Cruising in School Holidays

Now that Christmas is behind us I was wondering who takes their children out of school to cruise. We all know that everything is at a premium during the school holidays including cruising.

Are you willing to do it to save money...do you think a few days matters...or are you dead against it..

What do you think?

Sue

Now that Christmas is behind us I was wondering who takes their children out of school to cruise. We all know that everything is at a premium during the school holidays including cruising.

 

Are you willing to do it to save money...do you think a few days matters...or are you dead against it..

 

What do you think?

 

Sue

Holidays can provide lots of learning opportunities - depending on the destination and activities, kids can gain exposure to different cultures, learn about history or the environment or even just practice basic skills such as reading (reading information signs), geography (where are we going, how long will it take us to get there), maths (how much is it going to cost us to get in here? If we give them $x, how much change should we get back) and social skills such as small talk, table manners and waiting their turn.

DH is a school teacher and is taking long service leave for our cruise later this year - not only is it our first cruise, it will be our first EVER holiday outside school holidays. Our two boys will also have almost two weeks off school (primary school).

We'll be visiting the Great Barrier Reef so will be doing little age-appropriate fact finding before we go and will help them prepare a short show-and-tell for their classmates when we get back - they learn PowerPoint at school so can use that if they want to make it look snazzy. This is also what DH encourages his students to do if they go on holidays during term rather than giving arbitrary fractions worksheets.

For most families and children, taking them out of school once a year or so (except in senior high school) for a holiday that involves more than just swimming at the same beach as every other year isn't going to hurt and can be quite valuable in many ways and most teachers would agree.

Holidays can provide lots of learning opportunities - depending on the destination and activities, kids can gain exposure to different cultures, learn about history or the environment or even just practice basic skills such as reading (reading information signs), geography (where are we going, how long will it take us to get there), maths (how much is it going to cost us to get in here? If we give them $x, how much change should we get back) and social skills such as small talk, table manners and waiting their turn.

 

DH is a school teacher and is taking long service leave for our cruise later this year - not only is it our first cruise, it will be our first EVER holiday outside school holidays. Our two boys will also have almost two weeks off school (primary school).

 

We'll be visiting the Great Barrier Reef so will be doing little age-appropriate fact finding before we go and will help them prepare a short show-and-tell for their classmates when we get back - they learn PowerPoint at school so can use that if they want to make it look snazzy. This is also what DH encourages his students to do if they go on holidays during term rather than giving arbitrary fractions worksheets.

 

For most families and children, taking them out of school once a year or so (except in senior high school) for a holiday that involves more than just swimming at the same beach as every other year isn't going to hurt and can be quite valuable in many ways and most teachers would agree.

That is well put and so true and so how we think about it as well.

as we live on a working farm and most children do not know where food comes from.

My daughter is in Grade 5 this year and I have taken her out of school every year for a holiday overseas. We usually go for 5 weeks or so and link it to the September school holidays so she misses 3 or so weeks of school. I am a teacher myself and I make sure she keeps on top of her work. She always goes back to school ahead of her classmates. Nothing replaces the great time we have together and the wonderful learning opportunites - I mean where else can you do fantastic sceince experiments in your own kid sized lab - {Oasis } or explode your own volcano as you sail past Stromboli- { Carnival Dream] or hear lectures from naturalists while looking at real whales[ Catrnival Spirit] This year whe are discovering the Adriatc and The Eastern Med and I am sure she will go back having leanrt heaps. Jennie

I used to be dead against taking our kids out fo school for any reason but when we decided to do our first cruise, we decided to take them out. Not so much for the cost, I find that cruises are really not much dearer in school holidays, except over the Christmas break. School holiday cruises tend to be shorter than others & that is why we made the decision to take them out. We then took them out for the next couple of cruises. However, a couple of years ago we decided that we are not going to take them out of school anymore because they are in the late years of high school (our 2 youngest are now in year 11 & 12). Our last cruise was in school holidays in 2010 and as we don't like the shorter cruises we did back to back cruises so we were away for 18 nights. The kids had to have the last 2 days of term off. Provided you are not doing it too often and depending on what year they are in, they generally will not suffer in any way.

Some people seem to cruise about half a dozen times a year and take their klids out of school. Personally, I think that is way too much......regardless of what year they're in.

We have cruised with our 7 year old during school holidays and Christmas and Easter as well as during the school terms. She does not seem to have been affected at all, rather her geography and social skills seem more advanced than her peers.

Don't think it really matters during primary school and early secondary years.

I tend to agree with posters who say the benefits make it worthwhile to miss a little school. So when do you think would be the best time of year..I would pick the last week of school before the Christmas holidays..strikes me nothing productive goes on that week anyway.

Sue

We take our children out of school a couple of times during the year. Nothing more than 3 weeks annually. I think it is all part of their education. The school is agreeable and very supportive.

I probably wouldn't take them out for more than a week once they are in the latter years of high school.

For those of you wondering when is a good time to take your child out. Despite being an enthusiastic taker- outer at the moment I also would be hesitant for the last 2 years of high school. There is however in NSW at the moment a good window of time after the year 11 exams in at the end ofterm 3 and before the HSC work starts in Term 4. Not much happens there in the schools I have taught at as they are not allowed to start the HSC coursework and many kids are dropping subjects. Jennie