Would you pull out a 1st grader to go to Disney in March?

[Anonymous]

No, not for that.

[Anonymous]

Of course. More memories in that one week then they will have all school year. I took my kids out once a year for vacations until they were in middle school. Cheap, less crowded. Teachers were always awesome about it.

[Anonymous]

Sure! Absolutely. Did it in second grade last year and we all had a blast. We only live one. First grade is minor league. My child talks and there's no need to lie. Plus, it's not a good example to set. My child was working w flat Stanley then. He traveled with us. It was so great, and I was anticipating a bad time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yep, but be prepared to deal with fallout.

At what school would you get fall out for taking your young kids out of school? Seriously?

[Anonymous]

We've done this before but left late Thursday, 3 days at the parks, and returned Sunday evening. That's only one day of missed school which was never a big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:yes, and call in sick to school so the absences can be excused.

This is advice that I received from a DCPS social worker.

Yes, teach your kids early to lie. This won't cause them any stress at all.

[Anonymous]

Go read the thread on this in the MD schools forum. In short: the overwhelming consensus is that you should go. It's not a big deal at all. Kids with relatives in India, Mexico, etc. miss WEEKS of school to visit relatives (2-3 at a time).

The naysayers on that thread fall into these categories: (1) delusional nervous nellies who think missing a week of elementary school will somehow mess up their kid's shot at an Ivy, (2) snobby people who would pull their kids out for Europe but not (gasp) disney, and (3) miserable people who don't seem capable of having fun (or perhaps they're just envious?).

We pulled our kids out for a similar situation. I had a business trip to Orlando. My work put us up at the boardwalk, paid for my flight, cabs, and a $100 per diem. Of course I took my DH and kids along! We had a blast!

[Anonymous]

I'd go - having hotel and one airfare covered is a big savings, and Disney is a pricey trip. I will say that we got a monderately nasty letter from our daughter's school after she missed a week of kindergarten. That trip wound up being the last time she saw her great-grandfather, and we're very glad we went.

[Anonymous]

Yes.

When We took DD for the first time at 5, I was talking to an older mother at pickup. When I told her we would miss the next week, she said that she wished she had taken her 4 kids out of school more often in elementary school. Once it got to high school it was too hard to coordinate schedules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've done this before but left late Thursday, 3 days at the parks, and returned Sunday evening. That's only one day of missed school which was never a big deal.

OP here. I like this idea. I don't think DH plans to go for the entire conference either. If we leave after school on Thursday, kids would only miss 1 day of school. We could do 3 days parkhopper. Maybe 1 day MK, 1 day AK and 1/2 days at Epcot and HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes! Everyone pulls their kids out at some point for travel. We have (twice for Disney and Disney cruise, and many other times for a day here or there). Despite what some people will say, there won't be any fallout. Kids miss school for travel all the time. This simply isn't an issue at all.

My parents never did that once growing up, travel revolved around holidays/scheduled school breaks. The longest time I had "off" was 4th grade because of chicken pox (this was well before the vaccine came out).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes! Everyone pulls their kids out at some point for travel. We have (twice for Disney and Disney cruise, and many other times for a day here or there). Despite what some people will say, there won't be any fallout. Kids miss school for travel all the time. This simply isn't an issue at all.

My parents never did that once growing up, travel revolved around holidays/scheduled school breaks. The longest time I had "off" was 4th grade because of chicken pox (this was well before the vaccine came out).

I'm sorry. You missed out. The fact is that your kid really won't miss much in elementary school. Our kids received packets of worksheets the last time we pulled them out (3rd and 5th grades). They did the packets on the plane and on Sunday night. I can't imagine a first grader would miss anything. When we pulled out our oldest in K for disney, the teacher told us to have fun. That was it.

What are you worried about, OP? Do your friends at school not travel? Families at our school travel all the time...especially the divorced couples who pull their kids out for multiple family trips. You won't get in trouble, the teacher won't care, and your kid really won't miss much.

[Anonymous]

And you do realize that the parks will be much less crowded during the week as opposed to the weekend, right?

[Anonymous]

Yes, but make sure you coordinate with the teacher to get all the missed work.

[Anonymous]

YES, we did this and had no problem. Do it now because you won't be able to do this in middle school.