Travel During School

From a teacher's point of view, regardless of the system's policy, I recommend that parents let teachers know as soon as they know.

My history of teaching in preschool, kindergarten and elementary grades brings to mind several ocassions when I was planning for science fairs or plays, had partners or parts picked by the students, only to find out later that one of the children would be away for a holiday. If I had known earlier, I would have tried to change the date. If I could not have changed the date, I certainly would not have promised a student a role or assigned them a partner who was depending on them. There is more to school than lessons and assignments. In most classrooms there is a community, learning and supporting one another.

Tracy M., yes the school calendar is printed in advance but a parent's vacation time may not coincide with that.

Dang.

The occasional day or two, especially when lumped with a "school party day" isn't so bad; however, most districts have a strict attendance policy and kids only get so many days that they can miss and still be promoted. Since you never know when a child, even the healthiest of kids, will get sick or a family emergency will happen it is not wise to plan to have kids miss school when they don't "HAVE" to. It's not about what we think or whether we think the travel is a better opportunity than the classroom time, it's about teaching kids that their education is important, responsibility, following the rules, and not asking for special treatment.

I always try to schedule doctor appointments and vacations for when school is out. My daughter went all last year with perfect attendance and then she got a severe case of strep and missed a week of school and still wasn't 100% when she went back. If she had already missed a bunch of time this would have put her past the district's threshold for absences.

Because education is required by law, there are only a certain number of excused days your child is allowed to miss. Otherwise it's truancy. So find out what is allowed/excused and work within the system. If you value and honor your child's teacher, school and education in general you will treat them with the respect they deserve. And some schools lose money every time kids are absent, do you think that's fair?
Besides, most kids go to school, what, 2/3 of the year at most? That leaves plenty of days leftover for travel and family time. It's always been MORE than enough for us.

The expecation in our district is that students have 2 months off in the summer, winter break, February vacation, and April vacation, as well as several long weekends, over which travel is an option. Extended absences to accommodate travel outside of that time are frowned upon. People do it, of course, but it is strongly discouraged. We've never done it but yes, I would imagine that is the responsibility of the parent (or student, for older children) to notify the teacher(s) as far in advance as possible and for the onus to be on the parent/student to make sure that the student makes up missed work.

While your opinion may be valid, it's kind a bit of a self-absorbed thought that your family's desire to travel on a schedule that's convenient to you trumps the need of your child to be in school learning lessons that the teachers have carefully planned on a timeline that ensures that they will meet all of the goals they need to achieve for the school year.

IMO, there's more than enough time to travel during school vacation periods. Yes, travel during those times is more expensive and peaks because that's when everyone else is travelling as well, but that's life with kids. Unless there is a specific reason for travelling outside of vacation times (a family reunion or wedding, visiting an ailing relative, a parent who has a restricted schedule due to military service or a travel-heavy job, etc.) then I think it's best to show your child and his school that you value their time and plan your travels for school break periods.

It is frowned upon in our school district. I never have understood the need for some folks to plan a vacation purposely during the school year. The school calendar is made well in advance. I do understand if it is something like a family wedding though... Otherwise, the kids get PLENTY of breaks in which travel can be scheduled. I believe that school should be the priority here. Yes, travel is definitely educational. However, it is just as educational when taken during school breaks...

My response will probably raise some hackles. As a teacher, it is very frustrating when students are gone for any reason. Yes, kids can make up the work they miss. But, they are missing much more than the work that can be sent home. (See my example coming up.) If they don't "get" a concept on the make up work, then I have to find time to catch that student up. That often takes the child out of recess or other things, or it takes my time away from other students.

Yes, travel can be very educational. But sadly, in this age of testing, the education that happens on trips does not always help the student in the classroom. A week of traveling to another city or national park can be educational, but driving through Yellowstone Park and reading all of the road side signs is not a strong educational experience. However, if your child is enrolled in a Jr. Park Ranger camp that involves research and first hand experience with the flora and fauna of the Park with a trained educator, that is a totally different thing. Visiting an art museum may be an educational experience, but if your child is involved with a docent who is teaching about art history or painting techniques of the renaissance era, it is going to be much more educational than just walking around the museum.

I had a gifted and talented student who missed a week of school because they traveled to Bali with dad when he went to a medical convention. The student's classroom teacher and I sent make up work for him to do. The classroom teacher also asked him to keep a journal of his experiences on the trip. He didn't finish half of the math homework that I sent. His journal was mostly about things he did on the beach and poking fun at some of the cultural things they experienced. To me, Bali could be an amazing experience for kids. But, I don't think it was an educational trip for this student. He missed out on a key concept that I taught the week he was gone. He picked it up OK, but he missed a hands-on experience that the rest of the class did to learn the concept. It was not something that could be replicated for just one student. Not only did he miss the experience, but he also missed out on the problem solving skills that the rest of the class used. It also put him behind with the next class project we did because it built on what we did in the first project.

I'm reading a guide book for Disney World in preparation for a trip we are going to take. I've had to laugh at some of the suggestions the author has made to make the trip "educational" so that it can justify missing school. What a joke!

Districts vary on what is considered an excused absence and an unexcused absence. Typically an excused absence is for being sick and going to medical appointments or funerals. If a parent doesn't let the school know ahead of time, it is usually considered an unexcused absence. If you are taking a week to go to Disney World, some districts might consider that an unexcused absence even if you let them know ahead of time. Most districts will only allow a certain number of unexcused absences. If there are excessive unexcused (or even excused) absences there can be a variety of consequences--anything from having to attend summer school, to contact from a truancy officer, to serving detention to make up the class time, to needing to repeat a year of school.

And don't think about telling the office you are going to a family funeral when really you are going on vacation. Kids talk and teachers usually know if the reason given for the absence wasn't truthful.

As a teacher, I don't think I would pull my kids out of school for a vacation. It would have to be a pretty amazing once in a lifetime trip before I would even consider it.

I try not to pull my kids out because the school loses money for every absence. If we MUST go somewhere I make sure we get an independent study packet to take with us, that's the only legal way here to make sure the school doesn't lose precious state funds.
Besides, you would be surprised how much a kid can miss out on in just a few days (when I worked in first grade it wasn't uncommon for an entire unit to be covered in just two or three days, never to be touched upon again) I'm all for the value and importance of travel too, we travel a LOT, but we think it's important to make education a top priority in our kids' lives. They know school always comes first. We want them to take it seriously.

Once they are in middle school and high school time out of the classroom becomes extremely difficult to make up / catch up.
Plus we've had a heap of snow days - many schools have lengthened their day and the next county over has students coming in on 3 Saturdays along with 20 minutes tacked on to the regular school days for a month in order to make up the time.
People say you can learn a lot while traveling.
Ok - what - exactly are they going to learn and will it be on an SOL?
The standardized tests might be a pain but if you fail one, you're in summer school and how will THAT mess with your travel plans?

In our district they have cracked down on kids waltzing in and out of class like there's a revolving door on the building.
If you have more than 5 unexcused absences you might get a visit from a truant officer.
At the high school level, missing days even if they are excused (sick days with an excuse) might mean you need to stay after school in a make up study hall.
You can ask permission for a trip from the principal, who may say yes or no, and a plan will be put in place to make sure your child is caught up with the work.
Part of having kids is dealing with their educational needs and although some trips might be educational, let's face it - most goof off and play the whole time away.

In our district, any pleasure trips are unexcused. We have never pulled our daughter out for a vacation. We don't travel much, but if we did we'd make every effort to work around the school schedule. I do agree that certain travel can be educational and perhaps project and reports can be done to enhance the learning experience. However, I think it's stretching it quite a bit to call a trip to Disney educational. I would never ask for work in advance if my daughter would be missing school for a pleasure trip and most teachers in our school wouldn't give it. Why should they have to do more work to accommodate my family's vacation? Makeup work is given upon return and the child has a certain amount of time to do it. Teachers will not take time to reteach a lesson to a child who has missed school due to a vacation- it is the parents and children's responsibility to learn the material. If you are going to do it, early elementary is the one-time they hit third or fourth grade it's detrimental to miss class.

Our school would note it as a pre-arranged UNEXCUSED absence.

School work that would be missed during the vacation would be given prior to leaving and expected to be done and turned in upon return...and yep - this is for our elementary and middle school.

My question is, with as much time as they get off with teacher work days, etc. why is there a need to take off during school time?

Call your school and tell them what you are planning, then find out if how the absence would be documented in his records. There was one girl who was shooting for perfect attendance - never missed a day of school - and got a $25K scholarship for perfect attendance....

Any way - to each his own. If you feel the vacation must take place during the school year...then so be it. Otherwise? If you ask me? I would plan when there is a break.

Vacations are not considered excused absences. We never had a budget for vacations but if we did , they would have been taken during the numerous school vacations. I didn't believe in my kids missing school. They had plenty of time off. I would not have considered travel at less crowded or less expensive times worth my children missing lessons in the classroom. Kids have plenty of time off. Only in school about half the days of the year. That trip to Disney or Italy isn't going to make it onto their college application or score them higher on their ACT or SAT or any if he other things college is looking for. Trust me, my oldest is a freshman and was not asked by any schools she applied to if she had any travel experience

When my kids were in public school, they had the worst schedule imaginable. It was a year-round school, so basically when all summer camps everywhere were happening, my kids were in school. Now, to me, summer camp is one of those childhood memories that is irreplaceable. So I went ahead and pulled my kids out of school so they could go to summer camp. At that point in the year, standardized testing is over, and they're learning less than nothing - it's basically just a countdown to getting those 180 days of school time checked off. The principal was annoyed because they don't get attendance money for every day the kids aren't there. She tried to tell me she was going to hold my kids back (bahahahaha! Right, lady, you don't even hold back kids who can't read...). So I called the District Superintendent and told him what I thought of his unworkable school schedule. He agreed that it was fine for my kids to go to summer camp, and excused their absence.

Anyhow, I agree, if you have the opportunity to go somewhere interesting or fun, you should. We homeschool now, and I really feel like the whole world can be a classroom.

The way schools are with truancy, you'd better check the policy when your child enters school which, if I'm correct, won't be for a couple of years. In our area, a combination of 10 either absences not excused by a doctor and/or tardies gets you in front of the School Attendance Review Board which is comprised of administrators, teachers and POLICE. Any absences after that that are no excused by a doctor lands you in court explaining yourself to the judge. So, I would definitely check the school district's policy and plan accordingly. Even if you were only gone five days, that would only leave five for the rest of the year for absences and/or tardies. One bout of the flu and one cold could take care of those days.

Again, when the time comes, check with the District.

BTW, IMHO it is extremely important for kids to be present EVERY DAY in the elementary years because that's when they are learning the basics. If they don't get the basics, everything after that is a waste of time.

when my boys were in school we obviously planned most of our travel outside the school schedule, but there were a couple of times that opportunities arose, and we took 'em. i didn't 'ask'. they're my kids. i informed the teachers of the dates we'd be gone, and my boys did the make-up work that the teachers graciously provided.
no biggie.
but the notion that it's *wrong* to do so, or that we should need to 'seek permission' to travel with our kids, helped make the decision to homeschool easier.
khairete
S.

Our district allows 1 week (5 days) of absences to be excused for family travel. We have to fill out paperwork in advance to have it approved, and the teacher sends all the work with us that our child will miss.

I don't think it's a big deal in elementary school - I've not had trouble teaching my child from the textbooks and he comes back into the classroom right on track. But I can see how it might become more difficult as the subjects become more advanced.

ETA: I will add that like Suz T, we have also taken opportunities beyond the 5 days. In the current school year, we took 2 weeks because we had the opportunity to go to Hawaii for 2 weeks. That doesn't happen all the time, and we felt it was worth it. So my child will end the year with 5 excused and 5 unexcused absences. I understand that this is the policy, and I'm ok with it. And the teachers were supportive, which was very helpful.

We avoid it, but sometimes the extended family's plans don't allow us many choices, such as when there's a late summer or fall (after school begins) out of state wedding. My kids are at a private school, so we don't have to follow the district's dictates, but the school policy strongly discourages taking time off from school for travel.

They do some wise things, however, like making the day before Thanksgiving an optional attendance day, and calling it "Grandparents Day," so you can either use that day to bring your grandparents or other significant adult to school, or to start traveling for out-of-town Thanksgiving, as well as making Easter Monday a day off to allow for travel.

My school system seldom considers family vacations to be an excused absence. This opens to door for teachers to decline to allow the child to makeup missed work.

That said, almost everyone except low income parents and parents new to MCPS seem to know how to game the system. We get notes saying that the child is ill, but he comes back with a tan or ski lift tags on his jacket. We are told that a grandparent passed away out of state, but the child's friends say the family is at Disney. The teachers sigh and allow the kid to make it up.

As a teacher, I grant makeups to all under-18 student whose family's whisk them away. The kids don't have a choice. Advance notice is preferred. Please don't lie to me ("Billy's grandma is dying!) and then have your kid bring me a souvenir. And please don't tell me the truth if you are going to lie to the principal (plausible deniability is my friend).

Some of the makeup work is different from what the other students did. This isn't a punishment (It's true that I'm probably jealous your family went to Aruba and mine didn't, but I'm not petty.) but rather because some classroom experiences can't easily be replicated for a single student. The parent may find that the week after vacation is so stressful with making up work that it undoes the afterglow of the trip.

We were honest when we took my older daughter on vacation abroad. Her teachers gave us work for her to complete while away. This may have been professional courtesy because I am a teacher or it may have been the fact that we were honest about the reason she'd be away.

My younger daughter attends a private school. Interestingly, few families seem to pull their kids out for vacation.

Lastly, my favorite incident took place a few years ago. A student missed almost two weeks of school (one on either side of spring break). All of the teachers were curious about where she had gone. When she returned, she proudly told us that the family had gone on "staycation". The mom kept her six kids home from school and had a different country theme for each day complete with music and food (except for Africa. She thought Africa was a country and had just one day for the whole continent.). We were speechless!

while I have a GREAT relationship with my childrens teachers and school administrators, my husband and I are their parents, and we decide what/when/where our children go. I've always approached vacations during the school year with school admin as a "this is what we're doing, what can I do to make this easiest on you guys and their teachers". I've NEVER had a problem, I don't go in guns blazing and assert my authority as their mother, or put down what they will/won't be doing in the classroom during the time they're out. I am also VERY careful to schedule around major standardized testing, field trips, and anything else my children wouldn't want to miss out on. I always let the principal and affected teachers know asap what our dates are, principal has always replied "oh, I'm so sorry your boys will be sick and excused those dates, haha"... my boys VERY rarely miss school(each has missed one day this entire school year), they are good students, make excellent grades, and are not behavior problems. I do have some legit medical reasons for school year travel, but I've never had to "go there" with the admin. always approach in a "let's work together" way initially, and THEN get stupid if you HAVE to(do I need to withdraw my child and re-enroll? how difficult do we have to make this on everyone?). we are missing the last few days of school this year, so no biggie, but we missed 6 consecutive school days mid-year last year, and the principal and teachers were so excited for the "real world" opportunities for learning our boys got. all to say, it CAN be done. my oldest is going into middle school, so we probably won't go anywhere during his 6th grade year(during the school year anyways) to let him really get adjusted well, but I am loosely planning a trip during spring of his 7th grade year if all is going well by then.

It can be done but you as the parent are totally responsible for making sure that the child is up to date on his/her studies. That means a scheduled daily time to do work while away on holiday.

I have done it several times while moving around while hubby was active duty. We even brought school books with us on a flight home for Christmas holiday back to the states. My daughter's teacher stated that he didn't feel it was necessary for us to keep her out of class but she did learn a lot about living in the inner city as opposed to being on a base overseas and the ability to move about freely and no harm coming to her. Our son also had studies to do while on the vacation (the Lockerbee winter - missed it by 6 days).

So if you can start planning your holiday trips for when school is out rather than in.

Things change when kids go to school so get ready and use to it. Your time is no longer your time to do as you wish with kids.

the other S.

PS If you miss too much you will be required to repeat the year over again.

Okay, depending on the school:
Any absence, is an absence. Therefore, at the end of the quarter or semester, when absences or tardiness is accounted for for each student and a report comes out, per the Dept. of Education or school, a child will have all the days he/she missed, as an absence.
Whether the child is sick with a Doctor's note or on a trip, does not matter, It is an absence. It is NOT an excused, absence.
That is how it in our State is per public school.
And yes, there is a certain amount of absences, that is allowed, for a school year.
My son for example, missed about 10 school days. He was, sick. Literally. We went to the Doctor. I had Doctor's notes each, time. It is STILL an unexcused absence and it is still, counted as an absence. And for example, IF he was not doing well in school and was below par etc., he "could" be held back. Due to excessive absences.
An absence is an absence.

How old is your child?
Sure, traveling is always educational. And a good experience. No matter what age. When I was in elementary, my parents took us on so many trips. All around the world. I saw more places than some adults see in a lifetime. But some occurred when I was too young, to even remember it now.

If you plan a trip, that is NOT during a school's scheduled holidays or breaks, then your child will be marked as absent for those days. And, typically a parent will tell the Teacher, AHEAD of time of a trip, so that the Teacher then has time.... to compile together that student's in-class work and homework and/or projects/assignments, that that student will be missing, while gone.
I have heard some kids/Moms say "why should my child have to make up work once he returns to school? We were on a trip, why go on a trip if he will have homework?" Um well, all the students in that class, have those assignments and school work to do and they are being graded on it etc. A trip, does not excuse a student, from doing the school work.
Just as when a child is out sick, when they return, they also have to make up the work and catch up.

It is harder in older grades. ie: from like from 3rd 0r 4th grade onward. Because, they have more work and/or homework to catch up on.

At any given time, there are always kids who are not in school, because they are on some kind of trip for whatever reason. For some reason, not all families can or choose to, plan trips during school breaks or holidays.
Most Teachers I know, especially in the older grades, do not jump up for joy, when a student is gone on a trip during regular school session.

I teach AP English to 11th and 12th graders and agree with Erica T. 100%. It may be different when students are in elementary, however I know that my elementary school son's teachers feel a ton of pressure from standardized testing, so it really may not be all that different. I do work with students who are out for any reason, but they generally don't do well on the work they are making up, and they tend to fall behind for a bit.

I would not pull my own children out for vacations because I think it sends the wrong message about the value of education (I do acknowledge that I am a bit fanatical about education), but it's a personal decision.

I think that it's a good idea to establish a policy with your kids first. They can learn early on that if they have demonstrated that they are responsible and punctual, if they can be trusted, if they do their best and study hard, then they will occasionally be allowed to take a trip when the opportunity arises. If they slack off, barely pass their classes due to non-performance or laziness, and aren't reliable, then they won't ever have a chance to go on a trip except for a funeral. It's not like you're bribing them, but you're teaching them early on that with trustworthiness and hard work come privileges, and lazy sloppy attitudes will lead to loss of privileges.

I think that it's important to establish that with your kids, and then the school policies can be figured out when the time is right.

I also would make it clear to the kids that I would never lie or stretch the truth (say they're sick and then sneak off to Disneyland).

We took our kids out occasionally, when great opportunities came along. I wouldn't take them out just for a break, or for something that could be done any time. I agree with you that travel can provide great learning and exposure to new and interesting things this world has to offer. But only if your child has demonstrated responsibility, reliability and a good effort, no matter if it's public school, private school, or homeschool.

We need to fill out an 'educational trip request form'. We regard time spent travelling and time visiting family as very valuable and not always possible to schedule on school vacations. We have made trips involving 'learning about beach and coastal ecosystems, including marine mammals and invertebrates', 'learning the value of the nuclear and extended family' and 'experiencing cultural holidays, foods and other traditions'. We have yet to have a request denied. But seriously, we would go anyway.

We are 'allowed' 10 excused absences a year and I believe it is frowned upon to take them all together. However, all that happens if you exceed that is you need to re-enroll. And it doesn't seem that they really enforce that. My son missed more than 10 days last year since I took him down to see my dad while he was dying. Spending time you can't make up ever with a grandfather trumps a few days of first grade. I have no idea if the school considered the days excused or not. I wasn't really concerned about it at the time and no one has ever said anything about it.

There is a family in our school that is taking a 2 month trip to China (he is Chinese and it is work for him and an amazing experience for the child - plus an opportunity for him to meet his grandparents and other relatives). They are pulling him out and re-enrolling when they return. They don't anticipate any issues (child is in first grade). Two months of Chinese language immersion probably trumps a couple of weeks of first grade spelling.

I strongly disagree that travelling sends a message that a child's education is unimportant. I think it sends a bigger message - that our education happens inside and outside of school.

ETA - What learning do kids really do when travelling? And will it be on a standardized test? We went to DC this weekend. Pulled DS out of school for 2 days (one was actually one of those worthless 1/2 days they don't teach on, but it counted against us as a full day). He learned about Abraham Lincoln, the Gettysburg Address, how many people died in the Civil War and why. He learned how many Americans died in the Vietnam War and how people can be heroes and wars can still be horrible and pointless. He touched a moon rock and saw the little tiny capsules the Apollo astronauts went to the moon in. NONE of this will be on a standardized test anytime soon. And ALL of it was worthwhile.

I think it's 100% fine to travel for a week or so during school. I wouldn't miss much more than that.
The district's policy (at least for elementary school) is that you are considered truant if you have five or more unexcused absences. You get a letter sent home. If you have additional unexcused absences after that, you have to have a meeting with the principal. I don't think that's a big deal at all. I know my principal is pretty easygoing and wouldn't discipline someone for taking a family vacation. Usually the teacher will have the student keep a journal or something on the trip.

We typically travel to Costa Rica every February. Most of the trip was over my son's school break but there were always school days that he would miss. His school considers vacations to be unexcused. However, the first year (K), his teacher had him write and draw pictures in a travel journal. Then he gave a presentation to the class. He also did his science fair project about the volcano we visited. In later years they gave him credit for the week of Spanish tutoring he took while we were there.

I appreciate the teacher's point of view about most vacation not really being that educational. But we always try to make ours truly educational. For USA travel, my son has completed a total of 10 Jr. Ranger programs so far.

They don't necessarily like it and the child may or may not be able to make up the work and be excused. When DD was in their summer program, she got work to take with her. She will miss 1 day this spring because we couldn't get another flight. But I try to keep her in class as much as possible and schedule trips during breaks instead. Yes, a child can learn a lot from a trip, but I can also usually schedule said trip when she's going to be out of school anyway. When it is not possible, I would talk to the school, as too much time off can be counted against the child or you as truancy. The other thing we try to factor is a few days of time to return to normal so that the child isn't trying to do a day of class after a week of travel and having a bad day from jet lag or similar.

Up through first grade, I didn't worry too much. I asked for the work in advance so that my son could work on it while we were gone, in the car or whatever. After that, for him, he really needed to be in class so as not to miss something. He was in private school and they covered a lot of ground early.

My daughter, well, since she was younger, it was never an issue, since we were already curtailing our during the school year travel due to her older brother being in higher grades. BUT, she is a smart and capable cookie, and I could probably have allowed her to miss a couple of consecutive days without incident up through 5th grade. In fact, she missed one day a week completely due to a pull-out GT program.
It depends upon the child and the reason. To go spend a week at the beach? Meh... If that is THE.ONLY. TIME. ALL. YEAR.. that one of the parents has off work to spend time with the children? That changes that a little... But that usually is not the case.

My daughter is not the property of the school district, so I don't have any idea if the school district I'm in has a policy and honestly I really don't care. I rarely get to travel, and on the one opportunity that I did have while she was in school, I chose vacation. I did ask for any work that would be missed, and the only question the teacher had was "Where are you going?" She agreed with your position that travel can be an education in itself and instead of her normal classwork, she assigned my daughter a daily journal for our trip. She even gave me a travel guide on where we were going that helped me greatly. That being said, if I was in a position to travel more frequently, I would try to make sure I did it around school breaks and I would definitely be aware of the policies.

If I want to keep the kids home from school I do. I am the person in charge of them, not the school.

If you plan on keeping the kids home from school for months at a time while touring another continent then please consider doing a home school program where you can do the work online and from anywhere there is a computer.

If you're talking about a couple of weeks throughout the whole year then by all means, just tell the school you are going out of town for a few days and will need to get the kids school work when you get back. It's not fun to do school work on vacation.

We've planned vacations twice during school time. In two different school districts, with two entirely different outcomes.
The first time was in a small town, and the only the thing the principal asked of us... "bring me back some Mickey ears" (we went to Disney World) TRUE STORY.
The second time was in a big city and all school work that was to be missed during the absence was given before we left and expected to be done upon return.
It's going to vary.

I'd advise you to check with your own school district.

In our district, family vacations are excused. I would check with yours regarding their policy. For mine? I just looked up Portland Public Schools Attendance Policies and got a PDF file with a coding chart for marking absences. I'll bet your school district likely has this info online as well.

Our son just took off early for spring break and the teacher gave him a journal to draw/write a couple sentences each day and a reading log to fill out each day. He's in first grade.

Hi, F. B.. I know your son is still really young, right? Three, maybe four by now? I applaud you for thinking so far ahead, but you really can let this wait until that "due time" comes along. You might find that your son wants to be in school and with his friends; or that the school system is really discouraging of time off beyond a certain amount.

Yes, you must seek to make up work missed, and quickly. You do need to give advance notice and plenty of it -- so the teachers can provide your child with the work he'll miss while he's gone. If the trip is long enough, he will need to do it during the trip and not wait until he returns or he'll fall behind as the class moves ahead of him. I don't think it's really about asking the school's permission so much as communicating very clearly and well in advance.

Generally speaking, it's easier to pull a kid out for travel during the early elementary years -- but even then, he does miss instructional time; it will help you and him both if you get his assignments in advance to take with you on anything more than a few days' travel, and ensure he actually does them.

Elementary school today is MUCH more accelerated in the pace of learning than it was when we were kids. Kindergarten is more like first grade used to be, and so on. Expectations for what they must cover in the classroom time is much more than it once was, and missing too many days can definitely affect a student's progress. And by later elementary -- fourth, fifth and especially sixth grades -- absences really can affect kids.

I have known families that have pulled kids out of elementary school for maybe a week at a time, or a few days on each side of a weekend, but anything longer requires some serious thought on your part and the teacher's. Of course travel is educational! Just be sure you work well and communicate well with teachers about it and don't do it too often. I would not pull a kid out like that more than once a year, frankly, and would work all other trips around the school schedule, using spring break and holidays. I know one family that pulled their kids out for a week and a half to take advantage of the mom's business trip to Egypt a few years ago and that worked fine, but I also know of a family that pulled out a kid for over a month to travel overseas to see family, and he had issues academically when they returned. I still don't know how the latter family did that lengthy travel -- the kid would have been way over the number of excused absences and might have been denied promotion to the next grade.

When kids are older, middle school and up -- pulling them out of any school time for anything other than illness is greatly discouraged by the schools. By middle school, teachers have to cover things very fast and intensely and missing even a day of classes can put a kid behind (I know this from my own middle schooler -- one day out sick means homework mounts up even if she gets the assignments and tries to do them at home; one day out of math, for instance, means she misses the teacher covering important concepts and has to find time to meet the teacher for a too-brief review; and so on).

If your kids go to NYC public school then you can just take your kids away and tell teh teacher ahead of time. If the teacher is young and gung-ho she may feel annoyed - but if she's raised kids of her own she'll understand completely. When my kids were in 1st & 4th grade we pulled the kids out of school the week after Thanksgiving and went to Disney. Probably our best vacation ever. Seeing as how you're spending thousands of dollars to be able to go when the desitnation isnt' crowded is a huge advantage for families. And once they're in middle school things start moving too fast to be able to pull the kids out of school.

When we did that we told the teachers that we had a family obligation in another state (we did) and could they provide school work for the week we'd be away? we gave them about a week's notice and both teachers were more than happy to do so. We did call in sick to the school each day since a child being out sick versus not sick makes a difference in school funding in NY - at least it did back then (8+ years ago).

My two nieces, who are both teachers, used to get pretty upset about people like me who do this. Then they both had kids of their own and now they understand.

And you're 100% right - travel allows them to learn along side their family in ways they can never learn in a classroom - and it's so much more affordable and rich in experience during the off-season. They're only young for a short time and suddently they're going off to college (my daughter - this Fall) and you wonder where all the time went?

Enjoy mama!

I'm in California and we are pulling our 2nd grader out of school for a week in May for what will be a very educational trip to Chicago while my husband attends a conference. We have filled out an "Independent Study" contract with the office and the teacher (who was very supportive having lived in Chicago and knowing the museums we will be visiting and knowing our daughter's love of dinosaurs!). The teacher will give us assignments for our daughter to make up and that way it is not treated as an absence and the school will get the money from the state. In fact the school prefers you to take 5 days rather than 4 so that you can do the Independent Study contract.

We can do an independent study for 5-10 days. They strongly discourage it. I use the excuse that they need to be more consistent and prompt with the school year calendar because the break periods are not consistent year to year and last week we just got the calendar for next year. Our kids go back to school in August (which is summer travel time still) and we have to book a minimum of 6 months out (feb 2nd for August) if you tell me when school starts a the end of march that clearly does not work. Last 3 years we have had the week before and after easter off for spring break. So we planned a vacay the week after. oops the break is this week and next. So independent study it is! We are going to boston and NYC so absolutely educational. Once time we did a Mexican Rivera cruise. Ok maybe less educational but still VERY educational?

They are considered an unexcused absence. However, the principal can call it an excused absence at his discretion. Provided the student hasn't missed a lot of school and is in good academic standing, there isn't a problem. Most teachers provide work for the student to take along. Some just have the student write a report about their trip.

My daughter will be leaving after just two days of school this coming August. The school expects some students will miss class given that they have such an early start date.

If my children aren't grasping the material or have missed 3 weeks of school because of illness then I'm not going to pull them out for an unnecessary trip. We make it a point to take educational trips. So I have no problem pulling my daughter out for a trip to the zoo, museum, art gallery, etc.

Check with your school district -- it may be like ours... We had a Disney vacation a few years ago that ended a couple of days after spring recess -- I think my son missed two days of school. They were considered unexcused absences but he only had to make up the work (not that there was much for him to do)... They do allow older kids who go on extended vacations overseas to do independent studies or take work with them so they don't fall behind.

I have always just notified the teacher ahead of time and then notified the office a few days before.

My kiddos are in Jr. High and High School now. During Elementary School it wasn't that big a deal but as the kids get older and subject matter is more difficult it is more of a problem. I also found that it depends greatly on the teacher. Some teachers just plain get pissed that you are taking your kids out of school and make catching up very difficult, other teachers are very understanding and happy to help.

M