What age do you stop taking kids out of school for WDW trip??

[NY GOOFY]

We have 5 children (13, 12, 8, 7, 2). We have always taken them out of school for our annual WDW trip. This helps us avoid crowds and the summer heat. Also, catching up on Elementary School work was pretty easy. Now that the older ones are in Middle School, I don't know if having them miss 4 days of school is a good idea. They will miss a lot of material, tests, etc. and may have a hard time catching up. What do the rest of you do?? :confused:

[Strmchsr]

It doesn't really matter what the rest of us do because this is completely an individual decision. The factors involved will be your children and their school. Some kids do okay missing a few days and it's no big deal. Other kids struggle and you don't need to take them out. Then there's the school. Some teachers and principles are very understanding of family time and support it and other schools will not which would make it very difficult for your children to make up their work. So, don't worry about everyone else. Check those two things and you'll have your answer as to what you need to do.

[Tinkerfreak]

It depends on the child and how well they do. We started out taking them out for 7 to 10 days in elementary school and slowly had to shorten our trips as they got older. They still did fine missing a week in 6th grade but as my oldest got into 7th we started to notice it was harder for her and she would be alot more stressed when we got back. We cut back our trip to 5 days when she was in 8th and last year in 9th we planned our trip around Thanksgiving so shw would only miss 3 days and that was still too hard for her so we decided to stop taking them out of school for more than a day. We have been lucky that most of their teachers have been great about helping them make up work and tests but last year was just too stressful for her. She told us that if we went again this year she wanted to stay home and stay with her friends family.
Part of it is that she is in really tough classes and will be in four advanced placement classes this year and it is really tough when they miss that class time.

[Jillirose]

Our kids are 12 and 15. I agree with you, when they hit MS/HS, we had to re-consider.

We take a few days before a long weekend (Our kids always have FRI and MON of President's weekend off). We stay through SAT, so we only have a few nights at premium cost. Disney has offered great deals during early FEB for the last three years. This year we are trying the Dolphin and got great rates through codes with Starwood.

It has not been easy to complete the make up work, but each year we re-evaluate and the kids still vote to go. School is a high priority in our home, so our kids have decent grades going into vacation. Also, they are rarely sick, so three days off is not that big of a deal.

To me, family vacations are as important as a good education.

[Missy_Mouses_Dad]

We don't take dd15 out for vacations. She is in AP and accelerated classes and any extended absences can set her too far behind.

[azcavalier]

Whereas, we have a 13 yr old, and found that last year when we pulled him out for a week to go on the annual WDW excursion, he did *better* when he got back. He was more focused on the assignments because of the pressure to make them up (plus the teachers gave us comprehensive lists as to what he missed), so we were able to follow up more effectively with him. He got better grades in the reporting period where he missed a week than in the other periods during the school year.

However, we don't think that we'll be able to pull him out for a full week once he hits high school, either. But who knows? It depends on the kid, right? My wife missed almost her entire Junior year due to an illness, and still graduated 3rd in her class of almost 800 kids. She's a smart one, she is. And her son is just as smart, but not as motivated. If we can tap in to that potential.....we can spend as much time at WDW as we can afford!

[buzznwoodysmom]

We used to take our kids out of school without a second thought. However, as oldest DS got up in grades he had more difficulty keeping up and that's when we had to reconsider it. And he is only in 5th grade. My younger DS, in 3rd grade now, would probably be able to miss school all the way through high school because he is capable of learning quickly and can pick up just about anything. It just all depends on each individual child. Only you will know when your kids missing school is not an option any longer.

Now our kids still miss a few days for vacations, but not an entire week anymore. What I have found that works great is to pull them out a few days before a holiday break. You can add days to your trip this way (the longer you are there the more you'll be able to do even during a holiday week), they only miss a few days of school, and often times the first part of the trip is still fairly uncrowded. If my kids will be missing a Thursday and Friday before, lets say Thanksgiving I'll ask if they can take all tests on the Wednesday. We have always had wonderful teachers who were always willing to do this. Many teachers will also give me the lessons the weekend before our trip so that I can start reviewing and studying with them over the weekend so that they are well prepared for their tests on Wednesday. Its still very possible to enjoy our vacations, I just have to get a little more creative about how we do it. Good luck figuring it all out. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way that works for your family.

[DonLefNY]

We stopped when the oldest got into middle school. Just too many teachers to deal with for makeup work. Plus any tests missed could not be made up once in middle/high school.

They are both in college now so we go in early January now.

[Tinker Fan]

I agree this depends on your kids and how they do in school. I have one that is a straight A student and one that struggles and they do just fine. One is in 7th grade and the other is in high school and we have never had a problem (besides one teacher in elementary who didn't like us going) I always go to the office and explain that we are taking a family trip and when we are going and what the kids need to do and also talk with the teachers if i can. The more you prepare before you leave the better you will all feel about taking them out for your trip. I know each school is different but my kids were allowed to make up any missed work and tests when they got back.

[AllDisney]

When younger we would take our daughter out of school when she was 8 and again when she was 13 (grades 1-8) that last few days (3-4) of the end of school season. Tests were done. She only missed out on parties. We got ahead start on the crowds and it worked out fine.

We never took her out of high school for a trip to WDW. Once in college we took advantage of the winter & spring breaks.

[lovinmesomedisney]

I guess it depends on your kids, but I have taken mine out every year and my oldest daughter will be a Senior this year. I am taking her out in September. She, or my other kids have never suffered from missing 5 days of school. Memories are what life is all about. My kids will remember our family trips to Disney World, a lot more than they would have remembered that one week of school they missed!

[KylesMom]

Huge topic here on INTERCOT. It really depends a bunch on how well your school district handles absenteeism, teachers who will work with you, how well your kids are doing in school, what the curriculum & testing schedule is, etcetera.

Unfortunately our school district is quite unwilling to work with "vacation schedules", and is very blatant about it in the school rules as far as absenteeism, vacation during school term, etcetera. It's a really tough decision, and one that you have to evaluate carefully. DS rarely is sick (and in 6th Grade didn't miss a day), but due to a bout with Scarlet Fever a few years ago, if we would have scheduled vacation during the school term, we would have been in jeopardy with him being in honors classes the following year.

To answer your question, due to the consistent policy of absenteeism in our district, and hearing the horror stories of truant officers in our friends' lives, we stopped planning spring vacations when DS entered 1st grade. I realize this is quite extreme, but in a small town where state funding was a big deal, it was a big deal. Not a great ending, especially now when the state can't pay what they DO owe the schools for students attending!

[javamama]

Dh and I have been talking about this already and our ds is about to enter the 1st grade next tuesday! My ds' Kindergartern teacher last year told us towards the end of the year your fine with miss a week of school, everything is pretty much done it's all review. So we have always taking our WDW trip the very end of April or beginning of May so we'll continue to do so. My neighbor behind me does an October trip with her kids or an November Cruise she tries to base them around some institute days or other off days so they miss less time. He kids are a year ahead of mine, and go to private school we use the public school system for now.

[Janmac]

We have been taking kids to WDW for nearly 40 years and have not had a problem with kids making up the work. We have had, as one poster said, one kid who actually did better, because he was missing school. Made us wish we could go every year.

We have experienced a range of reactions from the public schools. Up until 9/11, the reactions were generally not positive - too much was going to be missed. For the first few years after 9/11, the reactions were all very positive - family time is important. The pendulum is swinging back the other way now, with considerable negative reactions the last time we took our grandson out of school.

My niece is seriously considering home schooling her daughter - who just started kindergarten today :fworks: - possibly after this year, or maybe after first grade. My niece can not take time off during the summer or most major holidays. With the school's attitude being about like what KylesMom posted, something has to give - either the school or family trips. As my grandniece is apparently quite bright, perhaps home schooling - at her pace - and family trips is the solution for us.

As other posters have said, it's a decision that has to be tailored to your personal situation. One year our grandkids wanted to try a June trip, to avoid lugging their school books along. After experiencing the heat and crowds, they opted for the next trip to be during the school year. You may have to re-evaluate each time you plan to go.

Good luck!

Jan

[BigRedDad]

I don't have kids of that age, but since Elementary and Middle have little to nothing to do with higher education, I would say the first 3 years of high school.

#1 No child can be withheld from moving to the next grade level. This is Federal Law and it takes an act of God to not move a student along. Unfortunately, the students that should be held back know this all too well and there is a Civil Rights organization that threatens lawsuits any time a some students are about to be failed.

#2 Elementary school is about learning the basics of education and preparing for a more difficult time in Middle school. All kids are different and you know your child's ability far more than anyone else.

#3 Middle school is simply a prep for High school. Kids tend to begin to recognize strengths and weaknesses at this level.

#4 The first 3 years of high school are the most critical for college prep. This is strictly a statistical statement. It is too hard in later years of high school to raise the GPA for college. Unfortunately, this is not what many people realize. Most children are accepted to college after their Junior year. This means that all that is required is graduating.

Any and all School Boards can be challenged. In my state, the only reason passing rates are improving is due to lowering the standards to pass. At the end of the day, the teachers, principal, and School Board need to decide if it worth facing a lawsuit to fail a student. In the end, they are simply moved along with a D no matter what their percentage is.

[Ropachs]

Our son is entering third grade this year and we're already stressed about this. We took him out 4 days of October when he was in first grade, we thought it went smoothly, but his teacher did comment that it took him a few days to "transition" back into learning upon our return.
We are taking him out 3 days this December, we were fortunate to plan our trip around conferences so we'll be in WDW a full 8 days, only 3 being school days.
We can't afford Disney every year, so our next trip wouldn't be until he's in 5th or 6th grade. Given how demanding our district is I'm pretty sure we'll have to go after school ends - the last week in June, or right before it starts - the last week in August. We will be dying in the heat, but it will be worth it, being less stressed about school.