Who pulls the kids out of school to cruise?

We pulled the kids out several times many many years ago. Last year we pulled our 12 year old granddaughter out. We just let the school know a few weeks early so homework can be done early or on board.

I hope those who ask for work ahead of time realize that it is more work for the teacher. Yes, we’ve taken kids out of school for vacations, and while it’s nice to have a homework packet, I understood that the kids might have to make everything up when they returned.

I wonder if it's more a case that now, do you really "need" to take your kid to the doctor and the burden that places on some families. With the copay each time, I'm not going to rush my kid there if he's had a fever or cold for 2-3 days. But I'm also not going to send him to school. Yes, if something seems wrong or out of the ordinary, or has lasted for more than a few days without responding to meds, I take him in. But he's missed a day or two for a bad cough/fever. That's so crazy that they would try to fail your kid for missing that much with a real reason though! How about working with parents!?

Exactly, everything you said!

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We just took our 13 and 16 year old kids on a 7-day cruise. We chose a week when they had both Monday and Friday off school due to a Stat holiday and a Professional Development day. They only missed out on 3 days of school.

I let the teachers know in advance by emailing them, and they were fine with giving the kids some assignments to make up the missed classes. We also had to sign a form and return it to the office. Not a big deal.

I can hardly believe the rules and regulations some of you have to deal with regarding absences. Failing a semester for missing 5 days of school? Truancy court? Yikes!

We are in Canada, and have not encountered these types of rules.

None of that where we are in NC at our school, I confirmed with the school again today. Shew!

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Not alone! Pulling my kids last week of Nov this year. Pulled them a week in Feb last year. My district allows alternative learning. They are required to keep a journal and write an experience piece to share with the class.

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Taking a HS student out for a week that close to exams is not a good idea. Lots of review is done around that time and lots of AP exams are given around then.

Taking a HS student out for a week that close to exams is not a good idea. Lots of review is done around that time and lots of AP exams are given around then.

Our exams are 4 weeks after our trip

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I wonder if it's more a case that now, do you really "need" to take your kid to the doctor and the burden that places on some families. With the copay each time, I'm not going to rush my kid there if he's had a fever or cold for 2-3 days. But I'm also not going to send him to school. Yes, if something seems wrong or out of the ordinary, or has lasted for more than a few days without responding to meds, I take him in. But he's missed a day or two for a bad cough/fever. That's so crazy that they would try to fail your kid for missing that much with a real reason though! How about working with parents!?

As I said some people are very lucky that the school would allow children to miss school for what the county considered "not a valid reason" which means that your child was out of school without a dr's note or some other reason (usually a death in the family) In those days schools were much stricter about attendance.

I am not sure what your statement "need" to take your kid to the dr, means. When your child has a very red throat and a high fever it is probably wise to seek medical care. In our case our son had strep throat 4 times in one winter. It just seemed that no sooner than he would finish his med he would get it again. No matter how hard we tried to keep everything "germ" free he just kept getting sick. Our dr. said he had seen it before and he most likely would get totally better as soon as spring came. Sure enough as soon as the warm weather set in no more sickness.

Luckly for us our children are grown and on their own.

We took our kids out of school last Jan, our kids were 16, 13, and turned 11 on the cruise. It actually ended up being that the week we went was the final week of the semester and there were finals. I talked to the principal of the high school and he told me that we had every right to take our daughter out of school and that the teachers would work with her. It ended up being no problem and she was able to take her exams before we left. I'm so glad we did it, there weren't many kids on the ship that week and we had a fabulous time!

, but we've done it mainly to get cheaper airfare and hotel rates in Hawaii, not to mention avoiding the crowds. Pretty significant difference.

I don't have any children, so I'll acknowledge that it is not really for me to judge, however....I've often wondered why with all the fall, winter, spring, and long summer breaks that schools have, why not take children on cruises during those times?

The quoted post answer's my question best....it's the "bottom line" that I believe primarily motivates this decision by parents....;)

I don't have any children, so I'll acknowledge that it is not really for me to judge, however....I've often wondered why with all the fall, winter, spring, and long summer breaks that schools have, why not take children on cruises during those times?

 

The quoted post answer's my question best....it's the "bottom line" that I believe primarily motivates this decision by parents....;)

You are right on target. It is certainly NOT because they value education.

You are right on target. It is certainly NOT because they value education.

There sure are a lot of judgemental people making some far fetched assumptions! First of all I will only clarify a couple things....our family normally doesn’t vacation outside of the regular school calendar breaks, this year during our spring break there was no cruise during that week that was available going to the destinations we wanted hence the reason for the one we chose. Definitely, Bottom line is important to us, I have 2 Type 1 diabetics living in my house and with that comes a lot of medical expenses. So yes, we do look at bottom line. We have to. I won’t even acknowledge the comment about not valuing education, that’s just ridiculous. I DO VALUE our family time and the fact is this is something special we wanted to for 3 big milestones, 20 years of marriage, 13th and 16th birthdays. With that being said I’ll make an assumption that probably isn’t far fetched, I’d guess those who prefer to see kids on the cruises during school mandated breaks are the same ones who avoid those same weeks when booking.🤨

I thank those who commented with positive feedback or constructive feedback, those who are just being rude, hop off my post, take your negative energy elsewhere.

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A family member takes her daughter out of school each year, early in the school year so their family can spend a week at the shore and not pay top dollar. During a family reunion I helped her daughter w her assigned math work. Based on the difficulty her daughter had doing basic arithmetic, she should never take her daughter out of school. Imagine how the daughter will struggle all year long, not having a good foundation at the beginning of the year. Some parents are so self-obsessed- totally clueless!

 

 

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“Self obsessed totally clueless”..... HA! You have no clue. Do you have kids, school aged kids? I’m guessing no.

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While I don’t have kids, I think it is perfectly acceptable. Family vacations are an important memory and sometimes it can’t be avoided.

 

 

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This is exactly on point!

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As teachers we were unable to take our children out of school to benefit from less expensive holidays .

We felt it was discrepancy against those who work in schools.

(Although sometimes teaching assistants were allowed to take holidays without pay)

Sadly, in reality, we know it is all a question of supply and demand.

In recent days, schools in GB are far more aware of meeting attendance targets, even though there are strict rules regarding returning to school after stomach upsets.(48 hrs after last bout). Not applied in all areas.

Doctors would not necessarily appreciate the extra work but I like the idea of having Doctors' notes for absence.

 

I do find it very sad that parents who want their kids to experience the world and other cultures just really can't do this anymore.

A land trip could qualify as 'experience the world' if it focused on a specific area and had your kid interact with the local children. With whom does your child interact on a cruise ship?

As long as you don’t go on vacation WITHOUT your kids. You’re fine. I hate when parents leave their youngsters at home and go vacation. One or two night getaway is fine but not a whole week or more.

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As long as you don’t go on vacation WITHOUT your kids. You’re fine. I hate when parents leave their youngsters at home and go vacation. One or two night getaway is fine but not a whole week or more.

 

 

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Think times are changing. Just like when Mothers stayed at home, next generation went to work, now child-free hols.

We never went away and left our children until the youngest was 17. He stayed with grandfather for a week...! Older child..his Sister (19) was away at University.

Nowadays many parents deem it a 'right' to have a child-free holiday at least once a year!

Just the way of the world....good thing or bad remains to be seen.

Nope. You're not alone. There were lots of kids on my recent cruise around South America. One of the parents told me the kids were learning more by seeing the world than they would in the classroom.

I’ve heard this argument and don’t see it. Do kids learn more by seeing the world than a week of learning in a classroom? Absolutely. But those learning experiences are also available during school breaks; so it’s not an either/or choice. Full disclosure' date=' I don’t have kids. But my parents never took me out of school for travel and I agree with that decision. At least in the US, schools offer plenty of weeks off to spend with your family and to pursue developmental opportunities. The structure of school; showing up every day, whether or not you want to go, during designated hours, and having to concentrate on certain tasks during those hours - mimics the world of the working adult. For these reasons, if I had kids, I wouldn’t home school. School introduces children to the structured world they will be living in. And deciding that playing hooky for a week to have fun is rarely necessary.

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A land trip could qualify as 'experience the world' if it focused on a specific area and had your kid interact with the local children. With whom does your child interact on a cruise ship?

I think it depends a bit on where the cruise ship goes and how much interaction with other cultures the family has on board.

If every port visit is spent having fun on a beach or visiting the same ports over and over again, perhaps there is not much 'experience the world'.

However, as an example, we chose to cruise the Mediterranean for its very efficient way to get to multiple historical and cultural sites in a very efficient way - travel overnight in comfort- bringing the hotel room with you - wake up each morning in a different country and spend the day exploring ancient monuments, cities and villages - it sure was educational - and exhausting!

 

If every port visit is spent having fun on a beach or visiting the same ports over and over again, perhaps there is not much 'experience the world'.

 

I agree with this sentiment. I'm a former teacher, a parent and now grandparent. The majority of vacations during the school year are because of the desire to travel with fewer crowds and cheaper fares which is not a bad idea. I have read that some people actually think that they are giving their kids a cultural experience by meeting other passengers and the crew. Maybe that is giving the kids a wrong message.

One thing to consider is that vacationing during the school year gives kids the subtle message that school really isn't that important. As a teacher, I could never provide the same experiences for children to take on vacation. It was a folly to even attempt to do so. I just told the parents to work on rote learning, like math facts, keep a journal, and I would save the work the child missed.

A land-based trip to visit real history is one thing and quite valuable. A cruise to the Caribbean in January? Not so much.

I would appreciate a parent's total honesty than to try to convince me that the trip was a good idea. If you want to go on a cruise in January, fine, go and enjoy your family time, but don't ask for my approval. My opinion doesn't matter, but I didn't want to be used to diminish their guilty conscience.

OP - my husband and I feel we are the only ones who don't pull our kids from school for vacations. It's a decision we have made for our family, but we know many others (including teachers) who have no issue with their kids missing school, usually it is only 1-2 days and bookended around school breaks

As long as you don’t go on vacation WITHOUT your kids. You’re fine. I hate when parents leave their youngsters at home and go vacation. One or two night getaway is fine but not a whole week or more.

 

 

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Royalsfan - I guess we will have to agree to disagree. We are getting ready to leave on a week long vacation and the 13 and 17 yo are staying home with the grandparents, mostly being busy with school and practices, but also building memories with their grandparents. Our family takes vacations together, our kids have gone to overnight camps without us, and my husband and I take vacations without our kids. They were shorter when the kids were younger, but every family is different and has to make the best decisions they can for their situation.

I agree with this sentiment. I'm a former teacher, a parent and now grandparent. The majority of vacations during the school year are because of the desire to travel with fewer crowds and cheaper fares which is not a bad idea. I have read that some people actually think that they are giving their kids a cultural experience by meeting other passengers and the crew. Maybe that is giving the kids a wrong message.

 

 

 

One thing to consider is that vacationing during the school year gives kids the subtle message that school really isn't that important. As a teacher, I could never provide the same experiences for children to take on vacation. It was a folly to even attempt to do so. I just told the parents to work on rote learning, like math facts, keep a journal, and I would save the work the child missed.

 

 

 

A land-based trip to visit real history is one thing and quite valuable. A cruise to the Caribbean in January? Not so much.

 

I would appreciate a parent's total honesty than to try to convince me that the trip was a good idea. If you want to go on a cruise in January, fine, go and enjoy your family time, but don't ask for my approval. My opinion doesn't matter, but I didn't want to be used to diminish their guilty conscience.

Playing hooky to me is skipping school and being sneaky about it, not doing your work, etc.… Just for the record and not that I owe anyone any explanations at all because I have no guilty conscience whatsoever about our parenting or the morals we are teaching our children… Simply had the question of how many people actually do pull their kids out for a trip.....was second guessing because we typically may do a day or 2 once a year but not 5. Anyway, for the record our children know this is a big deal therefore planning in advance and possibly doing extra work and being willing to do so is something they have agreed to. Think about this, back in your day and everyone else that is casting judgment on those of us who are willing to do something like this, remember technology was nonexistent. Times have changed, unfortunately many people and their close minded ways have not.

Our kids will both be able to do classwork and submit assignments online throughout the week, there’s a little bit of give-and-take to make this happen.

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I’ve heard this argument and don’t see it. Do kids learn more by seeing the world than a week of learning in a classroom? Absolutely. But those learning experiences are also available during school breaks; so it’s not an either/or choice. Full disclosure, I don’t have kids. But my parents never took me out of school for travel and I agree with that decision. At least in the US, schools offer plenty of weeks off to spend with your family and to pursue developmental opportunities. The structure of school; showing up every day, whether or not you want to go, during designated hours, and having to concentrate on certain tasks during those hours - mimics the world of the working adult. For these reasons, if I had kids, I wouldn’t home school. School introduces children to the structured world they will be living in. And deciding that playing hooky for a week to have fun is rarely necessary.

 

 

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See comment above..... big difference in Playing hooky and what we are doing.....

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When kids were growing up we lived in NJ and always took the kids to Disney or other places in the beginning of November. All public schools in NJ are closed by Law in NJ either first or second week depending on the calendar on the Thursday and Friday of that week. Often , this falls during the week of Veterans Day and Election Day when most schools are also closed. Our school system actually closed the school for the week since it seemed counterproductive to go only the Wednesday of that week. It was funny in Disney because you would always run into someone you knew.

I am reminded of a post a few years ago on one of the boards where a woman found a way around the school giving her a hard time for taking the kids out of school. She unenrolled the kids from the school system, got transcripts and everything needed. When she got back from vacation just reenrolled the kids in the school. Don't think you could get away with this more than once but who knows.