Taking kids out of school ?

[KatieCharlotte]

We've taken our kids out of school several times for vacations. We plan to stop only when the oldest reaches high school or finds missing class challenging. I always try to include something especially educational, but I believe any trip that broadens their horizons and allows for bonding time with their father who works long hours is beneficial to their growth as human beings. This time, they will see the very different way people in other countries live and also practice their Spanish.

Each time, their teachers have told me not to worry and that vacations with family were important. I've had teachers tell me vacations are more beneficial than another week in school. My children learn very easily and generally find school boring because information is repeated. I believe the teachers would have had a different attitude if my children struggled in school, and I would also feel differently about taking them out of class. I've never been told a maximum number of absences, and one year my child missed many days due to an illness months after our vacation. We are in an excellent school district, and children being absent for vacations for one or two weeks is very common.

[chipmaster]

Timely for this thread

 

Problem with education is...

 

"The answer, it turns out, is none of the above. If there’s a crisis in U.S. education, the fault lies with a group more accustomed to leveling blame than receiving it: parents."

 

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-19/the-real-reason-americas-schools-stink#p1

[cdillon23]

My wife and I are taking our kids out of school for a cruise the week of Sept.3. The nice thing is they will only miss 4 days because of Labor Day. Son is in 5th grade so we talked with his teacher before and our daughter is in 8th grade and she took the responsibility to contact her teachers herself. So far no problems. The thing is only you can determine if it is going to hurt your children or not.

[dsrdsrdsr]

The thing is only you can determine if it is going to hurt your children or not.

Not quite. Taking your children out of school is going to hurt the children in that a break in their education is never a good thing. The thing you need to determine is whether the overall benefits from an out-of-school holiday outweigh the hurt.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I think the first week of school is vitally important. That is when they learn the teacher's expectations and frankly- after the entire summer off school- it is disheartening to me that a parent would even consider a vacation at the beginning of the school year.

[cello56]

I think the first week of school is vitally important. That is when they learn the teacher's expectations and frankly- after the entire summer off school- it is disheartening to me that a parent would even consider a vacation at the beginning of the school year.

 

You are assuming that school starts the day after Labor Day. I live in Florida and the kids in my county are already part way through their SECOND week of the school term as school started August 13th. ;)

[powelweb]

I think the first week of school is vitally important. That is when they learn the teacher's expectations and frankly- after the entire summer off school- it is disheartening to me that a parent would even consider a vacation at the beginning of the school year.

 

To each their own-

 

Since my mother died before my daughter was born, and my father passed 2 weeks before her first birthday, I find family to be vitally important, so allowing my daughter to spend 2 weeks with her living grandparents that she rarely sees is "priceless" to me.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

For real???? I have heard it all. The grandparents love the grandchildren so much that they make them miss school in order to see them???

 

We are adults- our job is to make things happen when school is out. Grandparents should make sure that a family vacation doesn't conflict with the child's school.

 

My family travels year round. I've turned down trips to South Africa, South America, Polynesia and Australia. These trips would be free for me and my son but they are during the school year. The rest of my family always invites me but I turn it down during the school year.

 

I really don't like how people say that the love their family time- as if you can't have family time without taking the kids out of school. That is a totally excuse based on a flimsy argument. You can spend plenty of time with family and still not miss school to do it.

[scubagirrl]

For real???? I have heard it all. The grandparents love the grandchildren so much that they make them miss school in order to see them???

 

We are adults- our job is to make things happen when school is out. Grandparents should make sure that a family vacation doesn't conflict with the child's school.

 

My family travels year round. I've turned down trips to South Africa, South America, Polynesia and Australia. These trips would be free for me and my son but they are during the school year. The rest of my family always invites me but I turn it down during the school year.

 

I really don't like how people say that the love their family time- as if you can't have family time without taking the kids out of school. That is a totally excuse based on a flimsy argument. You can spend plenty of time with family and still not miss school to do it.

 

"like"

[circuitrider]

We are adults- our job is to make things happen when school is out. Grandparents should make sure that a family vacation doesn't conflict with the child's school.

 

And all this time I thought our job as parents was simply to raise well-rounded individuals. Had no idea my job was simply to "make things happen when school is out." Whew, that takes a load off my mind.

 

My family travels year round. I've turned down trips to South Africa, South America, Polynesia and Australia. These trips would be free for me and my son but they are during the school year. The rest of my family always invites me but I turn it down during the school year.

 

WOW! You must be in a really AWESOME school district then! In rural Tennessee, a couple of weeks of school just can't begin to compare with the educational opportunities a trip to South Africa, South America, or Australia could provide. Heck, even the totally awesome school our son is currently going to (in Australia) couldn't compete with a two day trip to New Zealand (yeah yeah, I know...totally not worth it for just two days, long story). Please tell me where I can find this AMAZING public school (oh, I shoulda asked...it is public right?).

 

I really don't like how people say that the love their family time- as if you can't have family time without taking the kids out of school. That is a totally excuse based on a flimsy argument. You can spend plenty of time with family and still not miss school to do it.

 

Yes! Because everyone has the exact same job with the exact same hours and the exact same vacation policy (where everyone with kids is allowed to take off all summer, and any other school break). Everyone makes the exact same pay (so no worries about "but the only way we can afford it on my salary" argument), and has the exact same bills. Heck, I guess everyone has the exact same VALUES, because surely we all value the educational system equally.

 

Now, on a more serious note. I value my kids' education. But I don't think the schools are solely responsible for my kids' education. That's a dangerous slippery slope that I'm not going down. Anyways...I can teach them things that the schools can't/won't, and the schools may be able to teach them some things better than I can. Personal example...we struggled with our son, trying to get him to recognize letters, numbers, etc. (he could count to ten, kinda up to twenty). Well, after 6+ months of school (with a few breaks) he can recognize most letters, most numbers, can figure out some words, etc. On the flip-side, school didn't teach him about his allowance (how it's broken up into spend, save, and donate), how to save, how money really works (mommy goes to work part-time to make enough money to pay for a house, food, etc...we could have even nicer things, but it means mommy would spend more time away from us), how to ride a bike, etc. School also can't adequately teach him about different cultures...not like actually being there can. It's one thing to learn about the Aboriginals in Alaska...it's another to dance with them.

 

So, I'll continue to do what I think is best for our kids. If that means being in school for most/all of the school year, then so be it. If it means taking some time off to explore, to take a cruise, to bond as a family, so be it. If it meant taking him out of school and homeschooling, then that's what I'd do (I really think I would have done much better if I'd been home-schooled). I think the schools are there to help us...not to dictate how we should live our lives. But, to each their own...you're more than welcome to your opinion.

[powelweb]

For real???? I have heard it all. The grandparents love the grandchildren so much that they make them miss school in order to see them???

 

We are adults- our job is to make things happen when school is out. Grandparents should make sure that a family vacation doesn't conflict with the child's school.

 

My family travels year round. I've turned down trips to South Africa, South America, Polynesia and Australia. These trips would be free for me and my son but they are during the school year. The rest of my family always invites me but I turn it down during the school year.

 

I really don't like how people say that the love their family time- as if you can't have family time without taking the kids out of school. That is a totally excuse based on a flimsy argument. You can spend plenty of time with family and still not miss school to do it.

 

Wonderful for you that things work out so perfectly for traditional school-vacation time travel with your family.

 

It's not necessarily the case with everyone- sometimes it works for us- next year, it didn't.

 

You've clearly made attending school a priority for your family which is great for you, and you seem very committed to it.

 

We've simply decided that as long as our daughter is doing well in school, we will take advantage of opportunities to travel with family.

[cdillon23]

Not quite. Taking your children out of school is going to hurt the children in that a break in their education is never a good thing. The thing you need to determine is whether the overall benefits from an out-of-school holiday outweigh the hurt.

 

Can't say I agree. I think it depends on the student.

 

I think the first week of school is vitally important. That is when they learn the teacher's expectations and frankly- after the entire summer off school- it is disheartening to me that a parent would even consider a vacation at the beginning of the school year.

 

Sometimes parents schedules do not work for a summer vacation.

[8isenuf]

Timely for this thread

 

Problem with education is...

 

"The answer, it turns out, is none of the above. If there’s a crisis in U.S. education, the fault lies with a group more accustomed to leveling blame than receiving it: parents."

 

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-19/the-real-reason-americas-schools-stink#p1

 

 

Did you read the whole article? The reason the they found fault with the parents had nothing to do with them taking them out of school or not placing an emphasis on education over all else. It had to do with book ownership in the household.

 

"Hanushek and Woessman have found that among 27 rich countries, the United States sees one of the strongest relationships between parental book ownership and child learning outcomes."

 

Thankfully in this country at least we are allowed to raise our own children as we see fit. So, if you don't feel it is beneficial to take your kids out of school for a vacation....Good for you!. But since I don't agree and see the benefit of family time and travel over a school education occasionally I will continue to take mine out.

[crusinfamof4]

We will be taking our DSs out in Nov for 3 days-they are off Monday and Tuesday that week so they will only miss 3 days. They are a Sophmore and in the 8th grade. School has not started here for us yet, we are after Labor day. We wanted to cruise this year and this cruise just came up. Our oldest only missed one day all year last year--which was the next to last week of school, our youngest missed a bit more. Both have good grades and I am not worried about the make up time. It is hard for my DH and I to take off when the boys are off. Most of my coworkers have schoolaged children and they only allow so many of us off at a time--you know to make sure we are there for our customers.

 

I was worried at first about taking them out of school, but I know a lot of families around us take off to go on trips. My boys don't do sports, oldest does theater and the fall production should be over by the time we cruise.

[kerrytens]

To answer the question - yes, I do.

 

Do I feel guilty or am I a bad parent - far from it.

 

I'm a single mom. There is no way I'd deny my child a vacation because we can't go in the summer (some people's work schedules aren't so forgiving as to give time off in the summer). We are able to go in the winter every few years and we do. I will never feel guilty about it or worse yet, pressured into feeling like I am a bad person for doing so.

 

I believe it is time for some to take a step back and maybe live in another's shoes before passing judgement.

[junglejane]

The OP started the same thread on the Ask a Cruise Question board, and it's as contentious as this one. The sad thing is that I always thought that on the Family Cruises board we were somehow better able to discuss these topics in a non-judgmental way.

 

We've taken our kids out of school to cruise, but only a day (or at most two) at the front end or back end of a school break. That worked out fine for us when they were younger. But now that our older DD is a sophomore in high school, even that is coming to an end. This year she has 3 honors classes plus one advanced placement class, and it puts too much unnecessary strain on her to miss class. Our vacations this year are scheduled to happen during school breaks.

 

In addition, the school just implemented a new, stricter attendance policy. The school is plastered with the slogan: "Miss 10, do it again!" If you have more than 10 absences, excused or unexcused, you have to repeat the class.

[dsrdsrdsr]

In addition, the school just implemented a new, stricter attendance policy. The school is plastered with the slogan: "Miss 10, do it again!" If you have more than 10 absences, excused or unexcused, you have to repeat the class.

Bit rough on a child with a congenital illness. Stuck in 5th grade until the age of 18 because she has more than a fortnight off for illness each year? :eek:

[junglejane]

Bit rough on a child with a congenital illness. Stuck in 5th grade until the age of 18 because she has more than a fortnight off for illness each year? :eek:

 

Yes, and we're also wondering about how they will treat excused absences for activities. For example, speech and debate tournaments always start on Friday afternoons and the whole team misses their last two periods to travel to the host school. We're all hoping and assuming that reason prevails, but I do think they will hang tough in the case of people taking their kids out for vacations.

[Cruise2XTC]

We took our kids out of school for most of our trips. The school district had an independent study program for children that were going to be gone for 5 days or more. The school was always good about providing the kids with lesson plans from each class for every day they would be missing. Our kids usually got these plans a few days prior to leaving so they would begin doing the classwork as soon as they could prior to the trip. The kids would usually work on the subjects that had the heaviest books to avoid having to take them on the cruise. We set aside time to study daily when the kids were younger and then the kids took it upon themselves to make sure the work was done on their own as they got older. We never had any issues with missing work or poor grades. Both have graduated high school and have moved on to college and full time careers.

 

I wouldn't have missed the opportunities to travel with the kids while they were young for anything. Some of our best memories.:)

[Cwusinbunny]

So wow - I guess I shouldn't really be amazed with the wide variety of responses. I will say this - I am planning to take my then first grader and then kindergartener out of school for 5 days in October, 2013 for a disney cruise. I have been doing online surveys, focus groups and consumer panels for almost six years to save money for our cruise. I am saving a ton of money doing it during the school year. Before I booked it I had a long conversation about school with my aunt a 40 year veteran teacher. She firmly believes that taking a kid out of school prior to 3rd grade is just fine. She believes it is very difficult to do it from the 3rd grade on.

 

I firmly believe in the value of an education. I put myself through school - have a M.Ed, and an MA in political science. I don't need someone to tell me about education. However I will be DAM**D if the federal government or state government or local government will tell me what I can and cannot do on vacation. My child will NOT be truant. I am not a lazy mother who doesn't care if her kid is in school. Our school system is such a state of chaos, I think they better first get their own house in order before they come into my house. Don't lecture me about education when my own school superintendent can't write a grammatically correct letter. Actually I have to say, given the state of our nation, our unemployment, how quickly we are to give up our rights, I am starting to believe that doing the exact OPPOSITE of what the government tells us to do is probably the best course of action.

 

Finally - I don't judge you, please don't judge me. You have the financial means and the schedule that allows you to go away every summer with multiple trips each summer, good luck to you. Some of us do not. For some, this is the trip of a lifetime. My DH works in the US for a European company, which means he cannot take time off in December and January, as well as July and August. I cannot take time off in June. Keeping that roof over my head, providing health care for my family and feeding them is rather important in my world. I honestly cannot believe (and my aunt, the former teacher AND former NUN agree) that five days off is not going to make my child into a lifelong truant.

[Stratus22]

Cwusinbunny, first off, let me say that..................I like your response!!!! I like it in everyway. Life is just not fair to some. I have repeated myself over and over again that unlike a few in this world, I do not have the LUXURY of having summers and holidays and weekends off!! I work 40 hours every week and have to compete with others for leave. If my kids miss some school days, so be it. They will not and I do mean WILL NOT SUFFER!

[chipmaster]

Not a judgment but observation... I find most here are doing vacations during "school" year primarly because of money and their inability or unwillings to spend more..

 

But I got to ask, how did you get to this compromise, is that the same compromise you want your children to be faced with?

 

What is the best way to provide and enviroment that insures your children won't have to make that compromises for your grandchildren, is it continuing the family tradition or breaking that tradition. There is no guranteed rule to anything but people who put school / work above leisure generally as a rule have a better set of circumstances to get ahead of the curve.

[circuitrider]

Not a judgment but observation... I find most here are doing vacations during "school" year primarly because of money and their inability or unwillings to spend more..

 

Not sure about that...but we may fit that description, so...

 

But I got to ask, how did you get to this compromise, is that the same compromise you want your children to be faced with?

 

Yes, it's the same "compromise" I want my children to be faced with. Definitely.

 

What is the best way to provide and enviroment that insures your children won't have to make that compromises for your grandchildren, is it continuing the family tradition or breaking that tradition.

 

No idea what the best environment would be to ensure that my children wouldn't have to make those compromises...live like everyone else I suppose?

 

There is no guranteed rule to anything but people who put school / work above leisure generally as a rule have a better set of circumstances to get ahead of the curve.

 

Ahead of WHAT curve? We put travel, learning, and family above work. I'd be delighted if that rubbed off on my kids.

[Warm Breezes]

Timely for this thread

 

Problem with education is...

 

"The answer, it turns out, is none of the above. If there’s a crisis in U.S. education, the fault lies with a group more accustomed to leveling blame than receiving it: parents."

 

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-19/the-real-reason-americas-schools-stink#p1

 

Well Chipmaster you can't blame me. My house has much more than 2 book cases full of books and we make a lot of stops to the library each month. So I guess taking my kids out on vacations didn't hurt their education since I keep them supplied with books :rolleyes:.

[Warm Breezes]

Not a judgment but observation... I find most here are doing vacations during "school" year primarly because of money and their inability or unwillings to spend more..

 

But I got to ask, how did you get to this compromise, is that the same compromise you want your children to be faced with?

 

What is the best way to provide and enviroment that insures your children won't have to make that compromises for your grandchildren, is it continuing the family tradition or breaking that tradition. There is no guranteed rule to anything but people who put school / work above leisure generally as a rule have a better set of circumstances to get ahead of the curve.

 

I don't see it as a compromise if the child is willing and able to do the work missed and the school allows it. IMHO it doesn't matter if it is a matter of saving money or the parents schedules. Things are not always as black and white as you are trying to make them out to be. I have never "compromised" my childrens education by pulling them out of school for vacations. All our vacations were excused by the school and my children learned what was missed as was proven by their test grades after the vacations.

 

If circumstances were different and the school did not excuse their vacations or if they were not willing or able to make up the work then, yes, a "compromise" of their education would have been an issue. Some parents need to deal with that. But they are the ones who need to make that decision based on their kids and their families situation. We may not always agree with their decision...but it is theirs to make.