Taking kids out of school?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Taking kids out of school?
16
Tue, 05-01-2007 - 12:11am

Does anyone take their kids out of school for a Disney trip?

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Avatar for genie26
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 05-01-2007 - 2:29pm
My son's teacher actually told me to keep him out, LOL! Well, not exactly -- this past September DH and I decided to take advantage of the free dining and booked a surprise 4 night trip for our oldest two. I worked it around Yom Kippur because the kids had Monday off, so DS should only have missed 2 days. His teacher had already addressed vacation absences during her Open House presentation -- he'd be asked to keep a travel journal and make up work when he returned...fine with us. We were leaving Wednesday night, but Tuesday a.m. he woke up with a fever so I kept him home from school. Well, his teacher mistakenly thougth we'd left for our trip and told the class about Joey's suprise vacation...UGH! When she realized her mistake, she called me to apologize -- she felt awful. She told me that if I wanted to keep him home another day to maintain the surprise it was no problem and she promised to catch him up on everything when he got back. Since we'd gotten that far with the suprise intact, we kept him home another day and pulled the suprise off!! Personally, I think family vacations are an important part of a child's education and development and sometimes they can't be planned around school. I wouldn't pull my kids out for a month, but I don't think a few days here or there is going to have a negative effect.
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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 05-01-2007 - 4:18pm

I forgot to mention that our district requires us to fill out a triple-carbon vacation absence request. On the request, we need to tell them how many days the kids will be gone, the reason for the trip, and the educational benefits of the trip. The vacation is not approved until the principal signs it and returns it to the parent.

The first time we took my oldest out for Disney, in 2002, I wrote this big long dissertation about the educational benefits of Disney and uninterrupted family time. The last 3 trips, however, I've simply stated "family vacation" for reason, and "many in Epcot and Animal Kingdom" for educational benefits. Honestly, I felt like writing "none of your business", but I didn't think that would go over very well. LOL.

Marcy

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Registered: 10-05-2004
Tue, 05-01-2007 - 11:20pm

I swore we never would but now we have.


We took my daughter out of PreK in Dec 05 for 3 days and out of Kindergarten in Sept. 06 for 6 days.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-15-2007
Wed, 05-02-2007 - 12:52am

Hi,

I have a friend who takes their children out of school for a week every year to go to Disney. I think that next time we go I will do the same, we went in June last year and it was packed. When they go it isn't as busy and they can see and do more. We live in Texas and they don't send any bills, but I am an education student and I am pretty sure that the school dosen't get paid if the children arn't there, but not 100%.

Jill

Avatar for kathy_s14255
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 05-02-2007 - 7:30am
Yes, I have taken my kids out of school to go to Disney. The first time was in 2003 to celebrate the end of my treatments. Dd was in first grade and she missed 4 days of school. But her teacher was very understanding since she knew what we had all been thru that year. We went to Disney last year Thanksgiving week, so the kids missed 2 1/2 days of school. Dd is in 4th grade and ds is in 2nd grade. Again the teachers were very understanding and told us to have a great time. I have no regrets about taking my children out of school. We have made many happy memories that they will remember their whole lives.
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Registered: 07-04-2004
Wed, 05-02-2007 - 8:09am
Next year we will be taking my daughter and my niece out of school for 7 days.

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