and classroom instruction and fall behind. I would only take an older kid out of school for 2-3 days at the most, whereas for a younger kid I would be ok with letting him/her miss a week.

[spunkyhungry]

IMHO the decision to take children out of school is personal and should be dependant on the following:

 

First...what are your school's rules? Our school excused vacations and the children had 2 days for every day missed to make up the work on their return. We always informed the school at least a month or more in advance. Some teachers gave them work ahead of time and some gave them work afterward. It was the kids responsiblity to do the work. It was my responsibility to make sure they got it done and to help if they had questions. They always got the work done and their grades never dropped. To me that is showing responsibilty. How is sitting in a classroom showing responsibility. Some kids can sit in a classroom and still not get their school work done. How is that being responsible? If your school does not excuse a vacation then you need to think of how your decision will impact your child's grades. I personally would not have pulled them out if it wasn't excused.

 

Second...can your child handle being pulled out of school for whatever period of time you are taking them out? I'm going to say it, you may not believe me, but the facts are the facts. My kids are A students, who can study and learn on their own. DS just graduated from high school in the top 10% of his class and is starting college a semester ahead from his AP classes and dual enrollments. DD is following closely in his footsteps. Their grades never once dropped after a vacation and they always made up all their work. If they hadn't proved they could do that in their early elementary grades, I would have never continued to take them out. Some kids can not handle it. My kids did.

 

Third...is your child willing to make up the work missed for whatever period of time you are taking them out. When my kids were younger, I pulled them out for a week of vacation without problems. When I did so the year DS was in 7th grade, he asked that we limit vacations during the school year for 2 reasons. One, it was getting more difficult to make up the work for a whole week. He did do it and his grades didn't drop, but it did become a much harder burden for him. Two, he had started school sports and he was punished by the basketball coach for missing a couple practices and a game (even though our vacation was booked and paid for long before he made the basketball team). He was no longer willing to take a week off at time but we were able to compromise and take a day or two off around holidays that would work for his schedule.

 

For those who sit in judgement saying that kids should only have vacations during the school holidays no matter what....get off your high horse. Some families can not schedule the time during the school holidays because of the parents work schedule. We have run into that problem many times. Some parents can not afford to take the vacations they want to give their families during the peak school holiday times. If their schools allow it and if their kids are willing and able to make up the work, who are you to judge their decisions on what is best for their family.

 

IMHO the most important thing to us is family bonding time. We have our kids for such a short period of time. You support them by working. You support them by encouraging them to be active in sports. You support them in getting a good education (whether in the classroom or not). That leaves (for us anyways) very little time for family bonding. We have so much quality bonding time when we vacation, that I would not give it up for anyone. If our work schedule or finances dictated that we take our kids our of school for a few days, if the school excuses them and if they make up the work without having their grades suffer....then we are going on vacation during the school year.

 

I agree! And there's more to life than school, getting into college, career, and responsibility. And this is coming from someone who was an A student all of her life and went to one of the top colleges in the country. I still missed a few days here and there to go on vacation. It didn't affect me negatively at all. In fact, it motivated me to get work done since I was going to have a great reward.

[circuitrider]

Here's a thought - how would you feel about your child's teacher taking time off for a holiday during term time. Can't happen, wouldn't happen.

 

Not done reading this thread yet, but had to respond. Our son will out of school for about two weeks in December. Don't think his teacher will mind much, as she had a two week holiday at the beginning of term (two weeks after a two week break, nice four week holiday there!). She does a great job, and if she needs a little extra time off (and the substitute is at least decent), I say go for it.

[circuitrider]

And for all of you who claim you are going on a cruise to further your child's education or broaden their horizons or create bonding experiences with the family or whatever--just admit that you are going on a fun vacation and you want to do it when it's cheaper. (It's possible to do all of the above during school holidays, but it will just cost you more money and/or time.)

 

I admit that we're not rich, and if we could only go on holiday during school breaks, we just wouldn't go that often. Travel is very important to us, whether it's a week cruise to the Caribbean, 6 months in Fairbanks, or over a year in Australia (starting to look like the last one may become a bit more permanent).

 

I wish all schools, public and private, were more like O2B_CRUZN's and prohibited or penalized students who were out of school for vacations. As a parent, I tried to teach my children that all actions have consequences--good or bad. When you take a child out of school for a vacation and let them think, "It's no big deal", then you are teaching your child that there are no bad consequences to flaunting the rules.

 

Wait...if the rules say it's ok for the kid to miss school for a vacation, then how exactly is it "flaunting the rules"? The majority of the people on this thread who spoke about their school's policy, stated that it was ok (i.e., not against the rules). Whether the child was allowed X days of unexcused absences (the absence may not be "excused", but was allowed...bit of a contradiction I agree), or if you had to get permission from various school personnel (teachers, principal, even a social worker was mentioned in one?). That's not flaunting the rules, that's following them to the letter. Now, if someone admitted to having their child claim he/she was sick...ok, now that's breaking some rules, and I'll agree that that's teaching their children poor values.

[MawganTr]

Not done reading this thread yet, but had to respond. Our son will out of school for about two weeks in December. Don't think his teacher will mind much, as she had a two week holiday at the beginning of term (two weeks after a two week break, nice four week holiday there!). She does a great job, and if she needs a little extra time off (and the substitute is at least decent), I say go for it.

 

Obviously very different in America. This (teachers having a holiday) would not happen in the uk.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

I'm a teacher and I have NO IDEA what you're talking about. Are you an administrator? A union official? Sorry, my BS meter is going overtime on this post.

 

I guess no one in your state monitors and evaluates incompetent teachers! You have never seen a teacher being evaluated??? Glad my kids aren't taught in your state! :rolleyes:

[tip]

From my point of view, I have always taught my kids that school was their responsibility. Work was mine,. I don't call in sick unless I am actually sick. My kids knew that they could only miss school if they were sick. My kids are adults now and take their responsibilities seriously. To me it is a matter of ethics. I don't skip work to go on vacation and my kids didn't skip school to go on vacation.

 

 

Very, very well said.

 

It is also about values. Some folks value the work ethic. Some do not. Some folks value education. Some do not. Some folks value their wallets more when they schedule a vacation in off peak times when they can save some money.

[GORDONCHICK]

We have taken our son out of school for cruises before, but there won't be much of that as he gets older. In 1st grade, his teacher sent a packet with us. You can't believe how relieved/impressed other plane passengers were when we pulled out his work, and he worked away quietly on all of the flights. In 2nd & 3rd grade, he took photos and kept a journal of the trip and presented both (along with some of my photos of him in different places) to his classes. One year, he did miss the last 2 days of school, but only because they had to add days at the end of the year to make up for snow - they told us no worries.

 

I can't say we won't ever take him out again, but my preference is to as few days as possible. When I was working, there were times I couldn't take off. DH had the same issue when he was in a different job, but has much more flexibility now.