I think I would ask your kid what they want to do. Do they want to miss school?
How are they doing in school?

I used to be more against skipping school for things but after not being offered in person school for one year - I decided it doesn't matter as much as I previously thought it did, if they a miss a day here or there.

Anonymous wrote:If any of your kids participate in a high level/travel sport, how do you handle events that require missed school time? My fourth grader has become very good, very quickly, at swimming and is qualifying for big multiple-day swim meets, many of them out of town. Its not like it’s all the time but seems to working out to a couple days, every other month or so. I am excited for him and want him to enjoy these opportunities but also feel a bit ridiculous taking a nine year old out of school for a sport. Of course there is some pressure from coaches to attend but I also know I can decline. Do you take your kid out of school for a sport? If so, how many times a school year and how do you approach it with the school? Thanks for any advice.

Why is your fourth grader traveling for swimming once every other month? It makes sense to miss school for a championship meet in December and March, but monthly travel seems extreme at nine.

In MS DC missed a random day here and there and then a full week in the spring. If missing one day, we would call out *cough* *cough* sick. The week missed we have a two weeks notice- some teachers gave work ahead of time, others said to check in when you return.

As a side note, DC was taking most rigorous coursework which included classes that show up on their HS transcript. DC works hard, maintains straights As, and is generally a good student. Perhaps this is why they weren’t concerned. In fact one teacher said the assignment s/he would’ve missed wouldn’t cause their grade to drop to a B.

Last year as a freshman we were virtual so DC was able to log into some classes. Not sure about this year. Probably will do as we did in MS.

Anonymous wrote:Once your kids get to high school you will realize that elementary and middle school really did not matter much.
Your child missing a day of school here and there will make absolutely no difference.
Don’t think twice about it

I agree in general that missing some classes in elementary school will not be a big deal. But not for all middle school kids that take high school level classes like algebra, and foreign language immersion.

Anonymous wrote:Do you all tell the school why your student is missing, or do you send a vague note like “my daughter and an appointment”? My DD will be missing school this Friday for a swim meet (not high level, just for fun) and I’m not sure what to tell the school. Tia!

I am PP who said I always tell the truth. Your kid may or may not know what you say, but I wanted to set an example of honesty and as they got older, responsibly working with teachers, ahead of time when possible. One time, I was actually at the front desk checking my child out (I think she must have gone for a few hours before an afternoon session) and the attendance secretary was like "oh, so she has an appointment? wink wink", I think it was easier for her to mark that and so that time I said "sure". Usually, I said kid would be out for the day for a swim meet, but I know several other parents would call the kids in sick. My kids are in private now, so it's easier, there's not really a thing with excused vs. unexcused absences like public school had. I think especially this year, I would continue to be honest because you don't want them to require jumping through hoops to come back Monday if you say the kid is "sick" Friday.

No one at the school cares. Just don’t demand the teacher provide some sort of special packet of work or take time from the rest of the class to catch your student up on work/lessons. The student will need to learn to catch up on their own.

Just be careful on the amount of time missed regardless of grade. Certain jurisdictions in the area area really cracking down on missed school days. A certain number of missed days losing funding for public schools. The policy is to report it to the courts and call the parent in. This has happened to a friend in Alexandria City and Loudoun. Their kids missed several weeks of school between sporting events and travel.

So the PP that stressed checking your jurisdiction was giving solid advice.

Now if you are in private school it is fine, there is no funding tied to your child's attendance so it is just a matter of making up the work.

for fourth grade? miss school- the sport is cool and it is a good expereince.

I would not even think twice about it but mine missed school for a week for an international sports camp and it was an awesome experience.

I def tel them: “daughter qualified for swim meet and will be traveling” My kid in private and doesn’t seem to be a issue

Do you all tell the school why your student is missing, or do you send a vague note like “my daughter and an appointment”? My DD will be missing school this Friday for a swim meet (not high level, just for fun) and I’m not sure what to tell the school. Tia!

Anonymous wrote:If any of your kids participate in a high level/travel sport, how do you handle events that require missed school time? My fourth grader has become very good, very quickly, at swimming and is qualifying for big multiple-day swim meets, many of them out of town. Its not like it’s all the time but seems to working out to a couple days, every other month or so. I am excited for him and want him to enjoy these opportunities but also feel a bit ridiculous taking a nine year old out of school for a sport. Of course there is some pressure from coaches to attend but I also know I can decline. Do you take your kid out of school for a sport? If so, how many times a school year and how do you approach it with the school? Thanks for any advice.

ES - no sweat. We took DC out for vacations and all sorts of stuff.

DC is now in 9th and all honors classes. We are struggling with this now. DC missed a day for a HS sports post-season game. And it took FOREVER for DC to catch up on notes, assignments, etc. It was a huge pain in the rear. She may be out for something end of January. It's a bit tourney and she wants to go but I'm hesitating . . .

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the sport. If it is one with only a handful of top competitors then you will have to compete at a regional or national level. Figure skating, gymnastics come to mind.

Also - coaching is obviously a big factor. A high level competitor in whatever sport will eventually need high level coaching. But that factor has nothing to do with the locations of competitions/games - particularly in timed sports. You hit the time or you don’t. In a sport where judging is involved then you have to get seen by the right folks to advance.
But, for a sport like swimming you need to hit the time cuts and you can do that at a high school meet.

Nope. You clearly don’t know anything about swimming. High school meets aren’t USA swim times.

Depends on the sport. If it is one with only a handful of top competitors then you will have to compete at a regional or national level. Figure skating, gymnastics come to mind.

Also - coaching is obviously a big factor. A high level competitor in whatever sport will eventually need high level coaching. But that factor has nothing to do with the locations of competitions/games - particularly in timed sports. You hit the time or you don’t. In a sport where judging is involved then you have to get seen by the right folks to advance.
But, for a sport like swimming you need to hit the time cuts and you can do that at a high school meet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are very very few sports where anything at all important is done before age 15. Maybe gymnastics and figure skating. Maybe. Swimming would be right there in the “no one cares” catagory unless they are swimming x times when they are 16/17. No one cares. It does not matter. Pretending there are “important” events does not actually make them important.

Better tell Katie Ledecky that she shouldn’t have gone to the Olympics at age 15, since “no one cares”😂. I’m sure Phoebe Bacon got nothing out of going to Olympic Trials at age 13 either. Nope, that definitely didn’t prepare her for future top-level national and international meets.

Swim the time and you are in. You can do that at “anywhere/anytime meet” as long as time keeping is accurate. Lots of pools everywhere meet the standards - even in a good many high schools now.

As a parent of a kid who was on a youth soccer team built to win a youth national championship I feel pretty good in saying - the travel is not needed - and boy did we travel. It was stupid then and even more stupid now.

NP here, re: anytime/anywhere meets don’t provide the same level of competition.

Also should have mentioned that highly competitive athletes need to get used to competing while traveling. Can they perform with jet lag and eating/sleeping in hotels. It’s a different demand that can’t be replicated.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are very very few sports where anything at all important is done before age 15. Maybe gymnastics and figure skating. Maybe. Swimming would be right there in the “no one cares” catagory unless they are swimming x times when they are 16/17. No one cares. It does not matter. Pretending there are “important” events does not actually make them important.

Better tell Katie Ledecky that she shouldn’t have gone to the Olympics at age 15, since “no one cares”😂. I’m sure Phoebe Bacon got nothing out of going to Olympic Trials at age 13 either. Nope, that definitely didn’t prepare her for future top-level national and international meets.

Swim the time and you are in. You can do that at “anywhere/anytime meet” as long as time keeping is accurate. Lots of pools everywhere meet the standards - even in a good many high schools now.

As a parent of a kid who was on a youth soccer team built to win a youth national championship I feel pretty good in saying - the travel is not needed - and boy did we travel. It was stupid then and even more stupid now.

NP here, re: anytime/anywhere meets don’t provide the same level of competition.