Would you/do you take your kids out of school

[Eeyore]

I was very surprised at the teacher's reaction: She said "anything that puts a smile on her face and has her skipping down the halls is worth it! Especially if you can turn it into a learning experience."

And when I told her WHERE we were going, she said "Perhaps she could use a tutor while on the trip! Maybe I should go with you!"

That sounds like something a good friend of mine, Mary, who is also a Kindergarten teacher in WNY would say. There must be something in the water. :lol:
All teachers are different, I know plenty that wouldn't take so kindly to it.

As someone said earlier in this thread, this topic does tend to get heated. However, its a good topic to discuss and could be very helpful to people trying to make the choice whether to take their children out of school or not. As long as things remain peaceful (you don't all have to agree with each other) this thread will remain open for discussion. :wave:

 

[WDW-LUVR]

We (my DH and I) are taken our DS out of shcool for 5 days prior to his christmas break. Granted he is only in Kindergarten now but we do plan on continuing this through his school years. The shcool district here will excuse up to 5 days a year for family vacation. I will be writting a letter to the principal to get these days excused and I've already talked with his teacher about this. She will be making a folder of the stuff they will be doing while we are gone, my Husband and I to do with him.

 

[jenlar]

AMEN to its being an individual decision! Enjoyable off-season WDW vacations with short wait times is what gave me the ambition to go into engineering. My teachers were always supportive, and gave us the work before time so that it would be done by the end of the trip.

Now we are homeschoolers and go when we want. We just schedule our school holidays accordingly.

 

[janni518]

to go to WDW during a more favorable time of year?

The next time we go back to WDW, our DD will be in school and I'm not looking forward to visiting the parks during the only times school kids can...Spring Break and Summer because of the crowd and heat factor.

So is it common to pull kids out of school to vacation on an off peak season?

Yes, but with clarifiers. Note: My kids are in high school.

They have to be on honor role, have not taken any non-sick days and it's their responsibilty to get their work made up.


It's not something I'd do on a yearly basis though.

 

[OneLuckyMom]

From what I've read in other threads on the topic, some school districts and/or states are refusing to give excused absenses for vacations and may make it a hastle for you (needing to deal with "truancy" charges, etc.). Its more about funding than any concern they have for your child's education - if your child misses school for a day, they lose out on x dollars of funding from the feds/state. And they want every dollar they can get.

So check with your child's teacher AND principal, to see if they will raise a stink or not.

(We go to a private school, so we don't have to deal with this nightmare! I personally see no problem with it if you don't think your child is going to have a problem catching up.)

 

[Disney05]

We do take our kids out of school. We've been going in May the last 3 years. My son is now 15 my daughter 7. We're not that thrilled about doing it but it's the best for us. We are trying to go around scheduled days that the school is closed so they don't miss that much.

 

[kstella]

I've always pulled my kids out of school for our Disney trips. This year my DS asked to minimize the days missed, so we now have to work around school breaks. This year conferences and in service days are right before Thanksgiving, so we're going then and they're only going to miss two half days and one full day. This will be my first major holiday at the World and I know the crowds are going to be awful, but fortunately we've been so often that we won't be so determined to get to everything. I'm hoping that a relaxed attitude will help deal with the crowds!

As others have said, whether or not to pull out is a decision to be made depending on the child. Both my kids are honor roll students and my DS is in mostly advanced classes and have never had trouble making up the class work. Some teachers have even integrated make up lessons into stuff to do or look for at Disney.

 

[Figment1989]

Good learning experience

I think taking your child on vacation would be a good learning experience (no matter what the age), but it should be used as a reward. If a student is failing classes (or not paying attention or behaving well), then they shouldn't be pulled out, but if they're doing well, then there's no problem with it. I used to go every year, and I would always say I was going on vacation and get my work ahead of time.

 

[clareita]

As many people have noted, there is a huge difference between taking elementary age kids out of school for a few days and taking high school kids out. Most elementary school students can miss a few days without any problems. High school kids who miss a week of math are potentially going to have problems that last the entire term and beyond.

People have also talked about getting the work and doing it ahead of time and doing it on the plan ride. Well, as a former high school teacher I can tell you that isn't always possible. I can't tell you how many times students would tell me that they were going to miss a week of school and could they please have the homework they would be missing. My answer was almost always no. I could tell them what part of the textbook to read, but I didn't have the supplemental materials ready to go. As for homework, I figured out what the assigments were on a daily basis according to what we accomplished in class, so I didn't know what the homework would be 2 weeks in the future. Also, no homework assignment is going to make up for missing class discussions.

The one thing that drives me crazy is how people make the rationalization that it's okay to take your kids out of school because WDW is educational. While it is true that you can learn many things at Disney, if your child learns more at WDW than at school there is a problem with your school. Also, I really don't understand how anyone can think it's a good idea for kids to miss up to week of school in September. It's a crucial time when the kids get back into the school year rhythm.

 

[goofyfamily]

We have been taking our kids out of school for the last 5 years. They usually miss 5 to 7 days and make up all of the work. They are straight A students, so I have no problem taking them out. We have booked again for next year with the bounce back, we just got home last week . I personally see nothing wrong with it . They are now only 9 and 12 so maybe if they were older we would cut the days back a little.

 

[daklimation]

I'd do it in a heartbeat, Disney is a great family experience, and in my opinion is much more enjoyable in the off season. It's much easier to get on/into attractions, and depending on when you go the weather might be a lot more reasonable.

 

[TTARider]

My parents took my out of school numerous times to go to Disney and when I have kids i'll do the same. Now that i'm finally in college I should take take myself out of school and go. I would if I wasn't a poor freshman...

 

[abug'saunt]

I don't have kids of my own, but we've gone with my sister and her daughter several times. Our most recent trip was this past May. We realized that after we we'd booked our trip, my neice was going to miss 2 weeks of school yet be back in time for the last 3 days. My sister let my neice's then 1st grade teacher know as soon as we made our plans. About a month and a half before our trip my sis reminded the teacher and asked about homework. Up until a couple days before we left, we told my neice that she might have to homework. She was okay with it because she already had been doing homework all year. When my sis asked about the homework in the days before we were to leave, the teacher said that she wasn't sending any homework with us as my neice was already doing really well and she wouldn't be missing much. It worked out in our favor. Plus, I remember my parents taking me out for vacations up until my senior year in high school (my choice not to go). I turned out okay :hammer::lookaroun :animwink: :ROFLOL:. I plan on taking my kids out when and if any plans call for it. Even now, my neice is a little ahead of the other kids but that is because of her natural curiosity and the family's willingness to explain to her. Ex: at the age of 2, she knew the alphabet and she wanted to know how to spell words like cat, dog, milk, tree. This past summer, she wanted to learn how multiplication worked. She hasn't even had it yet in school! In the end, I guess it truly is up to the parent and if they think their kid(s) can handle it. Personal experience tells me that kids are flexible and can handle most anything. I say take the kids out and have a really wonderful trip as a family.

 

[jenlar]

If a student is failing classes (or not paying attention or behaving well), then they shouldn't be pulled out, but if they're doing well, then there's no problem with it.

That's a very good point. I was *never* allowed to miss classes for vacation if I wasn't holding up my end of the deal. The biggest problem we ever had was that sometimes the class didn't get as far in the lesson plan as the teacher had hoped and I was a bit ahead. Smaller crowds = less stress = happier family = more ability to make it a learning experience that just can't be taught in a classroom.

 

[DisneyGigi]

Yes, we do take our kids out of school and this is our situation..
Both of our children do and always have maintained an A-B average in all subjects. We have never had a problem with grades.
I look at this way yes, education is very important and we do not take them out for anything else through the year other than sickness. They are growing up way to fast and I want to do all that I can with them while I still have them at home and make the most of their childhood, you blink and they are grown up and gone. We have never had a problem doing this, and the kids are great about really buckling down and doing extra in order to be able to go. It also provides an extra incentive to go above and beyond at least for my two.

 

[WickedQueen22]

I personally have a fear of crowds and tend to panic and shut down so my daughter does get pulled out of school to hit Disney during the low season. Although it is with very specific terms

She must write a daily jounal entry, daily reading and complete all assignments from her teacher. I understand that some people are very against this but we do check when the MCAS testing is and make sure to never leave near then.

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

We took my niece and nephew out of school this year. We visited Disney in mid-September. They both had homework assignments which they did on the plane on the way down (and back) and they also spent some time on their homework during afternoon breaks and in the evenings. We made sure that they were able to get all of their assignments done.

 

[Micca]

Well our kids are grown now, but we took them out of school many times during elementary, middle, and high school. We always let the teachers know in advance, and got whatever work done they could do. I don't think we ever had a problem with the schools or teachers. Mostly I think the teachers wished they were going to Disney World. BTW, one of our DDs is now a teacher.

 

[Shadowdawn]

I understand that some people are very against this but we do check when the MCAS testing is and make sure to never leave near then.

MCAS smells like poo.

(I was part of the first or second set of High Schoolers that had to take them...years back)

 

[disney dude]

I have taken my 6 year old school out of school for 10 days as we leave the UK for a 3 week holiday next week. I work in a job which does not allow me to take the School summer holidays off therefore limited to when I can go away. Being that he is only 6 and my 2 other daughters are still not of a school age don't feel that he is missing out to badly, not as if he is in the middle of exams or anything. Had to get approval from his head mistress and she was more than happy to let him have the time off. I feel he will learn alot plus spending quality time with his family will compensate from missing school