Older Kids missing school for vacations...Thoughts

Curious what thoughts are (Mostly of Parents) on kids missing school for vacations?

I'm a single dad with split custody. (But Ex and I live really close, I coach their sports teams...Point is I see my kids even more then half the time).

Every year I take them to spring training for a week and they miss 3 to 4 days of school.

They were in elementary school so I never thought twice about them missing the days.

now my son is in Middle school. He got all A's and 1 B last report card. But planning this years trip it will be 4 days he misses.

Perhaps I am just a nervous parent with a kid in middle school for the 1st time but is that too much? Is this starting to be a bad idea? Ideas to make it less impactfull?

I think its totally OK as long as the kids prepare ahead of time for the missed time and assignments in coordination with their teachers. last year, I worked a deal with one of my oldest daughter's teachers to have her do an extra credit assignment that was related to where we were vacationing.

If it's before High School it's fine. Nothing really matters before HS, as long as they're not failing and getting held back.

Your grades actually do matter in HS so just make sure they can keep the grades up and it's fine.

I think people put too much focus on going to school every single day.

Normally it is not ok with schools, especially in high school. I find it ridiculous that you are only expected to take family vacations when school is not in session. Especially if a student is doing well, has good grades and has had good attendance.

The cost difference in going on vacations during winter break or spring break as compared to going when school is in session is significant, not to mention the fact that some parents can't go on vacations when the kids are "allowed to". Maybe talk with principal and explain situation, although in my experience they will still call it "unexcused" absence.

You and your son will remember the vacations for the rest of your life. Missing 3-4 days of middle school algebra....not so much.

The average school day is filled with junk that really isn't that important. If it's not excessive no issue. They can always let the teacher know they are gonna be out a few days and get started on the work in advance,

Once they get to high school they will miss many hours and even days if they participate in sports due to travel.

Plan ahead, work with the teachers and the kid won't miss out.

Missing three or four days didn't matter much when I was in high school. Maybe things have changed. Don't kids miss 2 days when they are sick? I'm kind of hoping the answer to that is yes as opposed to contagious kids being forced back into crowded hallways prematurely. Point is that as long as you clear it with the school and make sure he has all his assignments and can make up any exams missed you should be fine. I remember kids taking two weeks off and not falling behind.

I'm not a parent, but I would say go for it

As long as your child keeps up his grades and doesn't appear too stressed out over completing homework before and after the trip, I wouldn't worry about it.

My parents took my siblings and I out of school pretty routinely while growing up and we all did fine. Just depends on your judgement as a parent as to the threshold of academic hardship your child can handle...

Spring training is a necessity as far as I'm concernd. Those memories will last a lifetime (at least they did for me)

Then again take my advice with a grain of salt, I am the person who booked a week and a half long trip to Europe to watch my fiance wrestle right in the middle of my winter quarter of graduate school. How I convinced my profs to let me do this with only a week's notice, I will never know

I am a parent. My daughter is not in school yet, so I can't officially comment yet, but when she is in school she will miss multiple days in the spring and again in the fall for family vacation. Just the way it is. It will help prepare her for making up time at work, and I also feel family time is very important. In a single income home, the money I can save on a spring vacation over a summer vacation pays for the fall vacation.

Yeah - You guys are saying what I was thinking. Its funny -i ask my friends that are moms and they have different thoughts!!

I plan on reaching out to the teachers -Just never sure how they will react.

Teachers may give you a negative reaction, but as noted, kids miss school all the time because of extra curricular activities.

I have a knack for getting a message across with a few choice words.

School work can easily be made up. Family memories can not.

Yeah, I doubt teachers are going to be gung ho on taking a student out of school for a vacation. However, if you show them that you understand the situation, are a responsible parent, and are going to make sure you help your kid make up the homework in a timely manner, I can't imagine you're going to receive complete outrage from the teachers.

Yeah, I doubt teachers are going to be gung ho on taking a student out of school for a vacation. However, if you show them that you understand the situation, are a responsible parent, and are going to make sure you help your kid make up the homework in a timely manner, I can't imagine you're going to receive complete outrage from the teachers.

Outrage...no. "Tough crap...they can't make up the work"....yes. We've experienced that in middle school from a couple of teachers.

I would recommend reading the student handbook to find out what the school's "excused" absence list is. Normally consists of illness, weather, death in family, etc. Vacation is not one of them. In high school I think people skirt the system by visiting a college on vacation, which is a reason to miss school for some HS's.

I am old school on this (sorry about the pun).

They get almost 3 months of the year in the Summer to go on vacation. Do it then.

IF all parents had that attitude, then it would be a big mess for the teachers.

Well, in that case, I'd set a good example for my child and lie to the teachers telling them my kid will be experiencing a scheduled sickness.

Ok, maybe not.

I am old school on this (sorry about the pun).

They get almost 3 months of the year in the Summer to go on vacation. Do it then.

IF all parents had that attitude, then it would be a big mess for the teachers.

they don't play spring training in the summer...

I am old school on this (sorry about the pun).

They get almost 3 months of the year in the Summer to go on vacation. Do it then.

IF all parents had that attitude, then it would be a big mess for the teachers.

You & I are same age...when I was in middle/high school, you went around to your teachers with a form and they signed it & gave you the work and it was considered an excused absence. Course, maybe' it's because they wanted me out of there?

As a teacher here's how I feel about it.

You can do whatever you want with your kids. If your kid does well in school it's not the end of the world for them to miss a few days. (Even if your kid doesn't do well in school it's not the end of the world to miss a few days, but I do wonder about the message it sends to take a vacation when Jr. isn't pulling his or her weight.)

That said, don't expect me to do extra work because you're taking a vacation. I'm not going to put together a special assignment or anything. If the student wants credit for the work that was missed, he or she needs to take the responsibility for making it up, and that doesn't mean taking a huge packet of practice problems to work on during the vacation. That's just busy work and makes the vacation a drag, which doesn't really serve anyone. The student can coordinate with me to figure out what the best way to make the work up is.

As a teacher, I can tell you that most teachers dislike vacations where they are for an abnormally long period of time. Call up the teachers several weeks in advance and let them know what's going on. Tell them that while you are going away, you want your child to have any work that they may deem appropriate. Even if they haven't made copies of many of the assignments, ask if there is any reading your child can do. Also tell them that if they are available, and at their convenience, your child will be staying after school to make anything up that they need to. I'd even make a comment about any tests that are being taken while your child is away can be done before you leave. Preach responsbility and make sure the teachers know and they will be able to work with you. If they aren't, they're morons anyways

My wife is a teacher. And we're taking the whole family (her included) on vacation in the spring outside of normal school breaks.

It's not a big deal as long as you and the kids understand they have to make up the work. As pointed out, it is NOT the teachers responsibility to send off work etc.

i think its not a problem.at all. i missed 5 days of school last year (i was a senior) in the first week of march to go to prague and budapest with my parents and brother i made up all the homework, and i finished the year with all A's.just tell your son to make up the work (maybe even email them yourself letting them know to give him the homework he will be missing) and he should be fine.

Not a big deal. The only time I (as a teacher) would have a negative opinion would be if the kid is not on grade level and misses a lot of school to begin with. Teachers don't mind if kids miss a few days unless it's a kid who really needs to be there.

Have your children prepare for vacation when they will miss school days like we do for vacations from our jobs: work ahead and work hard when one returns. I don't think it's a big deal.

Balancing act here. Both in elem school (5th and 2nd grade) school gives us a certain number of family days that are excused but work needs to be made up. However, when on vacation we typically make sure that we file an educational experience form to get the days excused and we work with their teachers to arrange a presentation of what they learned and experienced so they can get extra credit. This is exactly what we did last week as school was out only Wed/Thur/Fri, but we were in DC all week so we got Mon/Tues excused and then did educational stuff for two days.