Taking kids out of school.....

[WhansaMi]

The children are being exposed to a different culture. Kids learn to use a computer while playing games. There are typing programs that act like shooting games. In order to fire the gun, one must press the correct key. It is possible to learn and have fun at the same time.

 

Exposure to a different culture is educational, even if one is having fun at the same time.

 

IMO, it largely depends on the itinerary. I am taking my son to Europe next summer (after school is out :-) ). Every excursion we have planned is steeped in history.

 

However, as much as I loved Half Moon Cay, there is no real educational value in playing in the water there or going on the jet ski.

 

Also, in my classroom, I have learned to think about how "dense" the lesson is -- in other words, how much educational value there is for the amount of time spent on the implementation of the lesson. And, as I think about it for my own children, even those excursions we set up to be more "educational" (such as whale-watching, and the helicopter to the glacier in Alaska) are not particularly "dense" unless you add in extra stuff, such as researching the types of whales in the Alaska waters vs. southern waters, or how the glaciers develop and the impact of global warming.

 

If I were homeschooling again, I *would* have built in components like that. We would have developed units around such issues, incorporating math, science, writing, reading, geography and the like. Then the experience would become part of a comprehensive learning unit.

 

But, of course, because my kids, at the time, were in an institutionalized school system, and it was summer, I didn't do that. :-) I approached it like 99% of other parents -- it was FUN!!!

 

Let's face it.... if you want to talk about the "educational" impact of *most* cruises, we're not talking about very much, unless we are using "educational" in the broadest sense -- where all of life is an education, even just cleaning your room, or playing video games. My kids have gone on three cruises.... if you asked them what they "learned", they'd be stumped. They had fun.

 

I know I will change no one's mind on this thread... and that is okay. When parents take their kids out of school this year to go on vacation, I will follow the same policy I have followed for the last few years and save any written notes and assignments. Their lab partners will have to do more to make up for their absence. When the kids are stressing about making up the work by the stated guidelines (while also moving forward with the current material), I will feel sorry for them, but remind myself that this was their parents' decision, not mine. The material has to be covered.

 

I go back to work on Wednesday. Then I won't have so much time on my hands, to get into trouble!

[ommax2]

"IMO the memories and the learning your kids get while they travel with you is more than any school can or will give your kids. They will remember the things they did and saw, more than those 4 days missed in class."

 

here here! I am a teacher, and a mother...

 

they are only little for awhile...

 

and speaking from experience...if you lose one, you will cherish the memories more than the grades....

[WhansaMi]

I know, WhansaMi.

 

And I have to tell you that I DO admire that stance. You must do what you have to do. My heart goes out to you that you can't just TEACH anymore. There's so much red tape for teacher's now that you spend most of your time "meeting guidelines". I can't imagine how stressful that must be!! I mean that with absolute sincerity!

 

Thank you. I know it is hard to make sure the tone is interpreted correctly without the inflections of the words, and the non-verbals, but rest assured that I know you are being sincere.

 

No, I don't like working within the current guidelines, but my first and foremost goal is to help my kids be successful. I could revamp everything I'm doing, and provide them with the best possible education I could imagine, but if they stumble because they didn't get the verified credits to earn an advanced degree, I've hurt them as much as I have helped them.

[Kristi Williamson]

I'll be honest with you, Kristi. While I think your feelings about your kids run concurrent with the vast majority of parents, I feel most of them don't view trips abroad (even on a cruise ship) as a learning opportunity but rather as a vacation. Homeschoolers view education differently. You take on all aspects of your kids' development, from their morals to their work ethic to their intellectual development. People who don't homeschool, while they don't love their children any less, generally have a secondary role in their kids' development. And neither one is right or wrong. My parents wouldn't have survived homeschooling me. It's not a knock against my parents intellect or my own behavior. Not all parents get on a ship for a week and ignore their kids. It's just that not all of them are taking their kids our to the Mayan ruins for a detailed lecture on Mayan society or to the forts in Old San Juan for a discussion on the role of the Caribbean in international relations from the 1500s to today.

 

Once again, we completely agree, Lemur! I do believe most homeschoolers view education differently and perhaps since that's the only perspective that I have, it's difficult for me to view things from another "lens", so to speak.

 

I do believe that the public school systems need a VAST overhaul and I'm contantly astounded at the lack of....maybe, passion, is the word I'm looking for. I would think if I HAD to send my children to a public institution, it would be one of my biggest passions that "they" get it right.

 

At any rate, I'll end all these long posts of mine with a funny homeschooling story so those that don't homeschool can get a better vision of what it's like: Two cruises ago, on the Glory, I got up early for my daily morning walk and accidently woke up my oldest daughter, who had just turned 8 at the time. She decided to join Momma for a walk. As we were walking on the top deck, the sun was coming up and the sky began to take on all those glorious pink and orange hues.

 

So, of course, the classic kid question came up: "Momma, why is the sky blue in the day time, and black at night? And how come it's all "shiny" right now?"

 

Well, I know my kids and usually the "get things" pretty well. So, I explained that the sun causes it. That light travel is actual waves in a straight line, but that each wave traveled up and down like a roller coaster. Some short roller coasters and some are long roller coasters. I then told her about blue waves being "short wavy roller coasters". Since they were "short" they bounced off the atmosphere and our eyes see that as "blue". (she already had a basic understanding of what the atmosphere was). The pinks and oranges have a little longer waves and the atmosphere reflects differently on the horizon than it does straight above us, "like at lunch time". (that's kid talk!)

 

Well, when it got a little warmer after the sun came up, I continued to explain why we get hot and how those same colors "soak up" the heat or energy of the sun. White, of course, reflects (bounces it back) that energy, while black (all colors) sucks it up like a sponge!

 

Of course, that conversation came back to bite momma on the butt! Later in the day, we were out on deck, and she comes up to me after getting out of the pool and says quite clearly for all the other loungers to hear: "Momma, we are going to HAVE to get me a WHITE bathing suit!"

 

Me: "Why is that, India?" (her name)

 

India: (insert complete outrage here as though momma has ANY control over the sun!) "Because this blue one is WAY too dark and it's soaking up the whole sun! I need a white one to bounce some back!"

 

I thought I was going to pee in my swimsuit!! One of the guys sitting in the lounger two seats over almost spewed his bucket 'o beers out his nose! :D:D

[babyher]

Kristi

 

I do agree with you.

 

Not as a steady diet , but i can't see the harm in missing a few days for a family vacation.

 

And yes you can make a cruise educational for a kid. Tour the area and see some local events or landmarks instead of laying on your butt on a beach with an Ipod in your ear. I think it is great you have done things with your kids like take school supplies to the kids. It can be as fun and interesting as you make it for them.

 

A kid living in a nice house in a nice neighborhood in the suburbs really doesn't grasp the extent of the poverty in a place like Roatan just by reading a book or someone telling them about it.

 

I will go one better . A few people here have the same attitude about taking a sick day off from work when you aren't sick.

 

What's so bad about that every once in a while ...again not every month or every Friday or Monday . but a Ferris Bueller day once a year just to do something fun for the hell of it.

 

There's an old saying "No one has ever laid on their death bed saying "I should have spent more time at the office ."

[BaseballMomof4]

I gotta ask the question ... because quite frankly it's bothering me ... and I'll take the heat from anyone I offend. I should throw out the caveat that I don't have kids so whatever I have to say should be taken with a grain of salt ....

 

But how many people actually *believe* a cruise can be educational? Or is that just a figleaf to make yourselves feel better about taking a kid out of school? I'm asking in all seriousness, but what important life lessons are kids learning on cruise ships? How to work a softserve ice cream machine? Proper buffet etiquette? It's not like you're taking these kids on a tour of the US National Park System or Civil War battlefields. The vast majority of cruiseports are little more than Caribbean tourist traps. Sure, there might be a historical site here and there, but do you really have the time, patience, or desire to sit through an hours long lecture on the historical signifigance that place when there's a beach, a pool, a zip line, or Margarittaville around the way? I'm not questioning anyone's parenting skills or educational creditials, just that it seems to me that people should call it what it is. It's a vacation.

 

I have to disagree with you. I believe actually being somewhere that you are studying gives you a major advantage. I remember visiting my brother while he was stationed on Key West between my 8th grade and freshman years. He took me to the Hemingway House that summer and gave me a Hemingway novel to read while he and his wife were at work. I read that novel with a completely new eye because I was THERE, I was in the place Hemingway spoke of. I read all of Hemingways works with great appreciation before I graduated high school when my friends were struggling these works or reading cliff's notes. Yes, we "vacation" in Calica but we also went to Xcaret and visited a working Mayan village and real Mayan ruins. When the history jumps off the book page and you can see it, touch it, smell it, taste it - it touches you in a different place. My son is now 15 and vividly recalls all he learned about the Mayan culture in his 8th grade year (much to my dismay because he is convinced the world will end in 2012) and I truly believe that trip to Mexico has a lot to do with it. I doubt reading a few paragraphs in one of many books in a classroom would have made such a lasting impression on him.

 

For the record, I worked in a legal office for a school district managing special education children's hearings for a number of years. I am not a stranger to the educational system and I value education a great deal. I am not bashing the school system, I am just saying that if an opportunity to go to what you are studying is presented - you should seize it.

[LemurCat]

I have to disagree with you. I believe actually being somewhere that you are studying gives you a major advantage. I remember visiting my brother while he was stationed on Key West between my 8th grade and freshman years. He took me to the Hemingway House that summer and gave me a Hemingway novel to read while he and his wife were at work. I read that novel with a completely new eye because I was THERE, I was in the place Hemingway spoke of. I read all of Hemingways works with great appreciation before I graduated high school when my friends were struggling these works or reading cliff's notes. Yes, we "vacation" in Calica but we also went to Xcaret and visited a working Mayan village and real Mayan ruins. When the history jumps off the book page and you can see it, touch it, smell it, taste it - it touches you in a different place. My son is now 15 and vividly recalls all he learned about the Mayan culture in his 8th grade year (much to my dismay because he is convinced the world will end in 2012) and I truly believe that trip to Mexico has a lot to do with it. I doubt reading a few paragraphs in one of many books in a classroom would have made such a lasting impression on him.

 

For the record, I worked in a legal office for a school district managing special education children's hearings for a number of years. I am not a stranger to the educational system and I value education a great deal. I am not bashing the school system, I am just saying that if an opportunity to go to what you are studying is presented - you should seize it.

 

And I'll ask you the same question I asked Kristi -- do you think you're in the minority or the majority of parents taking their kids on a cruise? I'm not being antagonistic -- you can turn anything into a learning event -- but how many parents actually do? I know mine didn't until I *asked* them to take me to historic places on vacation (Civil War geek here). Before that, it was all fun, sun, and family times.

[Cuizer2]

You really believe they're being exposed to a "different culture" when they're in an Americanized cruiseport from 8 AM until 3 PM? :rolleyes: What are they learning? That everyone in that particular country speaks English to accomodate them?

 

I mean, there are some parents who make it a point of getting out of the Americanized areas and actually seeing some of these islands, but what do you really think the number of parents who do that is to the number of parents who are just there to have fun?

 

I don't care what everyone else is or is not doing. That is up to them. I answered your question. I didn't take a pole of 1001 parents to see what their answer would be.

 

The children are being introduced to a different culture. That is educational. Sorry if I am not providing the answer you are looking for. I am answering for myself - not everyone else.

[jczc2003]

This is how I feel about this situation it is totally up to the parents. My taxes pay for teachers and adminstrators salaries, they work for me. As long as my children are not suffering with bad grades what harm can it do. As for the teacher that moved a mid-term exam thank god that guy is not my children's teacher he would not have a butt left when I was finished.(what an a**).

 

 

 

:rolleyes: WOW! You must pay a LOT in taxes! lol Nice attitude.

[Cuizer2]

See, Kristi, most homeschoolers don't count though. (And I mean that in the nicest way possible - I know many people who have and continue homeschool for various reasons including kids' health issues, religious reasons, and just flat out preference.) I mean, when people homeschool, they take a greater attention to detail when it comes to lessons learned in things as mundane as going to the supermarket and baking cookies. It's pretty much second-nature for you to do that on vacation, especially because school (for many homeschoolers) is never really out of session.

 

So as I understand it, anyone who does not provide you with the answer you are looking for don't count.

[Cuizer2]

Kristi I think what LemurCat is trying to say is that all homeschoolers are not like you. I think he is trying to say that you a in the minority of homeschoolers. At least that is what I am getting....

 

What I am reading is that LemurCat has a theory, and anyone not providing the backup for that theory do not count.

[LemurCat]

I don't care what everyone else is or is not doing. That is up to them. I answered your question. I didn't take a pole of 1001 parents to see what their answer would be.

 

The children are being introduced to a different culture. That is educational. Sorry if I am not providing the answer you are looking for. I am answering for myself - not everyone else.

 

They're not though. At least most aren't. Taking a kid to Margarittaville isn't any different than taking them to Red Lobster, regardless if it's in Grad Turk, Mexico, Des Moine or Times Square. Same with most places that cater to the tourist trade. You're not taking in the local culture, you're taking in the version of the local culture that sells.

[LemurCat]

What I am reading is that LemurCat has a theory, and anyone not providing the backup for that theory do not count.

 

What I'm reading is that I asked you expound further on your answer and rather than do so, you became defensive.

 

And yes, I do have a theory. And that theory is that very few cruise passengers, myself included to a certain degree, don't have sufficient time to take in the local culture. They don't experience the local food, the local customs, the local religion, the local industries, the local political system, or speak the local language. Thus, it's really hard to call a cruise educational on account of taking in a local culture because you don't have sufficient time to really explore it.

[hazeleyez3]

How many here have taken their kids out of school to go on vacation? For our trip, our kids would be out for four days (the fifth day is a teacher work day, so they'd be out anyway).

 

I don't have a problem with them missing four days, and can make up any assignments when they get back. How much can they miss in four days anyway? The rates are much more affordable in Feb / March, and we can't afford to go during the summer months as the prices go way up. Hubby doesn't really feel it's right to take them out, but if we don't go when it's cheaper, we can't go at all. I told him we aren't the first to take their kids out for a few days for vacation. It's not like it will be for 2 weeks or a month!

 

Ave

 

 

I haven't gone through and read every post; however, I was a kid who sometimes missed a few days for vacation. I hated it. Assignments (if the teachers gave them to me) were always due the day I got back so it was either rush as soon as I got back from vacation or do it while I was on vacation. If the teachers didn't give me the work before I had a ton of make-up work when I got back. Plus, there is always something different about learning something via your teacher's oral discussion vs doing the work on your own.

[lsycko1]

My famly cruises in Oct and we have taken my niece out of school when she was 12,14, and 16. With each case she was able to do the work ahead or when she got back without any problems. This year however, we chose not to take her because she started college.

 

You know your kids and what they can handle, I wouldn't sweat it!

[Cuizer2]

They're not though. At least most aren't. Taking a kid to Margarittaville isn't any different than taking them to Red Lobster, regardless if it's in Grad Turk, Mexico, Des Moine or Times Square. Same with most places that cater to the tourist trade. You're not taking in the local culture, you're taking in the version of the local culture that sells.

 

What makes you think I am taking the kids to Margaritaville? Just because I don't support your theory does not mean that I secretly am taking the kids to places where they can't drink - because I don't drink enough to want to go there myself.

 

I am sorry that you are so close minded that you think that everyone is such a lousy parent that they cannot be trusted to educate their children outside of school.

 

Nonetheless, that is your problem - not mine. Nor do have any intention of allowing you to try and make it my problem. What good is a book smart kid that is street illiterate? Because apparently that is all you are interested in.

 

I was on a cruise in April 2009. There were a lot of people from Mexico on the cruise. Perhaps it was school vacation for them, or perhaps not, I don't know, I didn't care, and I still don't. At any rate, one little girl became very interested in me for some reason (neither I nor her father could figure that one out). She spoke Spanish and I didn't, so her father ended up translating. She asked me several questions. All of this while in the hot tub on the ship. That child was interacting with someone from a different country, and for whatever reason, she found it interesting. Why? Who knows. The point is, it happened. So I am sorry to ruin your theory for you, but the fact is that by visiting a different country, and just walking around, people are exposed to different cultures. And the children are people too. There is no reason why someone cannot have fun and learn something at the same time.

 

Perhaps I am not being clear enough for you. I don't agree with you - period. I am not going to answer for the other 50,000 million parents in the United States. Nor am I going to buy into your obvious attempts to slant everything toward your theory. You made it pretty clear when you told someone who home schooled their children that they don't count. Why? Because they don't back up your view of the world. Well, neither do I, so I guess I don't count either.

[rkbeaux08]

I'm from the old school. If you can't afford it don't go. And does anyone every think about the poor teachers that have to rearrange their lives, for the student that have to stay after school to make up a test. I know my niece is a teacher with 3 little boys under the age of 5 and this really upsets her when parents make this request. So please weigh all the pros and cons before you make a decision because, this effects lots of people.

[ktravis]

Why not take you children on vacation during the summer months when school is not in session? The reason we cruise during the school year is because kids are back in school.

[Cuizer2]

What I'm reading is that I asked you expound further on your answer and rather than do so, you became defensive.

 

And yes, I do have a theory. And that theory is that very few cruise passengers, myself included to a certain degree, don't have sufficient time to take in the local culture. They don't experience the local food, the local customs, the local religion, the local industries, the local political system, or speak the local language. Thus, it's really hard to call a cruise educational on account of taking in a local culture because you don't have sufficient time to really explore it.

Just because you don't have time to do something does not mean that everyone doesn't have the time. You have made it very clear, either support my theory or you don't count. Well, I don't support your theory, and I do count.

[ktravis]

Keep them in school. We cruise during the school year instead of summer so that there are not as many children running wild with no supervision.

[Warm Breezes]

I have a DS(15) who will be in 10th Grade this year and a DD(12) who will be in 7th Grade. We have taken them on week long vacations at least once a year (cruise and land). Sometimes these vacations were during the school year and sometimes they weren't. DH and I value family time, work time, school time, and sports time all equally important.

 

When we schedule a vacation, the first thing we look at is DH and my work schedules. My schedule does not allow me to take vacations the first two weeks of any month (this always rules out Spring Break). If DH wants to take a vacation in the summer then we need to schedule it almost a year in advance to ensure he can get the time off. DD is a competitive dancer. She tryouts for dance teams in July and Sept - June she is part of 4 - 5 dance teams that compete March - June with heavy emphasis on being in class Jan - June and committing to not missing any competitions with the team. This rules out any vacations from Jan through Nationals in June (they usually get Spring Break off but that doesn't work for me). DS has been on the school Basketball and Soccer teams since 7th Grade. We quickly found out that this rules out any vacations August - March since the coaches frown on any missed practices and or games. They schedule practices and games during Thanksgiving and Christmas Breaks. DS was penalized by not being allowed to be a starter for a couple of games due to missing practices and games during Thanksgiving and Christmas Breaks.

 

Before DS went into 7th Grade we had no problems taking up to 5 days during the school year. Both children get straight A's, the administration and the teachers worked with us to get the work they missed and I worked with the kids to make sure they did it. We went over Thanksgiving Break when DS was in 7th Grade and they missed 3 days prior. DS struggled to make up missing work and asked that he didn't miss school again. I tried to schedule it during Christmas Break when he was in 8th grade but they changed the posted school schedule after I booked our vacation and they still ended up missing 3 days of school and DS got in trouble with the basketball coaches. Last year we were unable to take a vacation because by the time I found a week that worked in July, DH couldn't get it off. So I had him take it off for this year then and it worked great, more expensive, but it was the timing that counted.

 

My point is that whether or not you take your kids out of school depends on the following:

 

1. The flexibility of your work schedule

2. The flexibility of your schools rules and schedule

3. The ability/willingness of your child to make up the work

4. The flexibility of your childs extra-curricular activities

5. Your Budget

 

Only you can answer these questions for your family. Family time is important and sometimes you have to compromise any of the above to make it work for you. It is up to you what you compromise and what you prioritize at this point in time. For us, our budget is being compromised right now because the other items are taking priority. When our children were younger, it was the school schedule that was being compromised due to other items taking priority at that time. Priorities change as your children get older. No disrespect to teachers. I appreciate what you do. My Grandmother and Aunt were teachers. But a family vacation is a decision to be made by the family. If a family takes a vacation during the school year it is the parents who have the responsibility make sure the children make up the work and get the approval necessary from administration. It is your responsibility to follow the school guidelines on missed work. It is the childs responsibility to get the work done. For my kids it is not a vacation from school work. They still need to make up the work. It is valuble time spent together as family. Sometimes during the school year is the most fiscally responsible time for a family to do that.

[Rockportgirl]

I've taken my son out of school twice for cruises, once as a freshman and once as a junior. He made up the work he missed when he got back. Just like he would have if he'd been sick, or had a funeral to attend out of state, or any other reason he would have missed a week of school. He didn't fall behind and the teachers didn't show up at our house with torches ablaze because we made their jobs so much harder...

 

I will also say, I think just being around different people, no matter if they're from a different culture or not, is an immense learning opportunity. If it's done correctly, just on a cruise, kids can learn how to interact, how to behave, how to follow instructions, how to treat people that are different, the list goes on and on. Very little of what people actually NEED to learn is taught in schools. JMHO. :)

[LemurCat]

What makes you think I am taking the kids to Margaritaville? Just because I don't support your theory does not mean that I secretly am taking the kids to places where they can't drink - because I don't drink enough to want to go there myself.

 

There's more to do at Margarittaville than just drink. Seriously, are you reading the same board as me and not some Bizarro World board?

 

I am sorry that you are so close minded that you think that everyone is such a lousy parent that they cannot be trusted to educate their children outside of school.

 

If I thought that, I would have said that. I think many parents do a great job of educating their kids out of school. I just don't see how spending 8 hours in a foreign port counts as cultural exposure. Can traveling in general be a learning experience? Sure. But that doesn't mean it's educational in the sense that you are exposing a kid to another culture. 8 hours in Cozumel isn't experiencing Mexico. For one thing, many Mexicans are hard-pressed to consider Cozumel really a part of Mexico. Furtermore, spending 8 hours in Cozumel and considering yourself exposed to Mexico's culture is like going to Disney World and declaring yourself an expert on America.

 

Nonetheless, that is your problem - not mine. Nor do have any intention of allowing you to try and make it my problem. What good is a book smart kid that is street illiterate? Because apparently that is all you are interested in.

 

Where in the bloody blue blazes did you get that from? This isn't about book smarts versus street smarts, I asked a question on how you can count 8 hours in a foreign port as an educational experience. Why bother? Just say you're taking your kid out of school to go on vacation. Hell, that's your perogative as a parent. But stop using this figleaf of saying I'm exposing them to a foreign culture. You're not. You're taking them on a cruise.

 

I was on a cruise in April 2009. There were a lot of people from Mexico on the cruise. Perhaps it was school vacation for them, or perhaps not, I don't know, I didn't care, and I still don't. At any rate, one little girl became very interested in me for some reason (neither I nor her father could figure that one out). She spoke Spanish and I didn't, so her father ended up translating. She asked me several questions. All of this while in the hot tub on the ship. That child was interacting with someone from a different country, and for whatever reason, she found it interesting. Why? Who knows. The point is, it happened. So I am sorry to ruin your theory for you, but the fact is that by visiting a different country, and just walking around, people are exposed to different cultures. And the children are people too. There is no reason why someone cannot have fun and learn something at the same time.

 

Sorry, but your anecdotal evidence isn't fact. Nice try though, and sounds like you ran into a nice family. You didn't experience a culture, you had an interaction in a hot tub.

 

Perhaps I am not being clear enough for you. I don't agree with you - period. I am not going to answer for the other 50,000 million parents in the United States. Nor am I going to buy into your obvious attempts to slant everything toward your theory. You made it pretty clear when you told someone who home schooled their children that they don't count. Why? Because they don't back up your view of the world. Well, neither do I, so I guess I don't count either.

 

1. You're free to agree with me or not, but you have yet to offer a bit of fact to refute my theory that 8 hours in a foreign port is not cultural exposure.

 

2. And if you're read my exchange with Kristi you'd find out that homeschoolers don't count because they're never *out* of school. Furthermore, Kristi agreed with me. So tell me again why you've decided I've just personally insulted you?

[LemurCat]

Just because you don't have time to do something does not mean that everyone doesn't have the time.

 

Well, not really, not when they all have to be back on the ship at the same time.

 

You have made it very clear, either support my theory or you don't count. Well, I don't support your theory, and I do count.

 

Hardly, I think *YOU* have made it quite clear that instead of having an interesting discussion on the topic of cultural exposure and whether or not a cruise allows for enough to do so, you'd rather be personally insulted.

 

Is this because you homeschool and you thought I told Kristi she doesn't count? That was a freakin' joke. Hence the emoticon.

 

And quite frankly, I don't care if you support my theory or not, but if you're going to try to refute my theory, try offering something more than anecdotal evidence.

[1timecruiser]

From these posts that people have varying opinions on the issue of school/vacation and their children. I'm sure the OP wanted to get an idea of just how many people pull their children from school to do a family vacation, at an inconvenient time, such as when school is in session (though obviously one conducive to their ability).

 

I'm also pulling my DS from school during the Columbus break for our 4-day out of New Orleans in October. He's in 1st grade and the day prior to the administrative day, he'll miss school because we'll be boarding the Fantasy.

 

I considered his school schedule to alleviate missing too many days, yet I had to work around DH's inability to travel prior to now because he had a new job.

 

I've found that when it comes to traveling, it is my priority to ensure that it works convenient for my family without causing detriment to our routine in any way.

 

Therefore, I considered just how much work will be done on the day prior to this holiday and what he can miss. He's a very smart child and I won't argue the "educational aspect" of the vacation we're going to be on, but the "familial aspect" of it that we'll be able to have a fun-filled family vacation (especially since we have family members that normally couldn't afford to go/nor would've gone had I not picked this time), and the experience he'll have of his first cruise.

 

I've never done a winter vacation like this, especially on a cruise so we look forward to the adventures and smiles that we're sure to have.

 

I think some people need to lighten up, seriously!