School Projects at WDW

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DlandersinWdw

New Member
Original Poster
We're pulling our DS11 out of school for 2 weeks and want him to do some fun/educational projects. Does anyone have any ideas for that age group? So far we have:
Math - budget a couple of days of spending on food, souvenirs, etc and then track results against budget.
Health- track a day of nutrition for the family based on what we each eat and then calculate how many miles we walked based on step counts
Social Studies - I saw something online about creating a small book with printed out or drawn maps & flags of all Epcot countries and then ask a CM from each to answer some questions about heir homes (will CMs have time)?
General - we're traveling with two little girls and I'm going to have DS research and then create a photo scavenger hunt for them to complete.
Anything else?
 
Nemo14

Nemo14

Well-Known Member
You're right - two weeks is a long time to miss school at that age, and while your intentions are admirable, your teacher might not agree with your plans. Also, make sure that your school district allows that many "unexcused" absences, and that your son will be allowed to make up his missed work. I know some districts are pretty strict about this, while others are more tolerant.
 
matt9112

matt9112

Well-Known Member
Nemo14 said:
You're right - two weeks is a long time to miss school at that age, and while your intentions are admirable, your teacher might not agree with your plans. Also, make sure that your school district allows that many "unexcused" absences, and that your son will be allowed to make up his missed work. I know some districts are pretty strict about this, while others are more tolerant.
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it is insane how strict some can be.....you would think your kid goes to Harvard....its public education people...and its very very lackluster sadly. a Disney trip will likely be a better hands on life experience anyway. i have a son thats 5 and we moved to Florida but had we not i would have absolutely done our bi annual trip in the off season.

edit: try some classic worksheets after each day maybe?
 
JIMINYCR

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
The CM's in EP love answering questions about their countries, their culture and how they differ from the USA. Most guests pass through and dont realize the wonderful opportunities they have questioning these CM's who come to Disney. I always interact with them and they have never been too buzy to talk unless theres a glut of shoppers needing attention. I'm always respectful of their duties first and look for the CM thats not doing anything.
 
WhatJaneSays

WhatJaneSays

Well-Known Member
Both Epcot and Animal Kingdom are parks ready made for good education opportunities.

Epcot sells a "Passport" for $10 or $12 that comes with stickers and a button. It's got plenty of spots to take notes from talking to all the CMs from other parts of the world, plus its a cute souvenir and a nice prop if they every have to give a report on their trip. Nearly every international CM is happy to talk about their homes. Try to talk to a few CMs together that are from different parts of their country if you can, hearing the contrast between how people live is really interesting.

Stop by the Kidcot stations! They are geared more toward the younger kids but they often have activities and helpful CMs that are used to answering questions and they'll stamp the passports if you like.

The Wilderness Explorers at Animal Kingdom is one of the best activities Disney's ever created. It's free and you could easily spend a whole day on it if you really wanted. It covers everything from animals to earth science and includes international CMs from countries represented at Animal Kingdom.
 
Hakunamatata

Hakunamatata

Le Meh
Premium Member
DlandersinWdw said:
We're pulling our DS11 out of school for 2 weeks and want him to do some fun/educational projects. Does anyone have any ideas for that age group? So far we have:
Math - budget a couple of days of spending on food, souvenirs, etc and then track results against budget.
Health- track a day of nutrition for the family based on what we each eat and then calculate how many miles we walked based on step counts
Social Studies - I saw something online about creating a small book with printed out or drawn maps & flags of all Epcot countries and then ask a CM from each to answer some questions about heir homes (will CMs have time)?
General - we're traveling with two little girls and I'm going to have DS research and then create a photo scavenger hunt for them to complete.
Anything else?
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If I were an educator I would have big issues with these "projects" considering these are for the most part things that should be taught at home anyway. I would be approaching the teacher asking how you can have him complete expected school work. Not complete some activity intended to give the impression that the education is being taken seriously.
 
HurricaneHanna

HurricaneHanna

Well-Known Member
Nemo14 said:
You're right - two weeks is a long time to miss school at that age, and while your intentions are admirable, your teacher might not agree with your plans. Also, make sure that your school district allows that many "unexcused" absences, and that your son will be allowed to make up his missed work. I know some districts are pretty strict about this, while others are more tolerant.
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I hope that the OP has checked that a two week non-emergency absence is allowed. I'm not taking sides on whether it's wrong or right but where I live this would not be permitted. Actually back in the 1990's before the current attendance policy was in effect we took our children out of school for a week one January to go to Disney. My oldest son was in 8th grade at the time and even though I informed the school at the start of the academic year the previous September and received permission from the principle, his teachers gave him a very hard time about missing class. I felt very bad about it because this impacted my son negatively. We never traveled again on school days.
 
MomofPrincessGrace

MomofPrincessGrace

Well-Known Member
HurricaneHanna said:
I hope that the OP has checked that a two week non-emergency absence is allowed. I'm not taking sides on whether it's wrong or right but where I live this would not be permitted. Actually back in the 1990's before the current attendance policy was in effect we took our children out of school for a week one January to go to Disney. My oldest son was in 8th grade at the time and even though I informed the school at the start of the academic year the previous September and received permission from the principle, his teachers gave him a very hard time about missing class. I felt very bad about it because this impacted my son negatively. We never traveled again on school days.
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I am pulling my daughter out the 2nd to last week of school (kindergarten) in May next year. This is probably the last time I am taking her out for vacation during school, but chose this time of year because it is when curriculum is winding down. Our school district only allows 8 unexcused absences, and all parent excuses are considered "unexcused". I have submitted a form to the school board asking for permission and am waiting to see if it gets approved. It is crazy though how strict they are with attendance policies now-a-days. If you miss more than the allotted amount it a referral to family court. We may actually push the vacation back to last week of May if the request is denied.
 
Raineman

Raineman

Well-Known Member
MomofPrincessGrace said:
I am pulling my daughter out the 2nd to last week of school (kindergarten) in May next year. This is probably the last time I am taking her out for vacation during school, but chose this time of year because it is when curriculum is winding down. Our school district only allows 8 unexcused absences, and all parent excuses are considered "unexcused". I have submitted a form to the school board asking for permission and am waiting to see if it gets approved. It is crazy though how strict they are with attendance policies now-a-days. If you miss more than the allotted amount it a referral to family court. We may actually push the vacation back to last week of May if the request is denied.
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It kind of blows me away that there are places that try to restrict how and when a parent can withdraw their own kids from class. My DD missed 2 weeks of school when we went to WDW in March, and the school said and did nothing. The teacher sent a bit of work for her to do, but that's it. And when she went back, she was able to get caught up fairly quickly with no issues. We live in Canada-is it pretty common in the US for schools to try to restrict how much class time kids miss? I will say this-it will be a cold day in Hades when some school board tries to tell me when I can take my child on vacation.
 
Hakunamatata

Hakunamatata

Le Meh
Premium Member
Raineman said:
It kind of blows me away that there are places that try to restrict how and when a parent can withdraw their own kids from class. My DD missed 2 weeks of school when we went to WDW in March, and the school said and did nothing. The teacher sent a bit of work for her to do, but that's it. And when she went back, she was able to get caught up fairly quickly with no issues. We live in Canada-is it pretty common in the US for schools to try to restrict how much class time kids miss? I will say this-it will be a cold day in Hades when some school board tries to tell me when I can take my child on vacation.
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Yes. Quite restrictive. It's what happens with an over reaching government.
 
kelknight84

kelknight84

Well-Known Member
hakunamatata said:
Absences affect state and federal funding. If a child is not in school the school looses dollars.
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This is only partly true. The biggest issue I see nowadays is teachers' jobs and pay raises are directly reflective of their students performance. If a student is not in school they miss quite a bit and then often perform poorly. Being in school for only 180 days, just missing a handful adds up. Especially nowadays when kids miss for their birthday, relatives in town, other sibling birthdays, just because, and all sorts of other crazy reasons. I had students that were out 50+ days a year and they did terrible on their tests and my pay and evaluation suffered as a result (my students that did show had some of the highest scores in the school district but couldn't compensate for the few underachievers). They were given make up work(which takes a lot of time to put together) and a few would come early or stay late but there was only so much I could do during that time along with my other 1000 duties.

Now I do see both sides and I think if you have smart kids and only do it occasionally and dont miss 100 other days each year it's not a huge deal, but just be mindful that they are missing quite a bit.
 
Pixie VaVoom

Pixie VaVoom

Well-Known Member
Just tell the school district that you are homeschooling for 2 weeks...sit back and watch the fun begin!!

It really is ridiculous. I had to let my secondary school Chemistry, Physics and Algebra certification lapse - too much malarkey. The Schools do not OWN these kids - they are just worried about funding. Well if they would not spend so much $$ on stupid teacher enrichment programs, and having attended a few, some of them are STUPID and not at all germaine to the actual educational process.

Ex "Transactional analysis and Positive affirmations for reducing teacher stress." You want to reduce teacher stress, try giving them that day off instead of making them attend the stupid 8 hour seminar. And here is a positive affirmation... "I don't have a seminar - so I don't have to get up to the alarm clock." Guaranteed morale booster.
 
Pixie VaVoom

Pixie VaVoom

Well-Known Member
Some years back my nephew - @ 12 years old, was needing some reinforcement in math/pre-algebra. The family decided to take a day trip to Cedar Point (about 3 hours away). I made him some worksheets with problems outlining things like making change for meals, calculating hourly throughput on the "Iron Dragon", cost per ride of the admission ticket over the course of the day. Just unusual but related stuff, also showing him that these basic school skills had an application in real life.

He would have rather played his video games on the car trip of course, but the whole family gave some input and my nephew also learned that our family values education, we help each other out, and like to have fun together !!

Follow-up - he is graduating high school this coming spring with a major in S.T.E.M and an emphasis in Physics.
 
DisneyFans4Life

DisneyFans4Life

Well-Known Member
My parents, in-laws and wife were/are teachers and I can tell you that neither of their districts would be ok with something like this. Schools are graded by how well kids "test" and in order to do well on tests, students must be present in class to learn the curriculum that the school district has deemed appropriate. Whether or not we agree with said curriculum is a whole different subject, but missing two weeks of school is not going to be be taken lightly by the school, especially for a vacation and right after school has started back in session.

My advice would be to approach the teacher and ask them if they can provide two weeks worth of assignments to be completed; worksheets, essays, assigned readings, etc.

Teachers are paid (very little I may add) to teach our children. Given the low amount of funding and lack of resources available to teachers, their jobs are already hard enough. Not having the child in school makes it substantially harder for that teacher to be successful in teaching our children what they need to know.
 

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