Would you let your kid(s) miss school - to go on vacation

Celestrina wrote: We are thinking about going on a vacation in February, but that would mean DS would miss four days of school. Have you ever or would you ever take a kid out of school for vacation?

MommyToAshley replied: We've always taken Ashley out of school for a vacation in the past. She missed a week in each year of preschool, Kindergarten, first grade, and second grade, all due to vacations as we go off-season. We discussed it with her teachers in advance, got the homework so she could do it on the plane, in the car, down time at the hotel. None of her teachers ever had a problem with it and Ashley was able to keep up with work so I didn't see it as an issue, even though the school "frowns" upon vacations during school.

However, if she were stuggling with any of her subjects then I would not do it. I think it might be a bit more difficult to do as they get into the older grades, so I would do it now while they are young. We aren't taking Ashley out this year because we took a vacation over the summer.

my2monkeyboys replied: As long as you can get the work they'll need to do so they can take care of it while on vacation I see no problem with it. Vacations (time spent with family, and usually learning things along the way) are just as important as the school days are, in my opinion.
But of course, I home school so you may not want to take advice from a freak like me.

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
ITA. But I am homeschooling also, so yeah. But I wouldn't think missing a few days of school should be a big deal, as long as they can still get their work done.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Go for it.

School can be caught up.. you can't catch up for time not spent with family as easily. It's more important (at least to me) to have a memorable love-filled family holiday memory than it is to worry about what pithy materials not learned over a few days, which will be learned anyway.

coasterqueen replied: We have. Last year we went on a Disney cruise a couple of weeks after Kylie started 1st grade. I was so worried, but she did just fine and the teacher cooperated with us. Kylie actually did a lot of her homework on vacation and it wasn't a problem. If we had down time she'd get it out and do it or when we were traveling.

We take the girls out every year in December for 3 days because I have a work trip every year in Chicago at that time and we like to take them to Chicago's Winterland Festival.

msoulz replied: I have never taken him out for a vacation (she just started this year). Overall I am against it because then when he doesn't want to go to school for whatever reason I don't feel like a hypocrite telling him he has to go ... and we keep telling him that school is his first priority. That being said, I would not hesitate to take him out if something unusual cropped up, but I wouldn't normally plan a vacation during school.

Boo&BugsMom replied: We have several times. We can't always go in the summer and generally do things off season when they are cheaper. So, yes...as long as they weren't struggling in school I would not hesitate to go. They can't expect families to all take their vacations or time away when school is out. Not everyone has that ability and they should understand that.

A&A'smommy replied: yeap!!! We did in Kindergarten and 1st grade and probably will next year just depends on her work load. We took homework both times.

holley79 replied: This will be the first time we have taken Annika out of school. She is only in preschool but I don't have a problem with taking them out of school when they can make up their work. We use to take Brandon out of school before he started HS. HS is way more tricky but as long as they have great grades and can make up the work I don't see the problem with it.

Our Lil' Family replied: Yep! We're taking Thomas out for a week to go to Disneyworld next month. In the grand scheme of life....one week missed to have a great memory is not going to negatively affect them!

CantWait replied: It depends on the age and grade. I'd be very reluctant to let my high school son to miss school for vacation, I guess it would depend on the circumstance.

But elementary, what are they going to miss that they can't catch up on?

It's not all the time that the typical family gets to go away on a family vacation, and if you ask me..those memories are more important than anything.

coasterqueen replied:
Could you imagine if EVERYONE did that.......that would stink! Places are crowded as it is -- I couldn't imagine if everyone only took vacation at the same times of year.

3xsthefun replied: I guess it would depend how old the child is and how well they are doing in school.

We thought about taking a 3 day weekend trip last year and the girls would had missed a day. But we decided not to because they really don't like to miss school.
They also had missed bunch of days last year because all of the snow days.

Boo&BugsMom replied:
I know!!! Another reason we go during the off seasons to places is because they are less crowded. We live near the Wisconsin Dells (2 hours) which is a HUGE commercial area for vacations, attractions, etc. They have a gazillion waterparks and such. Every winter we normally take the boys somewhere up there for 3 days or so. Last year we did it the week of Christmas (Tanner missed 2 days right before vacation) and it was SO NICE and NOT busy at all!

PrairieMom replied: We try no to , but we would if we had to. We are actually planning a trip to DC in the spring, and The kids will probably have to miss some school for that.

jcc64 replied: As a teacher, mid-year vacations are pretty disruptive. If just one child did this, particularly a good student like Ashley, it wouldn't be such a big deal, but when you have to teach the same lessons 3, 4, 5 times, it's a problem, particularly in subjects that are cumulative. Furthermore, as the kids pass 3rd or 4th grade, I don't think it's a good idea. A day off here and there, yes, but a whole week, no. Family time is awesome, but it can be scheduled around school.

MommyToAshley replied:
You know, I never really thought of it from that perspective... just from the standpoint of how it would affect my own kid. But, if everyone missed a lot of school, I suppose it would not only make more work for the teacher, but it would affect the entire class. However, it's often the case that Ashley is ahead of the class when she returns because the teacher may not have accomplished everthing that was given to her as homework.