How many days of school do your kids miss a year for vacations?

[KMP12]

Our son had to miss 2 days at the beginning of the year and has to miss the last 2 days for a graduation. We are also thinking a week in April for Disney but that would put him at 10 full days missed for trips. School hasn't said anything but I'm wondering what's "normal" for families.

 

[sponica]

It depends on the state and the district and age of the kids. Our state is competency based not attendance based and reimburses based on enrollment on x date so our district requests that we try to avoid scheduling vacations during the school year but all we have to do is have the absence approved at least 2 weeks in advance.

My mom and step dad teach in my state and basically say at least one kid is out on vacation every week, it's too expensive to travel during school vacation weeks.

 

[Beer Me]

We received letters threatening legal action if our kids had more than 5 unexcused absences - and pulling them out for travel even when we cleared it ahead of time with teachers and principal were considered unexcused.

Ultimately it didn’t really mean anything. I notified the principal and they would tell us not to worry about it. But usually we did our best to work with their holiday schedule and avoid those kind of issues.

 

[pixiedust2u]

My elementary age kids miss about 5-7 days a school year for vacation. I’d take it kid by kid, case by case. Are they where they should be academically? Are you willing to work with your child o catch up so the burden doesn’t fully fall on the teacher? Is your kid go with the flow, or would missing school and playing catch up stress them out?

I think this country sets a horrible precedent by attempting to restrict so called “unexcused” absences. In most cases it’s about budgeting vs actually caring about a child’s educational needs. Education is a priority, and important. But so is time with your family and self care, and part of that includes vacation. Not everyone has the money, time or luxury to travel on vacation weeks. The US has such a corporate, money, productivity obsession and it starts early with “perfect attendance” awards and punishment for taking time to vacation with your family.

If you think your kid/s would be okay and catch up then take whatever time that you value. You’ll never get to the end of their educational years and say “gee I should’ve never pulled them those 4 extra days in the 4th grade”- willing to bet you’d wish you’d done it more.

 

[Dulcee]

We get annoying letters for our son and always just send it back with family trip as an explanation and leave it at that.

He misses between 8-10 school days in a year. I'm also a teacher but in a different district so we need to work around my breaks instead of his.

 

[ElenaRN]

Our kids typically miss about 5 days a school year for vacations, some times a few more or less. The school policy states they can't give you work ahead of time. Not sure why bc the flights etc are perfect times to do it. In the lower grades we can usually figure at least the next few pages in workbooks or spelling assignments to do etc. But the amt of make up work is ridiculous. I always say "next year they can't miss as much" but by the time we are planning the next trip you forget about it lol.
My kids grades haven't slipped at all bc of this. They are A students.

 

[KMP12]

My elementary age kids miss about 5-7 days a school year for vacation. I’d take it kid by kid, case by case. Are they where they should be academically? Are you willing to work with your child o catch up so the burden doesn’t fully fall on the teacher? Is your kid go with the flow, or would missing school and playing catch up stress them out?

I think this country sets a horrible precedent by attempting to restrict so called “unexcused” absences. In most cases it’s about budgeting vs actually caring about a child’s educational needs. Education is a priority, and important. But so is time with your family and self care, and part of that includes vacation. Not everyone has the money, time or luxury to travel on vacation weeks. The US has such a corporate, money, productivity obsession and it starts early with “perfect attendance” awards and punishment for taking time to vacation with your family.

If you think your kid/s would be okay and catch up then take whatever time that you value. You’ll never get to the end of their educational years and say “gee I should’ve never pulled them those 4 extra days in the 4th grade”- willing to bet you’d wish you’d done it our

My elementary age kids miss about 5-7 days a school year for vacation. I’d take it kid by kid, case by case. Are they where they should be academically? Are you willing to work with your child o catch up so the burden doesn’t fully fall on the teacher? Is your kid go with the flow, or would missing school and playing catch up stress them out?

I think this country sets a horrible precedent by attempting to restrict so called “unexcused” absences. In most cases it’s about budgeting vs actually caring about a child’s educational needs. Education is a priority, and important. But so is time with your family and self care, and part of that includes vacation. Not everyone has the money, time or luxury to travel on vacation weeks. The US has such a corporate, money, productivity obsession and it starts early with “perfect attendance” awards and punishment for taking time to vacation with your family.

If you think your kid/s would be okay and catch up then take whatever time that you value. You’ll never get to the end of their educational years and say “gee I should’ve never pulled them those 4 extra days in the 4th grade”- willing to bet you’d wish you’d done it more.

So our son is special needs and we never have make up work or anything and I Truly think for him experiences are so important- I have mom guilt about 10 days but my husband says it's no big deal we usually only have 1 trip a year but with our family graduation to attend and another event it just really added up!

 

[pixiedust2u]

So our son is special needs and we never have make up work or anything and I Truly think for him experiences are so important- I have mom guilt about 10 days but my husband says it's no big deal we usually only have 1 trip a year but with our family graduation to attend and another event it just really added up!

People underestimate the experiential value of travel. And mom guilt will always find us whatever we decide
Glad it works out for your family and you make such great memories you can all cherish for a lifetime.

 

[Claire-Bear]

They're quite strict here in the UK too..fines for every day your child is absent and referrals to the council if it goes above a few numbers. Only permissions are family emergencies / deaths

 

[sponica]

So our son is special needs and we never have make up work or anything and I Truly think for him experiences are so important- I have mom guilt about 10 days but my husband says it's no big deal we usually only have 1 trip a year but with our family graduation to attend and another event it just really added up!

I don't think 10 days is a lot...over the course of 180. There were plenty of people who missed more than that in my district last year due to quarantines.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

This is our first year with an elementary aged kiddo, and she's missing 6 days this spring for our WDW trip. She has otherwise perfect attendance, so I'm not worried about it. I know other kids in her class have been pulled out for trips to WDW and elsewhere.

 

[tinkerjo]

My DS15 missed 8 days this year (2 weeks with a Monday holiday) for 2 separate vacations. I was worried someone might say something but they didn’t. Apparently kids miss school constantly for no reason, or just come late every day. He didn’t have any issue making work up. His basketball coach was more upset than the school because he missed 2 games while we were at Disney. We have adult children so we have to vacation when everyone can make it.

 

[pixiedust2u]

My DS15 missed 8 days this year (2 weeks with a Monday holiday) for 2 separate vacations. I was worried someone might say something but they didn’t. Apparently kids miss school constantly for no reason, or just come late every day. He didn’t have any issue making work up. His basketball coach was more upset than the school because he missed 2 games while we were at Disney. We have adult children so we have to vacation when everyone can make it.

Oh don’t even get me started on the ridiculous and unnecessary pressure of youth sports on kids and families That’s a discussion for another day.

 

[CamillaF]

We received letters threatening legal action if our kids had more than 5 unexcused absences - and pulling them out for travel even when we cleared it ahead of time with teachers and principal were considered unexcused.

Ultimately it didn’t really mean anything. I notified the principal and they would tell us not to worry about it. But usually we did our best to work with their holiday schedule and avoid those kind of issues.

What state?

 

[CamillaF]

We missed 9 days (Monday holiday) for our two week Disney trip in the fall. 4 days for a ski trip. So in all it's 13 days this year. The school encourages vacations and thinks that it's an invaluable learning tool. I was asked to get journals and have the kids write every day about there Disney trip and then make up a fairy tales about it as their home work. Homework for the ski trip was to present to the class all about snow, how it's made, when it melts, what's its structure is, why is it important for our salmon etc. They were told to ask the ski life operators why they like snow and why it's important. I am really happy with how our school deals with family time. One of the students in class is taking a month off to go visit family in Tanzania. They worked with him so that he could take the longest amount of time off (including spring break) and be back in time so that he would not be unenrolled (it's a public school with public school rules)

 

[Anna131517]

In our last state absences were a big deal. However, they also had week long fall and spring breaks and two weeks off over Christmas. Our current state only gives a few days off over thanksgiving and Easter and a shorter Christmas break so everyone takes their kid out of school for vacation. It really does depend on where you live.

 

[nycdisneygal]

ONly about 2 days on average. To make a long weekend.
DD1 we got permission (and work packets!) for 5 days when she was in 2nd grade since I was switching jobs but school ended up closing the entire week because of hurricane sandy (and we were having an awesome time on the dream). I plan to take DD2 out next year for 5-6 days during DD1's spring break (her senior year so our last spring break) but DD2 is in elementary so not big deal. It seems DD2's private school is more lenient. DD1s former private school was very strict and now DD1 is in public where days of attendance matter. In 2019-2020 i took DD1 out 3 days (not same trip). Once everything shut done I realized I did not regret that even 1 bit. Its hard for me to get time off so thats a limiting factor. plus they have different breaks.

 

[pixiedust2u]

We missed 9 days (Monday holiday) for our two week Disney trip in the fall. 4 days for a ski trip. So in all it's 13 days this year. The school encourages vacations and thinks that it's an invaluable learning tool. I was asked to get journals and have the kids write every day about there Disney trip and then make up a fairy tales about it as their home work. Homework for the ski trip was to present to the class all about snow, how it's made, when it melts, what's its structure is, why is it important for our salmon etc. They were told to ask the ski life operators why they like snow and why it's important. I am really happy with how our school deals with family time. One of the students in class is taking a month off to go visit family in Tanzania. They worked with him so that he could take the longest amount of time off (including spring break) and be back in time so that he would not be unenrolled (it's a public school with public school rules)

Is this a public school in the US?

 

[CamillaF]

Is this a public school in the US?

Yes. In Washington state. However it is a teaching school where PHD and Master students try different teaching ideas out. They don't teach to tests but take them and see how the kids do compared to the rest of the state. My kids are in third grade and do a lot of writing, research, critical thinking and presenting there projects to the whole school. it's 3-12. It's very culturally and economically diverse however the kids can be kicked out if they don't behave and the parents have to be involved enough to put in an application. It's a lottery

 

[RoseGold]

We are in a very diverse area and the school has a generous religious holiday absence policy. We celebrate a lot of religions, what can I say?