S/O Vacation Poll - would you take your LO out of school?

habsoilers · August 2009

A few people in the vacation poll below have said that they wouldn't want to take their LO out of school for a vacation. When your child is school aged what are you willing to pull them out of school for, if anything? Does it depend on their age?

MexicoBride0507 · August 2009

I would be willing to take them out of school until middle school. My parents did this to me, and all of my teachers would just give me work to do during the week so I wasn't behind. This became more difficult in middle school, so my parents stopped. They would do it for a family vacation every year, and it didn't send the wrong message. I had perfect attendance every year after that.

ETA: I actually remember tellign them that I hated missing school becuase it was more work than just going.

pjoann78 · August 2009

It would depend on what grade and how they were doing in school. Anytime my parents pulled me out of school (and it wasn't very often), I had to have all the work done that I would have missed BEFORE we left. I remember being on Christmas break in 1st grade doing school work because my parents wanted to take us to Disney World in January when it wasn't as crowded!

Skipperg82 · August 2009

I don't think I would ever take my kid out of school, unless it was something really serious like a funeral or if we missed a flight or something like that.

We never missed school, even when we were sick, my mom made us go to school and just "see" if we were ok, then we could come home if we needed to. No joke. I distinctly remember almost puking in band and barely making it to the bathroom! I'm not going to be THAT bad....but no, I don't think I would ever take a vacation during the school year with the plan to take LO out of school.

franciscaz · August 2009

My family pulled us out of school a few times for a vacation. I always caught up and it was never a big deal. So with that in mind we might. It just depends on how the kids are doing in school and if they are tied up in extra-curricular activities etc.

lpennie16 · August 2009

I believe a lot of learning happens outside of the classroom. I would definitely take them out of school for a few days especially for a great trip. They could do the work before or during so they don't get behind.

southernbelle82 · August 2009

For me it would depend on several things:

child's age

how well they were doing in school

how many days they would miss

mlc92404 · August 2009

My parents used to take me out and I never got the wrong message. I will have no problem taking my kids out until the homework gets more difficult and they struggle to keep up with it while on vacation.

KNS_61805 · August 2009

I would as long as they were doing well in school.

destea1 · August 2009

We took vacations annually and a lot of them we could only afford to take during the 'slow' season (usually Mexico) which happened to be during the school year. We'd take a week off of work and always get a packet from the teachers - we'd complete the work on the plane flights usually. I didn't think it was a big deal, and never had any issue with attendance there or later in life as a result, I'm not worried about it, if we have to sometimes book a trip for financial reasons during the school year so be it.... unless the kids aren't doing well in school, but otherwise, yeah, I would.

ougrad1 · August 2009

Never. After teaching 2nd and 4th grade for so long, I can tell you that it's a pain to catch kids up especially for something like a vacation that can be planned when they are out of school.

ETA: It's a fairly large amount of work for a teaher to assemble "packets" of worksheets for parents to take along on vacation. The majority of them wouldn't be used in the classroom and the kiddos do miss out on a lot of curriculum if they're out for a whole week.

ToBeMrsT · August 2009

I would totally do it. Around here parents get in a lot of trouble if their kids miss school for stuff like that though. They get warnings in the mail and have to appear in court.

schnappycat · August 2009

I was out quite a bit for things like skating and competitions and it really wasn't a big deal. I got excellent grades and as long as I kept my work up, neither my parents nor the schools had an issue with it. if the child is responsible and understands it's not for a willy nilly reason, I think it's fine.

Temp174496125006552 · August 2009

My daughter is going into 11th grade and I've pulled her out of school once, when she was in 5th grade. We were going to Disney with one of my BFFs (the one I mentioned in the other thread) and the whole trip was centered around a business trip of her DH's, so we had no control over the dates.

I think missing one week of school in the grand scheme of things is not a big deal. She knows how important I think school is....and it did not send a message that vacation is greater/more important than school. She knows the only reason she missed the time is because I had no control of the dates. And, she had to make up all of the work that she missed when we got back.

618mom22boys · August 2009

We go on vacation the 2nd week in May. We go in may for the lower rates and less traffic on the lake. We pull DS1 out of school for a week every year. We just get his work before we leave and he does it on the way.

Spin313 · August 2009

ougrad1:

Never. After teaching 2nd and 4th grade for so long, I can tell you that it's a pain to catch kids up especially for something like a vacation that can be planned when they are out of school.

ETA: It's a fairly large amount of work for a teaher to assemble "packets" of worksheets for parents to take along on vacation. The majority of them wouldn't be used in the classroom and the kiddos do miss out on a lot of curriculum if they're out for a whole week.

Yeah, parents never think of the teachers. Many parents think, "oh, what's one or two extra days before a vacation going to hurt"...but that's usually when many test, projects, and important assignments are given.

DH teaches and I used to teach before SAH, so I know we would never take DS out of school for something frivolous.

habsoilers · August 2009

Spin313:

Yeah, parents never think of the teachers. Many parents think, "oh, what's one or two extra days before a vacation going to hurt"...but that's usually when many test, projects, and important assignments are given.

DH teaches and I used to teach before SAH, so I know we would never take DS out of school for something frivolous.

I get that it's hard for the teachers but I would never consider travel to be something frivolous.

teacherjess · August 2009

As a teacher, I have to go with NEVER, unless it was some sort of...vacation emergency or something. I teach HS and parents are always, always pulling their kids out right before Christmas (meaning they miss winter exam week) or right before school lets out (meaning they miss final exams). I can't even believe they are allowed to do this, but they are, and because of it, I have to make my exams early, copy them off early, and find a time to give the kid a full exam period (one hour and fifteen minutes-- it's usually done after school). It's a huge PITA.

andrea922 · August 2009

My parents pulled me out for 3.5 weeks (and my brother, who was 13) when I was 8, to take us to China, Hong Kong and Japan. It was a wonderful experience, we had work to take with us, and I would do the same thing in a heartbeat for my kids. But, I get that we, as a family, value international travel much more than most families.

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