Pulling kids out of school for vacation - thoughts?

[Anonymous]

We do it as long as grades and school behavior are good with no red flags. It seems to work out fine. School is a kid's main job but even working adults get vacations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We do it as long as grades and school behavior are good with no red flags. It seems to work out fine. School is a kid's main job but even working adults get vacations.

Kids have summer VACATION in the... summer.

[Anonymous]

In elementary school there were no issues and I didn't give it a second thought. I don't think it was ever for a simple family vacation, but instead to accompany either me or my wife on a business trip to a country they'd never been.

Those trips pretty much stop(ped) once they reach(ed) middle school. Missing days, even two in a row, really starts having big impacts in MS. Also, that's when you encounter teachers who are less likely to be flexible in allowing the kid to make up work if it wasn't an excused absence (which personal travel is not).

You think there are a lot of sick kids in elementary school... wait until your kid gets to HS and kids are there "hiding" high fevers and barfing so they don't miss work/quizzes/tests. It's almost become a bragging right to them. "You only got a 90 on that test? I got 100 with a fever of 102!" It's sad that that's what it's come to, but I have one in HS who has a teacher who will give out harder & longer tests to those who miss on test day. She does it as a way to prevent kids from skipping to study more (I did this several times when I was in HS), but what it creates is an atmosphere where kids with highly contagious things like the flu and stomach bugs show up for the test and spread their germs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We do it as long as grades and school behavior are good with no red flags. It seems to work out fine. School is a kid's main job but even working adults get vacations.

Kids have summer VACATION in the... summer.

This was said many times before. It is not always feasible to travel in the summer.

[Anonymous]

My parents pulled me out of school every year for a month at a time so that we could know our family members in far flung Asia. It was not possible to do in summer due to the weather. It was great and helped to shape me into the person I am today. After 6th grade though, it did begin to hit me academically and I would not do that to my child. Grades 1-6 I am ok with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We do it as long as grades and school behavior are good with no red flags. It seems to work out fine. School is a kid's main job but even working adults get vacations.

Kids have summer VACATION in the... summer.

This was said many times before. It is not always feasible to travel in the summer.

You can’t afford it and that’s ok. Just own it. It’s more expensive to travel at peak times.

[Anonymous]

The way my and my DH's work schedules align leave a very brief window (September and October) for family vacations, so that's when we travel. It is hardly ideal and yes, a lot of planning goes into it in terms of working with teachers to get assignments, etc. That said, before we leave all the dates to take make-up tests are scheduled and typically a packet of assignments comes with us on the trip to be worked on during plane rides. The alternative is not traveling, or not traveling as a family, and that is a no-go for us.

I should add that both kids are in middle school, so this works - for now. I am not certain we will be able to continue this into the high school years.

[Anonymous]

I have family abroad, it would be substantially cheaper and much lovelier to travel at times that are not summer, but I'm going to have to pay for summer camp either way, so I just pay for our tickets abroad during the summer and avoid making my children miss out on school. I get traveling when it's nicer or cheaper, but aren't you having to cover the summer any way? So it's not really cheaper if you're paying for camp in teh summer and traveling during the school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We do it as long as grades and school behavior are good with no red flags. It seems to work out fine. School is a kid's main job but even working adults get vacations.

Kids have summer VACATION in the... summer.

This was said many times before. It is not always feasible to travel in the summer.

And also...who cares. childhood school is now so serious or important that a day off here are there during the school year radical abdication of a child's responsibility.

that said, while we did use to pull our high-performing child out during elementary, that pretty much stopped during middle School.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have family abroad, it would be substantially cheaper and much lovelier to travel at times that are not summer, but I'm going to have to pay for summer camp either way, so I just pay for our tickets abroad during the summer and avoid making my children miss out on school. I get traveling when it's nicer or cheaper, but aren't you having to cover the summer any way? So it's not really cheaper if you're paying for camp in teh summer and traveling during the school year.

Seems like some people responding here may SAH. I mean, some people are talking about 2-3 weeks away to travel internationally -- hard to do with many jobs. I'm with you, I work, and have a hard enough time covering school breaks, I'm not taking vacations during school so I have more time to cover!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have family abroad, it would be substantially cheaper and much lovelier to travel at times that are not summer, but I'm going to have to pay for summer camp either way, so I just pay for our tickets abroad during the summer and avoid making my children miss out on school. I get traveling when it's nicer or cheaper, but aren't you having to cover the summer any way? So it's not really cheaper if you're paying for camp in teh summer and traveling during the school year.

Eh, there are stay at home moms with younger kids who don't do camps summer long, relatives who step in and take in the kids during the summer weeks Not everyone pays for camps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are your thoughts and your family policy on this? I have a kindergartner and first grader and have to say I am stunned at the number of families that are pulling their kids out for days at a time (in one recent case, 2 weeks at a time) for family vacations. I am completely against pulling my kids out of school for anything other than sickness or a family emergency. Aren't the scheduled breaks the time that you should do family vacation? I feel like it's disrespectful to the teacher and also sends the wrong message to your child.

DH says I'm being a stick in the mud.

Just wanted to see if I'm alone here.

DP Sometimes people do it to travel to Disney world when it isn't as crowded and some do it to visit family who live far away...think China and one or two week vacation isn't long enough. It isn't what we have done but, I understand it especially when you want your kids to know your family, language and culture. Now you know you won't be so stunned..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We do it as long as grades and school behavior are good with no red flags. It seems to work out fine. School is a kid's main job but even working adults get vacations.

Kids have summer VACATION in the... summer.

This was said many times before. It is not always feasible to travel in the summer.

You can’t afford it and that’s ok. Just own it. It’s more expensive to travel at peak times.

Does this kind of comment make you feel better about yourself? Seriously. New poster. What are you hoping to accomplish with this? Some sense of self satisfaction for bringing down some anonymous stranger? You must be so proud of the person you’ve grown up to be. A real role model for your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We do it as long as grades and school behavior are good with no red flags. It seems to work out fine. School is a kid's main job but even working adults get vacations.

Kids have summer VACATION in the... summer.

We travel in the summer too. This is in addition to, not in place of. Maybe ask yourself why you care so much?

[Anonymous]

My kids were pulled quite a bit for different reasons - big family reunions where most of cousins were on Earlier Spring Breaks, cheaper travel to celebrate DH and My anniversary when we brought the kids, overseas trips when we pulled them end of year to beat crowds and not interfere with other plans - nothing goes on those last weeks of school anyway - etc. etc. We stopped pulling them in HS but I don't regret doing it for one second when they were younger. Over the years they were in both public and private school and we told teachers and asked for work. It worked - travel is the greatest education in my opinion and schools are so inefficient in the way they teach. A week or two off is not going to hurt anybody.