If you pull DC out of school for vacations ...

Do you feel there is a set number of days your child can miss without making up the school work a major issue? I'm sure the grade level and parent involvement is a huge issue, just looking for some general guidelines.

Re: If you pull DC out of school for vacations ...

I won't talk for anyone else, but here's what we do...
I usually pull them for a Friday here and there through the year to go away for a long weekend. I feel like they always wind up missing a day or two during spring break since they have been going over on their snow days the last few years. But those aren't says I planned on them missing. It just so happens that we always go away, so if they add days, that's not my fault. I do pull them for a full week in June. It's usually the last full week of school and they're usually doing nothing at that point of the year. They watch movies, pack up the room, field trip, etc... They barely even get homework by then. Then when we return he's usually around for a couple of dates for field day and the end of year picnic. It allows him to say goodbye to his teachers and friends for the summer.

If you pull DC out of school for vacations ...

So far this year I have pulled DD twice to go to Disney. Both times I told the teacher and asked for the work. Both times I received the work, and my child completed it while on vacation. At the first parent/teacher conference, the teacher confessed that she thought DD would be behind as a result of the missed week, but said she was not. She also said DH & I were the first parents she had given all the work to, that actually had their child complete 100% of it.

If you pull DC out of school for vacations ...

Last year, when he was in kindergarten, we pulled him for 5 school days to go to Disney. His teacher gave us a folder of the worksheets for the days he was going to miss and he worked on them on the plane, in the hotel room, and whenever we had downtime.

Re: If you pull DC out of school for vacations ...

I get his classwork everytime he misses a day or even if I pick him up early. Unless the teacher says she will go over it with him. They do so much during the day and I don't want to put that on the teacher to have him catch up. My DS is in first grade.

Message edited 3/13/2015 11:25:33 AM.

Re: If you pull DC out of school for vacations ...

We've tacked on 1-2 days for long weekends for a total of 4 days this year. My son is in kindergarten.

I would probably do similar for 1 or 2 weekends next year in 1st grade.

I do not plan on pulling him out once he is in 2nd grade. Our school district has a handful of non-holiday long weekends.

Message edited 3/13/2015 12:00:57 PM.

Re: If you pull DC out of school for vacations ...

DS is in 3rd grade and in December he missed 4-5 days of school because he was very sick. It took him FOREVER to make it up. He missed tests, in school projects. It was a lot. After I saw how hard it was for him, I decided not to pull them out for more than a day in the future.

Re: If you pull DC out of school for vacations ...

My DD is in first grade, we pulled her out of school for seven school days to go to Disney earlier in the school year. It was a Thurs, Fri and the whole following week. She's very bright and academics have come easily to her thus far so she really didn't miss a beat. We made up all of the missed work the week we came back and she jumped right back into school like we never left.

ETA - Our schools policy is that the teacher can't give the missed work prior to the absences, we got her packet of work once she returned to school after vacation.

Message edited 3/13/2015 8:53:17 PM.

Re: If you pull DC out of school for vacations ...

I'm a teacher and a parent...I don't typically pull my children out for more than a day or half day once during the year. I will say that in second grade (which I teach), a week can be a whole unit in math...that is hard for a child to just "catch" up on without help. We send home work for all days absent (sick or vacation) and rarely get it back completed. I do find that when students are absent for a lot of days it is the math where the big gaps seem to appear. Our reading and writing programs spiral and we teach similar skills in different genres and structures more than once.

Re: If you pull DC out of school for vacations ...

We took my 1st grader out for 5 days this year. He was totally fine and seemed like he didn't miss anything. I don't love the idea of pulling him out anymore, but we probably will continue. Price and crowds are a big thing. I'm not worried about him, I'm more worried about making his teachers nervous about time off.

Re: If you pull DC out of school for vacations ...

Honestly, I think this question entirely depends on the child. My DS is in 2nd and so far (K, 1st and 2nd) he could miss a week and be fine. But, I agree with the above that they do sometimes cover a chapter of math in about a week and a half so if your child isn't strongest in math you might need to do some extra catch up.