Would you miss 1 week of school to go to Disney?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Plus at Epcot kids can learn about the world.

[Anonymous]

Yes!!! It's easy to miss school in elementary school...and more challenging in middle school. Most families I know have traveled to disney during the school year. Families with relatives in India and Mexico and El Salvador pull their kids out for weeks at a time...it's not a big deal. Our kid missed a week of K for disney; his teacher told him to have a great time!

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't pull my kids out to visit Disney for a week. We did the park for 3 days then visited historical sites.

I regret not pulling my kids out more often in elementary and middle school to travel. It is too hard once the kids are older. My concern was never that my kids couldn't keep up or catch up. It was more that there was always one teacher who was an ass about it who would try to make my kids miserable.

Contrary to what a pp said, you aren't teaching your child that school is unimportant. You are responsible for educating your children and there is so much that the school can not do. Can the school come close to a trip to the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, France, etc?

We've seen that schools in higher ses areas don't give the families grief for traveling during the school year. It is common. I think school administrators and teachers who are bothered by this are small minded and provincial.

The first elementary my kids attended had a large population of students from India. Many of those kids were gone for over a month Dec-Jan. The administration didn't give the families grief.

Your kids are with you for such a short time and the opportunities to see the world are important. We've gotten to see so little of our bucket list. Not everyone can travel in the summer - my dh's job often made it impossible. I regret not having had the chance to see some of the sites with my dc that dh and I have talked about for decades.

[Anonymous]

Yes! My kids missed a week of school every year until high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't pull my kids out to visit Disney for a week. We did the park for 3 days then visited historical sites.

I regret not pulling my kids out more often in elementary and middle school to travel. It is too hard once the kids are older. My concern was never that my kids couldn't keep up or catch up. It was more that there was always one teacher who was an ass about it who would try to make my kids miserable.

Contrary to what a pp said, you aren't teaching your child that school is unimportant. You are responsible for educating your children and there is so much that the school can not do. Can the school come close to a trip to the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, France, etc?

We've seen that schools in higher ses areas don't give the families grief for traveling during the school year. It is common. I think school administrators and teachers who are bothered by this are small minded and provincial.

The first elementary my kids attended had a large population of students from India. Many of those kids were gone for over a month Dec-Jan. The administration didn't give the families grief.

Your kids are with you for such a short time and the opportunities to see the world are important. We've gotten to see so little of our bucket list. Not everyone can travel in the summer - my dh's job often made it impossible. I regret not having had the chance to see some of the sites with my dc that dh and I have talked about for decades.

1) The administration likely did contact the parents and let them know that it would all be recorded as unexcused.
2) Behind the scenes, truancy paperwork was filed that you had no clue about.
3) The students are un-enrolling and then re-enrolling.

All three happen at the school where I currently teach (though the majority of the kids are going to south/central america instead of india). When parents lie (I had a girl this year whose parents said they were "going to grandma's funeral", when the girl admitted to me she was going on a cruise to Florida the week before spring break because it was cheaper), you can bet that there is follow up done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't pull my kids out to visit Disney for a week. We did the park for 3 days then visited historical sites.

I regret not pulling my kids out more often in elementary and middle school to travel. It is too hard once the kids are older. My concern was never that my kids couldn't keep up or catch up. It was more that there was always one teacher who was an ass about it who would try to make my kids miserable.

Contrary to what a pp said, you aren't teaching your child that school is unimportant. You are responsible for educating your children and there is so much that the school can not do. Can the school come close to a trip to the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, France, etc?

We've seen that schools in higher ses areas don't give the families grief for traveling during the school year. It is common. I think school administrators and teachers who are bothered by this are small minded and provincial.

The first elementary my kids attended had a large population of students from India. Many of those kids were gone for over a month Dec-Jan. The administration didn't give the families grief.

Your kids are with you for such a short time and the opportunities to see the world are important. We've gotten to see so little of our bucket list. Not everyone can travel in the summer - my dh's job often made it impossible. I regret not having had the chance to see some of the sites with my dc that dh and I have talked about for decades.

1) The administration likely did contact the parents and let them know that it would all be recorded as unexcused.
2) Behind the scenes, truancy paperwork was filed that you had no clue about.
3) The students are un-enrolling and then re-enrolling.

All three happen at the school where I currently teach (though the majority of the kids are going to south/central america instead of india). When parents lie (I had a girl this year whose parents said they were "going to grandma's funeral", when the girl admitted to me she was going on a cruise to Florida the week before spring break because it was cheaper), you can bet that there is follow up done.

PP I know several of the families who are gone for long periods. The school we attended did not go after them as truants. I know of one case where they were un-enrolled. It is also interesting that at our middle school, we got grief from a teacher for our kids missing 2 days for a trip to England. When we came back, I met a mom whose kids aspire to be professional dancers. One of her kids missed 6 weeks of school and she told me the school was fine with it. The school administration and teachers worked with her kids. It all depends on your relationship with school administration where I am.

[Anonymous]

For travel abroad or a family milestone event, but not for Disney. Walt's kingdom will be just as Magical in summer or during a scheduled school break.

[Anonymous]

Yes, certainly, at those ages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For travel abroad or a family milestone event, but not for Disney. Walt's kingdom will be just as Magical in summer or during a scheduled school break.

Uh, no it won't. It's way too crowded during school breaks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For travel abroad or a family milestone event, but not for Disney. Walt's kingdom will be just as Magical in summer or during a scheduled school break.

Uh, no it won't. It's way too crowded during school breaks.

So Snowflake will wait a few more minutes in line. It'll help build character.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thinking of doing this. DD will be in 2nd grade. I have another DC who will be 5 but not yet in K. We also would be visiting relatives in FL. Thanks!

NO

OF COURSE

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. We went on a cruise last January, kids were going to miss 4 days, one or two ended up being snow days so they barely missed. I seriously cannot pay spring break prices (500 for airfare vs $180, and that's only the start of it).

Can't afford it? Don't go.

[Anonymous]

Don't be scared to pull your kids out for travel. I suspect the folks who say they would never do it simply can't afford to travel.

You will not get in any sort of trouble for travel. Everyone seems to travel at our school. It's just not a big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. We went on a cruise last January, kids were going to miss 4 days, one or two ended up being snow days so they barely missed. I seriously cannot pay spring break prices (500 for airfare vs $180, and that's only the start of it).

Can't afford it? Don't go.

Yeah, only the top 10% should be able to visit foreign countries, have island relaxation, learn about other cultures, and have fun at amusement parks without waiting 1 - 2 hours in line for a ride.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. We went on a cruise last January, kids were going to miss 4 days, one or two ended up being snow days so they barely missed. I seriously cannot pay spring break prices (500 for airfare vs $180, and that's only the start of it).

Can't afford it? Don't go.

Yeah, only the top 10% should be able to visit foreign countries, have island relaxation, learn about other cultures, and have fun at amusement parks without waiting 1 - 2 hours in line for a ride.

We can afford it and still go off peak. We just go for shorter periods of time. FCPS has several teacher workdays. Our kids have been to Disney, Universal, the Caribbean and Mexico for 4 day weekends. We have pulled out 2 hrs early to make a flight but still not marked absent. I don't know why people find it necessary to go to Disney for 7-9 days. 4 days is plenty for us. We usually do 3 days or parkhopper. We recently did 3 days at Universal and we really only needed 2 days at the parks. 4 days was really plenty for Orlando.