Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am original poster.

We were thinking about last 19 days of school. We know that 1st graders are done with their testing by the end of MAY.
June is for fun and socializing.

More than marriage ceremony, old grand parents wished to spend some quality time
with my children. This was more like a family get-together. For my son it meant fun and socializing with family abroad.
However, as any caring parent, I would never put my son's future on the fence by taking him out of school.
That was the only reason why I started this thread to get your advise on this.

BTW, I would have loved to have a high schooler.

Thanks for all your posts. As per teacher's advise, I am not taking him abroad.

The teacher told you what to do about your travel plans?? Unless he is significantly behind I don't see why she should advise in your personal family decision.

Now hold on just a minute here.

Early on it was suggested OP consult with the child's teacher. OP clearly did this. Teacher clearly advised against removing child from school for a month (let's stop talking about 19 days -- it's a month, people).

What is it with this culture that we only value the guidance of professionals when they validate our own desires? You see this in other areas of parenting and child-rearing with doctors -- the doctors don't know what they're talking about when they advise against homebirths, but you'll wield their studies on a flag to justify no TV before 2 or breastfeeding until they can unbutton your blouse themselves.

It is the same way with teachers. This teacher didn't interfere with this family's travel plans. The family is free to do what it wants. The teacher very likely said either "I advise against it because dc will fall too far behind to be promoted to 2nd" or "this will hurt AAP chances" or, more likely, simply recited the district policy against extended absences that has already been cited here. Those are the consequences of taking the family trip. The family is free to take the trip anyway and suffer those consequences or find alternate education for their child if they disagree with them and believe an extended international trip for a *6 or 7 year old* somehow supersedes the value of classroom education (generally, I'm in that camp, but not at this age -- I'll also take kids out of school for a trip, but not for a month). This could be summer school or private school placement.

The reality is many schools in this region have problems with parents taking their kids out for an extended period. This is more commonly associated with Latin and South American families that tend to remove kids for the entire month of December or January (which is arguably more problematic calendar-wise) to attend month-long holiday celebrations in their home country.

So, enough with the second-guessing of our professionals already. The options have clearly been laid out. The OP has made his or her decision.

Anonymous wrote:I am amazed at all of the posters who find no problem with taking a child out of school for a prolonged period of time...and we wonder why America is behind academically. It is obvious that a limited value is place on education not at a national level but at a domestic level.

If my kid was really missing out on outstanding academics that would put him significantly behind his peers, then of course I wouldn't have him miss any days. But the fact is he's not really missing out on much in first grade because the basic math and reading instruction he gets he already knows!

The reason America lags far behind goes way beyond parents taking their 6/7 year old kids to visit relatives abroad for a few weeks. My bet is those countries that these parents are visiting have far better academics then us anyway and maybe the kid would learn more there in a couple of weeks than they would here in a month.

We all know the stereotype that Asians/Indians "tiger" parents, well lots of Asians and Indians also pull their kid from school for a couple of weeks to go abroad. So on a domestic level there is emphasis in education, but there is also the emphasis on family. It doesnt have to be one or the other. It's first grade for crying out loud. I guess we could make the argument that there isn't enough emphasis on family ties here in America on a domestic level. She wants her kid to attend a family wedding and spend time with aging grandparents, she's not taking the kid out to go to Disney world.

Its 1st grade people. They hardly even have any homework -- how much academia would he really miss?

I am amazed at all of the posters who find no problem with taking a child out of school for a prolonged period of time...and we wonder why America is behind academically. It is obvious that a limited value is place on education not at a national level but at a domestic level.

Anonymous wrote:I am original poster.

We were thinking about last 19 days of school. We know that 1st graders are done with their testing by the end of MAY.
June is for fun and socializing.

More than marriage ceremony, old grand parents wished to spend some quality time
with my children. This was more like a family get-together. For my son it meant fun and socializing with family abroad.
However, as any caring parent, I would never put my son's future on the fence by taking him out of school.
That was the only reason why I started this thread to get your advise on this.

BTW, I would have loved to have a high schooler.

Thanks for all your posts. As per teacher's advise, I am not taking him abroad.

The teacher told you what to do about your travel plans?? Unless he is significantly behind I don't see why she should advise in your personal family decision.

It's first grade, it's pretty much the end of the school year, I would 100% take him and enjoy time with your extended family. That in itself is more real life learning than he is going to get sitting in class celebrating end of year parties and whatnot. I would just have him keep a journal and write his experiences daily. You guys can still read together and practice math to keep him at level, but that would not take up your entire day. Read stories at night with the grandparents! How often does your child get to do that.

It is one thing to pull a child out of school in higher grades, I personally would not from about 3rd grade and above. But at this age I wouldn't even give it a second thought. In fact I didn't, my first grader and I went abroad last month for a similar reason and he was finally able to meet so many of his cousins and relatives that he had never met. He had a blast and he was absolutely fine academically when he returned. There are some things that you cannot learn in a classroom and some experiences that should not be missed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

As per teacher's advise, I am not taking him abroad.

What does this mean?

Really?? Seems clear to me. The OP is NOT taking her kid abroad.

Unless you read the original post that says the trip is abroad.

Anonymous wrote:

As per teacher's advise, I am not taking him abroad.

What does this mean?

Really?? Seems clear to me. The OP is NOT taking her kid abroad.

Anonymous wrote:This is 1st grade, right? I am quite certain that traveling to another country might give your children even more learning experiences than school, just another thought.

I agree completely! OP can I ask what school your first grader attends?

As per teacher's advise, I am not taking him abroad.

What does this mean?

OP, I agree that the benefits could far outweigh any downside. You I dont get your comment about talking with the teacher. You need the teacher and principal to be agreement with your decision. The teacher may have some work or testing that she needs to complete.

I am original poster.

We were thinking about last 19 days of school. We know that 1st graders are done with their testing by the end of MAY.
June is for fun and socializing.

More than marriage ceremony, old grand parents wished to spend some quality time
with my children. This was more like a family get-together. For my son it meant fun and socializing with family abroad.
However, as any caring parent, I would never put my son's future on the fence by taking him out of school.
That was the only reason why I started this thread to get your advise on this.

BTW, I would have loved to have a high schooler.

Thanks for all your posts. As per teacher's advise, I am not taking him abroad.

Anonymous wrote:This is 1st grade, right? I am quite certain that traveling to another country might give your children even more learning experiences than school, just another thought.

Meh. I totally agree about the value of travel, but that's a lot of school to miss and I'm betting OP would do the same thing with a high schooler.

This is 1st grade, right? I am quite certain that traveling to another country might give your children even more learning experiences than school, just another thought.

Anonymous wrote:OP didn't say it was the last 19 days. The school year goes until late June. She says she wants to take kid out in May.

Well OP said the out-of-country wedding was at the end of May. So it's entirely possible to go the end of May and miss the 12 scheduled days in June. I agree that school gets much less instrucive after Memorial Day. People can disagree about the value of missing school and school rules. But it's clear that OP needs to ok this trip with the principal.

OP didn't say it was the last 19 days. The school year goes until late June. She says she wants to take kid out in May.