Poll: Do you take your kid's out of school...

[Cuizer2]

OK, this is a little snotty, but --

 

Does anyone else find it a little funny that there's a grammatical error in the title of this thread? :D

 

As a grammar geek, I feel it is incumbent upon me to ask everyone taking the position that "kid's" should be allowed to be taken out of school for vacation purposes to make sure that they give their posts a once-over, just so it doesn't look like you really don't value education... ;)

 

To answer your question, yes, someone else did notice. Where I work, letters are spell checked, proof read, then proof read by someone else, and months later when I read the letter again I still sometimes find grammatical errors. So giving your post the "once-over" is not going to cure all the problems.

 

So now I have a question for you. Where you aware of the following rule in the CC Community Guidelines ...

 

It is important to remember that everyone makes mistakes at one time or another, and that there are many users who use English as a second language, especially on our Cruise Boards. There are also a number of people who suffer from learning disabilities and who have difficulty noticing their spelling mistakes. Do not make comments on the spelling and grammar of other users. It is simply not a productive expenditure of energies.

[spongerob]

Quite an argument!

 

Each case is individual. I recall being taken out of school twice for vacations, because these were the only times my parents could schedule vacation. For me, there was absolutely no effect on my grades, for my sister it was a disaster that required several weeks of catching up. Some children are going to do better than others. Parents have to be willing to make the decision that is best for their children in the long run.

 

One thing will always be true, the success you experience after the age of 25 is directly proportional to the effort you put into yourself before the age of 25.

[LoriLinay]

C-Ked,

 

I was thinking the exact same thing. I'm reading all these posts and there are so many spelling and grammatical errors. It's hysterical because of the topic everyone is commenting on with such passion.

 

Please don't flame me, I'm just trying to point out the ironic humor.

 

And yes, I too am aware of the policies of CC. I'm not pointing out any one person, or being nasty. I just think it is funny. I'm sure there is an error or two in my post. Nobody is perfect. But some do have a better sense of humor than the next guy.

 

My daughter had a speech teacher in 2nd grade that had a Southern drawl. THAT cracked me up as well. Oddly enough, she did an amazing job and my daughter now has a heavy midwestern twang. (We are from Minnesota, so it's normal)

 

Let the debate continue!!!

[bmccarthy]

I am a teacher who has missed school for a cruise. Life passes by too fast and I would hate to miss out on wonderful opportunities just because of my school schedule.

 

If you want to take your kids out of school for a vacation, that's your personal choice. You shouldn't worry about other people's opinions.

 

Don't worry about what you should or shouldn't do. Just go out and have fun.

[MaddyMom]

As I stated in an earlier post, we are pulling our children out for 1 week. We advised their teachers last month that we would be doing so and they appreciated the advance notice. Most of the work for the year will be done by May, but they will be missing some year-end testing, which the teachers will have them complete before we leave. We chose May because it is the best time for my husband to take time off, not because of the cheaper fare (although that certainly doesn't hurt!).

 

According to Utah law, students are allowed 10 vacation leave days per year, as long as a form is submitted to the school prior to the planned absence. I imagine many other states have similar statutes regarding school leave.

 

I have no problem at all pulling them out for a week. We will be creating a closer bond by playing together, and creating memories that will last a lifetime for them.

[Mary_Jo]

C-Ked,

 

I was thinking the exact same thing. I'm reading all these posts and there are so many spelling and grammatical errors. It's hysterical because of the topic everyone is commenting on with such passion.

 

Please don't flame me, I'm just trying to point out the ironic humor.

 

Let the debate continue!!!

 

To me, education/school is not just about spelling, punctuation and grammar. What about the artists, musicians, mathematicians, carpenters, plumbers, electricians etc? These people may not write or spell often in their day to day lives. Or even computer programmers who may write very complicated financial algorithms for systems who can barely write an email. There are not many who excel in everything. IMO, you can be educated, passionate about this subject and still have spelling and grammar errors.

 

Mary Jo

[Nurse4heartkids]

We do take our kids our of school for vacations:eek:. In fact we leave on Thursday for a 9 day cruise. Ironically my husband is a teacher and the reason why we take them out of school for vacations is due to his off track months. Both of our kids are on a traditional school calender whereas my husband gets certain months off throughout the year. These months do not always match with the kids schedule.

 

I feel it is important to point out that both my husband and I feel that education is important and we both hold graduate degrees. To be honest, I do not remember half of what I learned in elementary school, but I definitely remember the family vacations my parents took us on. Our kids have learned so much from visiting other countries and we have had fantastic family time:D. One thing I have learned in my line of work, is life can be short and we never know what is in store for any of us. It is important to live life to the fullest.

[PACURN]

Sabrina.

How's Mentone Beach these days? :D I grew up near there in Rialto, My cousin lived in Yucaipa. We both had a crush on a guy who lived in Mentone. He was so cute ( that was many years ago lol)

[Steamboatin]

On one of our cruises we had table mates who home schooled their young children.

 

They cruised during school time and so they told everyone at the table they "wrote off" the expense of each of their many cruises on their income tax fillings as "educational expenses" for their children. After all each cruise included history and geography at the least.

 

Love to see them try to explain their logic at a tax audit.

[Too blessed to be stressed]

I agree, one thing my kids remember are those awesome special family vacations that we did together. I have a couple of grown children that remember vacations and can talk about them in detail from when they were 3. If anything ever happened to your children you would never look back and regret having taken them out of school for a special time with them. But you may regret that you didn't. They grow up fast enough and go on thier own vacations. I am all for making memories that will last a life time. I haven't taken my little one out of school but I will before she goes off to college. I also agree that this is an education they will never get in school. How many remember what they learned in history or geography text books? But get a child excited about a vacation you can teach him to read a map and help get you there, calculate how much further and longer it will be. They will remember where on the globe you went, they will remember the animals in that part of the world, the climate, the people, the way of life, They will remember the name of the country, the food. They will learn different foriegn currancy and collect them. And most of all they will learn how blessed we really are. This kind of learning they will not forget. This is not intended to belittle education but it should enhance it.:) How many clubs in school have activities that the children are allowed to leave for. Thats not more important then family. Ultimately this is your child, raise them the best you can, you can only do it one time. There is no do overs!

[Cherlach]

The school were my children and now grandchildren attend have a policy that allows for up to 2 weeks vacation during the school year, they realize that not all parents can vacation during the summer months, they require 2 week notice so that teachers can prepare for makeup work, I do not see this sending the wrong message at all because in our home the kids see how hard we work during the year including summer and they also have to work hard to make up for the lost class time.

[Chronic Observer]

Quite an argument!

 

One thing will always be true, the success you experience after the age of 25 is directly proportional to the effort you put into yourself before the age of 25.

 

Perhaps, but in many cases one's success in life is more influenced by the previous successes of their parents. There are exceptions to be sure, but most social class changes are downward and not upward due to well intended luxuries provided by successful (finacially) parents.

 

The goal is to provide a better childhood for your kids than you had, the paradox is not to raise a litter of ungrateful spoiled entitled brats.

[Tabsmom]

The school were my children and now grandchildren attend have a policy that allows for up to 2 weeks vacation during the school year, they realize that not all parents can vacation during the summer months, they require 2 week notice so that teachers can prepare for makeup work, I do not see this sending the wrong message at all because in our home the kids see how hard we work during the year including summer and they also have to work hard to make up for the lost class time.

 

Wow. Nice to hear of a school district who looks outside of the walls of the administration building.

[familycruising4us]

We do take our kids our of school for vacations:eek:. In fact we leave on Thursday for a 9 day cruise. Ironically my husband is a teacher and the reason why we take them out of school for vacations is due to his off track months. Both of our kids are on a traditional school calender whereas my husband gets certain months off throughout the year. These months do not always match with the kids schedule.

 

I feel it is important to point out that both my husband and I feel that education is important and we both hold graduate degrees. To be honest, I do not remember half of what I learned in elementary school, but I definitely remember the family vacations my parents took us on. Our kids have learned so much from visiting other countries and we have had fantastic family time:D. One thing I have learned in my line of work, is life can be short and we never know what is in store for any of us. It is important to live life to the fullest.

 

My daughter is now in 6th grade, and throughout these past few years of school, I am amazed at how much I've forgotten!! :o BUT, yes, I remember every trip to Disney World!!!

 

I cannot believe some of these posters who act so holy, and treat others with such disrespect, when they know not a fact about anyone, to judge!

My children are CHILDREN, and members of my FAMILY, not cadets in military...

My husband almost died when he was in 7th grade, Spinalmendengitis (oh,yes, I know it's spelled wrong, but no time to look it up ;) ) He missed MONTHS of school, heck, he was in a como for a full week, his organs were shutting down, had his last rites read to him TWICE!

Do you think his parents were concerned about his education??? He graduated from Iowa University with his degree, now owns his own business, AND, yes, he values education, but we both value our time with our children more, sorry!! I learned from his family's worries long ago, enjoy your children while you can, you never know what tomorrow may bring! My husband was very blessed to survive, (lost his toes, bcuz they started to die off) we do not take life or our children for granted....WE vacation when we can, sometimes the kids miss school, sometimes they don't...

Sorry so long!! HAPPY CRUISING ALL AND ALL FAMILIES!

[Nurse4heartkids]

Sabrina.

How's Mentone Beach these days? :D I grew up near there in Rialto, My cousin lived in Yucaipa. We both had a crush on a guy who lived in Mentone. He was so cute ( that was many years ago lol)

 

Hi Debbie,

 

Mentone Beach is great. It is growing and growing. Small world huh? Even though it is getting bigger it still has that small town feel.

[Shorty65]

We live in Missouri, we planned our "Family Cruise" for the Cheaper Price...saved about $200.00 a person.. we had and an unusually "Bad Winter" and because of the that, my kids used all of their (six )snow days...the Conquest Cruise is for May 20, 2007...but we had paid for it in full in January, 2007. I have to take my son out of School a week early, the last day of school is May 31, 2007. I had to send the School a letter explaining the situation and asked that my kids take their finals the week before we leave for the Cruise. The School is working with us on this, it may be a little stressful cramming for the finals, but my kids can not wait for "The Cruise"..they are counting the days...

[Tabsmom]

Shorty, we're in about the same situation as you. We live down around Springfield and the ice storm tore through all 5 snow days and 5 days tacked onto the end of school. Like you we booked a cruise that sailed on 5/19. We were lucky enough that since we were originally scheduled to get out of school on 5/12. It then got bumped to 5/18. So our DD is only going to miss the last day of school, and it's only a half day. We were sweating it for a while. Thought we were going to have to make a deal with the school too. Glad they worked with you. Happy sailing.:)

[berly369]

My daughter is now in 6th grade, and throughout these past few years of school, I am amazed at how much I've forgotten!! :o BUT, yes, I remember every trip to Disney World!!!

 

I cannot believe some of these posters who act so holy, and treat others with such disrespect, when they know not a fact about anyone, to judge!

My children are CHILDREN, and members of my FAMILY, not cadets in military...

My husband almost died when he was in 7th grade, Spinalmendengitis (oh,yes, I know it's spelled wrong, but no time to look it up ;) ) He missed MONTHS of school, heck, he was in a como for a full week, his organs were shutting down, had his last rites read to him TWICE!

Do you think his parents were concerned about his education??? He graduated from Iowa University with his degree, now owns his own business, AND, yes, he values education, but we both value our time with our children more, sorry!! I learned from his family's worries long ago, enjoy your children while you can, you never know what tomorrow may bring! My husband was very blessed to survive, (lost his toes, bcuz they started to die off) we do not take life or our children for granted....WE vacation when we can, sometimes the kids miss school, sometimes they don't...

Sorry so long!! HAPPY CRUISING ALL AND ALL FAMILIES!

This is very well said!!! I have been reading all these posts with interest, but I am a mom who values family time above all else. I am taking my daughter out of school for two weeks at the end of September for a Hawaii cruise. She will be joined by her cousin, who will be cruising for the very first time. I will make sure the teachers give her all the necessary homework that will be missed, and it will be done during our cruise. My daughter has travelled to many places with us, and I do know that she has learned alot about other cultures and how people from other parts of the world live. Having said that, now that she is in high school, I would not pull her out of school anytime after Christmas because of the final exam preparations.

[usnavywife]

Considering the crappy schools here I would do it if they were still in public school.

But since we got feed up with the school I now homeschool so it isn't an issue :D

Once we transfer from here I would still do it. I mean we are military after all so we do have to travel at all times of year for them so why not a family vacation too.

[lovemylab]

When I was in grade six my parents took me out of school for two weeks in March (the week before and after March break) so that we could drive to Florida. I learned more about geography during that trip than what I could have ever learned in a classroom.

 

My teachers had no problem with me taking the time off school. I did have some schoolwork that I took with me, but taking the time off didn't result in me falling behind.

 

If I ever have children, I would have no problems with taking them out of school so they could experience the world and get a learning experience outside of the classroom.

[gg3]

I personally feel that we need to teach our children that school is their "job" for now, and just like parents who work, a lot of responsibility goes along with that. A lot of work goes into preparing each day of a school year, from setting the school calendar, to teachers working long hours on lesson plans. When a child misses school, the teachers must either, before or after the absence, give them their work & often this takes a great deal of work to write out your lesson plans for them for several days, then when they return, their work must be looked at, graded, etc. after the teacher has already done the other students. Take into consideration that the teachers are also doing this for students out for school activities, as well as illnesses, or family emergencies such as illnesses and funerals out of town, out of state. It IS A BIG DEAL for them. Yes, of course, a family trip is memorable, precious family time together, often educational, etc. BUT, with all the holidays, breaks and summer vacation our children get, I truly believe we need to show them how much WE value their education and their teacher's time, and schedule our vacations wisely.

[Cuizer2]

I personally feel that we need to teach our children that school is their "job" for now, and just like parents who work, a lot of responsibility goes along with that. A lot of work goes into preparing each day of a school year, from setting the school calendar, to teachers working long hours on lesson plans. When a child misses school, the teachers must either, before or after the absence, give them their work & often this takes a great deal of work to write out your lesson plans for them for several days, then when they return, their work must be looked at, graded, etc. after the teacher has already done the other students. Take into consideration that the teachers are also doing this for students out for school activities, as well as illnesses, or family emergencies such as illnesses and funerals out of town, out of state. It IS A BIG DEAL for them. Yes, of course, a family trip is memorable, precious family time together, often educational, etc. BUT, with all the holidays, breaks and summer vacation our children get, I truly believe we need to show them how much WE value their education and their teacher's time, and schedule our vacations wisely.

 

If school is the child's job and I take vacation from my job, why can't my child take a vacation from his/her job?

[SunnieC]

I'm taking my girls out of school for a whole week in September. The rates are cheaper then, and it works better for us. I used to be a teacher, and really...its not that much work to get together the important lessons of the week and give them to good students whose parents love them and want to take a nice famly vacation together. I'll work with them and make sure they understand everything.

 

Of course, my girls will only be in 2nd and 3rd- and most likely we won't do this in the higher grades- but for now we are going for it!

 

We can't wait!:D

[gg3]

If school is the child's job and I take vacation from my job, why can't my child take a vacation from his/her job?

 

Please understand that I am not being "critical", just giving my opinion. I think a child does get "vacation" from their school job: Summer, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break, Snow Days.....wouldn't we all love that type of "job". And I am a parent and grandparent who LOVES every precious moment spent with my family. I have worked in the public school system since 1980 and I know first hand how difficult it is on teachers AND kids when they take a family trip for whatever reason, during their scheduled In-school days. Enough said....I will not demean those who choose to take their child out of school for whatever personal reason......I am just taking the stand that truly we can plan vacations when our children are out of school, since they do have so many days off throughout the year. :) gg

[Cuizer2]

Please understand that I am not being "critical", just giving my opinion. ......I am just taking the stand that truly we can plan vacations when our children are out of school, since they do have so many days off throughout the year. :) gg

 

But that is the issue several people have expressed. Some don't have the flexibility. Some don't have the funds to go when everyone else does. Sometimes the parents make sacrifices for the good of the family. Sometimes the children have to make those sacrifices. In many cases, as the parents have pointed out, it has not been a sacrifice for the child to miss school. In some cases the child actually learns more out of school then in school.

 

It is easy to tell someone to plan around a child's school schedule when you have total flexibility to plan your vacation, or even better, work for the school, and thus your vacation matches up perfectly with the child's.

 

How about baseball players for example (this is just one example). Are they not allowed to vacation with their children? Baseball players cannot take the summer off. They also cannot take Easter off.

 

Some people work in a setting where seniority determines who gets first choice of vacation time. If the person is low in seniority, then they can only take vacation when there is an open slot. Then they have no choice but to either vacation at home, or pull the kids out of school.

 

There are too many people who just cannot take vacation at the same time as the school does. It is up to the parent to decide what is best for their family, not you, not me and not the government.