Happy Dancing...but..... LOL

[blondie219]

Just sent the final payment in for our December vacation. So excited. So now the thing I have been stressing out over since we made our reservations (last August, OCD I KNOW)....how do I go about explaining to my DD teachers that she is going to be out of school the first full week of December? Without sounding (and feeling) like a totally irresponsible parent. Just so you know, I lost the vote. I voted to go during school break, but I was out-numbered. So I am excited, but I have great apprehension about taking her out...and lucky me, I get to be the one to approach the subject with her teachers. HELP!!!

[Strmchsr]

:cop: Moderator Note :cop:

Okay, I know this has been a touchy subject in the past so let me say up front...the OP is not asking your opinion about whether or not kids should be taken out of school for a Disney vacation. She is asking for advice on approaching the school system with the decision already made. So, that in mind, please give some great advice on the topic at hand. :thumbsup:

[SBETigg]

What grade is she in? It's much easier to tackle it with elementary school teachers. Once they hit middle school and high school, depending on the school's attendance policy, it could be difficult. My kids would have had to take a week of Fs for a vacation-related absence in high school. In elementary school, I just explained to the teachers what we were doing, asked if we could plan assignments in advance, and told them we would be doing age-related educational things while at Disney, like keeping a journal, etc. Best wishes with it!

[Missy_Mouses_Dad]

We "excused" DD14 from school last December to go to WDW and all of her teachers were very pleasant about it, and gave us the assignments ahead of time. We were honest and up-front with the teachers/counselor and things worked out just fine.

Good luck!!

[momof3boysinTN]

Go to them early and ask to be doing the assignments now instead of turning all of the work in late. Am elementary teacher will probably be ok with it...like another poster said the highschools here would just give all Fs!
Have fun whatever you do.:mickey:

[Belster]

We always pull our kids out in October. I always say that my husband works a job that only allows him to take vacation at this time. The school has always been very nice about it. I was a teacher for quite some time and had this happen quite often...I was always excited that my students were able to have wonderful life experiences outside of school. Just be sure to make sure you let the teachers know that school comes first and that you are supportive of any workload that they give to your child.

Hope this helps!!!

[TheVBs]

I think the above is great advice. Simply let them know you'll be out of town. Give them lots of notice and let them know you're willing to work with them if your DD needs to make up some work. Don't be stressed! Really! I know that lots of families around here have to travel off-season to make it affordable, so chances are lots of families everywhere do this. :mickey:

[Lakin]

It really depends. What grade-group are they in and what kind of grades do they get? The younger the grade, the easier it is, and the better grades they get, the easier it is.

Last year, when I was in the 7th grade, I asked my teachers to let me take 5 days off school so I could go on the People to People Student Ambassador Program to Washington D.C., and all of my teachers were perfectly OK with it. I currently, at the time, got almost all A's and was a good student.

I'm currently keeping my grades high so I can skip 3 days to go to Disney World this year. :)

[Disney4us2]

On our last trip to WDW, I had my DD (then 6/7) out for a week (she wanted to go to CRT for her birthday). I told her teacher early and she had the assignments ready. I also let the school office know ahead of time that she would be out of town.

We brought the assignments with us, but it didn't get done until we were home.:blush:

We had a great time and tried to make it more educational as well. She learned so much from the conservation station, from the cm teaching about the animal bones etc. All the countries at Epcot.

Hope you have a great time.:mickey:

[Dsnygirl]

I've had the same concern, although it didn't stop me from doing it three times... :blush: My older DD missed 3 days in 2nd grade, a week in 5th grade (in December, like you) and will now miss 4 days in October this year. My younger DD missed a week in 2nd grade, and will now miss 4 days in October, as well.

I have found all of their teachers thus far to be very supportive... most have said something to the effect of being glad that our DD's get to spend quality family time together, and this year, my younger DD's teacher just said to go and have fun b/c she'd be jealous of us the whole time!! (She' and her DH are avid Disney folk, unbeknownst to us before we told her... :D)

We have always offered to do the work ahead of time if they had it ready, or for sure right when they get back and the teachers have been great about it... one even let our older DD pre-take a quiz she was going to miss.

Now, I'm not so sure how the school will be when they get older, or even how our girls will feel about missing... I've heard that once kids hit middle/high school, it's too hard to make stuff up and many don't even want to miss. (Although, my girls are such Disney kids I can't imagine that happening, but we'll see...)

But -- that being said -- I just can't financially justify travelling during peak break times, esp. when it's so crowded you can't even do everything you'd like to do, and I know we'd just never hold up in the summer. So -- it'll be missing a few days around a misc. minor holiday most likely, unless the school really gives us grief. Then we may have to re-think it.

Good luck -- I'm sure that if you give them enough notice, they'll probably be just fine about it! :)

[stitchaholic]

I also do not travel at peak times for financial reasons and the fact that the crowds are just too unpleasant.
this will be the 3rd year i will pull my kids out of school in january,and I have never had any grief from my children's teachers.
I agree,ask for the assignements up front so that they can be completed before rather than after.
do not feel guity,enjoy your family holiday!

[sisterslovindisney]

We simply send a note to school saying that our kids will be out of town for a family/education vacation. There are even some neat letters that I've seen on the internet that point out all of the educational opportunities at Disney World. We send the letter in to school about two weeks in advance and then my kids ask their teachers for any assignments to do during their time off. Never a problem so far and if I did get a problem I would just mention to the principal that they don't seem to mind letting the football players, cheerleaders, band, chorus, or any other group take off school for a week to go to Disney. It may not be a school sanctioned elective but family time spent together is just as important.

[thumperbug]

I agree it comes down to how you approach it, the age of the child and the school.

We took my son out for a week in December when he was in kindergarten and his teacher didn't give us a problem but the administration from the school did. They made me feel like I was breaking a federal law. So much grief and aggrevation. Since they we have not taken him out of school for any vacation.

He is in second grade now and I have no problem with the idea of taking him out of school for a few days for a vacation (with school work being completed etc) but my husband won't even consider him missing 1 day because of the grief we got last time.

Just approach the teacher/school upfront, and honest and if you are dealing with sensible adults, won't have any issues. You won't be the first parent to have their child miss school for a vacation.

[tinklover]

We are pulling OUr DD's out in 4 weeks to head to the world. I let tehir teachers know during Open house that we would be going and they had no problems with it. They said to let them know about 2 weeks before we leave so they can get the work together they would be missing. I have had so many of the other teachers asking me if I could search for this or that to bring back even the principal has put in an order HAHAHAHA. Good luck. Just be up front with the school.

[princessgirls]

My third grade daughter told the principal at the school, while out on the playground...LOL!

She was so excited to go, and then said, my Mom would only let us be out for three days, so we need to make the most of them! LOL!

I do think that most educators today value their students family time together and usually don't give the family a hard time. Family dynamics are different today.

Julie:mickey:

[blondie219]

Wow! What a tremendous response with such wonderful feedback. Thank you all so much. My daughter is in the 4th grade. Right now she has all As except in Math, she has a B. My mom is going with us and she has been a teacher for 35 years, so she will be a huge asset with the classroom assignments.

I have my letter ready. We are leaving 12/4 so I am going to send it to the school that first Monday in November, this would be a full month's notice. I read some of the letters on the internet and thought that some were a bit elaborate. I know that sounds silly. Here is what I came up with. Constructive feedback would be great.

DATE: November 1, 2009
TO:
FROM:
RE: (childs name) – Absence December 7-11, 2009
We are going to be out of town the week of December 7-11, 2009 on a family vacation. We believe this will be a wonderful and educational experience for (name) and hope you agree not to charge her with unexcused absences as a result.
If it is possible for (name) to take any assignments with her over Thanksgiving break so that they can be completed and turned in before we leave that would be wonderful. If this is not an option, can any class assignments she will be missing be sent with her on December 4, so it can be completed while we are away to be turned in when she returns to school on December 14, 2009. We are hoping to take every opportunity so that she doesn’t fall behind her classmates.
If there are additional steps that I need to take or additional people that I need to notify of the upcoming absence, please let me know. I appreciate your understanding and help in ensuring that we have done everything possible so that (name) absence will not have a negative impact.
Sincerely,

[SBETigg]

Great letter. I think it should do the trick. Nice work.

[Rekenna]

Funny, I just did this last night for DS10-he is in 5th grade which is middle school where we live and he has 8 different teachers.

I sent an email to all of this teachers and the Asst. Principal who is in charge of attendance.

This is what I wrote:

DS10 will be out of school the week of October 26-October 30; we are taking a family vacation. We are hoping DS10 can work with all of his teachers to make up work either before or after this week. DS10 is also willing to complete special reports or projects if that will assist him in not falling behind in class. We really appreciate your understanding and cooperation with DS10 being out of school for 5 days. We know it is an inconvenience to you and your class plans/schedules. If you have any questions or need to discuss this with me please do not hesitate to call me.
Office #########
Mobile ########
Home ########
Email [email protected]
Again, our family appreciates your assistance, we try to not take DS10 out of school, but this is the only time our family can go on vacation together.

Thanks again

I have already gotten back 2 responses that they hope DS10 has a great time on his family vacation. We have done this 2 other times and his teachers have always been supportive and said they thought family time was very important. Last year his teacher took a week off of school with her DD for the same reason we did-value season, good deals, only time everyone could take vacation-so it worked out well. I try to give his teachers quite a bit of notice-this was 3 1/2 weeks notice.

Good luck-and have fun on your family vacation.

[Rekenna]

BTW-Just saw your avatar and had to laugh. We have the same one and I am also a Kentucky girl born and bred!

[Dsnygirl]

Great letters.... I may plagarize them and use them, as I was just sitting down to do my letters this weekend!! :blush: :thumbsup:

[ajpa]

My 2 kids will miss a week in Dec also.
I already emailed the older kids (7th grade) teachers asking if there are any tests/projects due that week because we will be going out of town (so far none).
They have parent-teacher conferences coming up and I will talk to each teacher then about make-up work, etc.