Pulling 7 year old out of school. What do you do?

[dahwolf]

Hello everyone,
I need your help on this DW & I are planning a trip for 9/16 - 9/23, and of course everyone says, "I can't believe you are going to pull your 2nd grader out of school for 6 days for this trip." I know as they get older, it will be more difficult to travel during this time frame and to pull your kids out of school as the work load get greater, but a 2nd grader being pulled out the 3rd week of the school year, I just don't see the big issue. She is doing extremely well in 1st grade this year, and I don't think she is going to have a lot of trouble getting caught up when we return, and We will ask for homework assignments that she would be missing that week ahead of time so she is not to far behind to begin with.

Can someone give me reassurance that my thinking is not wrong??? I sometimes feel that its mostly just the people who are jealous making these statements to be quite honest. We will never travel during April vacation because We hate the parks when they are that busy. Did it once, and it was awful.

Help make me feel better about this.....

 

[jupers]

Go For It.

I'm a teacher and I agree with you! This time is so precious, I have a 2nd grader too. she'll catch up. I only wish I could get out of school to travel during off peak times. My options stink. Go for it and have a blast!!!

 

[Mousewerks]

Last year we pulled our then 9-year old out for a week in October and he's none the worse for wear. His teacher was great about giving him work to do during the week and getting him caught back up when he got back.

I'd have to agree that it's mostly jealous people that make those snarky comments. It really is your responsibility to educate your child, no one else's. They have nothing to say on the matter so you really should just ignore them.

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[Jay2009]

No one knows your child's abilities like you do. if she can handle it then I think you are right to do as you are doing. The only hinderance will be that it will be the beginning of the school year it may be difficult to give the teacher enough time to get assignments ready for your child if they choose to do that. If you know their teacher's information before hand you may want to contact them sooner than the first day of school to give them ample time if they require it.

other than that, my advice is listen to your gut and have fun!

 

[kjd469]

First off...she's 7...you really shouldn't even have to ask the question. She will have absolutely no problems "catching up" I'm sure. Also, everything in life is not necessarily learned in the classroom - life lessons and experience count for so much more, IMHO. Epcot is a perfect example of having fun while learning. Go, don't feel guilty for one second and have a wonderful trip...it's true what others say about those who make negative comments (including teachers) are no doubt jealous that they can't go.

 

[crisi]

We have kids who are now eleven and twelve - 5th and 6th grade. Both bright kids (daughter is gifted, son is merely above average but A or B honor roll) We used to pull them for three days - but I wouldn't have for six.

I regret pulling them for the three we did. We taught them that school wasn't as important as we believe it to be. That going when it was less busy and less hot (we now do August right before school starts) was more important. That our priorities as a family put FUN before responsibility. If I had to raise my kids again, we'd have not had white bread or soda in the house, I wouldn't have pulled them from school, and we would have locked the TV a lot earlier than we did - like when they figured out the remote. Those are the only mistakes I've made so far.

So I can't make you feel better.

 

[kikiq]

I'm a teacher and I say no problem. Notify her teacher, find out if there's any special procedures and have a good time. In our district, she would have to have a "contract" of school work that I would have to provide. As a teacher AND parent, I know childhood is short, family time is precious and you need to enjoy it!

 

[moericus]

I'm not even close to that situation yet, but here's my two cents from my former educational studies.

Some teachers don't plan lessons more than a day or two in advance if they plan at all. Other teachers make very thorough lesson plans and can tell you weeks in advance what they hope to teach. I know both styles work very well depending on the teacher, but only one of them is going to be able to give you the work in advance.

11th and 12th grade are the only years I would question taking them out of school for a week. Especially if your child is college bound. Missing Advance Placement courses or higher level math/science is a concern. Those courses build on previously learned material.

Besides, in the beginning of the year hardly any real learning is involved. Teachers are too busy setting boundaries for acceptable behavior.

 

[sweetdana]

Check school policy as well.
I think no big deal I would totally do it. I am doing Memorial day for my KG adding Fri and Tue off to her already Mond off.

Some schools will call this truancy, and can press charges.
Some schools are okay as long as prior notice is given. My newphews school vacation days are considered unexcused ab. and after 5 they call social services. So if this was the case not worth it for sure.. My DD6 school is they prefer not, but it is okay if you have to.

 

[dumbo_buddy]

this is one of those topics where you will get a big range of answers and some people feel verrrrry strongly about this. so, your best bet is to stick to what YOU think is best.

that being said, if i were in your position and my child was doing well, i would be ok with taking my kid out of school. the first time i went to WDW i was in the 8th (or was it 7th?) grade and my very strict and VERY school focused parents took me out for two days. i couldn't believe it! it didn't teach me any wrong morals about putting vacation before school or anything like that. i graduated near the top of my class and went on to a top 25 college and excelled in my career. taking a couple days off to go to disney was just something that made my childhood even better

 

[bgraham34]

@sweetdana, seriously they will call Social Services. If that were to happen to me I would either home school my kid or take out my baseball bat and show them how to play ball. LOL.

 

[brockash]

You'll be fine. We've done it every year in early Sept. and they're out of school for 5 days. I know there will come a time that we may not be able to pull them out of school so easily, when the schoolwork load is higher and harder, but for now we're fine. I let the teachers know about 2 weeks prior, and then again the Monday before we leave. I try to get as much work as we can before we leaver, so we can turn it in done when the kiddos go back to school. Any other work the teacher sends home after, and we get it done. It's more work on my part, and probably my kids (because I'm sure I'm not as good of a teacher as their actual teacher is,) but it's well worth it for us, and we've never had a problem. We've done this since my DS was in kindergarten, and will do it again next Sept. (he'll be in 4th grade.)

Having said that, if my DS was having a real problem with school work/grades, we'd reconsider it, but luckily he hasn't had any problems yet with grades ect.

 

[Gracesmom]

We did the same thing when my daughter was younger.....no problems at all. I emailed all of her teachers, got her assignment, she had everything completed by the time we came back home, and she managed to make it to the next grade!
Now that she is in 8th grade with high school advanced placement classes, it's not as easy.....So, take advantage of a great opportunity and enjoy Disney!

 

[dahwolf]

Thank you so much everybody. I do feel much better and We are going to keep the trip schedule as is. Everyone expressed my exact thoughts.

My DVC friends are the best..........

 

[bobbiwoz]

I never took our DS's outof school for a vacation. Now I'm the DGM and our DGC have missed lots of school for Disney vacations, including a cruise! They were in K, 1st and 2nd in November and they've made up their school work just fine!

Have fun!

Bobbi

 

[PEANUT1]

We do it too!! our daughter is in 1st grade and she was out for 6 days in november. I told the teacher ahead of time and she sent all the work that she would need to do and we set aside school work time and it was all completed by the time we got back.

I think that it is fine as long as you think it through, have good intentions, and that your child will not suffer good luck and have fun

btw..we are doing it again next Nov...our girls will be in 2nd grade and kindergarten. They will miss 5 days.

 

[n2mm]

I always took my kids out of school and now they take their kids out of school. I do have to agree, the schools do have different rules. In our state, if you tell the teacher they will count it as excused absences. I've taken my teenage grandson out of school, but he doesn't really care about WDW anymore (for now), and would miss his social life, so he stays with others when we're in WDW. Next year will be a little tougher as my GS will be a senior, and while he doesn't go anymore, we do have to make sure we're home for important events like senior prom and his graduation, so we'll work around those dates the best we can.

 

[Donna M]

Check what your school's policy is in regards to providing missed work and missed days. I have worked in schools where we were not required to provide the work before the kids left. It was a pain to run off papers and make the plans days before I normally would so one kid could avoid lines. The child would be given the work when he/she got back. There are many things taught that are not written down and can't be sent home.

Our school's policy was that kids belonged in school during school time!

I taught 2nd grade for years, and when I wasn't teaching we never took our kids out of school to go to Disney. We had vacations built in and that is when we vacationed.

Everyone has an opinion. Some we agree with and others we don't.

Will your child be behind the eight ball when she gets back? Yes. Will she be able to catch up? Yes.

Just know what your school's policy is ahead of time.

 

[CarolMN]

Since this really isn't a DVC topic, I'm moving it to the Family board.

 

[smnslc]

We took our first grader out of school for 5 days, week before xmas break. Her teacher had no problem with it and was actually very excited for her. She gave her some work to do before we left for Disney. Her teacher said she didn't want to give her too much because she wasn't sure where the class would actually be in the lesson plan while DD was gone. Plus she wanted DD to enjoy her vacation and not worry about school. She got her make up work when she returned and her teacher gave her a full week to finish it. She caught up without any problems.

We would take her out again without thinking twice. Plus her school allows 10 vacation days as long as the shcool is notified ahead of time. It is a small private school though.