Pulling the kids out of school for "off season"

AKLRULZ · Post by **AKLRULZ** » Apr Tue 18, 2006 7:57 am

What are your thoughts on pulling your kids out of school to tour WDW during non-peak months?

QuickGold · Post by **QuickGold** » Apr Tue 18, 2006 8:01 am

Younger children are easier to do this with and as long as you only do it once per school year, I don't see a problem with it.

disneydreamer58 · Post by **disneydreamer58** » Apr Tue 18, 2006 8:20 am

Kids nowadays get so many breaks from school (way more than I did in my day!) so what the heck I say pull 'em out!

Mickeymac · Post by **Mickeymac** » Apr Tue 18, 2006 8:31 am

We do it frequently. I am down there frequently for work, and can't leave my daughter home alone. Most years it's pretty easy to do it; she's a good student and works hard so she can play hard too. This year it's a nightmare, and I dread pulling her out for our trip in a couple of weeks.

Post by **addlema** » Apr Tue 18, 2006 8:33 am

My parents did it for me a few times.. I think its an okay idea.

AKLRULZ · Post by **AKLRULZ** » Apr Tue 18, 2006 8:33 am

We did it when our older two were in elementary school every year. They're now in middle school and my yougest doesn't get the benefit now of getting pulled out of elementary. It's just become too cumbersome for the older two with make up work and such. But I'm a big advocate that learning takes place outside of the classroom and family time is too criticial and important. Life goes by quickly, so we never had a problem doing it.

rick2vick · Post by **rick2vick** » Apr Tue 18, 2006 9:05 am

We did it when our boys were in third and first grade, but were not comfortable doing so when they were any older.

rudekick · Post by **rudekick** » Apr Tue 18, 2006 11:39 am

I agree with the general sentiment here. It's okay to do once every couple years, but once they hit third grade or so it becomes increasingly costly (from an education perspective) to miss school.

Also, I might be a nut but my favorite times to go to Disneyland is when it's most crowded. I LIKE standing in lines and being around so many other happy people. Yes, being in a crowded park makes some people grumpy, but if you focus on the 99 happy people rather than the 1 p*** off person it helps a ton.

Post by **spaulo** » Apr Tue 18, 2006 12:53 pm

While I'm not yet a parent, I honestly couldn't see doing this for any kids as old as Jr. High... younger than that, sure... I'd just be too afraid of hard-assed teachers not letting them make up work. No Disney vacation is worth screwing up your kid's grades.

jumboshrmp · Post by **jumboshrmp** » Apr Tue 18, 2006 1:41 pm

I skipped school (well, with my parents permission) on January 27th to go ride Expedition Everest during the AP previews.

I normally have perfect attendance, so it wasn't a problem, I just called in sick for an excused absense.
(BTW I'm a Sophomore in high school, and as long as a parent calls in to excuse the absense, you can make up the work.)

Post by **spaulo** » Apr Tue 18, 2006 4:50 pm

jumboshrmp wrote:(BTW I'm a Sophomore in high school, and as long as a parent calls in to excuse the absense, you can make up the work.)

This may be true at your school, but believe me when I say that is not nationwide policy.

Mickeymac · Post by **Mickeymac** » Apr Tue 18, 2006 5:08 pm

Our high school is a lot more lenient than the lower grades. As long as you get the work done, and done well, that is all they care about. You can't miss more than a set number of days in a marking period, too. Parents have to call in. My son took five days off in December to go down with me, during finals of all weeks. It turned out to be a good thing - their school runs finals week like they do at the college level, so he only had five classes to go to all week, and he was able to do the tests before and after our trip.

Spaulo, I htink your perspective changes once you become a parent and you have to face this kind of stuff, and see how your particular child handles changes in routines and study habits. Personally, I think that's the most important indicator if whether or not to pull them out of school. I got lucky with my son and he's like Gumby. My daughter, not so much, and I can see us not pulling her out starting much earlier, like possibly next year.

Post by **spaulo** » Apr Tue 18, 2006 6:03 pm

All I know is I hear horror stories from my friends with school-age children about taking them out for vacation and then regretting it.

jumboshrmp · Post by **jumboshrmp** » Apr Tue 18, 2006 6:10 pm

spaulo wrote:
jumboshrmp wrote:(BTW I'm a Sophomore in high school, and as long as a parent calls in to excuse the absense, you can make up the work.)
This may be true at your school, but believe me when I say that is not nationwide policy.

Well, you only have nine "sick days", and if you are absent for two or more days you MUSt have a doctors note. But I do go to a private school, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was different.

gullyf · Post by **gullyf** » Apr Tue 18, 2006 7:17 pm

My daughter is a high school junior and we pulled her for a week for a family vacation to WDW in March. She can miss nine days in a year unexcused (no doctor's note), so we made sure to keep within that. A couple of teachers were not pleased, but in general they worked with us. The circumstances were somewhat extenuating, as my son was going into the service in April so it was to be the last "family" vacation for a while, but we pulled her for a couple of days in previous years and just called her in sick.

Make-up work made sure she kept up with the class (which actually she completed in far less time than being in school would have required... make you wonder just what they DO all day in school...). Ultimately, attendance policy makes great little worker bees, but learning is a lifetime habit that can and should occur no matter where you are and whenever possible. Learning can and does happen outside of school....