would you take a 2nd grader out of school for a week?

[Anonymous]

I would ask if the school has any assessments scheduled at that time - that's typically the time in which they do a bunch of standardized tests.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I've done it. It's fine. You sometimes get a call from the school complaining of the absences, but they don't do anything.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't. Didn't realize I'd be in such the minority of responses.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Always did in elementary.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely.

Enjoy doing it in the elementary years as you won’t be able to in middle school and above.

We used to do it occasionally (not necessarily every year) but stopped once older sibling started 6th. We try not to have him miss any more than a day or two and only if absolutely necessary. It is too much work to make up.

[Anonymous]

Yup. We always take off the first week in Feb. At least until my oldest goes to MS next year.

[Anonymous]

Op here. DD’s in a competitive activity that has us very busy in the summer. It would be doable to take vacation in the summer but not super easy. She’s missed one day of school ever, so I kind of think she’d be ok.

I did consider standardized testing, I need to check that. Not sure the comment about advanced classes for 3rd grade … we don’t have anything like that that I’m aware of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Contemplating a vacation the first week of May (last day of school is 5/24) due to obligations over Spring Break and a lot of the summer. We need a vacation big time and this would be the most convenient time. I don't feel like they hardly do anything in May as it is. Thoughts? She's a great student, no worries about her missing anything.

I’m a teacher- you should go. 2nd grade isn’t a testing year, you kid will be fine. Enjoy the break and have a great time!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Elementary school is really the last time you can do this.

[Anonymous]

Totally. Wouldnt think twice about it.

[Anonymous]

Our school is funded by attendance. Sometimes kids can get packets of makeup work to do that counts as attending for funding purposes. Our school asks we do this if kids will be out 3 days or more. I didn’t know that when she was sick at the start of the year, but they told me after.

[Anonymous]

No. If I did it once I would never ever hear the end of it from my MIL who would then presume we would take the kids out of school randomly at her whim when they come to visit or because she decided the family reunion should be in October or whatever other reason. It’s much easier to have the blanket no on pulling the kids from school.

[Anonymous]

YES. Absolutely. She's too young to "get behind" and even if she does get behind, it doesn't matter.

None of this matters until 9th grade, when the grades matter for the college apps.

We took our kids out to see some National Parks. The thing about the NPs is that a lot of them have extreme weather, so they don't line up with school holidays or summer vacation. We've done this for years and only stopped when our oldest got into high school. It's fine!

And btw when the kids get older, often the family vacation gets harder because they have conflicts (like sports or school) or they develop attitudes and you feel like you are dragging a mule. We've had fantastic experiences as a family when the kids were young, but in 2021 we went to a NP and my oldest was so awful in that teen way, I mentally said, "I'm not doing another family vacation until they are adults living on their own."

So go for it now, OP! You will NOT regret it

[Anonymous]

I also plan to take our 2nd grader out for a week this winter. As someone who has received school awards for perfect attendance, I actually struggle with this decision. However all my friends with older children tell me they wish they had done this more, specifically before the MS/HS years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. DD’s in a competitive activity that has us very busy in the summer. It would be doable to take vacation in the summer but not super easy. She’s missed one day of school ever, so I kind of think she’d be ok.

I did consider standardized testing, I need to check that. Not sure the comment about advanced classes for 3rd grade … we don’t have anything like that that I’m aware of.

I would not take a week off school because a “competitive activity” made it “not super easy” to take vacation in the summer. I just think that treats school as third on the list behind the activity and your convenience.