re: Checking Kids Out of School for Vacation

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Moral of the story is that no one thinks twice when a kid gets the flu and misses a week, but all it takes is one in a 100 teacher decides that they know better about a family dynamic and causes a stink.

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While this is true, I wouldn't recommend a child lie to their teacher. Even if, the parents are the ones lying it doesn't set the greatest example.

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The reason for my opinion is because I saw this very scenario happen last year. The principals had to be involved and it turned into something stupid at a middle school. The kid turned out ok, but the teacher left after the year because his feelings were hurt over a kids vacation. And the bad part was that the teacher was told before hand how the Dad works pipelines and is gone for months at a time without seeing his family. The teachers at the elementary school had no problem with it, but this one guy did. Moral of the story is that no one thinks twice when a kid gets the flu and misses a week, but all it takes is one in a 100 teacher decides that they know better about a family dynamic and causes a stink.

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The bolded part never happened.

Schools (and really, school systems) have policies about attendance. The family vacation is usually not an excused absence. If you keep your kid out of school for too many unexcused days, you could find yourself dealing with truancy issues, which can lead to legal issues for the parents.

Most schools and teachers will work with you if you let them know ahead of time. There are plenty of working parents who can't take their vacation at the same time as the kids' school holidays. However, if the school doesn't want to work with you, they're 100% in their right to enforce their policies. All schools (at least public) require the parents to sign off on those policies at the beginning of the year.

As a teacher myself, I have no issues with a kid missing school for a vacation especially if the parent communicates that it's the only time of year they can take off with their family. I will say that - at least at the high school level - it's extremely hard for kids to get caught up. Maybe you'd call me a dick and make posts on TD about my feelings being hurt, but I would not do very much one-on-one work to help a kid who missed school for a vacation. They would be expected to get caught up and be ready to move on with the class in a timely manner all on their own.

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I am not trying to attack you or teachers but it's not like kids are learning thermodynamics or classes move at breakneck speed in high school. Missing multiple weeks of school can be a problem but 5 days isn't going to cost someone a grade. With proper study habits you dont miss much.

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Your last line kinda negates your comment. They actually do learn thermodynamics in physical science or physics while studying history, Shakespeare, Spanish, trigonometry, and other electives such as music, a sport, or theater. If they're in honors or AP courses, the speed is actually pretty fast even if they are only getting rudimentary exposure to the subjects. Not to mention, K12 students are often overwhelmed with family responsibilities, church obligations, and other extracurricular activities that take up a lot of time and effort. Oh, and the whole social life focus that kids navigate throughout their high school years.

Research has shown that there's a high correlation between academic performance and attendance. Each day of missed classwork, homework, notes, and assessments increases exponentially. If the student is at a good school in rigorous courses (which I assume they are if their parents have the means to take a week vacation out of town), then they're going to have an incredible amount of work to do after missing a week.

I'm not saying it's impossible by any means. I am saying that if a student misses a week of school for Disney World and comes to me asking for extra help, I'm probably not going to give it. My main point though was that the school's attendance policy and local truancy laws are more important than the teacher's personal opinion on the matter.

School will always be there, my parents always took us snow skiing in the winter and checked us out. Some of my best memories.

If they were paid like that they would make $300k plus a year. There’s a reason their salaries suck.

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You must not know anything about Disney. If kids are out of school it’s a nightmare.

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I have been to WDW plenty of times and had a great time every time, including summer. You asked for opinions, and I gave you one.

Sounds like all you want to do is hate on schools and teachers and justify your position without any criticism.

So frick off.

You ever been to Disney when it wasn’t crowded? You can walk on most rides all day and get over a dozen fast passes. It’ll make you never go again over summer or spring break. But get mad about it and console your teacher husband before brunch tomorrow.

As a teacher, if the kid or parent gives me a week heads up it allows me to get everything ready for him/her so that they can make up any missing work before they return. If a test will be missed I slow them to take it before or after, whichever they prefer.

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Dude who touched you?

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No one. You were just being an arse.