Homework on VACATION???? I don't think so.

[*KeepMovingForward*]

My husbands job unfortunately does not jive with the school calendar, which is why our kids do miss a week of school each year. DH is in the construction trades and summers are just not allowed for vacations and normally by Spring Break he is working full force again, so that nixes that idea. I don't think that should mean we are resigned to no travel, travel without DH or traveling during Christmas. I don't knock anyones belief one way or the other, but sometimes things cannot always be so black and white.

My two oldest are in middle and high school. I never batted an eye when they missed time from elementary school, but now it is a bit different. I give my kids the choice if they feel the missed work and doing work while away is worth it. IF they take issue with it, we just don't go. I'm not insensitive to the fact that they will come home to even more work and may struggle to catch up for a few weeks. So far, both have always decided that they will do vacation and take the time off. They also know that the trade off is that for the rest of the year (since we go in October when construction pretty much stops by us), they must be seriously ill in order to miss school-like, they require medical intervention (doctor or hospital)-otherwise, off to school they go. I've never been negotiable on this one.

Just went to DD and DS's annual reviews with the schools and both sets of teachers commented on their stellar attendance. Apparently 4 missed days for the entire year is pretty uncommon.

 

[sha_lyn]

I could not disagree with you more! Family time is WAY to important to be passed over for school!!!

Why can't family time take place the other 185 days of the yr(assuming the school yr consist of 180 as it does here)?

I don't think anyone would disagree that family time is as/more important than school. Where I disagree is the argument that cooler weather, avoiding peak times etc is more important than school.

Unexcused days became such a big deal in this district, that 5 unexcused days equals automatic failure.

They also know that the trade off is that for the rest of the year (since we go in October when construction pretty much stops by us), they must be seriously ill in order to miss school-like, they require medical intervention (doctor or hospital)-otherwise, off to school they go. I've never been negotiable on this one.

But is the trade-off fair to the other students. You send in a contagious child so that they don't miss more days. Is that fair to the students who catch a virus from your children?

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

But is the trade-off fair to the other students. You send in a contagious child so that they don't miss more days. Is that fair to the students who catch a virus from your children?

I never said I sent a sick child to school. If they are truly ill or contagious, they go to the doctor. That means they don't go to school-I kinda thought I made that clear, but my bad if I didn't. I would never endanger someone else's child. Sorry if you thought that I would do that.

 

[sha_lyn]

Sorry I misunderstood you. I just don't know many people who would carry their child to the Dr for a virus unless there were complication or underlying health problems. Most Dr I know of will even ask that you not bring them in for a typically virus. They don't want their offices to be the source of contagion

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Sorry I misunderstood you. I just don't know many people who would carry their child to the Dr for a virus unless there were complication or underlying health problems. Most Dr I know of will even ask that you not bring them in for a typically virus. They don't want their offices to be the source of contagion

I do, but we have awesome insurance, so we can afford to-I also work for doctors, so that helps too. Plus in order to excuse the absence from school, our district requires physician notes. Going to the doctor also deters the kids from feigning illness. All I meant in my initial post is that I don't really allow the kids to take days off and play hooky-they really have to have a valid issue to miss school.

 

[mousehouselover]

Reading all this make me glad we homeschool and reinforces my decision to do so. I love the flexability and opportunity to do some off the beaten path activities. We have stayed up half the night watching a lunar eclipse and went to a planetarium to see a solar eclipse in July before. We've done re-inactment events and discussed history and science as part of our participation.

We did take the girls out of school for a week the last time we took them to WDW. They were in K and 1st grades. We got their homework before we left and they had to sit down and do a bit of homework every day. My oldest chose, on her own, to monitor the weather and helped all the adults keep up with current events. We didn't have TV listings in our rooms so she made them for us. She found the weather channel, CNN, the Disney Channel and Cartoon Network and a few others. She knew that mornings were devoted to news and all the kids respect that to this day.

I missed nearly a week of my senior yr for a trip with my grandma. It wasn't anything special, she invited me to fly to Denver with her. I went and really enjoyed my time. I got to relax, clear my head and enjoy some down time. I had family in the area and got to spend 2 days with my cousin that I rarely got to see. I took homework with me and made time to do it everyday. I came back to school and didn't miss a beat. I didn't get any grief for being gone. I had and maintained good grades was in theatre, debate and worked about 20 hrs a week.

I know my choice isn't right for everyone. I respect everyone's choice to do what they feel is right for their families. I also know that in our real lives, many people; kids included, are overscheduled, stressed and lack proper sleep. If a vacation allows you and your family the opportunity to regain a sense mental balance, I say go for it; regardless of what time of year it is.

 

[megnsamsgracie]

Thank you Stagemom! I feel very strongly about family time! Now DH has a job again (rehired after being laid off) and I am back to work now after 10 years of being a SAHM. Hubby is done with work at 3:45 and thankfuly we work at the same place so at 3:45 we swap out and I go to work and he takes them home. By the time I get out, everyone is asleep. Weekends are filled with things that cant get done during the week so it will be nice to have 10 days of just FAMILY time.

 

[tigger813]

We're take DD 7 out of 2nd grade for a week in early Dec. Two days are early release days for conferences. I plan on telling her teacher at the beginning of the year that she will be missing a week due to a family vacation. I will go by what ever the school policy is.
I'm currently a teacher and our student handbook says that we are not obligated to give work to families going on vacation during school time. I have been asked and just remind them that they signed the handbook. All work they have missed will be either in their mailboxes in the classroom or in their desks. If we are in the middle of a book or unit I just tell them to continue and about how far we plan to get while the student is absent.

 

[DizzyKitten]

Conan ITA agree with you, but I don't bring it up first when it comes up. It gets very nasty.

I was taken our for a week to go to WDW. Aparently my mom mistakenly looked at the calendar and booked our trip for the 1st week of school. Sure i didn't miss a lot of school work, but the peer situation was horrible. Teachers classmates etc would comment, my homeroom was even changed while I was gone. I remember crying and having stomache aches for several days because of all of it.

Also we took DS our of school for 3 days to attend an out of state wedding. He was in K or 1st. The homework wasn't a problem (did it all on the plane) but once again the peer situation wasn't easy. It took him weeks to live down "skipping school"

Sha lyn, when I read your post I felt bad for your son that he had such a hard time coming back after a vacation. I have to say though that I wonder what kind of school environment he was in if he was only in K or 1st and had to "live down skipping school"? If you don't mind me asking, was he teased by the other kids, the teachers or were people making comments to you about him "skipping school"? I have four children and only one, my DS3, has not been in school yet and I have never encountered a K or 1st grade class that would ridicule another kid for going on a trip. At that age, most kids don't really care that their classmate was gone for 3 days; at least not enough to tease him for weeks. (At least that's been my experience)

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Mousehouselover-Thanks for your post. I love to hear from someone who has been on both sides of the fence! I've always been intrigued by the idea of home schooling, but I admit that I don't know a soul in our area that does it, so I do not know much about it and how it works. I wonder if it is more common in some areas.

My issue was always wondering how I would be able to juggle FT job, schooling, activities and the housewife/household routine. How do all of you who homeschool manage to do it? Is it as time consuming as a regular school day? Do you have certain guidelines given to you by the state or district on what you have to teach your children-or are you totally on your own? What are the sacrifices and benefits of it? I'm too late on my two oldest, but i have a 2-year-old and there's always a second chance to do it differently. I'd just like to hear opinions from those you who have or are doing it.

 

[DizzyKitten]

I know this thread is about kids being taken out of school and missing homework and whether or not they do it on vacation but I have something else to add.
First, I'll say that yes, I am taking 3 of my children out of school for WDW. I know what my children are capable of, what they can handle and I feel comfortable with my decision. Our school year starts 9/4 so they will miss 6 days of school, one of which they wouldn't have had homework on anyway. (no homework on Fridays)

Second, in my situation, I will be the one doing homework while at WDW. I will let them do theirs too, depending on how much they get done before we go. See, I am in school too. I have been going to school online for what will be 2 years this month. I will be in my last term while we are at WDW. Because my school is online and we seminars(chats) that we have to participate in, mommy will be on the laptop for an hour or two most days.

Trust me, I'd rather not do any of it while on vacation because it's VACATION. But, I have to set an example. I will complete what I can early and so will the kids. Whatever I can't complete, will be done on vacation; the same goes for them.
Right now we ALL get A's and B's and going to WDW for 8 days will not change that.

 

[theresak]

I could not disagree with you more! Family time is WAY to important to be passed over for school!!!

Agreed 1000% We've taken the kids out of school twice, once for one week once for two weeks. Yes there was a lot of makeup work, but we took it with us and they did some on the way down and some on the way back. Done and done by the time they went to school. Not a problem (1st and 4th grade). The time of being there with nominal crowds, and we found Epcot to be very educational.
Also, my son went to New York with his grandpa during school, only missed a couple of days there - but he made a presentation to the class that they found enthralling.
I would do it again in a heartbeat - plan on it next year in fact!

 

[theresak]

We will be homeschooling and they will be doing schoolwork when we come to WDW.

I see no difference in a child doing work that has been pulled from traditional school, and a child doing work that is homeschooled. Either way they're doing schoolwork on vacation.

Congrats on your adoption, btw. BIL has an adopted little girl, and she is just so precious! I would love to adopt a little girl someday.

 

[Boncho]

I have always asked my sons teachers for his homework before we go to Disney and they have always told me that when going to WDW, you don't want to do homework - he can catch up when he gets back. Not that I really wanted my son to have to do homework, but I thought I should ask - he has never had any problem catching up after we get home

 

[solferino]

I see no difference in a child doing work that has been pulled from traditional school, and a child doing work that is homeschooled. Either way they're doing schoolwork on vacation.

I agree. And just because we chose not to homeschool doesn't mean we don't have experiences of staying up late to see night-time astronomical events, etc. We do and make the choice of possibly sleeping in the next morning. No biggie.

Just like our opinions of taking kids out of school (or not) varies as much as school policies do. If it's not right for you, don't do it. However I think it's unfair to judge those who do decide to do it.

We;re very fortunate to be at the school we're at. It's independent, so they're a lot more flexible about vacations and whatnot. I already told DD's teacher (it's a multi-grade class) and she's so not worried about it. Our director doesn't scream it from the rooftops but she likes that families do trips like this.

When the tsunami hit a couple of years back, one of our families is active with a nearby Buddhist temple. They went to Sri-Lanka for 4 weeks to help rebuild a sister temple over there. Family trips, whether to Disney or across the world are encouraged and embraced. Heck, one of our own teachers has an older daughter that got married in Australia. He and his 2 younger kids (also students here) were gone for 3 weeks. No-one batted an eye at that, either.

 

[theresak]

When the tsunami hit a couple of years back, one of our families is active with a nearby Buddhist temple. They went to Sri-Lanka for 4 weeks to help rebuild a sister temple over there. Family trips, whether to Disney or across the world are encouraged and embraced. Heck, one of our own teachers has an older daughter that got married in Australia. He and his 2 younger kids (also students here) were gone for 3 weeks. No-one batted an eye at that, either.

WOW! Now that is an amazing life lesson you simply cannot replicate in a classroom. That kind of humanitarianism should be required in the US, too many kids have no concept that life isn't so cozy for everyone else.

 

[CptWife80]

With all of the times I have taken my DD out of school we ask that she not have any homework. My DH is against making a child do school work at home and I am in the middle of the argument. So when my DD went for a special trip with my MIL the teacher sent home school work for her to do. I called and asked if she could do a report like a journal and tell all the kids about the trip when she got back. She agreed and my DD loved doing it. She's a straight A student to begin with so I wasn't concerned about her missing a couple days. Just a year and a half and the little one will be doing the same thing.

 

[Disney_Princess123]

When my daughter uses the at the beginning of her post, it is her. When I'm on, you'll see no banana dancing like crazy...

Anyway, my daughter didn't know the banana rule, so everything before is her. Now, the banana might appear from time to time.

Anyway, cute topic she posted- glad homework has come to her attention. Our school has no vacation policies, though. I'm sorry for those who do, but, obviously you are capable of great things.

To be honest... I'm going to be hard on my daughter- because she won't attend, she is going to the land instead, so she will be doing all her work before. I am going to watch carefully and sit next to my middle child and she will be writing a trip report. Well, I'm very interested in all this. Do any of you have 5th graders? DD is going to be one on our next trip, and I'd like to know about their homework experiences...

 

[megnsamsgracie]

Our town has a 5 day family vacation policy in place. Secondly, my son will be in 5th grade next year and the policy states under 1hr a night for homework. Now, its the same rule for 4th grade and my son is done in about 30 min tops. He is a good student thankfully. I have asked this years teacher about homework for next year and she said it should be about the same. We are also going the 3rd week of the school year and they are just getting going so hopefully it wont be too bad!

 

[HappyLawyer]

both my dtr and i do homework whileon vacation, we just fit it in.