Teachers... Is it okay to pull child two days for a vacation?

[julierobin]

What is your opinion regarding taking a child out of school to go on a family vacation? We have an opportunity to go on a family vacation in October 2008, but it would mean taking DS out of kindergarten for one or two days. It is our only option, other than not go. Do teachers think it is so irresponsible of parents to take kids out of school for a vacation?

TIA,

Julie

[schums]

Not a teacher, but BTDT. We took DS out of K for 2 days to go to a family baptism, and the teacher didn't even blink. Of course, she has kids in her class that are out for 6 WEEKS at a time to go overseas.

FWIW, I wouldn't hesitate to pull DC out of school for up to a week in the elementary years. Junior high and high school, I think you miss too much material in the week to easily make up the time.

HTH,

[kcimato]

I am a teacher and say go ahead and do it. She will not miss that much.

[LarsMal]

I was a teacher, and I say go for it! It's October so he'll have had some time to get settled in, so it won't be like you're pulling him out a week into the school year. A day or two isn't much either. He'll be fine!

I just hated it when a parent would take their child on a trip inthe middle of the year, for a full week, and then ask for/expect the entire weeks worth of assignments to take along!

Have fun! (Even though it's months away!)

[mdb78]

In jr. high, I went on a skiing trip for a week in the middle of feb. My teachers had no problem with that, in fact, I remember them all asking if they could come along.. They just gave me the assignments. I don't think 1 or 2 days will be a problem.. :)

[luvmypeanut]

I take out my kids all the time for trips and the teachers are fine. They said that once the kids start 1st grade the school doesn't approve of it. My nephew on the mainland is in 2nd grade and my brother had to cancel a weeklong trip out here because the school frowned upon it and told him they might not be able to move him up to the next grade because of days missed.

[overcome]

I am a first grade teacher. Personally, I say do it. Children need lots of different experiences to expand their background knowledge. I agree with pp that it is a different story when they are in jr and sr high b/c of the work load.

Of course many school administrations frown on it because No Child Left Behind has some attendance requirements that go along with it...schools get funding according to if their school makes Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and a portion of AYP is related to attendance.

[eightiesguy]

I teach High School, and missing two days isn't a big deal (especially if the child gets assignments before they leave). We just had a flu outbreak, and I had students that I didn't see for 3-4 days in a row because of it.

[Corie]

I pulled my daughter out of kindergarten for a week this fall to go to Disney. I didn't give it a second thought. :)

[kransden]

I would for early grades. There is so much repetition.

Find out what they will be doing that week. Like the letter Q, the color red or something, and then look for things that start with Q. Take pictures of them and/or write them down. It is fun to do and adds educational value to the trip. It also reinforces that school is important and you just can't blow it off.

[Fairy]

Things now are not the same as when we were kids. In my district, you are not acutally allowed to take your kids out of school for any reason. If you want to vaca, do it on break. You may call them in sick, but you need a doctor's note after X days (forget how many), and if you have a family emergency, that's fine, too, but up to only X days. It's insane.

[KrisM]

I'm not a teacher and my oldest is just preschool. But, I can't imagine pulling any of them out for a vacation. Our schools here have days off throughout the year, it seems. Teacher days where they get a 3-day weekend. I'd do my vacationing then.

I don't want to teach my kids that vacations are more important than school. School is what they're doing and where they should be. Vacations are fun, but optional.

[o_mom]

Things now are not the same as when we were kids. In my district, you are not acutally allowed to take your kids out of school for any reason. If you want to vaca, do it on break. You may call them in sick, but you need a doctor's note after X days (forget how many), and if you have a family emergency, that's fine, too, but up to only X days. It's insane.

What is the consequence if you do?

[rebeccaravit]

I taught third grade for six years and I have mixed feelings about this. While I agree that two days isn't much in the grand scheme of things and you can always help your child to catch up, how would you feel if you found out that your child's teacher was absent for a few days b/c they went on vacation? I agree with the PP that said that school holidays are planned in advance and that we need to teach our children the importance of school.

If this is a family vacation, does that mean your DC and DH, or extended relatives? If it's the whole family included extended relatives, then you need to set a precedence now that this is going to be a one time thing.

When I was teaching, I NEVER gave work out in advance to those kids who would be out. They were always expected to catch up when they returned.

[scoop22]

i'm a teacher and i say go for it. like pp i would let the teacher know ahead of time and work on what they are doing. it is only 1-2 days. it's not a week. when they get older sometimes it is harder to pull them away. enjoy your family time.

also find out the policy on vacations in the school. i know our school as long as there is an educational trip form filled out and it is approved by the principal it can not count against you later on. the consequences can sometimes lead to fines if to many days are missed without excuses. but this form would keep you from that. just some questions for the school would be my suggestions.

have fuN!!!

[egoldber]

your child's teacher was absent for a few days b/c they went on vacation

Sarah's first grade teacher has taken off at least one day this year (that I know of) for a holiday. I don't see why I would care as long as its an occasional thing.

For K, I wouldn't give it a second thought. This year, we've done a day here and there. Next year (second grade) we plan to take her out for 2 days for an extended family vacation (that overlaps a school holiday).

I think its important for kids to learn a life/work balance. Sometimes the school vacations don't work well for an entire family. I wouldn't do it in the first month or so of school though, and I wouldn't do it during an important test period or if my child were struggling academically.

[o_mom]

I'm not a teacher and my oldest is just preschool. But, I can't imagine pulling any of them out for a vacation. Our schools here have days off throughout the year, it seems. Teacher days where they get a 3-day weekend. I'd do my vacationing then.

I don't want to teach my kids that vacations are more important than school. School is what they're doing and where they should be. Vacations are fun, but optional.

Not everybody has the luxury of having days off that match the school calendar.

Personally, I want to teach my kids that learning takes place everywhere, not just at school. I want them to learn that family is more important than school or work, and not just when someone dies. I also don't want them to feel that school is an obligation that must be endured at all costs, especially in Kindergarten.

I'm not going to go out of my way to schedule vacation in the midle of school, but if the choice were missing a few days of elementary school or not going on a trip I feel is important, we will go on the trip.

[Fairy]

What is the consequence if you do?

Good question. I'm not sure, cuz DS isn't there yet. But my neighbors told me that they have had a hard time. One had a business trip to Australlia that, due to his role, included his wife and two kids for free if he paid their airfare. It was two weeks, and Australia is not exaclty Disney World. They tried to arrange for this to happen, even agreeing to email homework in, and the school district refused. Now, what would happen if they did it anyway? Hmm. Not sure, but it would be like me to find out if it were me. Something that's once in a life time like that, an all expenses paid trip to Australia (he had enough status to pay for two of the airfairs with his airline miles, and the other two they had to pay for, so that means 3 airfares paid)? Seems to me that two weeks out of school out of their kids lifetimes wouldn't be that big a deal. Disney world is a hop skip and a jump. Not eveyrone is able to just hop a plane to the next hemisphere. So, the two of them went, and the kids stayed behind.

My other friend had to bring a doctor's note when her son was home with a just really bad bout of the flu, but not sure how many days he was home. It was a week for sure, but I don't think it was 2.

Honestly, we are the parents. I get it that there can be major abuse of the system, but it just seems a bit much to me.

[egoldber]

They tried to arrange for this to happen, even agreeing to email homework in, and the school district refused. Now, what would happen if they did it anyway?

In our district, if your child has an unexcused absence for (I forget how many and am too lazy to look it up right now) days, they are automatically unenrolled from school. To get your kid back in school, you need to re-enroll them. I'm not sure what other "consequences" might be. They can also make your child go to summer school to make up absences that are too long.

Part of this is that NCLB has certain attendance requirements, so some school districts are a LOT more strict about absences than they used to be.

Frankly, its crap like this that makes homeschooling a very attractive option to me.

[o_mom]

Good question. I'm not sure, cuz DS isn't there yet. But my neighbors told me that they have had a hard time. One had a business trip to Australlia that, due to his role, included his wife and two kids for free if he paid their airfare. It was two weeks, and Australia is not exaclty Disney World. They tried to arrange for this to happen, even agreeing to email homework in, and the school district refused. Now, what would happen if they did it anyway? Hmm. Not sure, but it would be like me to find out if it were me. Something that's once in a life time like that, an all expenses paid trip to Australia (he had enough status to pay for two of the airfairs with his airline miles, and the other two they had to pay for, so that means 3 airfares paid)? Seems to me that two weeks out of school out of their kids lifetimes wouldn't be that big a deal. Disney world is a hop skip and a jump. Not eveyrone is able to just hop a plane to the next hemisphere. So, the two of them went, and the kids stayed behind.

My other friend had to bring a doctor's note when her son was home with a just really bad bout of the flu, but not sure how many days he was home. It was a week for sure, but I don't think it was 2.

Honestly, we are the parents. I get it that there can be major abuse of the system, but it just seems a bit much to me.

I would be the one to find out, too - um, yeah, Australia all the way.. :)

The schools around here seem to have a policy that it is strongly discouraged, but can be approved. I also know people who have "unenrolled" their child for such an extended trip and then "reenrolled" when they returned. This was with the school's blessing as they were getting pressure for increased attendance for NCLB.

A doctor's note for a weeks absence doesn't seem like a big deal.

[thomma]

Wow...it really depends on the school/district. At my school it's pretty lenient for the younger grades. I have a student who left last Thursday with her family for a trip to a Beaches resort for 2 weeks. She'll miss 6 days of school. Her mom talked to me (and the principal)about it and I told her to have a great time...it's the week before a vacation and valentines day to boot.

For the first time in almost 20 years of teaching I'm taking a week off to go on a family (paid by inlaws) vacation. My principal was fine with it. I've started to tell a few parents and they've been very supportive. Of course who knows what they're saying behind my back...;)

[lisams]

When I was teaching, it happened and wasn't a big deal. Now what was super annoying was when a family would take a week or more for vacation and expect me to have a packet of the week's work. Not only was it a pain to get everything together, but come on, you're going on a vacation, what's the purpose of taking a week's worth of school work with you? I ended up telling families that their work was for their child to keep a journal of their vacation. I would ask the teacher if there is anything you'd like the child to work on, but I would not tell them you want work. I'm sure each teacher has their own policy on make-up work.

[trales]

The district I worked had all kinds of policies and consequences. Once you hit a certain number you would get a failing grade for the class for that quarter, then it would be averaged as a 64 with the other quarter and final. You could get unenrolled, have a truancy officer show up at your house etc. In my experience 80% of the kids who filled out the appeal form (I was in the high school) had the appeal granted and got the grades they got. Now, in high school, kids who missed more than 10 days tended to fail the class on their own anyhow.

With NCLB we had 'count' days, where the number of students attending that day would be counted (we did not know in advance) and that number would be turned in for funding. One year that day fell on the end of Ramadan. We were down a lot of kids.

[elephantmeg]

[/QUOTE]
My other friend had to bring a doctor's note when her son was home with a just really bad bout of the flu, but not sure how many days he was home. It was a week for sure, but I don't think it was 2.

Honestly, we are the parents. I get it that there can be major abuse of the system, but it just seems a bit much to me.[/QUOTE]


I don't know how many notes I write as a nurse saying that their child was hospitalized or in for day surgery. It's rediculous!

[KBecks]

I'll say that the first time I felt big stress in school was when my family went on a vacation and I was so worried about the worksheets and things I had missed. I was in the 2nd grade, though. I don't think missing K would be a big deal. Have a good trip!

[KBecks]

I just hated it when a parent would take their child on a trip inthe middle of the year, for a full week, and then ask for/expect the entire weeks worth of assignments to take along!

Really? See my post above about about how I freaked about being behind after my family went on vacation. What's the best way to handle it?

[KBecks]

Things now are not the same as when we were kids. In my district, you are not acutally allowed to take your kids out of school for any reason. If you want to vaca, do it on break. You may call them in sick, but you need a doctor's note after X days (forget how many), and if you have a family emergency, that's fine, too, but up to only X days. It's insane.

And what exactly do they do if you don't comply? I'm curious. :)