Take kids out of school for $1,200???? Y/N?

[Wolfclan Dan]

Hello wonderful board!

We have a trip planned in April 2009 (5th - 13th)and if the DW and I are willing to take the kids out of school the week before we could save $1,000 of our total bill and receive a $200 prepaid Visa at check in.

Our original trip is the first week of our two week spring break. So if we take the kids out of school, their spring break would be three weeks long! Good for them i suppose, bad for studies.

We are staying at POR and the difference in the two trips would be 8 nights at AAA price or 7 nights $1,200 less!

I am torn. The 4 day - 3 day free deal is pretty dang good! My oldest DD is 9, fourth grade, and she is my only real concern in regards to school. Math is not the easiest for her and I worry about her falling behind.

Any teachers here, feel free to chime in! Anyone at all here, feel free to chime in. We love to save money and all, just want the best for the kids.

:shrug:

 

[alilance]

My parents always took my sister and I out of school for our trips to Disneyworld. It was usually a week before our winter or spring vacation. It really makes sense, not only financially, but because the parks are definitely not as crowded as during school vacations!!! I'm also a teacher and never had a problem with my students being taken out of school for vacation. I always gave them the work they would miss, and I would add for extra credit the opportunity to keep a little travel journal about where they went and what they did during their vacation. The kids loved this, and I enjoyed reading about their trip! Take this opportunity and have a blast!!!:sohappy:

I also agree with captainkidd!!! I think family time is more important than anything else!! My Disney trips with my family are some of the best times and memories I've had in my life!!! My mother is very sick and it is so sad to possibly think that we will never be able to take trips as a family again. Those twenty years of Disneyworld and Disney memories with my mother and family will be something special I will have and cherish for the rest of my life!! GO and have fun you never know where life will take you in the future!!!

 

[Jones611]

I would most definitely take the kids out of school! I plan on doing just that for my family vacations once I have children. My parents took my brother and me out of school at least once a year for a trip to Disney. We would always go during the slower times and had a blast!! We always made up the work (usually ahead of time) and never fell behind. I’m an accountant and my brother’s an engineer now so I don’t think it hurt us. Since your kids will be on a two week spring break when you get back let them catch up then. Either way have a great trip!!!! :sohappy::sohappy:

 

[Raven66]

We are pulling our DD out of school next week for our trip. With that said, she is a straight A-B student and we did talk to her teachers ahead of time. If her grades were bad, this trip wouldn't be happening. She has two main teachers and they both are getting work together for her. She will do most of it in the airport and on the plane. Quite honestly though this will probably be the last year we pull her out of school because I think it's next year they start getting the 6-7 different teachers.

It's really up to you. I also think that 1000 dollars is a good reason to take them out if their grades will allow. I hope you have a wonderful trip no matter what you decide to do.:wave:

 

[tigsmom]

Oh, and I forgot to mention, one of my daughter's has a learning disability and it does not adversly effect her IEP.

Both of mine have a LD (the same, but to different degrees) that did/does impact their IEP and we still took them out. The DH has the type of job where you don't get summer vacations, they come during the year and are assigned according to seniority. While we feel that education is important, family time is important too especially when one of those parents is gone 15 hours a day. Things worked out well as DD #1 is a junior in college and DD#2 is a freshman in HS...both doing quite well.

 

[NadieMasK2]

I feel it is ok to take them out from Elementary school or High school but not Middle school. Odd distinction, I know, but in grade school they will be able to make up for what they missed, in high school they tend to be a little more responsible and can handle missing some school. But middle school is a difficult transition period.

Since yours are younger, I would do it. Now, while you can.

 

[2nd Star TTR]

As long as they are doing well in school. TAKE THEM OUT. We have taken our children multiple times in the past years, and they usually never miss a beat in school.

 

[66Stella]

We took our kids out of school up until the 6th grade after that we started going during the summer or on Spring break. Sometimes the teachers gave work to do while away and other times they had to make it up when they came back. One asked for a trip report complete with photos that could be used instead of the project that was to be done during break (writing a short story).

This is our last year (May of 2009) taking our DD out of school to go to WDW as she is in the 5th grade...next year is 6th grade and middle school...no way she can afford to miss middle school. That being said in New York State 4th grade is the year for the big state assessment tests; math, english and science. There is much, much review work before these tests; last year DD's were in January, March & May. I would certainly check with her teacher and the review/timing of these tests...being in New York and all. Good luck with in making your decision...I know it's not an easy one.

 

[tigsmom]

This is our last year (May of 2009) taking our DD out of school to go to WDW as she is in the 5th grade...next year is 6th grade and middle school...no way she can afford to miss middle school. That being said in New York State 4th grade is the year for the big state assessment tests; math, english and science. There is much, much review work before these tests; last year DD's were in January, March & May. I would certainly check with her teacher and the review/timing of these tests...being in New York and all. Good luck with in making your decision...I know it's not an easy one.

I should have said "until they started 6th grade" - that would make 5th the last year we took them out. I think 6th grade is the worst of the MS years for some reason. :shrug: And the kids do not have to take those state assessment tests, they tell the state how the schools are doing, not the kids (though ours always took them). There are many people who refuse to let the kids take them. We were at WDW one year and had planned on being back in time to take the tests, but our youngest got sick and we didn't make it back on time, she took them when we returned.

 

[Gig 'Em Mickey]

If your child's teacher is helpful and flexible enough to either assign a little work while the child is out, or can help her catch up when she returns, what is the harm?

This thinking bothers me. As a son of two teachers and a husband of a university professor, why should the teacher have to go out of his or her way and make special accomodations so one student can go on vacation? I would consider that an unexcused absence. It's not like it was a serious illness, but a conscious choice to place vacation above education. Certainly, I think a student should be ALLOWED to make up any missed work, etc. But missing a test? No way. And the teacher should not have to jump through hoops to help get the student caught up. It was the parents' and student's decision and the onus is on them to get caught up.

 

[captainkidd]

This thinking bothers me. As a son of two teachers and a husband of a university professor, why should the teacher have to go out of his or her way and make special accomodations so one student can go on vacation? I would consider that an unexcused absence. It's not like it was a serious illness, but a conscious choice to place vacation above education. Certainly, I think a student should be ALLOWED to make up any missed work, etc. But missing a test? No way. And the teacher should not have to jump through hoops to help get the student caught up. It was the parents' and student's decision and the onus is on them to get caught up.

I love this mentality. A professional who has about 12 weeks of vacation per year, finding it acceptable to tell another professional who has 2 weeks of vacation per year, when they should take that vacation.

Someone needs to inform teachers like this that those of us who work for companies where the employees have children, we can't all take vacation at the exact same time. Our businesses don't close down for 3 months out of the year.

 

[Gig 'Em Mickey]

You know I work for a Fortune 500 company as well. I didn't say they SHOULDN'T take the kid out. I said they should not expect the teacher to bend over backward to get the student caught up. My parents taught up to 150 kids each day at the high shool level. If even 10% of those kids took vacation at the same time they have to bend over backward 10 times. That's all I'm saying. Parents and students need to take responsibility to do the legowrk themselves, not expect the teacher to do everything for them.

 

[tigsmom]

This thinking bothers me. As a son of two teachers and a husband of a university professor, why should the teacher have to go out of his or her way and make special accomodations so one student can go on vacation? I would consider that an unexcused absence. It's not like it was a serious illness, but a conscious choice to place vacation above education. Certainly, I think a student should be ALLOWED to make up any missed work, etc. But missing a test? No way. And the teacher should not have to jump through hoops to help get the student caught up. It was the parents' and student's decision and the onus is on them to get caught up.

You will note that the person IF the teacher were willing and flexible...I guess those in your family are not...or maybe they are, but you take exception to the extra time spent in getting things together. :shrug:
We have dealt with both types and guess what? We took the kids anyway. They work was made up AND the absences were excused because our administration knows that not everyone has the luxury of a nice long summer vacation. All they ask is that we try to schedule vacations during off time (which we have done) or give them a heads up to try to work things out. We have even had teacher volunteer (yep that's right, volunteer) to stay after school to help get the kids work caught up. :king:

I love this mentality. A professional who has about 12 weeks of vacation per year, finding it acceptable to tell another professional who has 2 weeks of vacation per year, when they should take that vacation.

Someone needs to inform teachers like this that those of us who work for companies where the employees have children, we can't all take vacation at the exact same time. Our businesses don't close down for 3 months out of the year.

And that is why my mantra has always been (and always will be) -
Do what is best for YOUR family. We have had teachers take 3 weeks off in the middle of a semester to go on vacation as a family because that is when the spouse had their time assigned. The teacher and their kids missed 3 weeks of school and the world did not stop spinning. :lol:

 

[Philo]

I would probably go for it. In reality, a week out of school each year is going to do very little harm, it's only when you make a habit of it that the problems occur.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I love this mentality. A professional who has about 12 weeks of vacation per year, finding it acceptable to tell another professional who has 2 weeks of vacation per year, when they should take that vacation.

Someone needs to inform teachers like this that those of us who work for companies where the employees have children, we can't all take vacation at the exact same time. Our businesses don't close down for 3 months out of the year.

Great attitude toward teachers. Teachers get "12 weeks of vacation" (not actually so--most either teach summer school or get a summer job b/c teacher pay is not fantastic--and they spend most of the rest of their time off prepping for future classes, not sitting on their butts playing video games) in exchange for teaching 40 hours a week and then grading another 15 hours a week and preparing lectures a further 20 hours a week during the school year. You are free to make your own decisions on what to do with your children, but insinuating that we are lazy is a low blow and you should probably have a little more respect for what your teachers did for you.

Granted I am a university professor (very different from how you would deal with a 10-year old), I tell my students to be in class if they want to be in class, and not be in class if they don't want to be there. I will gladly meet with a student who falls behind for any reason but I won't make "special assignments" for a student who chooses to skip class. Imagine if I had to make special assignments for every student. There simply are not enough hours in the day.

Every parent (should) know their kids best. If they can afford to miss class, go on vacation.

 

[Gig 'Em Mickey]

You will note that the person IF the teacher were willing and flexible...I guess those in your family are not...or maybe they are, but you take exception to the extra time spent in getting things together.

Yes my parents are pretty flexible. It's the mentality of EXPECTING the teacher to do everything that bothers me. Very rarely do parents come in and talk to the teacher about it. What they can do to make it easier. They just expect everything to be done their way. As the previous poster mentioned they don't want a professional telling another professional what to do. Well by expecting and demanding special treatment outside what's being done for the other student, isn't that the same thing? A lot of teachers will be more then willing to work with you if you approach them politely and genuinely try to work with them to make the best out of the situation. But never demand that a teacher bend over backward for one kid.

 

[captainkidd]

You know I work for a Fortune 500 company as well. I didn't say they SHOULDN'T take the kid out. I said they should not expect the teacher to bend over backward to get the student caught up. My parents taught up to 150 kids each day at the high shool level. If even 10% of those kids took vacation at the same time they have to bend over backward 10 times. That's all I'm saying. Parents and students need to take responsibility to do the legowrk themselves, not expect the teacher to do everything for them.

And I think that's the mentality of someone who has 12 weeks a year to choose when they want to go on vacation, not 2 (not yourself, the teacher not willing to help.)

I must have gone to a much different high school. My teachers barely did anything other than tell me what to read. In elementary school, work was never so complicated that a week off was going to set me that far behind.

 

[Roxas]

Y. My parents taught up to 150 kids each day at the high shool level. If even 10% of those kids took vacation at the same time they have to bend over backward 10 times.

10% of 150 is 15 times actually.

In this case it is indeed a dilemma, as everyone else has also posted it very much depends on your child, I never suffer from missing weeks off school myself as I find it very easy to catch up, 3 weeks though you should at least find out the syllabus for the duration of the trip.:lookaroun

 

[fosse76]

I love this mentality. A professional who has about 12 weeks of vacation per year, finding it acceptable to tell another professional who has 2 weeks of vacation per year, when they should take that vacation.

People have choices in their lives, and it's not his problem that you only get two weeks of vacation per year. And he didn't tell you WHEN you had to take your vacation.

Someone needs to inform teachers like this that those of us who work for companies where the employees have children, we can't all take vacation at the exact same time. Our businesses don't close down for 3 months out of the year.

So he should have to eat into his own PERSONAL time and do EXTRA work because you decide to take your child on VACATION? It is not the teacher's responsibility to help your child catch up on work missed because of a vacation. If I were a teacher, I wouldn't do it. I would hand out assignments ahead of time to the student, but if they were due at any time during the vacation and I hadn't recieved them by the due date I'd give the child an F. Why should that child have the advantage of extra time and extra help out of a premeditated conscious choice to miss school? I understand the dillemma in not having many options with so little vacation time, but that is not the teacher's fault, and you shouldn't burden him to make an accomodation and do extra work.

 

[captainkidd]

Great attitude toward teachers. Teachers get "12 weeks of vacation" (not actually so--most either teach summer school or get a summer job b/c teacher pay is not fantastic--and they spend most of the rest of their time off prepping for future classes, not sitting on their butts playing video games) in exchange for teaching 40 hours a week and then grading another 15 hours a week and preparing lectures a further 20 hours a week during the school year. You are free to make your own decisions on what to do with your children, but insinuating that we are lazy is a low blow and you should probably have a little more respect for what your teachers did for you.

I'm not trying to belittle teachers or the job they do. I apologize if I offended you. This is a personal issue for me. I don't like anyone telling me how to raise my children, and that includes the school department. And given that missing school for a week at a time (and sometimes more than that) every year never set me behind, I think it should be up to each parent to decide if their child can deal with it.

This goes more towards the principal of my son's elementary school, not his teachers. I doubt his principal works during the summer or has a part time job. Yet she's the one who sets this "no unexcused abscence" policy.

 

[captainkidd]

People have choices in their lives, and it's not his problem that you only get two weeks of vacation per year. And he didn't tell you WHEN you had to take your vacation.



So he should have to eat into his own PERSONAL time and do EXTRA work because you decide to take your child on VACATION? It is not the teacher's responsibility to help your child catch up on work missed because of a vacation. If I were a teacher, I wouldn't do it. I would hand out assignments ahead of time to the student, but if they were due at any time during the vacation and I hadn't recieved them by the due date I'd give the child an F. Why should that child have the advantage of extra time and extra help out of a premeditated conscious choice to miss school? I understand the dillemma in not having many options with so little vacation time, but that is not the teacher's fault, and you shouldn't burden him to make an accomodation and do extra work.

I don't think the teacher should HAVE to, but I don't see what the big deal is. They don't have to teach the child, but they can say "OK, read chapter 5 and 6, and answer all the questions in your workbook on pages 8-12, and hand that in on Monday."

But I agree - It's not the teacher's responsibility. This arguement of mine has nothing to do with teachers. I don't hold them responsible. It's not their policy, it's the school districts, or in some cases the principal.