Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Vacations

Are so nice... too nice. I think I need a vacation from my vacation now!

Anywho, I was curious about something. I know MANY families that pull their kids from school for vacations during the school year (those that are not home schooled) and do not think anything is wrong with it.

I'm curious, for those of you who do not home school, how you feel about pulling your DC out of school during non-break times?

I will save my opinion for later.

And man I have a ton to catch up with around here!

I think it's part of the [implied] contract we have with the school that we don't do this without permission. I wouldn't do it, any more than I'd be happy for them to break their side of the implied contract [to, e.g., teach appropriate material].

That said, if there were a strong reason for doing it, I'd expect to explain that to the Head and ask for permission, and I'd be annoyed if he didn't give permission for something I thought was a good reason. Haven't yet needed to, though.

DH may have to travel some for work in the next year. If he has some long-term assignments, I will probably want to take the opportunity to go along and have the kids see the sights in the area for cheap. If we do that, then we would have to pull DS4 out of kindergarten to go with us.

I'm not sure whether we'd just pull him out completely and homeschool him or take a leave of absence and take work from the school along with us. Some of that depends on how long the trip is, I suppose. We certainly wouldn't prioritize something like Disneyland above school, as some people around our area do! That always bothers me! But I also can't see allowing half-day kindergarten to be a reason to keep the family from going to some fabulous location with lots of opportunities for learning either.

I admit I am partly influenced by the fact that when I was a kid, I got to go to France for a month on an exchange program (with schoolwork assigned and a state-certified teacher who accompanied us to be sure we had help if we needed it). My English teacher wanted to stand in the way of this FABULOUS learning opportunity. She actually told me "You can't go. You can't miss my class." My mom--a teacher herself--was never one to get nasty with/about teachers, but that was as close as I ever saw her get. When I told her what my teacher said, my mom replied (angrily!), "Oh! You're going! She...!!! <deep breath> Never mind. You don't have to worry about this. I'll take care of it."

Needless to say, I went to France and still got an A (that I deserved!) in my English class...

We have no objections to it at all at this point. My DH and I have talked about this, he's retiring this year (yes we're old) we figure that vacations are learning experiences too. We really want to show our kids things like national parks, DC, and other historical places, and it may be during the school year. When I was in school, I would just get the assignments for the time that I would be off and have it done before I left, so I didn't miss our on anything, so I'm sure the schools still do something like that.

My son only attended 2 years of public school. In kindergarten, I was totally against it. It was against school policy and we never did it.

In first grade, when I realized the school wasn't a good fit and lots of other families were pulling kids for vacation, we actually took mini trips during the week every month or two.

I think it depends a lot on circumstances and the particular child. Some kids really need some mental health days. Some kids need the consistency of being there every single day the teacher is teaching. Some trips are wonderful learning experiences. Especially in the early elementary years. Once you hit jr. high, I do think attendance becomes very important.

We just did a 2 week trip and we went to Gettysburg and Washington DC. I can't imagine a teacher telling me we couldn't do that trip (we are homeschooling this year). Even my 4 year old has come back with a fascination and understanding of US history I didn't even know was possible.

Skylersmommy, I sent you an email a week ago. Please click on the blinking envelop.

I have no problem going on vacation during school year. The school will set up homeschool package. We will have to do some work during vacation. It's usually something about where we are (longitude and latitude), what we do each day, etc.

I don't like crowds and DS is young enough that he does not need to make up for any works when he gets back.

my envelope is always blinkling so I didn't see it, sorry. I sent you a message

I think it depends on the age/level of the child. Some kids (and families) are responsible and get work form the school before hand, and actually do it and the student doesn't miss out on much. But, other kids can't miss class and keep up because they either don't understand the subject(s) or aren't organized enough to get assigned work done. Still others freak out at the thought of missing a day of school for any reason. (Not that this is the issue in my house)
As a teacher, I don't like it when families take students out because they then not only miss what is planned, but also those wonderful times when something clicks in class and you have a really cool discussion, or you get into a side topic that really gets the kids excited and interested in the subject.
So, I'm pretty torn about it. However, I think I will have less problems with it as DD gets older, since she (like so many here) can catch up quickly if need be, or won't be missing much anyways.

I am obsessed with my kids attending school. My DS12 has never missed a day of school. We have taken red eye flights home and went straight from airport to school. I hope my DD7 follows in his footsteps. I feel it is important to kids to send the message that school is important and atendance is expected. The schools in our district have various holidays throughout the year, long weekends etc. that will allow for a vacation other than the standard summer vacations. Everyone is different though and you got to do what feels right for you.

I think it depends on the kid and the school. As a teacher, I have NO objections to parents removing their kids from school with proper notice and for a "good" reason. I have happily written independent study packages for kids going to India for church trips, Mexico to rebuild houses, DC for museum trips and YES even Disneyworld for family vacation. A good teacher knows that kids can learn anywhere, you just have to think about it for 5 minutes! And really, there is nothing I'm doing in my class for 45 min a day (middle school) that is more valuable than real-world experience and family. My students have also benefited from their classmates' adventures and my independent study work always has some component that requires the child to teach the class.

BUT- this only works well when you trust the student and the parent to do the work. Public schools only get paid for what we call "butts in the seat". If your child is out on independent study and you don't do the work, the school does not get paid. We still had to expend the same resources but got no money in return. That's pretty lame!

As a mom, it's harder for me. DS is not learning anything in school this year and we have 5 weeks left. I will be pulling him out of school 3 different days in the next 5 weeks. We'll be attending a showing of "Earth" and going to an Earth Day celebration. One day we're going to a 10am theatre showing of a children's theatre production and another, he will present his art at the county fair judging panel. I have no guilt or second thoughts! But if he were older and in a more appropriate placement, I would have to seriously consider whether or not I was letting the school down and holding up my end of the bargain.