At what age...

will you stop pulling your DCs out of school to go on vacation? As a child, my parents would never let us miss school to go on vacation but we have pulled DS a couple times for this as we feel his is young enough that it won't have a big impact on his schoolwork.

Right now, I'm thinking when high school starts, no more missing school for vacation. But then I'm thinking maybe it should be a little earlier since they keep piling more and more work on them at younger and younger ages and it becomes difficult to keep up and make up the work you miss. Thoughts?

Re: At what age...

I would say 2nd or 3rd grade they could fall behind, depending on how long they were out. I teach 1st grade and even missing a week, they could miss a lot. And it's a lot to ask a teacher to prepare all the work to send with the kid. JMHO.

At what age...

The last time I pulled my kids out for vacation, my daughter was in 7th and my son in 4th. AND, I only did it then because she was an honor roll student and knew she could handle the make up work.

My son is not as great a student. He is in 6th now (she is in 9th), and I would not consider pulling him out at this time, and definitely no more for her in high school.

So I would say it depends on the student. But around 8th grade or so its becomes too difficult.

Re: At what age...

Once they hit 2nd grade. Mine are in 2nd, 4th, and 6th now and I absolutely would NEVER pull the 4th or 6th grader from school for any reason other than illness. The kids fall behind in as little as 2 days with the pacing of the curriculum.

At what age...

My DS is in 4th now and missed three days in a row due to illness - he missed so much!

Thanks everyone for your viewpoints - gives me a lot to think about. Hoping we can avoid missing school.

Re: At what age...

I did every year but stopped this year now that my son is in 4th grade. I'd maybe do for a day or two (depending when and why) but not for more. Last year I took him out for a week and felt like he missed a lot and he's a smart kid. He got his first 90 on a math test (typically gets 95 or higher) - because he missed a week's worth of math - it was one whole section he messed up - all what they did while he was away. He is in a honors program this week and they move at a faster pace. I'd hate for him to fall behind.

They say what does it matter at such a young age - but I also hate to start bad habits as well. Not showing that school is important.

Re: At what age...

my thought now is middle school, however it would really depend on how he is doing in school at that time.

Currently my son is in 2nd grade and I would have no issue pulling him to go on vacation.

Re: At what age...

A day or two to have a long weekend I would probably do until high school. The only time we pull for a week is in June. The classrooms are usually being packed up by then and the kids are watching movies and having field days. I will continue to pull for that week until they get to the age of finals amd will probably be doing review at that point.

At what age...

A friday or a monday to make a long weekend I'd probably do until they were in High School. For a full week we are stopping in 3rd grade. That is when the work starts getting more serious and they start getting full testing. We actually just pulled DD out last week for the week (2nd grade) and we lucked out because they were closed for 3 days lol. But I'm thinking this is the last year as they miss so much work.

Re: At what age...

As the child of a teacher, I was NEVER taken of school. Vacations were during the times when there was no school. However, my parents could afford to pay the additional higher rates for flights, hotels, rental cars during the "peak" travel times (Presidents Week, Spring Break etc).

DH and I are not as fortunate. I was looking at flights on Jet Blue last night to Florida the week after Easter. Some of the flights were $700, one way.

There is no way I can pay that type of money. We will probably miss a Monday and / or Friday to make a long weekend in the future.

DH works a ton in the summer so a July / August vacation for us is very iffy.

Re: At what age...

Up until 3rd grade, we used to pull DS out of school for 3 days, to go away the entire week on Thanksgiving. This year he is in 4rd, and we pulled him out for 2 days for Christmas break. A lot of kids did the same. I think up to 6th grade we would do so for no more than 2 days. No way in 7th grade because we'll need to apply for high school and attendance is a big factor.

Re: At what age...

I'm a teacher so I've never pulled my kids out, but I will say that missing a week of 2nd grade math (what I teach) is no joke. Unless you are willing to sit and teach your child all the lessons missed (which my parents usually don't do) they are at a huge disadvantage because our pace is so quick and lessons build upon what was taught the days before. And it drives me nuts when parents ask for work (which is hard sometimes because I don't always plan that far in advance) and then don't do it!

If you are willing to work on any missed work, I see nothing wrong with missing a few days at my level.

Re: At what age...

Tops 2nd grade then they miss so much. For a day or so fine, never a full week though after 2nd grade.