Make sure you keep up with HW and the kid is responsible for finding out what instruction was missed and tracking it down on his/her own. Any age ... just know that some schools won't let assessments be made up for "unexcused" absences.

A kid in my son's 1st grade class missed a week for a trip to Disney. The child definitely got behind because they were doing projects during that particular week. The project was using the computers/software at school and couldn't be made up at home due to the SW issue.

Honestly, I don't think it is right at any age, yet I see it frequently. As OP has asked, I have also wondered when parents begin to draw lines.

I pulled my son out for 2 1/2 days last year for the final Discovery space shuttle launch. He was a real space program fan - and it was an opportunity to witness history. His teacher was fine with the trip thanks to the historic aspect (and her own envy!), even though it was ultimately an unexcused absence. Also, my child DID get behind in that 2 1/2 days (as he will also when he's sick with strep and out for 3 days).

For a week long vacation, I am ok with any age as long as the child is ok with it. I am thinking in high school they would have more say in whether they could be gone for a week or not.

We took our DS for a week to Disney during Kindergarten year. He did not miss anything.

I have no problem in theory with taking kids out of school for a vacation at any age. I think experiential learning and memories are more valuable than sitting in class.

I think though that the kids have to be on board and willing and able to make up the work.

I have 4 kids, two of them I could pull for a couple weeks and all would be well. My oldest though is a worrier and he could not enjoy a holiday where he was missing school. He hates getting behind and would be stressed the whole holiday about the work he wasn't doing. He would ruin the holiday. He is in 6th grade.

My 3rd child would never catch up on the work if he missed a week. He is in 3rd grade and it takes a Herculean effort to get him through each day at school. He is not a big fan of school and internal motivation is not his strong point! Trying to get him through a week of make-up work would lead to insanity or death!

My other two I would take in a heartbeat...but I can't really take two and leave two so we don't take holidays during school.

In kindergarten there is no work to make up. Missing a week of kindergarten is no big deal.

Because there is no learning outside of the classroom? Give me a break. I wish we could take more days off during the school year for our child who is ahead and would have no problem keeping up. I would think anytime you know they can make up the work with ease is fine.

Also agree that if it's a straight Disney trip tied to DH's work retreat, that's lame. But if it's a trip to the home country to celebrate gramma's 90th birthday with extended family, then go!

When our oldest hit 7th grade he told us he would not miss any school any more, not even 10 minutes because it was too much of a pain to make up the work. And that was only for long weekends or leaving early on a Friday to get to the airport. For a week, I'd say about 5th grade. But, yes, lots depends on the kid and sometimes the teacher (sometimes they're accommodating and sometimes they make it really hard on the kid).

Anonymous wrote:I think taking a kid out of PreK for a week of vacation is ok. Kindergarten not okay.

Prek is daycare on steroids. Kindergarten is 1 step above. Lots of kids take time out of the kinder year to go on vacations.

I think it depends on how the kid is doing in school.

A straight A student who is ahead of the class in what she is studying isn't going to have any problem making up a week.

A C student who is struggling is going to have trouble making up the week.

That's true for any grade.

I would take my kid out for a week at any grade. As long as they're doing well enough in school, and not missing something like an important test, family is more important than school. I don't believe that school is the end-all and be-all of educating your child; a vacation can also be part of the mix.

What kind of parent are you? I can't believe you are even asking this question. Taking a kid away from learning just to go to Disney is irresponsible.

I think taking a kid out of PreK for a week of vacation is ok. Kindergarten not okay.

General opinion question:

I think that taking a kindergartner out of school for a week to go on a family vacation to Disney is OK?
Taking an 8th grader out of school for a week, probably not OK. (They'll miss a good deal of important instruction.)

At what grade is it no longer OK?