Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 6th grader started middle school this year. The first week was SO HARD. She would have struggled so much more had she missed. Take the little kid and leave the 6th grader home.

That wouldn't be fair.

Why not. 6th graders and preschoolers need different things. The 6th grader probably has a ton of things -- a two wheeler, a cell phone, and allowance, that the aren't appropriate for the little one due to age. The preschooler can have something that isn't appropriate for the older one, in this case a vacation during the school year.

My dh started school late a couple of times and still hasn't gotten over it and is mad that his parents did that to him. Also because he started late, all the electives were full, and he had to do chorus when he didn't want to. He also said that he was behind in math from the beginning and never caught up, and it's his parents fault that he was bad in math because they couldn't seem to get him to start school on time.

It seems mean to do to the kid. There's not much schoolwork, but that's when they figure out the logistics of their schedule and lockers and so forth.

Hell no

Anonymous wrote:Yup. I regularly missed the first week of school since I was sent to hang out with relatives abroad, and the timing of that often overlapped with the first week of school. There was additional transition required, sure, but from a single-student perspective it wasn't a big deal at all.

So, yes.

Eh, I regularly did too, and I hated it. I always felt behind. I missed the first week of middle school in a new school/town, and it was hard to figure out all the social stuff while also figuring out my locker, changing classes, etc. I missed the first week of 10th and 11th grades, and I swore that I wouldn't do that to my kids after 2nd grade or so. Not worth it and definitely not in OP's case.

No way. Even just picking out where you are going to sit - which may very well be where you sit for the whole semester - could matter to a 6th grader.

Yup. I regularly missed the first week of school since I was sent to hang out with relatives abroad, and the timing of that often overlapped with the first week of school. There was additional transition required, sure, but from a single-student perspective it wasn't a big deal at all.

So, yes.

Anonymous wrote:No, not the first week. Any other week.

Pretty much this.

Anonymous wrote:No, not the first week. Any other week.

This. I am happy to pull my kids out (and do every year) but not the first week.

Not coincidentally, Labor Day week is THE LOWEST crowd week Disney sees all year. So it's a great time to go if that's not your kid's first or second week of school!

Absolutely not the first week. That's when teachers go slow and let everyone get adjusted and used to being back on schedule and learning the ropes of that class. You'd be throwing the kids in when everyone else has had the adjustment period and expecting them to hit the ground running without easing in like everyone else. And if this is a new school, new friendships will be made in that week that your kid will be left out of. Nuh uh.

Anonymous wrote:Don't want to be a pot-stirrer, but it's obnoxious for your MIL to schedule a family vacation for you without even checking the dates first. And then to ask that your child miss the first week of school when it wasn't even necessary?

You're not stirring the pot, I completely agree with you. She'll do things like this and if I say it's not a good time, she whines to DH that I'm keeping her grandkids from her and then I become the bad guy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the 6th grader starting in a new school?

Yes, she'll be starting middle school.

First week of junior high?? No way!! MIL shoulda checked your schedule first.

Don't want to be a pot-stirrer, but it's obnoxious for your MIL to schedule a family vacation for you without even checking the dates first. And then to ask that your child miss the first week of school when it wasn't even necessary?

Any grade until middle school, it's ok to miss the first week. Even though work is relatively light the first week of school, it's an important week to learn new routines, get used to lockers, meet new friends... before school really gets going.

No way.