Curious...Do you take your kids out of school for cruise??

[All about me]

I never took my own out of school for trips because I believe it teaches a poor work ethic but I yank my grandchildren out of school at will, the days typically adding up to anywhere from six to twelve a year, until they enter high school. Then it gets scaled way back to one day a year at most and only then if an event is not held during a vacation time.

 

[Lita]

I am taking my kids out of school this year (Fantasy Cruise Columbus holiday week), but we are seeing how it goes. I synced our trip with the end of quarter and Monday is a holiday. My kids are in 4th and 6th grade. My older daughter had my younger daughter’s teacher for both 3rd and 5th grades and she is a Disney fanatic and took off with her family for the same week for a trip to Disney last year. She told me that I picked a great time in th school year to go. I am about to inform my older daughter’s teachers soon. This is her first year of middle school. It is early in the school year where things haven’t been too challenging yet. Our spring and summers are extremely busy since they are elite track athletes so I am trying this out. I’m not sure that I will do it again, but I strategically choose this week since it seemed to be the least disruptive based on our school schedule. It also helps that my younger daughter’s teacher is a Disney fanatic and did the same thing last year!

 

[jrabbit]

I never took my own out of school for trips because I believe it teaches a poor work ethic but I yank my grandchildren out of school at will, the days typically adding up to anywhere from six to twelve a year, until they enter high school. Then it gets scaled way back to one day a year at most and only then if an event is not held during a vacation time.

You're ... right!



and you wonder why grandparents and grandkids get along so well .... Common "enemy"

 

[braysmommy]

My son just started 6th grade today. I have pulled him for 2 weeks in spring almost every year for either Transatlantic or Panama Canal cruises. His teachers have always been supportive and he does fine when he gets back.

 

[CamColt]

I feel it depends on the kid. If you think they can handle it without being too stressed or upset, why not? If you think it will be too hard on them, it's probably best not to.

We did take 1 of our DSs out of 10th grade for a week, and beforehand we also went back and forth about it. This was for DH and I to run the marathon and do the CC Challenge. The kids wanted us to do it so they could get the cruise out of the deal. Our older son was still on winter break so it didn't affect him. I reasoned that it was the week before midterms and usually all they do then is review anyway, so it wouldn't leave him behind when we returned. He survived, didn't fail out of 10th grade, and we made magical memories. We never regretted doing it.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Absolutely not. School is their job. We have 13 other weeks to travel and choose to make their education a priority.

 

[All about me]

You're ... right!

and you wonder why grandparents and grandkids get along so well .... Common "enemy"

When my now-sixteen year old grandson started full days in grade one his mother explained to me I could no longer just take him our of school willy-nilly and would have to cut back to one week at the most each year. That lasted until the first time we actually went away during a school holiday. I could not believe the prices, the crowds, the poor service due to overworked employees; it was just awful. Now, as a parent, I would have bore it and been grateful we were having a vacation. As a grandmother, I came home and explained to my grandson's mother never again and went back to yanking him out at will.

 

[sumismommy]

I will. My daughter will be in 8th grade. a good student, perfect attendance. They are allowed to miss 10 days out of the school year. She will miss 5. Which will still allow 5 more for sick days. Although sick days are excused.

 

[MJB03]

Is Kindergarten required in your state?

Yes, once enrolled even in Kinder, the students must attend.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Yes, once enrolled even in Kinder, the students must attend.

But Kindergarten is not mandatory in Texas, right? A child does not have to go to Kindergarten.

 

[darnheather]

@jrabbit No kidding about the activities. Last October my daughter missed one practice and one soccer game for our cruise. We arrived back in NYC at 9am and I put the pedal to the metal to arrive back in DC for her early afternoon soccer match. Her coach and team would have been very angry otherwise. But soccer is a big deal for her since she wants to go to college with it. If it was just city league then I wouldn't have worried as much.

 

[Mikamarii]

Our oldest starts grade 1 in Sept and we are taking him out for 2 weeks in September for our cruise and WDW vacation. School is important yes, but so is family time. It’s grade 1. If we can’t keep him up on his school work then we have bigger problems.
My work is busiest during summer and it’s easier and more enjoyable for us to go away in the fall/winter.
School is important but so much of life is learned out of the office/classroom. I understand why people choose not to but we feel that they may miss lessons in school but they will learn other valuable lessons spending time with us.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

My oldest is a sophomore in college and missed 5-7 days a year, every single school year, for disney vacations. She is now attending a huge SEC school, in a sorority, and has had a job since age 15. Obviously her grades were good and she still has good work ethic so I didn't screw her up too much.
My younger boys are in elem (3rd and 5th) and also miss a week every year. We utilize spring break and summers for travel too...just happen to like to do Disney in the Fall.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

My kids do well in school also but it is too hard to catch up if they miss. Our high school is a block system which means that they have 4 classes each semester. These classes cover a years worth of material in 1 semester. Missing a week or even a day is really hard on them. Why should they have to suffer through trying to catch up just so I can save a few bucks? I’ll shop for deals for summer or just pay more.

 

[KaityB]

Wow I didn't expect to get this much of a turnout for this! Thank you for your responses. For our family, I believe we're gonna keep the reservation. Our dd will be in 1st grade, so I don't believe keeping up will be an issue. She's super excited to see ruins in Mexico. We both agreed that pulling her out in a later grade will more than likely be a no no. At this point in time, neither I nor her father have seniority over vacation time. Any weeks for spring break or surrounding a holiday are snatched as soon as vacation sheets go out with people wanting the extended time off. On top of that, as I was looking for any in the summertime, we would have to spend $3000/$4000 more For now, I believe this option will work for us.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Wow I didn't expect to get this much of a turnout for this! Thank you for your responses. For our family, I believe we're gonna keep the reservation. Our dd will be in 1st grade, so I don't believe keeping up will be an issue. She's super excited to see ruins in Mexico. We both agreed that pulling her out in a later grade will more than likely be a no no. At this point in time, neither I nor her father have seniority over vacation time. Any weeks for spring break or surrounding a holiday are snatched as soon as vacation sheets go out with people wanting the extended time off. On top of that, as I was looking for any in the summertime, we would have to spend $3000/$4000 more For now, I believe this option will work for us.

Enjoy your trip, OP. Ya'll will have a blast!

 

[GPaLarry]

At my age I have to take my kids out of work, not school (although one is a teacher, which presents many of the problems mentioned above.) The stars will be aligned next March for 11 of us to take a 5-day cruise out of San Diego to Mexico. Try this!! Five kids (one in elementary, one in middle, two in high school ((one in California & one in Oregon)) and one is a sophomore in college) have spring break at the same time. This may never happen again, so we gotta go...celebrating a bit early the California high schooler's graduation next spring.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

We chose a week in either October or November that school was out both Thursday and Friday so our son only missed three days. Once he was in high school we stopped cruising with him, despite him being an excellent student we thought it would be too difficult to miss any number of days.

We were lucky in that our school district allowed this as long as his teacher were given four weeks notice and get homework assignments from each the week before leaving.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

Yes, I have for both of our past cruises. I won't from here on out though because I have 2 middle school-age kids and even missing 1-2 days is stressful for them to get caught up due to increased pace of upper grades.

 

[RAD]

I wanted to take our grandkids out for a week to do a cruise to Mexico and see the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza but due to the rules in Texas the parents said no, they can't be taken out of school. But now I find that in the spring the granddaughter will be missing some school days so the school dance team can go to Disney World for a competition. OK, confused, can't go on an education trip but can go on a trip to do a dance preformance.