Would you take a 6th grader out of school for 5 days to save $800?

[ssatterly]

Just looking still for next year and the prices are appox $800+ cheaper when school is in rather than out? Would you take a 6th grader out for 5 days for that amount of savings?

No flaming please just what thoughts. I have not booked anything yet so I am still looking and pondering the thoughts.

[cruiserNC]

If my child was a very good student and I didn't think he or she would have a problem catching up I would say take them out. I would also talk to the teachers and get their thoughts and opinions. If they aren't on board the it could be a disaster...

[Brenhoof]

We are parents of college grads and a senior in High school. We never hesitated to let the kids miss some school for a trip. They are being enriched while traveling. They also had to make up their school work. but we had them do the bulk of that when we got home. No heavy books!

Just my opinion.:D

[Redsfan]

Just looking still for next year and the prices are appox $800+ cheaper when school is in rather than out? Would you take a 6th grader out for 5 days for that amount of savings?

No flaming please just what thoughts. I have not booked anything yet so I am still looking and pondering the thoughts.

we are pulling our 4th grader out for our cruise this month...chepaer air fare, cheaper cruise fares....she will catch up when back..

[LHP]

The answer to this will be an individual as the child.

 

Our oldest son could have missed a month and still made straight A's in the 6th grade. (he scored a 35 on the ACT)

 

Each school has their own restrictions....I would check with them and see how "open" they are to the idea. If his teacher says fine...then go for it.

 

(one thing to consider is that your school district loses funds for every day a child is not in the classroom. Schools are paid based on their attendance. )

 

As far as the "ethics" of it, schools seem (to me) to be a bit hypocritical).

Some schools throw a fit at the suggestion of a child missing class, but yet will allow middle school and high school students to miss class at the drop of a hat to "represent the school" in a contest. Our oldest son missed at least a week of school each year... doing science, math, debate competitions for the high school during his junior and senior year.

 

Middle school and high school students missed class for cheer competition and dance competitions....

[klmorg]

Oh Susie... you know you are going to get all sorts of replies and parenting advice on this one. But to answer your question... we have done that when our kids were young, and with the blessing of the teacher/school. It wasn't because of money savings, it just worked out that way. Vacations can be quite educational. But times have changed a bit. Folks are a bit more uptight these days it seems. Our kids are in their mid-20's and doing very well though, both went to college, etc. So taking them out of school for a few days when they were young didn't seem to negatively impact them. ;)

[GetMeToABeach]

Honestly I think it depends on the kid and what time of the school year it is. You may want to avoid the very beginning of the year, and times around any standardized testing. Otherwise, with some extra work and planning, I don't think it would be that big of a deal. Further, each kid can handle things differently- some can miss a week of school and catch right up (like my daughter), some (like my son) seem to be behind no matter what, LOL.

[mxylpic]

I'm a teacher and I say you should not. Even if your child is a good student he or she would be missing out in ways that just making up the work might not equal in terms of class activity.

[finoky]

Absolutely, my daughter is in 12th grade and we have been taking her out of school every year for a cruise since 4th grade. We are doing it again this coming May.

[Silvermist]

My reply is "depends on the 6th grader" and "can you work with the school?"

 

I took my 2 kids out of high school (10th and 11th grades) for 2 weeks for a vacation because A) that was when my husband could take his vacation, and B) it was off-season and therefore we could afford the holiday. But I will qualify that with a "but I worked with the school well in advance". I knew before the end of the school year that the next school year we would be pulling the kids for a couple of weeks so I sat down with the Vice Principal of the high school in June to inform him of our plans and at the beginning of September when the schedules were being made and we looked at their schedules. We changed a few things around so that their 'easier' courses like keyboarding and drama would be in the semester we were gone. I didn't want them to have to try to catch up with 2 weeks of calculus or 2 weeks of physics. Our school had a policy of X number of absences would result in failing the classes, but they had a clause that added 'unless approved by the school beforehand'.

 

You are looking at next year so hopefully your school would be willing to work with you somehow.

[BatzMuru]

Our kids always had good grades, all 3 of them. We never hesitated to take them out of school. Our school district always allowed them to do independent study for what they missed. So yes, I'd have no problem pulling our kids out to go and save the money for something fun on the trip.

[michiganredrose]

To me, it definitely depends on the kid. I try to plan for times when they will miss the least amount of school but budget plays a huge roll in it. My kids will miss 4 days of school while we are on vacation from 2/12 - 2/21 because we are taking advantage of mid-winter break. The flights are cheaper, the cruise is cheaper and it makes it affordable for me. Schoolwork can be made up and my kids know that if their grades drop, we won't be able to go.

[ssatterly]

My DD is in 5th grade now and making the all A and B honor roll.. She is a good student as well... I am just hoping that blends over to middle school but I don't see why it wouldn't.

[Megan_Strick]

I am taking both my kids out on Jan. Only for 2 days though. I would talk to the school. I have talked to the counseler at my sons school before about a longer trip and they had no problem with it.

[mjrich73]

Last year I took my 3rd grader and 5th grader out for 5 days. I had given the school a few months notice, and everything went well. Me and my husband are going on a cruise by ourselves this December and my daughter who is now in 6th grade commented that she is so glad we went last year, because she could never miss that many days. She said missing just one day is hard!

[mama_hao]

We are taking our high school seniors(twins) out of school next week for a cruise. One of them said,"If this is an educational trip it will be an excused absence." My reply, "How can travel NOT be educational." We will be visiting 4 countries with 4 cultures. The ship alone has crew members from dozens of different nations. One of my sons is a culinary student and is doing a paper on the cuisine of the different ports as well as on the ship.

The notion that education only takes place in a classroom is preposterous.

But that is just my $0.02. YMMV

[klfrodo]

I'm with you UNTIL $800 becoming the excuse.

 

The money should be irrelevent. Depends on what is going on during the week they miss. National testing, State testing, ACT's ( not for 6th grader I'm sure)

 

But what ever. The question should be "Can my kid survive missing school?"

 

Put the kid and their education FIRST. Not the $800

[Cristallo]

I don't see why it would be a problem. I know some college educated adults that don't have an ounce of street smarts or they have never traveled outside their state.

 

I'm a firm believer that there is more to educating a child then sitting them in a room and making them memorize facts and having them parrot it back. I've traveled the world and feel that I'm a better well rounded adult because of it.

 

If it isn't during test time and the work can be made up go for it. You're child might not remember whatever random fact was being taught in class those days but they will remember the cruise.

[maldenmusic]

Yes if the student is not struggling in school. Use the cruise as a learning experience!

[cyntil8ing]

No, I personally wouldn't. My second grader was absolutely thrilled to be the only student in her class last year to receive a perfect attendance award. She wants very much to repeat that accomplishment this year. I think she'd be very conflicted if I even suggested she miss school for a cruise.

 

Luckily, their school is closed all of Thanksgiving week so we're able to do our upcoming Fantasy cruise.

[viaggi_per_mare]

Just looking still for next year and the prices are appox $800+ cheaper when school is in rather than out? Would you take a 6th grader out for 5 days for that amount of savings?

No flaming please just what thoughts. I have not booked anything yet so I am still looking and pondering the thoughts.

 

Our children are all adults now but we had 6 of them and ALL our vacations were in October and the end of April and they missed about 15 days of school every year. Not only was it cheaper, it was also less crowded.

 

Definitely, your kids will get more from traveling than they do from sitting in class. There are so many opportunities for spontaneous learning on a cruise, and that knowledge is life long and will stay with them forever, not to mention "less peer time" and more "family time" which is more important.

It also inspired our kids to work harder to attain better jobs so they could continue to travel and cruise when they became adults.

 

Our children were average and got average grades so we are not talking about "A" students here, but average "run of the mill" kids.

 

We ended up with a special Ed teacher, a corrections officer, 2 pharmacists with Doctor degrees, a computer engineer and a nurse.

 

...every year they pull their kids out of school to travel.

[halos]

Depends on the child and the school.

 

I never took my kids out. In hindsight, it wouldn't have hurt them at all and I wish I had. I was too anal back then.... *shakeshead*

[SueG]

Just looking still for next year and the prices are appox $800+ cheaper when school is in rather than out? Would you take a 6th grader out for 5 days for that amount of savings?

No flaming please just what thoughts. I have not booked anything yet so I am still looking and pondering the thoughts.

 

Yes. I just did. Keep in mind, it is not as easy as it use to be. I just made sure all her homework was done before we boarded. Next cruise will be a Saturday to Saturday. It was too hard coming back on a Sunday and getting everything ready for Monday.

With my child, it was told she had to go into this cruise with all A's. She was made to study really hard and be ahead of the game before we left. I am doing it again next year.

 

She pulled out 5 A'a and a B on her report card.

[karenh1127]

We are taking our 8th grade twins on a cruise in January and they will be missing 4 days. The 5th day is a teacher inservice. I will ask for their work ahead of time and have them bring some of it on the ship. I believe it will be unexcused absences and they are only allowed 6 parent note absences per semester. It is the beginning of a new semester and before the state testing. By high school it gets harder for them to miss so this is kinda of a last chance thing. I know of a 6th grader who missed 2 weeks to do a WWII tour thru Europe and was given permission thru the school. And the threat of "keep your grades up or we wont go" is working well!

[PHILHOWER005]

short answer.....YUP