Absentee rules for school????

Must have his threads reading 'old' to 'new'???????

 

oh geez sorry about that...i didnt see the dates, and i had been searching for something else when i came upon this.

i feel dumb now

 

No worries! I just thought I missed something somewhere. It's all good. :cheers:

 

Glad you bumped the thread, though! My kid's going to miss 5 days in December for vacation, so I guess I'll need to talk to her teacher soon so that we can come up with some type of compromise. Hopefully the school isn't too uptight about the policy, as this will be an every year occurance since both dh and I have very tight restrictions on when we can take time off and none of that time corresponds with school vacation days. I'm hoping they'll go year round soon.

 

Not sure what grade yours are in, but I remember when mine were in elementary school and we had a planned vacation around the christmas holiday that required us to take them out of school several days before the holiday break and the principal at their school stated that he had no problems with this because he truly felt that quality family time was very important in a kids upbringing and he was very supportive.

 

I guess I don't get it. I just don't understand why parents take their kids out of school for so many days unless they are sick. In my house education is top priority above everything else.

 

Actually, you are not alone. We don't schedule stuff that will conflict with school. If you can't be off when school is out, I hate it for you, but it's just not enough of a reason to be out IMO. Kids could miss a lot of important stuff in a week.

 

:iagree:

 

Thank you. I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels this way.

 

:iagree: No, I won't take kids out either. Maybe an hour or two early on a Friday if we're going out of town, but I won't let them miss school unless they're sick.

 

one smart orange... :cheers::cheers:

 

Trust me, as they get older and are in higher grades, it's even harder for them to miss school. I remember in Middle School my daughter was out a few days due to illness. Since she missed the instruction, she couldn't really make up the work without arranging to stay after with the teacher. A few days of missed school turned into a few weeks of hassles just to get caught up. In high school, it's the same. Especially since there are only 4 classes, missing one day means missing alot of instruction time. In high school we ran into problems with teachers who could not stay after because they had conflicts with meetings or their own childcare issues.

 

To be fair, she said that her and her dh have very tight restrictions for when they can take off. I suppose you could ask them to still not take a vacation as a result of that, but I hate to fault them and their kids for them having crummy work schedules. It sounds like if she could do it another way she probably would. Besides, I remember the days before Christmas break being filled with watching videos and having parties.

I don't think parents should pull kids out if they have other options for when they are not in school and choose not to take them, but I do recognize that some families will have situations where it is simply not possible. I don't think that automatically puts them in the doesn't care about their kids education category.

 

I didn't say the don't care...................it just concerns me about missing an entire week of school. I think that should be avoided at all costs. But, that is just me and for my kid. Folks can do what they want.

 

Guess I'm the oddball here...

I do think it's okay, if you have a child who's succeeding academically, to take them out for a few days. Especially around the holidays, I've been known to plan a mini-vacation because we'll all have scheduled days off, and then let DD skip a day or two of school.

In the real world, people have mental health days, and take time off at various times of the year. I think you have to know your child's abilities, but if you feel like it's a slow time of the year instruction wise (holidays) and that they catch up easy, then go for it.

 

That makes two of us. There are boundaries for all things and its truly a matter of balance in your home and with your kids. We have taught our two young adult kids that family is always first. We've always stressed a higher education, setting and achieving your goals but your family is first, period. That's just our way. We took ours out of school for family vacations when we felt the need for family overruled everything else, especially when those were the only times they'd get to see their only surviving grandparents and other family members, being that I'm not from this area. Did it hurt their education, heck no. We asked for that weeks assignments, homework etc. and would they be able to make the missed test up, answer was always yes. Its a matter of checks and balances. To each their own and everyone will do things as they see fit for their own, no right or wrong, just different strokes for different folks.

 

We include education in our vacations (including school work every day) and think that it's important to spend time with family, especially with two working parents. Although it's not ideal to have a child miss a week of school, if carefully planned and with the cooperation of the teacher, I don't believe it's unreasonable to take a week off. And it's another lesson in balancing life and responsibilities. As the parent, I'm most qualified to decide whether my children can handle missing a week of school. And I really think my kids would be missing out on an important part of being a kid, and a valuable learning resource, if we didn't take family vacations.

And I really don't think that school is important above everything else. Of course it's very important, but children should be taught to lead balanced lives, including extracurricular activites, sports/exercise, hobbies, family time, fun, etc. I think it's important for children to be well-rounded, and I feel that there is an awful lot that I can teach my children outside of (i.e. in addition to) the school curriculum. Obviously it would be a different story if one of them was struggling in school, but right now that's not a concern. And I really like having the opportunity to expose my kids to new experiences, people, places, etc.

Ironically, half of our vacation restrictions come from my husband working for a school district. He is unable to take time off during the summer or early fall, and has to work several days during winter and spring break.

 

I agree with this too, students should only be taken out for doctors appointments or if they are sick. At the most a Friday or Monday could be taken off IMO

 

I agree. I just talked to my daughter's teacher because my mom is taking her to the beach this Wednesday - Sunday. Obviously because Friday is a workday and Thursday is early release, she'll only be missing half of Wednesday and half of Thursday. Her teacher told me because she is not struggling and she's doing good in school, she'll be just fine. She just told me some things she could work on over the weekend. So, I do think it depends on the grade level and the progress of the child. It may be more of a problem in middle school and high school just because there are more classes and teachers to deal with.

If as child were out sick with strep throat for a week, they'd have to make up the work. So, if they are out of school on vacation, they can make up the work. It's not ideal, but family time is important. If parents can only take vacation a certain time, I guess they could just prepare for makeup work and extra studying when they get back (or before they leave!)

 

My son is going to be out in October for a couple of band trips (out of state). It is not a vacation or illness, but he will miss class for a few days each time and will have to make up the work (ahead of time, I hope). I really don't think it is a big deal if it is not abused and the kid makes up the work. I taught public school for over a decade and it is in everyone's best interest to work with the student to get the work done, regardless of reason. We HAD to work with the kids with excessive absences even if they were questionable absences, so why not the ones who have other reasons. Again, as long as everyone is on board with what needs to be done upon return to class, I see nothing wrong with it. Just my 2 cents. You probably should discuss it with the principal first though. There is an approval process for vacations, or at least there was when I taught in JCS.