DD1 has allergies and asthma so is more susceptible to illness and lingering symptoms. We have an asthma regiment that we start as soon as cold symptoms begin to avoid it turning into wheezing or pneumonia. This is the same child that had influenza at 6 months with a flu shot and has had pneumonia twice already. She missed zero days in K but has missed 4 this year. Her immunity been great from being in daycare and we don't keep home unless she has a fever. The four this year were from a fever virus that lasted 6 days. She would be home all the time if we let her stay home from coughing/runny nose.
nellgirl, what grade do you teach? Is it public school, or private? That seems crazy that someone would go on a multi-week trip while school is in session. That's what summers are for!
One of my coworker's kids go to a private school where a lot of the kids have celebrity/pro athlete parents. Once of the reasons the parents send them to that school is that the school is open to extended trips. But I definitely don't think teachers at public schools/schools that don't advertise that benefit should have to deal with that.
sdlaura, There is a kid in DD's class that hasn't returned from winter break yet. His family is spending all of January and February in Mexico with family. DD says it's not fair because it causes her class to hardly ever get 95% attendance. From what I gathered this seems to be pretty typical for her school Hispanic community.
nellgirl, what grade do you teach? Is it public school, or private? That seems crazy that someone would go on a multi-week trip while school is in session. That's what summers are for!
One of my coworker's kids go to a private school where a lot of the kids have celebrity/pro athlete parents. Once of the reasons the parents send them to that school is that the school is open to extended trips. But I definitely don't think teachers at public schools/schools that don't advertise that benefit should have to deal with that.
It’s public and I’m currently teaching 5/6. I’ve done everything from 3-6 at this school. My favourite, by far, this year is the family that is spending 4 weeks in the Bahamas visiting family, then turning around and spending a week at Disneyworld because the youngest didn’t want to go to the Bahamas and they want to placate him. I wish we had stronger truancy rules. It’s super disruptive, and then the parents get upset when you can’t make up a month’s work at the drop of a hat.
Post by sandandsea on Feb 20, 2019 10:20:21 GMT -5
We have a few kids every year that travel to Asia (China, Taiwan, and India) for a month. They usually do it around a week off so they miss 2-3 weeks of school but it’s their only chance to visit their family so I understand wanting a longer trip. The kids are in first grade and did it last year too.
I guess I can see visiting family out of the country and trying to plan it around an existing break. And I think it probably isn’t quite as big of a deal in the younger grades. But a month+ pleasure trip not around a break seems pretty over the top!
Do all these people taking month plus vacations during the school year not get summer breaks? I’m sorry, I can’t get on board with any kid in school missing more than a week for anything but a major illness. To me, education is sacrosanct. Heck, I’m pissed off my kids get this Friday off for our school to host an educators conference. I was slightly annoyed they did it last year, but I’m thoroughly pissed they’re doing it a second year in a row. And that’s ONE DAY.
I'm with you mommyatty. Missing school for vacations is mind blowing to me. It feels like bad life training. Jobs don't work that way and as a kid, isn't school essentially your job?
Although, I guess jobs do work that way, if these people are jetting off for months at a time? I want one of those!
Considering I am constantly threatened with truancy court for DD, it makes me absolutely hostile that people can pull their kids out for fun. We timed our overseas trips around school breaks in PRE-K and DD also did a drop in play program like an MDO school a couple mornings a week the three weeks we were there because she was just starting to read and we thought it would be fun for her. And it was, but my point is more my sick kid can’t miss school but going on trips is OK really bugs me.
Last night DD's teacher asked me if DD might stay home today. I was like why? Because she has a snotty nose. I was like no she is teething this is normal teething behavior (her tooth that is about ready to poke through is all red and puffy). I was flabbergasted that she would think I would keep DD home because she had a runny nose.
One of DD’s friends just missed 9 days of school for a family trip to the Caribbean. They go every year. NINE DAYS. Not to visit family... well, they visit their grandparents, who winter in the Caribbean. This same friend is dismissed early every Friday to ski. This is not abnormal at her school. The kids aren’t going to visit family. They’re going to ski or spring break off-schedule.
I’m super stressed that DD1 is missing 1.5 days for Disney. We scheduled around a 1/2 day and a professional day.
mae0111- our school has a lot of that too. But not generally longer than a week. DD does have one friend who goes for 2 weeks right before Christmas one state over to stay with her grandmother. It’s absurd. (But the kid is a brat, so I’m always happy DD has a week away from her.)
Post by traveltheworld on Feb 20, 2019 22:47:40 GMT -5
Yeek, I must admit I’m the bad mom that pulls my kids out to go on family vacations. DS missed more than a week when we went to France last year and will miss a week this year when we go to Asia. I’ve also always thought that both kids learn so much while on vacation - this is probably tied to my overall dissatisfaction with how much he is learning in school, but I feel like every time we go on vacation, his reading and math improves leaps and bounds. Last year for France, DS worked on some simple French phrases, read a whole lot of books about French geography and history, and we did fun projects around the museums and artists we visited. He also learned to read train and subway schedules and figured out simple logistics. And DD went from being super shy to being open to talking to strangers.
I’m concerned when he misses school for illness because I feel like time spent at home is mostly wasted time, but I certainly don’t feel that way about vacations.
I think there’s a happy medium. I’m worried about pulling for 1.5 days, but that’s irrational. But missing 9 days to sit on a beach in the carribean, and early dismissals every week to ski? Or missing several weeks and demanding that the teacher supply the work in advance? Excessive.
I think there’s a happy medium. I’m worried about pulling for 1.5 days, but that’s irrational. But missing 9 days to sit on a beach in the carribean, and early dismissals every week to ski? Or missing several weeks and demanding that the teacher supply the work in advance? Excessive.
Sadly my DH is against any form of relaxation while on vacation. In the 18 years we’ve been together, I’ve managed to convince him to go to a resort in Mexico for 5 days one single time. He still complains about how the kids didn’t learn anything while on that vacation because it was “too relaxing and too easy.” They were 1 and 4 at the time.
I’ve noticed a direct correlation between kids who are pulled out of school for long vacations and kids who don’t respect school. Because really when you pull your kid out of school when there is a TON of vacation time for kids already, you really are telling your kid that school isn’t something you should prioritize. I’m all for travel. I’m all for learning about the world by seeing it. And there are a couple of months in the summer and multiple weeks throughout the year when school is out and that can happen.
Like, I can’t schedule vacation when I’m supposed to be in trial or when I know I have a presentation to our Executive Team or when I’m supposed to be giving a speech to an industry or customer group. You have to plan vacation (fun) around those things that need to be accomplished (work). We plan vacations around both work events and school schedules. I’m okay with a short absence for a family trip, especially if it’s around a special event. Going to India for a family wedding? Got it. Just decided it would be more fun to see Berlin in November than December when the kids are out for Christmas break? Then I expect that your kid better be setting world on fire both behavior-wise and scholastically at school.
I ran into that with some parents for DS’s K class.
Oh K isn’t mandatory so do I really have to send them? If you didn’t want to send your kid to school in K then don’t enroll them. Once you enroll them then school absence rules apply even though school is not mandated here until age 6 because you filled out the paperwork saying you want them to attend school. Face palm.
I really haven’t run into kids taking a ton of vacations. We try to be pretty careful and not take them out for vacations more than 1-2 days a year. We had to take them out for a wedding and I wasn’t super happy about it especially because it was a destination wedding and she had 2 other parties. One we skipped but now we have another party to go to in April. Like people should be able to have 1 wedding not 3. Oh and the only reason they had 3 parties is because the parents especially the moms were being controlling on both sides because of the guest list maybe. Like not everyone would go to the destination wedding so they HAVE to have a local wedding too but are from slightly different locales.
Post by justcheckingin73 on Feb 21, 2019 13:10:58 GMT -5
K is mandated where I am but I admit that it was a transition for me. I remember feeling bummed that I couldn’t just take her out of school whenever I wanted like when my parents visited. I was reminded of that when my second was in K and one of the other parents was getting used to that transition too. I mean it’s “only” K but I had to remind myself that I could start some bad habits if I called her in whenever I wanted.
And I think I jinxed myself. DS is home today with a cold. This morning he barely had a fever of 99 but when I checked about an hour ago, it was 102. Glad I didn’t send him.
justcheckingin73 , interesting because we are in the same state. Our state doesn't require K, unless it is your district requirement maybe...They require the district to offer it, but don't require kids to attend. Kids don't have to attend school until they are 6.
oh and for sure K was a transition for a lot of reasons including the school break schedule.
justcheckingin73 , interesting because we are in the same state. Our state doesn't require K, unless it is your district requirement maybe...They require the district to offer it, but don't require kids to attend. Kids don't have to attend school until they are 6.
oh and for sure K was a transition for a lot of reasons including the school break schedule.
Maybe I just assumed that it was a requirement. I honestly thought it was . Very interesting.
We’re on a modified year round schedule, so the kids get two weeks off in late October, two weeks at the holidays, and a two week spring break. I can’t imagine not being able to fit all of our non-summer travel into those time periods.
I’m actually pretty excited about the two weeks in October for when all 3 kids are in school, since that should be a totally not busy time to take a big trip. And not needing to pay for full day camps for three kids for two weeks means we can redirect that nearly $2k into a vacation.