Reply to Up to what grade is it 'OK' to take kids out of school for a vacation?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Whenever.  [b]Life is more important than school.  [/b]They will make it up.

Most of what our kids learn in school is useless nonsense anyway.[/quote]

I'm a teacher. My personal belief, and that of many of my colleagues, is that during your child's formative years from the ages of 4-21, life is school. Your child's life and your family's life revolves around the school year. It may be inconvenient for you, but going to school is not simply about homework and lessons. It's about commitment to priorities, and school should be a priority. The only priorities that should be above school and learning are family and health. Disney is not a good excuse to miss school. Traveling to Orlando because grandma is in hospice care, OTOH, is a valid excuse to miss school. There have been some notable exceptions for travel, but these don't really apply to 99% of families. One example that comes to mind: a parent who is a chemist who works on clean water technology is taking her family to Bangladesh for field work, and the children are missing a week of school. That exposure, IMO, is priceless and cannot be beat by what's learned in the classroom. Disney? Do you see what you're up against?[/quote]

While I understand your point, and agree with you to a certain extent, I also will admit straight up that my child is my first priority, and that many of these decisions are a balancing act.  Personally my kids are young - oldest is 4.5 - but we already know that we will most likely pull them from school over the next few years in order to go on a family ski vacation.

Why? Because logistically the ability to go that vacation will happen during the academic session, and for my particular kid I think that a week of skiing will benefit her more than a week of school.  My kid doesn't struggle academically, but she DOES struggle some with (a) physical skills, (b) conquering her fears, (c) perfectionist tendencies and (d) being worse at something than her peers.  Skiing challenges her in ways that school doesn't, and I look at it as an opportunity to foster some really important life skills, like grit.[/quote]

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