Taking SOn out of school For disney

[GoofyTraci]

OK,OK So am I the only one who is going to take her son out of school for a week to go to disney in Sept. He will only be in 1st grade. And its at the beginning of the year. Is this bad? I have heard of others doing it but just wanted some suggestions. I'm a single mom and this is the only time I can take off from work and Since this is our first Vacation We would like to go when it's not so hot or so crouded. Please give me and opinion but be nice.

Traci

 

[Susieab]

We haven't done that yet but plan to. Our kids will be in Kindergarten and 1st grade fro the 2006-2007 school year. We have reservations and plane tickets already and will miss a week of school just prior to Christmas. I haven't mentioned it to the school yet but our kids are good and don't miss much school usually so they will just have to deal with it. Really I think as long as you make up homework, schoolwork, etc. it is not a big deal.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[mom23boys]

No you are not the only one to take you DS out and you will get many different opinions here. But we took our kids in Oct a few years back. My oldest now in Middle School had a hard time getting back to his school work. We will not longer take him out of school, we will go in late August from now on.

If your DS is only in 1st grade I do not see a problem. I would just notify your school even maybe now to see if it is an excused absence or not. Some school districts have strict policies for vacations. Ours does not.

 

[dmthoma76]

I thought this was my post for a moment! I am taking my son out of school the last week of September and I am REALLY nervous about it. What do you tell the school?

He is only seven in the first grade and is an excellent student I do not think it
would hurt to miss one week but oh the back lash I am facing from some of those teachers?

So what are you going to tell them? I have already put a good amount of money on a deposit and plane tickets so I have to tell them!

I keep going over it in my mind and stressing about it.


~Donna

ASMovies Sept.25 til Sept.30

 

[Mickeygotmymoney]

First off this opinion is a little one sided as it comes from a former teacher.

I do completely understand the financial implications of travel and the incredible experiences that Disney provides. However, please be aware that the first few months of first grade are critical for kids to get adjusted to the school routine and process.

With those things in mind, please be up front with your child's teacher. Let them know and see if they are willing to put together work, or some books to read. Secondly, take advantage of the things you are doing at Disney. It is a great place for experiential learning. Perhaps help your child to write a journal of if he is not ready for that have him draw pictures and dictate sentances to you. This is a great keep sake and it shows the teacher your committment to his learning.

See how he does returning to school after the trip. Remember it may be hard for him to get back into the school routine. (this is normal for kids of this age). Try your best to communicate with the teacher before and after.

Hope this helps.

 

[JESW]

You will get MANY different opinions on this subject so be prepared! But only YOU know what is best for your child.

I have 2 kids, dd7 & ds11. We took the oldest out of school for a week (with two half-days) up until 4th grade, but we really should have stopped at 3rd grade. Kids start middle school here in 4th grade and the transition back to school after a week off was VERY hard. DS was able to take some work with him, but he missed a lot of valuable classroom time. Some kids can make that up easily but it was tough for ds. We now go april vacation and the end of august. Those times also make it less stressful for ME as I don't always have to be on him to do his work...

On the otherhand, my dd will be going into 2nd grade and if I have the opportunity to take her in november I just might. VERY different child and in a lower grade so the time off wouldn't be as bad.

I say take your children when they are young and enjoy your time together. Far too soon they grow up...

Jill

 

[BlindTyldak]

We are taking my DD6 out of school for a week in early November; work policy is I cannot be off work on any weeks that the majority of everyone else is. She will be in first grade as well, and we already told her that even though she's on vacation, she's going to have some homework and she'll have to do it. We're going to tell her teacher on the first day of school about the trip and try to split the extra workload as much in our laps as possible so she won't have to scramble a packet, and we've also arranged for a friend's daughter who is in early childhood ed in college to do some after school tutoring both before and after the trip. My daughter does just fine in school, but a vacation is enough to throw anyone out of the loop.

 

[yearbook50]

My parents took me out of school for Disney for trips in May until I entered 5th grade. I never felt loss in school. I did all my extra work during the 2 hour ride down there and the ride back. I was a nerdy child though so I loved doing school work. We let the teacher know I was going to be out of town for that week.

 

[Luv'sTink]

We are and have taken DS out of school for vacations. He will miss a week in November, we will tell the school the truth about where we are going.

 

[Goobergal99]

We are taking DD out (last week of September-First week of October) She is also a 1st grader

 

[4chitlins]

I took my kids out last year the oldest is 11 now.I told the teachers that we were going. The first thing they said was don't feel bad,everybody does it. All their teachers gave us work to take with us which we did and returned when they went back.None of them had trouble settling back in. One of my twins missed no other days the whole year and the other 2 missed a few more but they all did well on their report cards so we didn't feel too bad.We are going again at the end of Sept. for 9 days but with holidays they are only going to miss 4 days of school.

 

[duchess_tisha]

We have taken our DS (now 10 1/2) and our DD (now 9) out of shcool the last 2 years for the 2 days prior to Thanksgiving break. We have always let the teachers know well in advance what our plans are so that if she can send work with them she will. Honestly, we have yet to bring work with us. Although that may have to do with the timing, they are not doing much those 2 days anyway.

This year we are taking them out for the Friday before and the Tuesday after Labor Day. Not sure if this will make a differance, but we are going for it! The way we see it, they are only going to want to hang with mom and dad for so many more years , so we are taking advantage.

Have fun, and good luck!

 

[torinsmom]

It is better to do it when they are younger vs. older. I am a teacher and 5-6 of my kindergarteners went to Disney during the school year last year. So did I, but we went during Spring Break, so my son only missed one additional day. The other thing I would worry about is something we have been told by admin. There is something about funding for schools, where the schools get funded based on average number of kids there for the first 45(?) days. So, if 20 kids are out for a week for Disney during that time, it could affect funding for your child's school, at least in NC. Once the first 45 days are over, that does not come into play.

I am taking my son out for one day before our long Labor Day weekend. He will be in 7th grade and I didn't want to pull him out for longer. We will be arriving at Disney on a Thursday and leaving on a Monday. I figure 4 days at Disney is better than none!

Marsha

 

[Kimmielee]

I took my son out of Kindergarten for a week right after Spring Break this year and will take him out for a week in 2nd Grade in October/November of 2007.

Our school district considers this an excused absence. We worked with his teacher in advance and kept a travel journal for him to discuss with his class when he returned.

It was an amazing trip and he gained far more during this week than he would have in the classroom.

With that said, he was doing very, very well (end of Kindergarten they want them to be at a level 4 with reading, he was a level 12) but if he had been struggling, I would have had a harder time pulling him out.

You know what is right for your child. Work closely with the teacher, use some of the threads on here that have links to the websites to put the journals together and ENJOY!!!

 

[nurseypoo5]

I try to feel bad about what i'm doing, but i'm to excited to feel really bad.

Were lucky in Keller TX, we start school the beginning of the second week in august, but get 1 week plus the friday before off from school in October. That being said, free dining is over by then...soooooo...We are taking our 4th grader out of school Mon, Tues, WEds and half a day Thursday (they only go half a day on that thursday, but ofcourse will be counted as whole day)...were spending his real vacation at the beach...so basically 9 days at disney and 7 at siesta key.

We just financially couldnt let free dining slip thru our fingers for 3 1/2 days of missed school. If my son can keep his mouth shut (ugh) we'll just quietly no show to school...I'm not above fibbing..i can hear me know...OMG I THOUGHT VACATION STARTED LAST WEEK! (ok so i'll have to say a few extra hail marys lol)

My sis is a teacher and has been for 30 yrs. She was teacher of the year for the entire state of TX once. However, she feels its a great idea to rip him out of school (esp a week thats cut short and all kids arent concentrating cuz of the impending vacation) she says that since he's never been, its a once in a life time oppurtunity to be with the family (his sis is 22, probably the last "kid" vacation she'll do with us). All in all in the whole scheme of things...20 yrs from now he will remmeber this vacation but wont remember he missed 3 lousy days of school.

We'll just have to be really diligent he doesnt miss any more that year.

Hugs to all! and dont worry (however, if you can get your kid to keep it a secret, some schools can get truant officers involved if they know your just planning to skip out...i know in plano once they threatened a mom with a huge fine and ticketing if she took her kid out for a disney trip...i think it was for the whole week...but my son HAS TO KEEP HIS LIP ZIPPED

 

[EeyoreFan1]

I dont think its wrong, I've done it, missed like 11 or 12 days of school because of Disney..

 

[GoofyTraci]

well I feel so much better now that I have posted and read your opinions. I work in surgery and also can only take certain months for vacation and free dinning u can't beat that. ANyway hope every one has a blast we will be there at POP Sept 18-24..Can't wait very first trip to disney. Thanks for everyone being so nice and not making me feel bad for posting this question.


Have fun............

Traci

 

[Bbgrizzle]

to the boards!

I am a parent and a teacher, and I say go for it! Just be responsible about makeup work, and be sure to bring your teacher home a souvenir!!

 

[eliza61]

OK,OK So am I the only one who is going to take her son out of school for a week to go to disney in Sept. He will only be in 1st grade. And its at the beginning of the year. Is this bad? I have heard of others doing it but just wanted some suggestions. I'm a single mom and this is the only time I can take off from work and Since this is our first Vacation We would like to go when it's not so hot or so crouded. Please give me and opinion but be nice.

Traci

Another teacher weighing in. I generally don't like to take kids out of school for vacations. To me it just sends a bad message, but as a mom I totally understand, especially if this is really the only option you have to get off. I teach 7th grade math and my policy is notto excuse kids for Disney vacations. I'm up front with any parents who tell me this. I am not giving make up work and if there is an exam at this time the child will not be allowed to take it at a later time. That's just my policy. I took my kids out of school for 2 days once when they were in 2nd grade but I felt so guilty that I was having some poor teacher go out of her way that I never did it again. Just my 2cents.

 

[byoung]

You are the parent, it's your decision.