Did you ever miss school for vacation?

[~Dixie's_Mom~]

Not for vacations but we'd often go out of town for my dad to preach somewhere. Once my teacher got mad at me over it and it really pissed me off. Because no offense but church is much more important than school. Of course an education is important but I'm not going to miss church for school. It's just not going to happen. And I always caught up my work so I don't know what her problem was.

 

[Puckstop31]

- I am so VERY grateful to be able to provide Hannah with her homeschooling opportunity. It is a LOT of very hard work for Tanya, but its already producing fruit.

- I wonder where people get the idea that the public schooling system has such authority over parents choices?

- Disney has homeschooling weeks. Someday we will get to take Hannah to Disney, possibly with some of her co-op classmates AND get credit for it. FTW! LOL

- Its very true that learning occurs in many more places than the classroom. One size fits all education is a disservice to the student IMO. I only wish more parents could/would take the lead in their kids education.

 

[Fran27]

Honestly my parents always said that school is very important. Letting your kids skip school to go have fun kinda goes against that.

And yes there are other opportunities to teach your kid, but if you decide to put your kid in school, it's kinda your job IMO to find those other opportunities out of school time. I mean, I want my kids to realize that school is important too, so I can't imagine telling them it's ok to skip to go have fun, personally.

 

[GipsyQueen]

My parent's always tried to plan vacations - visiting family in Germany or otherwise during school vacations, though I do recall being pulled from school once or twice. I think one time was over thanksgiving break - where we had off the week of thanksgiving and my parent's pulled me for another week, because there was a wedding the weekend after thanksgiving that we were attending. I also think I was pulled one week after christmas vacation once... but I'm not entirely sure to be honest.

I did pull myself out of highschool for like 3 days because flights were cheaper (must have been 13th grade...) My parent's didn't really care - they were like you're 18, if it won't interupt your school work, it's fine.

 

[~Jessie~]

- I am so VERY grateful to be able to provide Hannah with her homeschooling opportunity. It is a LOT of very hard work for Tanya, but its already producing fruit.

- I wonder where people get the idea that the public schooling system has such authority over parents choices?

- Disney has homeschooling weeks. Someday we will get to take Hannah to Disney, possibly with some of her co-op classmates AND get credit for it. FTW! LOL

- Its very true that learning occurs in many more places than the classroom. One size fits all education is a disservice to the student IMO. I only wish more parents could/would take the lead in their kids education.

We're planning on homeschooling our (future) children- I feel that there are so many places to learn outside of the classroom!

My parents would pull me out of school for vacations almost every year. I ALWAYS had mainly A's and a few B's, and I was in gifted/honors programs in elementary/middle school. I never had any problems making up the work I missed.

Anyway, I see nothing wrong with taking your kids out of school for a vacation, as long as the child can keep up with the work and it's not a habit (i.e. 1 week a month missed).

 

[CaliTerp07]

I have no problem with kids missing a few days here or there, if the parents intend to teach them everything they missed while they were gone. Yes, learning takes place outside of the classroom. Unless your vacations are significantly different than mine though, trips to see world cup or visit disney or walk down the grand canyon don't typically contain lessons on solving equations with variables on both sides or how to diagram a sentence. I want to be able to just give the kid the homework and say, "Here you go, know how to do all this when you return."

The problem is, that's not what has EVER happened. The parents want the notes ahead of time, they want specific links to online resources for their child to use, they want their kid to stay after school every day with the teacher the week before and after they are gone to catch up, etc. They basically want free private tutoring. They pull their kid out of the schooling system THEY CHOSE, and then expect that same schooling system to treat their child differently. If you don't want to play by public school rules, don't send your kid to public school. Homeschool, private school, community college courses, or something with more flexibility.

Selfishly, every time a child is absent for an entire week, I'd say I have an extra 6-8 hours of work to catch them up. I should bill out at the going rate for an algebra tutor ($75/hour) to catch those kids up, and see if the parents still want to skip class for such a long period of time. "Oh, you're going on a cruise the week before spring break? Awesome, that will be $500 to catch your child up if they aren't where they need to be when they get back".

Maybe then those cheaper plane tickets wouldn't look quite as tempting. Italy's not going anywhere. It will still be there next summer, or after the kid graduates.

 

[JacksonsMom]

Yeah, I missed school all the time for things like that. But NEVER 3 weeks at a time... that seems excessive, and totally unfair to do to a student and the teacher.

I remember I missed 10 days in a row of school when I had chickenpox in high school and how behind I was. I can't imagine 3 weeks.

But yeah I don't see anything wrong with taking vacations or trips during the school year, it happens. But I think there should be a time limit. I mean, I didn't even think it was legal to miss 3 weeks in a row of school for vacation? Aren't you only allotted a certain amount?

I know I got in trouble all the time in school because I always went over my allotted amount of days per semester I could miss. I had to sign a contract thing once stating I wouldn't miss anymore! LOL.

 

[CaliTerp07]

But yeah I don't see anything wrong with taking vacations or trips during the school year, it happens. But I think there should be a time limit. I mean, I didn't even think it was legal to miss 3 weeks in a row of school for vacation? Aren't you only allotted a certain amount?

It's not legal. That's why the parents lie and say there is a family emergency. Last year the parents told the office the kid's grandma was super sick and they were going to Mexico to say goodbye. Turns out, they were on a cruise in the Caribbean.

 

[Xandra]

Selfishly, every time a child is absent for an entire week, I'd say I have an extra 6-8 hours of work to catch them up.

Yeah see that is NOT fair. As far as I'm concerned a teacher's job is try hard to do a good thorough job teaching during classtime, answer questions during or after or before class and mark assignments and tests. I consider it going above and beyond to spend an even extra 1/2 hour of time specifically helping out one student. Multiple questions from a struggling student should take like 20 minutes tops (and I still think that is a long time).

6-8 hours? No way that is so unfair. IMO you would be well within your rights to refuse.

 

[CaliTerp07]

Heck... I remember my teachers taking vacation during the school year and we would have a sub for a week lol

In 10th grade the teachers in London, Ontario went on STRIKE for two weeks in the middle of the school year. That time was never "made up". So forgive me if I am not flipping my lid about students going on vacation.

I don't agree with teachers taking extended time off either. That hurts everyone.

I actually work in a state without unions, so there will never be strikes here. I also only get 2 personal days per year, so I couldn't take a vacation unless I also lied and claimed to be sick (and that would be pretty low). I do get 4 or 5 sick days, but working around 140 middle schoolers all day, I am exposed to my fair share of diseases. I only used 1 last year, and I ended up coming in at 7 to set up the classroom for the activities and write up a lesson plan for the sub. The class went on as it would have otherwise.

The only time anyone was out in my building last year for more than a day was when they had babies (which I agree, is totally disruptive dealing with a long term sub).

 

[CaliTerp07]

6-8 hours? No way that is so unfair. IMO you would be well within your rights to refuse.

But I care too much about these kids to do that. (And again, selfishly...40% of my evaluation each year is based on student performance (thank you, NCLB), so turning them down when they ask for help is basically hurting me in the long run).

 

[Xandra]

But I care too much about these kids to do that. (And again, selfishly...40% of my evaluation each year is based on student performance (thank you, NCLB), so turning them down when they ask for help is basically hurting me in the long run).

It's ridiculous that students who are away on vacation (or truant?) are included in that. I know you care about them but still, you shouldn't be put in a position where you're going to suffer if you don't spend hours volunteering with them.

 

[CaliTerp07]

Yeah, at the high school level it really sucks because the kids are usually choosing to skip school. At the middle school level, they are still really dependent on mom and dad for making good choices for them--and I have a hard time punishing the kids for their parents' decisions.

But yes, I totally get what you're saying! And I wish it worked that way.

 

[sparks19]

At the end of the day... No matter what kind of schooling (public, private, etc) i wish more parents would take an active role in their childrens education

 

[stardogs]

The situation you describe CaliTerp is ridiculous - the frequency, the length, and the expectations they have for you, as the teacher.

When I took the trip to Europe I got the homework ahead of time, but that's the only thing asked of that teacher and some just waived it in favor or a written report on the trip or somesuch.

I was, however, also in every different learning situation than your students it sounds like - school really wasn't that challenging for me and by junior year I was only actually in school for 2-3 hours a day, with the balance of my schooling being outside the classroom in independent study, college classes, or community service class. Missing two weeks really did not present any challenges in catching up, even freshman year when I was in school the full 6 hours/day.

 

[Toller_08]

I never missed school for vacation. We always went to visit my grandparents during July or August when school was out. My family didn't do actual vacations aside from that - we couldn't afford it. But even if we could have, I don't think my parents would have pulled my brother or I out of school for a vacation ever. I remember when I was in school I found it odd that some kids would leave intermittently throughout the year for vacations. I get that it's less expensive at different times of the year, but still. I don't think it's the end of the world, but a lot of kids are not dedicated to their school work while they're away and I can definitely see how it can be annoying to the teachers.

 

[Maliraptor]

My daughter missed three days the first two weeks of school this year. She does 4H and worked hard all year to prepare her animals for the local fair. She did her homework in between classes while we were there.

Three weeks is insane. I agree, if you're going to miss that much, you should consider home schooling.

But everyone is right. Parents who CARE about their child's education are rare. For most I think school is a free daycare.

 

[Grab]

I think the longest I missed for a "trip" was when a family member was ill and we went out of state for a week. I took homework and turned it in when I get back. Three weeks is a long trip though. Can most parents just up and leave their jobs for three weeks?

I'm married to a teacher, so we don't take school year vacations, so it won't be an issue for Clive.

As a note, my kiddo will go to a public school, but that doesn't mean his parents won't take an active role in his education It doesn't have to be one way or the other

 

[Tortilla]

In junior school I missed like three days a year for the American Thanksgiving. My father is American, so every year we'd go down to Ohio to spend Thanksgiving with my aunts and uncles. My parents were really strict about making sure that I told all of my teachers well in advance and that I picked up all of the work that I would miss. And while we were in Ohio they always made sure that I finished it. My parents are really pro-education though (my father himself is a professor ).

I missed a week in high school to go to Mexico. It worked out cheaper for our family this way. But I was older and it was in my best interest to catch up anyway, because I was an honour student and I wanted to keep my marks high for university acceptances.

 

[release the hounds]

3weeks? I missed that almost of the 2 last months of school in 8th grade to go to VA. My Dad built log homes and had a big contract to build one for a rather important person over there. They rented a cabin in the Shenandoah Valley so his family (us) could some stay. They didn't like him having to be away that long Talk about some nice people.

Anyway, they sent all my homework, my mom gave tests and sent them back and that was that. I was gone for about 2 months and was back in school for about 2 weeks and then summer was here. IT was great. My parents were involved however thru my whole life, and that trumps a few weeks of school everytime. Doing well in school was never an issue.