My daughter will start kindergarden in the fall. MY husband and I were discussing vacations once we have a school age child. I think it is OK to take the child out of school for a family vacation. I think that the absense might even be excused by the school. I know that I have to talk to my school to find out what the policy is ..but I was wondering what other schools policy is..
It really depends on the school district . . . I live right on the border of two counties (and two Catholic dioceses) and it varies even between those two.
It's my understanding that schools have gotten much tougher on the issue now that federal funding relies, in part, on average daily attendance.
Personally I think parents should have much more control over their children's lives & education rather than some arbitrary body sitting many miles away - now that we homeschool we do, so it's a moot point for us (though I still take attendance LOL).
Good luck - perhaps check your district's web site to see if there are any policies there.
We had three codes for absences. Zero was fully excused and meant you had a doctor's note that you were there. Code one was excused, but if you had more than three you had to make up the time. These included sick with a parent note, travel. The third was code two and unexcused, which usually meant no note and you were not able to make up work.
I'm sure it can vary and elementary schools may be a little easier going. This was our middle and high schools policy.
Personally, I don't believe in taking children out of school for vacations unless it's only one or two days before a school vacation week. They miss too much - even in elementary school (except right before a school vacation).
As for absences - with a doctor's note, you are excused -- but you still have to make up the work. If it is for a school function - you are excused, but you have to make up the work missed. If you are out for a vacation, you need to speak with each teacher, but you will not be excused.
YMMV
LBC
We don't take our kids out of school for vacation - they aren't there enough anyway - between Monday's being half days (0830 to 1230) and teacher work days - education is important.
If you are going during Spring Break - the Thursday or Friday before the vacation or the Monday - Tuesday - after is understandable...but to take a week off in the middle of school? Nope, not for me.
k
I am interested in this as well...my oldest will be starting school too. Offhand, I would definitely say that we would NOT be pulling him out for vacation. I feel that we have to stress the importance of school early and the fact that school is going to be his "job". Obviously, I would keep home for illness, but that doesn't mean that I would drag a sick kid to the doctor every time just to get a sick note. Sometimes they just need some tylenol with some R&R. I do plan to pull him out next spring for my company's "Bring your Child to Work Day". I am actually the one that organizes this event and we have stuff for the kids to do all day long. We are an engineering/manufacturing company so there are science experiments, hands-on demonstrations etc... I will explain this to his teacher in advance, provide the Program for the day, and pull him out.
Also, you have to take out for doctor well check-ups...You cannot exactly go on Saturdays for most offices. Obviously, I will try to schedule these things during school breaks, but I am limited by my insurance as to when I can schedule these...
You will need to check with the school district policy on attendance. Although it is convenient for the parents to take a child out of class for a vacation, it is not an excused absence for the student in our public school district. There funding is based on the number of students in class each day. Although missing kindergarten might not put your child behind, they are subject to the same rules as high school students who are dinged for unexcused absences by getting zeros for the work they missed, getting in-school suspension and being banned or benched from extracurricular activities. There are some private schools that have more leeway on missing class because you are paying tuition. You can probably look on the school district website and see their attendance policies.
I don't believe in taking children out of school for vacation they get enough time off with holidays and vacation.
Our school only excuses absences that have doctors notes and you are only allowed 5 unexcused before your child is written up get 10 and they don't have to pass you. The kids have a lot more work to do than we had growing up. If she misses a week of school she will miss a lot and fall behind.
My daughter goes to a charter school, and at her school you're either absent or you're not, there is no "excused" absence. If you are not at school, you still have to do the homework or you get a big fat zero for the day... and at a school where the grading period is only 6 weeks long (so there are 6 grading periods instead of the traditional 4)... even 1-2 zeros can have a huge impact on the grade. Plus, there is no going back to help the child catch up unless you bring your child in early for tutoring.
I personally don't think it's appropriate to take my child from school to go on vacation... my husband thinks it's ok to take out Friday before... we've compromised where we'll take her (soon to be 2 of our 3 children in school- but Kindergarten is half day anyway) out an hour early. At an hour early my child has been at school most of the day so she isn't absent, and because it's Friday, there's usually no homework.
Please ITS kindergarten. You think she'll miss a couple pop quizzes and a calculus exam?? Dont push the teacher to send home work, but find out are they working on counting by fives or money or ? Spend ten minutes a day working on reading and math. Check with your school over how many absenses are allowed per year, check with other parents to see if the school really is strict with their policy. IT will get harder to pull them the older they get so enjoy the younger years, after K look at your individual child, are they struggling to keep up in any subjects? (Sandy, K teacher)
3 of my kids went to catholic school. we took vacations during the school year and they were excused as long as they did some sort of report on where and what we were doing. and they did all the homework. (catholic school doesn't get the funding from the state) our youngest has been in public school his whole life. public school it is unexcused absence for anything except sick / doctors appts. (they do get funding from the state and if your kids is not there they don't get the money for the day) at kindergarten I don't know that its a big deal but later on when basic education things are being taught you can really mess up a kids learning abilities. When I was in 5th grade my mom had to be in the hospital for almost a month. I was shipped to an aunts house in another city to stay for that month. So off I went. the school I was in had not started fractions yet. the school I was sent to had already done them. when I got back to my real school they had finished fractions. To this day almost 40 years later I have trouble with fractions and math in general. Unless the only time you can take a vacation is during the school year I would not take them out.
most of them have a zero tolerance policy. personally i think it's ridiculous. our children are OURS, not the schools', and for them it's a financial more than an educational issue. obviously if your kids are in public school, it's beneficial for them to be there, but parents are the final word and if something that benefits the family outweighs a few days of school, it should be the parents' decision.
but refusing to assign sovereign rights over my kids was one of the reasons i decided to homeschool.
good luck!
:) khairete
suz
It's kindergarten. At DS's kindergarten (it's a Montessori) travelling is looked at as an opportunity for the kids and not at all discouraged. They work at their own pace so they can't actually fall behind anyway. Um, how far behind can you fall in regular kindergarten anyway - take your trips. At the public school he will attend for first grade - 'pre approved educational travel' is an 'allowed' excuse. We will be pulling him out of school for travel in the future - my parents did the same when we were kids.
for my daughters school, unless they are sick or have a dr. appointment it is NOT excused. We tried to take my daughter out of school just for 1 day because my husband had just gotten home from police acadamy and we haven't seen him for 3 months. The school said you can keep her home, but it won't be excused
Our schools (Plano ISD) will excuse you when you have a Dr. note or if a parent has called the child in sick (within reason).
I think the kids need to be in school and not be taking vacations because there is plenty of time for vacations during the breaks.
That said, my daughter just finished up her Sophomore year. We did take her out for 2 days iin the beginning of the year last year for a college visit that was planned well in advance. The principal excused her because it was a college visit, HOWEVER, she got really sick twice during the school year and missed a total of 10 days. We regretted taking her out for the 2 days we did because she was on the verge of losing credits for graduation due to being out.
She is Honors/AP student she ended up going to school a few times when she felt like crap because she couldn't afford to miss any more school
We will certainly not make that mistake again.
Schools do look down on the excessive absences and parents do get charged for truancy in many cases... even if your kid is truly sick and you have Dr. notes and bills to prove it.
Be careful about it!!
Vacation is not an 'excused absense' at our school but is not penalized at all. I always take my kids out in the winter for vacation and do not feel one single bit bad about it. I will continue to do this until they graduate from high school and will lie about it if need be (saying it was a medical emergency or something). To me the experiences that we have on a winter family vacation are as beneficial and important as school is. And I will never go during the big winter holidays when places are packed with people-for me that is not even worth it.
At the end of the day though there is nothing my school district would do about it. They officially have to have this policy but do not penalize people at all for it.
Missing school for a day, no big deal. Missing for a week is a mistake. Each week builds on the previous in every grade. Kinder isn't just playtime like it was when I was a kid. I don't know about other states, but they learn A LOT in kindergarten where we live!!
Your district probably has their policy regarding absences online.
When we lived in Missouri for college and our home is Arizona, we had 6 weeks off at Christmas for our school. Our kids Kindergarten and 2nd grade only had 2 weeks off. We went home to AZ for the full 6 week break and didn't think twice about it. We talked with both of their teachers and got their work and did everything they were suppose to do. I don't remember even wondering if it would be okay..LOL My 2nd grader was caught up for the rest of the year on homework because she gave us more than they did at school and we did it all. My kindergartener pretty much just had play time at school so she didn't miss much. They're in 11 and 12 grades now so this was some time ago. I hope that helps. Good luck to you!!!
In my children's school district, a phone call by the parent stating the child is sick is acceptable. I think an absence because of a vacation is an acceptable excuse but I am not sure since I haven't called the school for this reason. (Between summer, spring and winter vacations, and other holidays, there are plenty of other days to take a child on a vacation. Just my opinion.) (I've been on both sides of the fence with this issue since I was a 2nd grade teacher prior to having my kids.) My sil and friend in different districts near me are not allowed to take vacation days during school time. So... I guess it depends on the district your child will be going.