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

[petrola]

not too many - maybe two in total. My DD is in 8th grade and prefers not to miss school. While she LOVES her vacations and I'm sure would love an extra week off from school to go on vacation, it is a source of stress for her when she misses even a day of school. Her school is extremely competitive and missing school for a "family trip" is definitely frowned upon. Next year she will enter high school and there will be NO days off from school for vacations. too bad because I'm all for taking my third grader out - same as I did with DD when she was in third grade. lol

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

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

Do you mind if I ask which school?

Our DD is in kindergarten, so we’re still trying to figure things out. We’re planning on sticking to 5-6 days of vacation per year, until she’s a little older, then fewer days.

Our school has indicated more than 20 days of absences runs into issues with school district policies, so we figure 5 days, plus sick days, is safe. The schools written policy only deals with unexcused absences more than 5), but anything that’s reported to the school (and reviewed/approved) beforehand is an excused absence.

 

[guy_incognito]

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.

Depends on the year, but since my wife is a teacher... not very many. I do take them by myself on long weekends sometimes, since she has to work on many of those school days off. Our kids are great students, but I wouldn't do it if they were struggling or there was something they couldn't miss. We always check with teachers about what's coming up and plan accordingly whenever possible.

Our schools have a stupid amount of long weekends, so we only take around 2-3 days off other than that at most. Usually these are bolted on to a long weekend, and schools accept the fact a lot of kids will be out and the schedule works out typically. I personally wouldn't do a full week out of school unless we are talking early elementary, but that's just me!

 

[SaraAnn90]

We have taken my daughter out for 4-5 days every year for vacations. Our next trip will be the longest and she will be missing 7 days of school. They are only going to be little for so long and to me it is so important to make the memories on our terms. If that means workbooks on the plane or by the pool so be it but this momma is taking them to Disney!

 

[maplevale]

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.

Wow I can't imagine living somewhere that schools can tell me what I can and can't do with my kids.

In Canada (Ontario) it is at the discretion of parents. There is some mythical number where they can withhold credit for high school...but we haven't hit it yet!

We take a full vacation (5-7 school days), plus we attend a fair for a full week (including 4H shows which are targetted to 11-21 year olds....all missing school). My kids also do both school and competitive sports.

My oldest was super proud to never go a full week all first semester of grade 10. Her average was 92%.....so obviously not a concern!

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

We're pulling our kiddo out for 6 days in a couple of weeks. She's in kindergarten so this is our first time having to do it on the school's terms and I was a little nervous about how that would go down. Kiddo has perfect attendance though so far, and I spoke to her teacher about it last week. All she said was, HAVE A GREAT TIME!

 

[dez1978]

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

That sounds amazing, esp if you have neurospicy kids. I would love that.

This year my kids missed 8 days for vacation. However, my 3rd grader missed 21 days total so far. He broke his leg the beginning of Dec and was in a full leg cast and needed a wheelchair. I wasn't going to send him to school until he could manage to get himself into the bathroom stall in the wheelchair and pull himself up and go on his own. So he missed a couple weeks before xmas break, plus our vacations. We did get work from school though and they use Ipads for pretty much everything so he didn't miss much actual work. Our school is pretty great about sending home work before hand, I make sure I let the teachers know a month or so ahead of time. If they send stuff before that is great, becasue we can do it on the plane. If they don't, it's all on schoology and they can do it a little bit at a time while we are gone or on the way home. They also get 1 day for everyday they missed to get it turned in. In middle school they have whats called "WIN" time. I guess it's like a version of study hall. They can get pulled for different classes if they need help, so if they are struggling with something they missed, they can ask for help then. Oldest is in 6th, and hasn't really had an issue with missing so far.

Our school does not get a spring break, just a few 3 day weekends, and I refuse to go to Disney on Easter weekend. That leaves us with the week of thanksgiving and Christmas break, neither of which seem appealing or cost effective, and going in the summer when it's like walking on the surface of the sun aint it either lol

 

[snikki]

Depends on the year. But never anymore than 4 in a marking period due to the strict attendance policy. More than 4 unexcused absences in one marking period puts you on attendance probation becomes a “no grade” in all classes until you are out of attendance probation. Which means you get your grades back when you don’t miss more than 4 unexcused days the next marking period.

I believe it’s all ridiculous but I really don’t feel like arguing with the school district so we work with it. When we have gone away and missed a few days all of the teachers have been helpful and are excited for her. So it’s not the teachers but the district.

 

[Kitty & Covs Covs]

We got a letter in the mail notifying us we were in violation of the attendance law because of 6 unexcused absences--which were for a cousin's college graduation, a sports competition, and a trip that included multiple cultural and historical experiences. My child's teacher has been absent at least 3-4 times a month since the beginning of the year without explanation, so I'm not happy.

I agree with an earlier poster that such strict attendance policies really ignore the value a child can gain from out of school experiences with their family. I completely understand the research associating attendance with academic performance--and in many cases families do need additional support taking care of basic needs to get there child to school reliably--but each school/teacher should be dealing with issues individually.

 

[sheilafri]

Our kids are out of school now but we would have up to two weeks out but usually only one week at a time. Communicate with the school verbally. They will let you know if you need to worry about too much school missed for your student. I really think the stated absence policy is for children whose parents don’t bother to get them to school on a regular basis or for kids who habitually skip school.

 

[robert chapman]

I usually take our daughter on a daddy/daughter trip each December after Thanksgiving but before the mad Christmas rush. I take her out of school for 3 days. I have never had an issue with a teacher when doing this and other parents have taken kids out for a week to travel with no problem. My wife will be her teacher this year so I maybe pulling her out of school for a longer trip. I mean the teacher can't complain, right?

 

[Willow1213]

One, maybe. We left for Hawaii (Aulani) the Friday before Spring Break week and he missed a half day. The schools know attendance will be low those days, so they mostly plan non-curriculum content. He happened to miss career day, lol.
If he has a long weekend, I might book flights back on Tuesday if it's significantly cheaper. Otherwise, we have enough breaks in our calendar to work around. Our spring break is earlier than just about everyone (including Orange County/Orlando), and we just added a new week break in October that I plan to take advantage of. We have the entire Thanskgiving week also, and I've been known to sneak away for the first half and return home for the holiday.
He is in 3rd grade, and is advanced and in the gifted program. I know he will be ok he just loves school!
I did get the "nasty gram" letter in 1st grade, which was 2020-2021. We were quarantined for COVID in November, he had the flu in December (missed the last part of school before break), and then he got COVID just days after coming back from the holiday. Overall I think he missed 21 days? It wasn't an issue.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

None. DH in high school & work load is heavy & school is fast paced. Was going to take her out for a cruise but I asked her first & it was a definite no. Our school district allows only 4 I excused absences & vacation is I excused. Know your schools policy beforehand. I had a friend who took her 2 kids out 2 days( 1 in 2nd grade the other pre k) & had to show up for hearing at school.

 

[fumanchu2488]

Next year we will have a Kindergartener so we are going to do 5 days out of school for vacation.

But I remember when I was a kid and I got into 8th grade or so, between school sports, a social life and school work, I didn't want to get pulled out. Heck once I was in High School I didn't even like traveling for our breaks if my friends were staying home.

We are going to take advantage of the next 7 or 8 years before they potentially don't want to do the family vacation as much.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

None. DH in high school & work load is heavy & school is fast paced. Was going to take her out for a cruise but I asked her first & it was a definite no. Our school district allows only 4 I excused absences & vacation is I excused. Know your schools policy beforehand. I had a friend who took her 2 kids out 2 days( 1 in 2nd grade the other pre k) & had to show up for hearing at school.

I'm sure it's much different in high school. My kids are little still, my oldest in kindergarten, and nobody batted an eye that she'll miss the time. Of course she also has perfect attendance otherwise and isn't struggling academically - but high school is a different ballgame.

My parents took me out of elementary school for vacations when I was a kid, but never during high school and only once during middle school - that was following a death in the family and WDW was meant to be family bonding time/something positive and fun, but was under extenuating circumstances.

 

[sheilafri]

Next year we will have a Kindergartener so we are going to do 5 days out of school for vacation.

But I remember when I was a kid and I got into 8th grade or so, between school sports, a social life and school work, I didn't want to get pulled out. Heck once I was in High School I didn't even like traveling for our breaks if my friends were staying home.

We are going to take advantage of the next 7 or 8 years before they potentially don't want to do the family vacation as much.

Agree. When my kids were in high school there were times when they just didn’t want the hassle of making up their work so they said no to vacation time.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

Agree. When my kids were in high school there were times when they just didn’t want the hassle of making up their work so they said no to vacation time.

I'm hoping that by the time mine are teenagers we'll be doing vacations over their summer vacations to destinations that aren't Disney-related. I LOVE Disney, don't get me wrong, but there's still a lot of world I would like to experience. WDW works great for us right now because the kids are small enough to pull out of school to visit at lower-crowd times, the kids love it, we love it, and it just works. But I think when they're older, that will be our chance to branch out. And since it likely won't (always) be Disney-centered, it won't matter as much that we're traveling at peak season.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I'm sure it's much different in high school. My kids are little still, my oldest in kindergarten, and nobody batted an eye that she'll miss the time. Of course she also has perfect attendance otherwise and isn't struggling academically - but high school is a different ballgame.

My parents took me out of elementary school for vacations when I was a kid, but never during high school and only once during middle school - that was following a death in the family and WDW was meant to be family bonding time/something positive and fun, but was under extenuating circumstances.

I don't think pulling kids out of school when little is a big deal. It shouldn't be for the family or school. But my friends kids were little (2nd grade and Pre-K) with perfect attendance and she still got a letter. She notified the teacher but telling the teacher and school policy is two different things. The teacher didn't care, the school did. My daughter was in the same pre-k class. I gave teacher notice that she wouldn't be in school one day for travel to Disneyland. I wasn't asking for her permission, just a courtesy. Man, did I ever get the look. She did not like that at all and she let me know it.

 

[sheilafri]

I'm hoping that by the time mine are teenagers we'll be doing vacations over their summer vacations to destinations that aren't Disney-related. I LOVE Disney, don't get me wrong, but there's still a lot of world I would like to experience. WDW works great for us right now because the kids are small enough to pull out of school to visit at lower-crowd times, the kids love it, we love it, and it just works. But I think when they're older, that will be our chance to branch out. And since it likely won't (always) be Disney-centered, it won't matter as much that we're traveling at peak season.

We only took the kids to WDW once and I think they only missed one day of school and DH and I skipped their parent-teacher conferences. We often used a now-defunct company to take package trips to Europe. Teachers were VERY supportive of that!

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

I don't think pulling kids out of school when little is a big deal. It shouldn't be for the family or school. But my friends kids were little (2nd grade and Pre-K) with perfect attendance and she still got a letter. She notified the teacher but telling the teacher and school policy is two different things. The teacher didn't care, the school did. My daughter was in the same pre-k class. I gave teacher notice that she wouldn't be in school one day for travel to Disneyland. I wasn't asking for her permission, just a courtesy. Man, did I ever get the look. She did not like that at all and she let me know it.

Dang! That's really rough. I get that schools have to have rules and limits for these kinds of things, and I respect that, but family vacations and travel in general are valuable experiences for a kid. Pulling an elementary -aged kid out for a week for vacation (assuming they don't have attendance problems in general) shouldn't be a problem, and I'd be miffed if it was.

Luckily I know our school is supportive of family vacations (it was one of the first questions asked/answered during kindergarten orientation and the principal's response was just "absolutely okay, but can I come?"), and we've made a concerted effort to make sure kiddo gets to school every day (she has no absences so far). But I know not all districts make this easy on parents. We're fortunate.