Taking kids out of school to cruise..

So I have been thinking about booking a cruise during the school year. My kids are YOUNG, they will be in kindergarten and 2nd grade. I'm a little nervous, but not so much seeing how young they are.. What are your experiences with taking your kids out of school? I would like to hear about older children as well as I want to continue to cruise throughout their lives. Thanks!

So I have been thinking about booking a cruise during the school year. My kids are YOUNG, they will be in kindergarten and 2nd grade. I'm a little nervous, but not so much seeing how young they are.. What are your experiences with taking your kids out of school? I would like to hear about older children as well as I want to continue to cruise throughout their lives. Thanks!

We always took our kids out of school for family vacations. They are now 22 and 26, both have graduated from University:D

I am a teacher and I am happy when my kids get quality learning family time with their families. I also take 3 a year with my 8 year old and my now 23 year old did the same. Some teachers hate it. I survived cancer and believe I can give him a lot of quality experiences and culture on islands. Many may not agree. I have an amazing boss who let's me be sick here and there fora few 4 days ones a year. More power to family time. In all honesty I can teach him in an hour what he gets in 6.5 a day ...

Idk, my personal opinion is that kids have so many vacations during the year, I think it's better to wait for a week in which they are off. Obviously for your younger child it's not really an issue, but your second grader will fall behind if he/she misses a whole week or more.

I plan on taking my kids on my vacation in oct/nov I already gave them a heads up I'm getting married. I just have to let his teacher next year know they (guidance counselor and speech therapy) didn't seem like it was an issue. But I have heard about some schools causing problems if a student misses a whole week.

We've done it twice. First one the kids were in 2nd and 4th grade.

Second one the younger one was a junior in high school. Issue with that one was it was weeks 2&3 of school to go to Rome. Principal was all for it, teacher's weren't. Kid aced 11/12 classes that year.

Check with your school district. Time out of school lowers their monies from the state (assuming it's a public school). Some won't allow any time off. Ours only will give a minimum 5 days off. Had to add an extra day to the first one to get the Independent Study.

There's lots of threads on the Family and Ask a Cruise Question boards.

FWIW you've opened a can of worms. These threads can get nastier than the tipping threads.

We just took our children out for a week for a cruise. They are in 3rd grade and 5K. We waited until the end of the year and when there wasn't any testing going on. They have experiences and see things that they would normally only read about. As long as it is well planned and the teachers know in advance then they are usually willing to work with you.

The only reason why I choose to travel over school is because I have a very demanding job, I work most holidays and I am able to take vacations, but not during some "peak" times. I of course want the best for my children but I believe that family time is important as well as I do work 65+ hours a week.

I took my kids on their first cruise in October 2013, my son was in 1st grade and my daughter was in preschool. There next cruise is next February and then an 8 day on Vista in 2017. They will learn more on these trips than they do in school, just because it isn't the "schoolbook learning" doesn't disqualify it from being considered learning.

Our kids do their work ahead of time before we leave for a break during the school year so that is not a big deal whatsoever. But during the winter the ships do not really have anyone for the kids to socialize with on board. Will it matter to them if there are not other children to play with? There will be very few other children.

Before you make a decision, the best advice I can give is to talk to your school district first!!

In 2010 our school district didn't care one lick about kids missing school for things like a vacation with a note from a parent. This year my youngest DS had pneumonia and missed 8 days of school in a row. I ended up in truancy court even with having doctors notes and the school agreeing with their "don't send your kid to school for 24 hours after they have a fever" rule. Today I just found out that he is going to need surgery, but it is essentially breaking his leg and he won't be mobile for 4-6 weeks. Yeah so not doing that before our August cruise and we come back 3 days before the school year starts, I already expect a fight again next year for him :rolleyes:

On the other hand my oldest DS goes to a private school for autism and other disorders. Their reaction to me telling them he is gonna miss school (their schedule isn't done for the year until mid-July because most of the kids go to the extended school year) was OMG that is GREAT! Here are some papers so we will excuse it for educational purposes.

Like was mentioned, most schools have an "okay" amount of time, but that can be tricky because then you have to either send them to school no matter what, or eat the truancy charge & fine if that is how the school district is.

Currently our June 2016 cruse youngest DS is missing the last 3 days of school and oldest DS probably a week. I am not 100% worried about that little time because well, the savings are substantial. Come to think of it, for younger kids (13+ in Pennsylvania missing school can result in them not being able to get their drives licenses) the savings might be more than worth the hassle fines!

It would be at the end of Jan most likely. I'm not able to travel during spring break. Plus before the holiday...that's not a chance either.

When my son was in elementary school, I pulled him out a couple of times.

Hes now 24. However, i remember writing a letter to his teacher asking for a good time to see her. We discussed what was going on in his class and what he would miss. She gave my son a package of homework to be completed upon his return.

I do remember her telling me that everything is not learned in a classroom. And that there are some kids who will never see outside of their neighborhood.

Now, when he reached junior high and high school. I never pulled him out. We went during school breaks.

I remember at parent and teacher meetings, she laughed and said when she asked my son about his vacation, he wouldn't stop talking. :)

The only reason why I choose to travel over school is because I have a very demanding job, I work most holidays and I am able to take vacations, but not during some "peak" times. I of course want the best for my children but I believe that family time is important as well as I do work 65+ hours a week.

I see nothing wrong with it so long as a concerted effort is made to make up the work if possible. Some weeks are less interruptive than others, so you'll need to keep that in mind. We are strongly thinking about doing it next year.

Yes kids do get alot of time off, but those are the most expensive weeks to sail. Also, it may be good for the kids but bad timing for the parent's work schedule. Summer and holiday breaks are simply not always doable.

Some school systems have no understanding or tolerance for family vacations during the school year. My coworker just returned from the Glory and took her grands. The Dean of the oldest read her the riot act! The girl is a good student. I couldn't believe what she told me!

Don't let anyone guilt trip you. Weigh your options then plan around what works best. There's plenty to learn from travelling.

I think it's probably not a big deal in elementary school, but I have had parents take high school kids away for a week when they are in my AP classes.

As someone who teaches a tough, one semester AP class, I have to say that that its unfair to the kid and the teacher.

AP classes are jam packed and missing a week for a vacation puts the students far behind.

Bad idea. The children's' JOB is attending school. You are setting up a bad example that it's O. K. to just take off when you feel like it. The tired example "Well, you get a vacation at work, don't you?" doesn't flush. Children get multiple days off during the school year, let alone three months in the summer. Only you can teach your children what is right. Unfortunately that's what's wrong with our country. Flame away, professional posters. I know you're going on the cruise anyway.

DH and I have taken our now 8 year old son and 5 year old daughter out of school to cruise on numerous occasions. Longest cruise was a 17 day Panama Canal cruise that my son missed over 10 days of Kindergarten. The school district my children are in states that if a child misses 10 consecutive days they will be dropped from school (meaning you must re-register them and there is no guarantee that they will return to the same class). We take them out of school occasionally throughout the year for smaller 4,5, or 7 day cruises and have no problems. I always remind my children that in order to cruise they must be doing well in school, continue to listen and keep up their responsibilities and if ever they decide not to do one of those then their cruising privileges will of course discontinue. We prefer to travel during non-peak seasons due to less crowds and it offers tremendous savings that can't be beat!

We don't regret at all taking our son on week long cruise vacations during the 1st through 4th grade school years. They are lasting memories for us as parents and for him growing up. They have increased his interest in learning history in middle and now high school.

However, now in high school, there is way too much homework to do it now. He'd fall way behind..

Do it while they are in elementary school.

I think it's probably not a big deal in elementary school, but I have had parents take high school kids away for a week when they are in my AP classes.

 

As someone who teaches a tough, one semester AP class, I have to say that that its unfair to the kid and the teacher.

 

AP classes are jam packed and missing a week for a vacation puts the students far behind.

Completely agree! My children are in second grade and kinder and I'm jamming all these vacations in because I figure by the time my oldest reaches middle school, cruising during the school year will be highly unlikely!

I wasn't going to answer because I live with major health problems and don't need the stress of anybody yelling at me...but since petro772 gave his/her answer this is what I have to say:

My children are grown up but I remain to say, a parents job is to show their child where their priorities are and that is at school. If you can't get away during winter and spring breaks they are off for two months during the summer, surely everybody can find time in that duration to take a family vacation.

My children are grown up, I taught them their only main priority and responsibility is really school to do their best, and vacations after the school year were their reward for doing well. I put my children first even though it might of been less costly and more convenient in taking vacations during the school year, I put my children first which is showing them where their priorities are, when they learn this as a child, they will grow up learning that work also is their priority and they be more successful because of what they learned.

Raising two grandkids.. and we have been taking them out of school for a week every year after Christmas.. for a cruise.

Both our honor students with some advance classes. . do all their work prior to the cruise.

One just graduate from middle school with an award for having honor roll all through middle school and indited into the jr. national honor society today.

I feel they learn more from visiting different countries and hands on experience is the best in the world.'

Bad idea. The children's' JOB is attending school. You are setting up a bad example that it's O. K. to just take off when you feel like it. The tired example "Well, you get a vacation at work, don't you?" doesn't flush. Children get multiple days off during the school year, let alone three months in the summer. Only you can teach your children what is right. Unfortunately that's what's wrong with our country. Flame away, professional posters. I know you're going on the cruise anyway.

Oh Please!

To the OP. You are the parent. You make the decision.

Personally, I would try to choose a week that had standardized testing going on, but you know, I am the parent that decided my children were not being educated and did home schooling.

I have 4 fully functioning adults with high paying jobs after they finished college on full scholarships. We went on vacation ALL the time usually trying to tie the trip into what or where geographically we were studying at the time. They are in their 30s now and are still always talking about places we have been or things we have done.

I have taken my children out of school before for vacation. I would do it again in the right circumstances. For young children your kids age I highly doubt it would be an issue. I've taken my kids out twice as there were older (middle/high school age). First discuss with the school. In High School you automatically lose your class credit (even if your grade passes) with more than 10 absences. You can appeal and certain ones are excused. Some schools will consider vacation excused, some won't. Also it depends on the child. My oldest never missed a beat from being on vacation during school. Last year as a Junior she left during semester finals. Came back and aced her tests. For my son it is a little different. I contacted his teachers to work with them to get assignments he would miss so he wouldn't be behind when he got back. You know your child and whether missing school will adversely affect them. Do whatever you think is best for your family.

I have 4 fully functioning adults with high paying jobs after they finished college on full scholarships.

Just curious--where did your kids go to college and did they get full academic scholarships or some other sort e.g. need-based, athletic, ROTC, etc? I know these days that merit scholarships are few and far between.

Amen!

To the OP. You are the parent. You make the decision.