Did you ever miss school for vacation?

Greenmagick · Sep 20, 2012

Why are we classing vacations as just fun??? Even ones that are just for fun are still full of education.

I am sorry, a school building is not the only place learning happens...and if missing several weeks of school messes a student up that badly there are way bigger issues going on. I understand the classroom will be disrupted and off and it can be a pain for the teacher, but for the student? No way its going to cause a life long learning problem.

Saeleofu · Sep 20, 2012

There was only ONE time I missed school that wan't because I was sick or at a doctor's appointment, and that was when I was in 4th grade and we were moving and NOTHING was working out. The moving van broke down, our dog got loose, one of the cats got loose, and when it was all said and done it was 3 or 4am before we were in bed (and we only moved ONE FREAKING BLOCK away). So my parents let us skip the next day and sleep in.

Even doctor appointments were scheduled for inservice days or other days off if at all possible. If I would have missed 3 weeks in my last 2 years of high school, I would NOT have gotten my IB diploma.

I was sick and gone from school for 2 months in second grade. My parents went every week to pick up my homework and drop off the previous week's work, and I kept up without any problems.

Kimbers · Sep 20, 2012

Lyzelle said:

Eh, I guess that's the benefit of homeschooling. If you take vacations, it'll be considered part of the curriculum.
I stand by what I said, though. I think certain activities are more valuable than school. It'd be best if they could be scheduled on weekends or breaks, but that's not always a reality. And if someone's so worried about school that they don't allow themselves once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, I believe society has failed in teaching youth how to prioritize. That's not to say they can skip the work, of course, and struggling children who do actually want to succeed would be wiser to focus on school.
One other thing I'd like to say, though, is that the valedictorian in my grade for the IB program missed two months for vacation. So it's definitely an individual issue; the habits and needs of one can't be generalized for the entire school-aged population.
I could probably type up a book on my opinion regarding the place of school in a person's life, but I'll cut myself short here.

Fran101 · Sep 20, 2012

sillysally said:

:rofl1:
agreed! and well put lol

I do think there should be a limit for how MUCH school you miss, I do think EVERY step should be taken to get your kid caught up, let the teachers know in advance, get your kid back in smoothly without interruption, not expect the teacher to go back and re-teach missed material, do homework, that it probably isn't a good idea for kids that are already behind in school etc..

but to say that it leads to college failure or kids thinking school is less than important or any other GRAND statement about what it could cause down the line.. is ridiculous. There are far too many factors to just assume a few missed days = a life of failure.

We traveled and missed school ALL. THE. TIME. 1 week here, 4 days there, 2 days there, a week and a half there, etc..etc.. all my life. We did the work, we came back seamlessly, we gave notice.
We all went to college with full scholarships and all attend (/attended, my brothers graduated already) all our classes. As well as appreciate, enjoy, and respect school.

If I said that I regretted or learned less seeing the great migration in Africa, the world cup, squishing grapes to make wine in Italy, The Louvre, going to see the Parthenon in Greece, learning swahili in Kenya..then I would've sitting in a classroom, I would be LYING TO YOU :rofl1: I made amazing memories, learned so much, bonded with my family and had an amazing time!

Now, I'm not saying school isn't important.. I'm just saying that it's not just about FUN or "yay taking my kid out of school for hahas JUST BECAUSE!" ...It's also about giving your kid ANOTHER kind of education and experiences. I learned about different culture, food, art, people, languages, travel, customs, places, history, philosophy, FIRST HAND.
I mean, we didn't have textbooks, but that doesn't mean I didn't learn. In fact, I'd say seeing it all first hand really brought the lessons home even more.

And as long as you balance that with being responsible when it comes to their school education.. I see no problem.
(and I don't mean that vacations=world learning replaces school work. I mean that both is attainable.. you've just gotta put the extra work in to make sure your kid catches up and doesn't inconvenience the school/teachers)

Laurelin · Sep 20, 2012

I don't remember ever going on a big trip during school. I know we went on a three day weekend once or twice. But not a big trip. I am pretty sure we were only allowed to miss X days per semester or else you'd get held back.

ETA: We were not very wealthy when I was in school either. We didn't have any money for 'real trips' till I was in high school.

JessLough · Sep 20, 2012

Greenmagick said:

Because that student still needs to learn what the class is learning, and still participate in the class tests. Yes, you learn on vacation, but I can guarantee it won't be the same things you learn in class, therefore making them not where they need to be class.

Unless you have really lame vacations.

darkchild16 · Sep 20, 2012

Quiet a bit in fourth grade. My grandmother wasnt doing good with her cancer and whenever my mom could get extended time off school we all went and brought our school work with us. My grandparents were both teacher so my grandfather helped me and if my grandmother was feeling up to it she helped me. We would if it was a once in a lifetime thing or family.

Paige · Sep 20, 2012

Yes we did but not three weeks. 5 days at the most.

Laurelin · Sep 20, 2012

I really would like to say we could only miss something like 9 days a semester unless it was an illness or something of that nature.

Do some schools just not have an attendance policy?

ETA: I just looked up my old school district and yep, 10th absence and you get a no credit for that class. (in high school)

Xandra · Sep 20, 2012

Hearing some attendance stories from elsewhere makes me realize how lax our attendance was. I mean yes we "had" to attended but the only class they threatened to kick me out of was Spanish 11 because I only went to that class for exams.

And speaking as someone who was terrible with attendance in high school, university is a different kettle of fish and my attendance here isn't a problem.

Saeleofu · Sep 20, 2012

Well, for what it's worth, I miss school WAY more now that I'm in college than I ever did before (except for those 2 months in 2nd grade). In most classes at my last university, coming to lecture was just a formality. Powerpoint slides online on Blackboard, a textbook to read, and 4 tests in a semester. I missed probably 90% of my general ecology classes (except for lab, never missed lab because it was fun lol) and I had the only A in the entire class that semester. Several other classes have been the same way, especially biology classes. There's not much I can learn in lecture that I can't learn from the textbook, especially when the lecture takes place in a lecture hall with 100+ people and I'm on the verge of sensory shutdown and nonfunctional anyway.

Now, at this university, the classes are smaller so there is more interaction and less sensory issues. My vertebrate zoology class has 9 people in it. I've missed two days of lecture sue to car trouble and illness, and I did genuinely miss out. My zoo science classes that meet at the zoo are once a week classes, so I can't really miss those either or I miss a WHOLE LOT. I also want to make a good impression on the zoo people that teach the classes, so missing just because is a no-no

lizzybeth727 · Sep 20, 2012

Izzy's Valkyrie said:

Agreed. A day or two here and there? Fine. But three weeks is way excessive.

I remember taking one day my whole school career off for something other than illness, in 8th grade. It wasn't even vacation, it was my great grandmother's funeral. We did travel about 900 miles, but believe me, there was no grape squishing or world cup watching. The most educational thing that happened was when I learned that my relatives in Indiana are physically incapable of saying the word "y'all."

Fran101 · Sep 21, 2012

Laurelin said:

We could only have I think 8 or 9 un-excused absences or something like that.

With excused ones..all work had to be made up + extra work to make up for class work. For it to be excused you either have a note (for a medical/family emergency/death/jury duty) OR if your child had a acceptable grades you could file early to let all the teachers/faculty know you were going on a trip. It could only be so many days in a row.

But you got a certain amount of total "alternative education" days. You did have to tell the school where you were going (if I do recall correctly, it had to be an international trip to qualify).. and there was work to complete about your trip (on top of make up work) but other then that.. there was no penalty.

I don't remember how many of these days there were but I never used them all so there must've been a lot :rofl1: The whole thing started because the school offered a part semester study abroad program/co-op program..and then it kind of branched out to include a handful of days offered for trips...

personally, I liked the idea

Beanie · Sep 21, 2012

I was sick a LOT in school... and high school got worse because on top of my normal stomach problems I then started with the cramps from hell where I would throw up so I was missing almost twice as much at that point. I still had almost straight A's, got a great ACT score, and went on to maintain a 4.0 all through college. Missing school doesn't mean you're screwed.
I don't remember ever having teachers help me catch up either. I was given the work I missed and was pretty much on my own. I did have one math teacher who had "office hours" after school and I went to have him help me one time but that was the only teacher who offered any extra help. If you missed school it was your responsibility to catch up. But apparently the school system I went through is really rubbish. I had no idea. Had no idea we were poor either, actually, just knew other kids got to go to Disney and we didn't...

Laurelin · Sep 21, 2012

Xandra said:

Here they would start calling after your 4th absence to remind you of the attendance policy. You couldn't even be tardy more than X times to class or you'd not get credit for the class. 3 tardies = 1 absence. If you even skipped one day without a parent note, your parents would be called (that got my sister in trouble a few times. Nothing like coming home to mom having got a call you weren't in school that day).

My sister almost had trouble because she hit the 9 absence mark then had tardies. Past that unless you were in the hospital, you're repeating that grade.

I honestly did not realize all schools didn't operate that way.

Xandra · Sep 21, 2012

Laurelin said:

Oh our school would call home if your parent didn't (it was a safety procedure apparently). Thing is both my parents worked so I could either delete the message they left (I never gave them my parents' cell/work phones so they only had the house phone) or just call in and say I wasn't going to be there in the third person lol. I think it took the regular secretaries about 3/4 of my last year before they started calling me out on it and not recording my absence as excused.

And I was called down to the Vice Principal's office. All I remember coming of that is him telling me I either had to attend Spanish or drop it.

JessLough · Sep 21, 2012

They used to call home when you missed a class. Except in high school it was an automated message, that was like "Your son/daughter in grade ___ at _________ school missed period ____ on today's date."

That stupid machine got me in trouble so much, cause it'd call me even if I was in class. It once called my house 2 years after I graduated, saying I missed a class.

Fran101 · Sep 21, 2012

JessLough said:

:rofl1::rofl1::rofl1:
lol "I know my daughter isn't in school. She hasn't been for 2 years!"

~Tucker&Me~ · Sep 21, 2012

I missed classes in elementary and middle school for trips, sometimes up to a week and a half's worth. It was always such a great way to bond with family and I learnt a lot about all sorts of things, especially when we travelled internationally.

I am now attending a very competitive university and doing well, so I think it is a far stretch to say missing school for trips when young will make kids fail school later in life

Having said that though, it is important that the parent's step up to the plate and help their kid get back on track and if they don't do that it could really throw a kid off in terms of their education.

JessLough · Sep 21, 2012

Grades 6/7/8 I was in a school where 75% of the education was done via trips. I always threw a fit if I had to miss school then LOL

Did you ever miss school for vacation?

Did you ever miss school for vacation?

Yes, and I see nothing wrong with it

Yes, but I wouldn't do it to my own kids

No, but I see nothing wrong with it

No, and I wouldn't do it to my own kids

Depends (on grade level, ability, etc)

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