Another famous "taking your kids out of school" thread ..

tinkerhon

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 1, 2012
Hey y'all,

Ok- I know this is a touchy subect, and hoping for no fights - just sound opinions -
So, it's my first experience having a child in middle school, and this could possible be the first non-Disney Thanksgiving for us in over 20 years ! So, the letdown has already started - ds7 starting 2nd grade - already spoke with the school, and they understand many people go away for the holidays - they would miss the 4 days after thanksgiving weekend - he did the same last year - he was fine with it - teacher gave him a HW packet to do for that week -

Dd12 is the problem - last year she was fine - now, 2nd year of middle school and she is petrified about missing 4 days of school in 7th grade - I know some schools are more lenient than others - ( I believe we have some teachers on the Dis as well) - thoughts ? Are her fears justified? she is (luckily) a good student that stresses big time about missing assistments and/or tests - we go for winter recess, but the airfare alone --- crazy ! Thanks for any help !
 
Hey y'all,

Ok- I know this is a touchy subect, and hoping for no fights - just sound opinions -
So, it's my first experience having a child in middle school, and this could possible be the first non-Disney Thanksgiving for us in over 20 years ! So, the letdown has already started - ds7 starting 2nd grade - already spoke with the school, and they understand many people go away for the holidays - they would miss the 4 days after thanksgiving weekend - he did the same last year - he was fine with it - teacher gave him a HW packet to do for that week -

Dd12 is the problem - last year she was fine - now, 2nd year of middle school and she is petrified about missing 4 days of school in 7th grade - I know some schools are more lenient than others - ( I believe we have some teachers on the Dis as well) - thoughts ? Are her fears justified? she is (luckily) a good student that stresses big time about missing assistments and/or tests - we go for winter recess, but the airfare alone --- crazy ! Thanks for any help !

If everyone is okay with it. Why not? But if it stresses out your daughter, I wouldn’t do it.
 
Can you quietly make plans without talking it up, then let her see how she feels after things settle down a few weeks into the school year?

I was thinking about doing just that- Knowing that I can always cancel -

Great idea ! Thanks !
 
Could you offer to plan a specific HW/study break into each day for her? My parents took us out a LOT growing up and they always made sure to have some down time to work on assignments and keep up so we werent slammed coming back.
 
If everyone is okay with it. Why not? But if it stresses out your daughter, I wouldn’t do it.

Yep- I agree - the thng is that I thnk she is more concerned about how it's perceived by the school - she knows she will make up the work -
 


Will you be able to help your daughter with any work the school sends? In particular, math? Missing several days of math can really set a student back, and most parents are not able to help their children with 7th grade math.

Absolutely -- I was the king of "I-Ready" last year (6th grade)

Btw--- what is with these on-line exams?! Lol.

The tutorials were almost 45 mins long !
 
Could you offer to plan a specific HW/study break into each day for her? My parents took us out a LOT growing up and they always made sure to have some down time to work on assignments and keep up so we werent slammed coming back.

OH yes ! We just did that with their summer packets - were in Disney 7/10-24 - we had specific times mapped out when we went back to the hotel room early for them to do their schoolwork -
 
We are taking our kids out of school in January for 5 days to visit Disney. 1st grade and 6th grade . We debated our decision a little but ultimately decided that our kids don't miss more than 2 days usually and after this Disney trip we plan on doing other locations that will more than likely happen within the school holidays or summer vacation.

We chose January for the lower prices and cooler weather!

I would plan and once school starts let your daughter see how her classes are, maybe even speak to the teachers and make sure she isn't missing anything important.
 
We are taking our kids out of school in January for 5 days to visit Disney. 1st grade and 6th grade . We debated our decision a little but ultimately decided that our kids don't miss more than 2 days usually and after this Disney trip we plan on doing other locations that will more than likely happen within the school holidays or summer vacation.

We chose January for the lower prices and cooler weather!

I would plan and once school starts let your daughter see how her classes are, maybe even speak to the teachers and make sure she isn't missing anything important.

Well - took the first step and left deposit for the room , just to make sure we didn't get shut out - thanks all for the great ideas ! I am going to leave it up to the school - if it's really frowned upon, will definitely not go - but really hoping that it's ok with them -
 
We have always taken out kids out of school when they were in elementary school. Usually for two week trips (8 missed days), this was never an issue. Half the time they got HW, the other time teacher's didn't even care and never gave them any make up work because they've always been good students.

Our school district is pretty lenient on missed days, as the biggest hurdle for area schools is attendance rate and our school attendance rate is great, so easy to get off for vacation. That said, my daughter takes school way more seriously than my boys, she is starting middle school and is in the gifted program. That, and the fact that MS has six marking periods (shorter!) missing a few days does make a difference. She does not want to miss, so we are going the last two weeks of August before school starts. We might melt, but it's not worth getting her worked up for what should be an awesome, fun time.

If she wasn't as anxious/serious about school, I probaby wouldn't think too much about her missing a few days.
 
It's something you have to decide as a family. If your DD is stressed, perhaps speaking with the teachers will help alleviate her anxiety.

We used to take the kids out of school, but now that ODS is in middle school, he finds the GT classes very demanding. If he misses a day or two, it really throws him off. He has ADHD and we have decided not to pull him out of school, unless it would be at the end of the school year. We used to love going to Disney in January, but now our options are summer or school breaks. Maybe that will change as the kids get older.
 
It's something you have to decide as a family. If your DD is stressed, perhaps speaking with the teachers will help alleviate her anxiety.

We used to take the kids out of school, but now that ODS is in middle school, he finds the GT classes very demanding. If he misses a day or two, it really throws him off. He has ADHD and we have decided not to pull him out of school, unless it would be at the end of the school year. We used to love going to Disney in January, but now our options are summer or school breaks. Maybe that will change as the kids get older.

Yep - that's basically what we've done the last few years - went in July - we loved it ! ( hot, but plenty of pool time) but nothing compares to our Disney holiday trip !
 
But s/he will have to do the schoolwork sometime, namely before the vacation, during the vacation, or after the vacation. This could be sheer overload (i.e. I don't know whether to call it physical overload or sensory overload yet) overload.

A siesta back at the resort room every day for school work is an excellent idea.

Could s/he plan his/her schedule before and after the Disney trip with no kibitzing from you and to not forego a coveted school activity (sports, drama, orchestra, etc.) and also in a manner that you do not have to use the word "juggle" to describe?

Your negotiating with teachers would be restricted to identifying busywork that could be eliminated. For example a book report that would have been due for the time period spent on vacation might be eliminated if that exercise was no different from the book report that would have been done the week before or the book report that would be done the week after.

I would not schedule a vacation for the two weeks after school would let out for summer. Too much of a chance of extending the school year unexpectedly due to weather, mourning, disruptions, and the like. More than 2 weeks of makeup days and the school should be willing to tailor the conclusion of work and final exams for your kids. (In case this is burdensome to teachers, there should be no obligation to make up a "different" test for your kids because the questions on the "regular" test had been divulged the week before to everyone else in the class.)
 
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So I'm coming at you from both perspectives here. I am a teacher. And I also have 2 kids who I take out of school every other year for 3 or 4 days to go on our Disney trip. We do our Disney trip attached to the Thanksgiving holiday and luckily our school district has a lot of days off, so for us to be at Disney for 10 or 11 days, we don't have to miss very much school. Our district has an educational trip form that parents fill out and submit to the principal. Don't other districts have this form? Anyway, the principal approves it and that's all there is to it. Will you get teachers that don't like it? Yes. But most will not care and value a family vacation as important. I've always just believed that these trips are worth more in their educational experience and creating family memories than a few days in school. They can make up the work missed. It is more difficult as they get older, but it can be managed. I mean sometimes my kids get the stomach bug and are out of school for 2 or 3 days...or have a fever and can't return for 4 or 5 days unexpectedly. Yes, a vacation is a different thing, but it's too valuable not to do. And you have every right to go when it works for your family, whether that works with the school calendar or not! Have fun!
 
So I'm coming at you from both perspectives here. I am a teacher. And I also have 2 kids who I take out of school every other year for 3 or 4 days to go on our Disney trip. We do our Disney trip attached to the Thanksgiving holiday and luckily our school district has a lot of days off, so for us to be at Disney for 10 or 11 days, we don't have to miss very much school. Our district has an educational trip form that parents fill out and submit to the principal. Don't other districts have this form? Anyway, the principal approves it and that's all there is to it. Will you get teachers that don't like it? Yes. But most will not care and value a family vacation as important. I've always just believed that these trips are worth more in their educational experience and creating family memories than a few days in school. They can make up the work missed. It is more difficult as they get older, but it can be managed. I mean sometimes my kids get the stomach bug and are out of school for 2 or 3 days...or have a fever and can't return for 4 or 5 days unexpectedly. Yes, a vacation is a different thing, but it's too valuable not to do. And you have every right to go when it works for your family, whether that works with the school calendar or not! Have fun!

Love this post ! I always used to tell their teachers (in a joking
manner) that they can learn more walking around the WS in Epcot than they would at school ! As a father that lost my dad to cancer when I was only 15, I realize the value of these trips, and the memories we make - that is not say that I put their education on the back-burner, but I would be lying if I said that these trips don't mean a lot to us - we are pretty friendly with the Dean of my daughters school ( and she is telling me that -- "yes"- they do have the form to fill out) , so we are going to discuss with him and hopefully alleviate some of my daughters trepidation- thanks so much !
 
I’m not seeing that you’ve spoken to her teachers and the administration. That’s the important part. Talk to them and then you’ll know how they feel.
 

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