When do you go?

[cmbelle]

My oldest son has finally entered public school, August - May. So, he has the entire summer off, BUT I work seasonally at a community college, which means I work from June through August. My husband is very much against taking my son out of school for a week. I disgaree with my husband, thinking that visiting Disney and Epcot is not only fun but educational. So, when do you plan your vacations to Disney? How do you work around the school issue?

 

[Jordan's MOM]

We do take DS out of school for a week for WDW and he is is 3rd grade this year. If your DS will be kindergarten I can not see anyone objecting to that. While we did this in 1st grade also, some people do have a problem with it. Try looking at the school calander for teacher work days that are not close to major holidays. Our school has a few in October.If he is out a few days anyway, perhaps your DH will not object. If you can get past the School issue. we love January! Cool temps and low crowds!!

Jordan's mom

 

[dcedwards]

We go the week after Thanksgiving. Low crowds...pretty good weather. Christmas Decorations are out. Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Wonderful time.

You might look at going on Thanksgiving and then returning the middle of the following week. That way school would only be missed a few days. My family (most of them) are educators. After teaching 2nd grade for 16 years my mom doesn't feeling missing kindergarten would be of major consequence. You can get work to take with you. Now, when it gets to high school and you deal with credits then that is an issue.

 

[Baloo]

The school my son attends is very family friendly and is great about him missing school if we have something special going on.I've always gone to WDW in May but my step son,Jonathan, doesn't get out until mid June then he'll be spending the summer with us.(Erich's last day was today) so we're not going until mid June this year...well Joe and I did go for 4 days on a "grown ups only" trip 2 weeks ago!!! We went this time last year and I was surprised on how it wasn't as crowded as I though it would be on Memorial Day weekend! We also go in Oct. for MNSSHP.Last year the kids missed 4 days...Thur,Fri,Mon and Tues. We'll be doing that again.Erich and Jonathan attend different schools right now.Erich had no make up work but Jon and I sat in the back of the van and did homework half our trip home.OY!

I believe family time is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT in the upbringing of a child.Epcot can be VERY educational.Get a passport for him to do and stop at the Kidcot stations to create a mask.Take time to chat with the Cast members.I have a list of how to say hello in all the WS languages that I'll repost. Before you go you might look on the map and find Florida.Find the countries in WS.Find Africa.See what animals live in Asia and Africa.Read different Disney stories.What country do the stories come from.Joe has even taught the boys (and me!!!)a bit about physics with the roller coasters! The Land is a great place to learn about the earth.When Erich was just starting to learn his letters while we were walking around I'd pick a letter and have him find one somewhere for me. We'd also do this with colors. Counting can be fun at WDW too!

Your vacation can be educational!! Go and have some family FUN!!!

 

[aide4]

We took our kids (DS 13, DD 9) out of school for our first trip in February. Our school was very good about everything, and it did not hurt our kids one bit to miss a week. They brought some homework with them on the plane and did not need to do any while in WDW except DS who had to keep a journal for school. I really believe that the time you spend together in WDW is just as important as kids being in school and I would not hesitate to do it again!!!

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says...................................Usually I would say no don't take him out of school, but come on!!!!! The dude is in kindergarden!! What, he's not going to learn to cut out a circle and a triangle and compare the two? Slop paint on paper and describe the colors? I believe in"keep em in school"
, but through at least third grade there should be no problem.
We are lucky, we are stuck at a year round school. That means no June to August vacation. DD vacations, are in November, March and July! In the last five years we have done 7 week long or longer vacations, all off peak times, and not one day of school missed!! She's going to JR High later this year, and they have the same schedule, so at least 2 more years of freedom!
Personally here is the criteria I would use. When DS starts asking questions about school work that you can't answer, then it's time to stop takeing him out of school for vacation!!!
And that time will come much sooner than you think!

 

[jldriscoll]

We will be taking our daughter from 3rd grade this year. If the school baulks at this you could make them a proposal to make it a "field trip". Even at your son's age, he could keep a time line of his trip. Use pictures you take each day (don't tell me your not taking pictures ) and have him describe what is happening, etc. Then you could traslate onto a display board with his thoughts. I actually had my 4yr old keep a postcard journal. Each day we would get a post card from where we were and she would tell me her favorite, funniest, most exciting memory from that day and I wrote it down. Then I punched a hole in the corner and attached them all with a binder ring.

 

[SandraC]

We took our 2nd grader out of school for April 2001 trip and again in April 2002 as a 3rd grader. She is a good student and the teachers were great about it. Now I have a different situation. My dd was born with complex congenital heart defects that can't be repaired. She's doing great right now! Thriving as a matter of fact. Still, her heart condition (doesn't keep her off of ToT and RnR LOL!) set up our priorities fast! We now LIVE FOR LEISURE! I literally work (only part-time as a fitness/yoga instructor) for our vacations. We totally value our family time, relax time and DISNEY time! As long as dd is doing well in school, we'll go to Disney whenever we want and as often as we can. But that's just us. Follow your heart and your head equally and you'll find the path that works for you! Sandra

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says................................... I would like to make a wager with SandraC. I will put up $20 disney dollars that says you will not make it to 2005 for your return trip!! If you can hold out that long you win! If you can't, you must post " Gosh Disnee Dad , you were right, we just can't stay away!" LOL And getting serious, I hope DD continues to thrive, and keep on traveling!!
Makeing memories is what life is all about.

 

[CRCrazy]

We took our 3 daughters - 5, 11,13 - out of school for a full week this year the first week of March.

We made sure it was not anytime near the mandatory two week state testing for our 6th grader, it actually was the week after their spring break, so they had two full weeks out of school (It was the only time Daddy could get out of work!)

We notified EVERY teacher in writing about a month in advance, asking that any makeup work possible be given ahead of time. The two middle schoolers have seven or eight teachers each, so it was a lot of paperwork, but the special teachers, art, music etc. really appreciated the notice! (They have specials on a trimester basis - so they missed a full week of art and music - lots of work to make up) All the middle school teachers said definitely take them out - and they were required to bring back a journal of the trip, and my sixth grader did a presentation on the countries with her mask & passport from Epcot. The girls are both very good straight A students, so their grades were not an issue!

Believe it or not, the only teacher who was not happy with the missed school situation was the kindergarten teacher! She did finally relent as long as Sarah completed a Disney journal every day, with pictures of her favorite thing and a sentence about the picture. We left the opposite page blank, and printed out digital photos to go along with her journal entries. She had a great time with her Disney book at her next share time!