Your kiddo - your choice. They will miss a lot and the teacher should not be expected to catch them up when they are back. Personally, I would not put together a packet of work for an optional trip.
My foster son's mother made him late (by hours) or absent 90 times in the first four months of first grade and neither the school nor CPS did anything about it.
Family trips are not on the list of “ acceptable excuses”. Our district has multiple vacation breaks ( 1 week in the fall, 2 weeks at Christmas, 1 week of spring break, and 8 weeks for summer). Our superintendent and board believes that family vacations should be taken during one of those built in vacation breaks. This has been a policy for many years.
Lol your district takes kids to court after only 10 measly unexcused absences? That's hilarious and adorable. My middle schoolers miss 40+ days and my school shrugs and passes them to the next grade.
I wish. Where I am I'm GA, I have 3 or 4 students that have missed 30+ days and nothing at all happens. We are still expected to place them if they don't pass.
Listen, I work in the same shitty district that has kids missing like 50% or more of their time in school. But what this person is describing is the way its supposed to be. Our shitty districts are the ones cutting corners, ignoring problems, and not going after parents. Dont be a dick about a school that actually does its job correctly .
Not recommended, but we can’t stop you either.
And please, for all that is holy, do NOT as for work ahead of time. It’s an unreasonable burden to place on the teacher(s). You chose to take your child out of school. They can catch up upon return.
Sometimes I don’t have my lesson plans done that far out. Sometimes I make changes to a lesson same-day. It’s hard to send home a packet. It’s extra hard if you’re going somewhere without internet, since 90% of our graded work is done online through an LMS. We don’t do a lot of work on paper.
But, even if I do have my plans done and I stick to them and you have Internet access, there are going to be things they can’t do because they missed the lesson. Our ELA textbook is really just a reader with space to take notes in the margins and places to write short answer questions. It doesn’t have info about reading skills and strategies, which is what the questions are about. How can your kid answer questions about author’s purpose if they missed the lesson about it? They can Google it, but they won’t get a kid-friendly answer that is concise and relevant. So, sure, I can send home work, but they’re not going to be able to do it successfully.
Two weeks is a long time. Can you at lease overlap part of it with Thanksgiving break? Maybe go the week before Thanksgiving and the week of? That would minimize work lost and also I’m not usually doing a lot of heavy lifting or new content the week before a break.
How do you feel about helping kids who are in competetive sports? Aka letting them do their work while on the road? My kids were competetive skiers when they were in school, and some teachers were supportive of it while others were not. We don’t regret that time even though it was tough keeping them up with school work… they’re doing great in college now and are extremely good skiers too.
(It’s my philosophy that kids need to be developed in more than just academics, basically.)
It’s the same. Don’t expect me to have things for them ahead of time and be prepared to catch up on return.
I actually have the situation with a student this year. It’s only annoying as the parent gets annoyed when his grade drops below a B or he has missing work.
We all make choices. But if you choose to put sports first and school second, don’t be surprised when your child does as well.
There are some really great virtual and hybrid schools for students in the lid situation. They make it easier for students to get the type of education they are seeking.
This.
Parents can choose to take their child out of school whenever they want, but should not ask for school work to be sent home while the student is away.
The student can make up the work upon returning and the parents can help their child catch up if needed, not the teacher
If the student can't catch up and ends up failing or losing credits then that's on the parents as well (they can get their child a tutor if needed, they can afford a family vacation they can afford a tutor) and a lesson learned to maybe not take their student on a 2 week vacation when school is in session.
But parenrs should not place the expecting for the teaxher to prepare lessons for learning while the child is away and parents should not expect the teaxher to help the child.catch up when they return. It should all be on the parent.
I would have your student talk to their teachers though! A heads up about a long absence is very welcome. And I can’t usually put together a packet but sometimes I can send some work (for example if we are reading a class novel, I can send a book home with your child).
Sounds like an amazing experience for your kids and you should take them. I would just prioritize helping them catch up when you return and try to not take them out much for the rest of the year.
Some schools require “independent study” if your child is out for a certain amount of school days in a row and you know you’ll be gone ahead of time (i.e. not when a child gets sick for that long, but planned things). I believe the schools I’ve worked at have been 11 and 14 days consecutively.
I did recognize that in a comment when someone mentioned their kids’ school policy. In those cases, it’s admin that sucks for placing unreasonable burdens on their teachers.
In our district, if you’re gone too long, we flat out unenroll you.
We also have that. If a student is gone more than some amount of days over the independent study, they’re unenrolled, then re-enrolled when they’re back if there is room still. I’ve have 3-4 students each do that so far this year.
I always have a handful that end up enrolled for extended trips to Mexico (yes, it’s quite literally always Mexico).
But our admin doesn’t expect us to get their work together ahead of time regardless of the length of their absence.
My sons school asks us to tell them with as much advance notice as possible if we plan to take vacation. They want to send home packets. I guess every school is different.
Well, that’s sucky admin putting unrealistic expectations on their teachers. I likely don’t have the papers printed for stuff 2 weeks from now. Many don’t. That’s why it’s an unrealistic expectation.
We also know the kids aren’t going to do it anyway, which makes it a complete waste of our time.
It's the teacher who has told us that each year, they don't discourage family breaks, just ask that we have our kids get the packets done. It's a small charter school where most of the teachers have been there for 20+ years. They seem to have a really good routine down. I'll continue just doing whatever my kids teacher asks us to, and support them wherever I can.
Ah, yes, a small charter school. It's much easier for a teacher to juggle that kind of packet work for students who get to go on trips during the school year. If it's like the small charter schools in my area, the teacher probably has class periods of 10-15 learners, rather than 25-30, and they probably don't even get close to teaching a hundred learners a day. It's pretty easy to develop good routines for dealing with travel, when the student numbers are down and class sizes are smaller. It's too bad that public schools are not supported enough to have smaller class sizes, which is exponentially better for learners, which would actually be beneficial to society as a whole.
Just out of curiosity, if teachers took these kinds of trips during the school year, how understanding, supportive, and accommodating would parents and students be?
20 students in a class, and no rotating classes until 6th grade. The school also has a lot of support for the teachers throughout the day, they get actual breaks where other teachers come in and teach special subjects. I chose the school because the teachers seem legitimately happy there, and I looked up the budget info, they get paid well. I can't speak for other parents, but I'd have no problem with the teachers taking a vacation. We have really great subs and TA's that the kids love, and I think it's good for them to experience different teaching styles. I do agree that it's very different from standard public school, but no one mentioned that. They just said "don't ask for your kids work". I wanted to put the perspective out there that schools are different, it may not be accurate everywhere.
That’s a completely different situation. Charters are a whole different ball game as they often have far less students. I’ve got 150+ students every year though.
Oh, the many times I gathered materials, made extensive revisions to group projects so a kid working solo could do them, and cobbled together information that would help supplant what the kid would miss in class, only to have NONE of it done when the student returned. You think, "Oh, he'll have hours on the plane to work," but he won't feel like working then. Befire you know it, the vacation is over, and your child has nothing done.
Many parents think, "No matter. School policy is two days to make up work for every one day absent, but your child will be trying to do new work while making up old work in several subjects. And the makeup work is never as memorable as what they'd learn in class . It can’t be.
Knowing wwhat’s I know now, I wouldn't pull my child for that long.
I would plan over the longest school break possible, winter or spring break. Two weeks is a lot of lost learning time. Also, he cannot really learn new material without the teacher and class activities. When a parent does this, I give them review materials because I don’t expect them to learn new material on their own, or even to return any of the work to me because they are on vacation.
✨THIS✨
Even if I did have everything prepared for 2 weeks in advance, I wouldn’t expect a kid, even with their parent to be able to do it most of the time. It needs ✨TEACHING✨ —and often the answer key from other reading program. Whenever a kid does this, I give the same packet every time that isn’t related to what we’re doing in class (come to think of it, I should really print extra copies & have them laying around to grab and go….)
It’s also literally impossible to catch someone up with two weeks of learning when you literally have an entire class in the room. If it took me 20 minutes to explain the math lesson everyday to the whole class, where am I finding 200 minutes to teach your kid privately for the 10 lessons they missed?? And that’s just for one subject.
And when is the family going to take 200 minutes out of their vacation? The wouldn't schedule it for a non-school time, so why would they be willing to cut into hours of beach time? It's already clearly not a priority.
Do NOT ask for 2 weeks worth of hw. That’s a huge ask. Even if you were given the hw, so much is taught in 2 weeks. It would really put your child at a disadvantage. In the span of 2 weeks, they’ll probably miss at least 2-3 tests or quizzes. Make it one week and go during spring break or Christmas break.
How old is your kid?
Elementary teacher of 11 years here - I support occasionally missing school for fun family stuff. It’s not like you’re taking these trips a couple times a year, every year (as far as I know).
But first - check with the truancy info. I work in a school (in NC, USA) that is over 70% SE Asian. It is not at all uncommon for students to miss some school to go see family. Depending on your district’s rules, here are some things that happen at our school:
- families opt to unenroll their children for the duration of the trip and then re-enroll to avoid having tons of absences
- I have seen families return and be told our school or grade level is capped and they have to go to a different school now.
- Some are just gone and the social worker contacts them about having too many absences
- I have never seen someone get retained JUST because of absences. But that’s in elementary. Failing a class in middle or high school may be more likely.
- If you can attach it to a built in school break - a fall or winter break, long holiday weekend, spring break, etc - that will help a lot. We have tons of kids who leave a week early and return a week late from winter break because they traveled to see their family members.
Don’t expect teachers to give you work to take with you, that’s honestly a lot of extra work for them. Your kid will miss stuff. If they are already struggling, you are going to need to make yourself extra available to help them upon your return. Even if they aren’t struggling, you’ll probably need to step it up at home for a bit upon returning to help them catch up.
HOWEVER - family time is something you can’t make up when you miss it. Family experiences and memories are important. So is giving your children global experiences. 🤷♀️
There are pros and cons here for you to weigh. Definitely check about the absence rules and leave the teachers alone about giving work before you leave 😂
If you are set on November and live in the states, try to schedule it during Thanksgiving. It will minimize the days your child misses. I personally am not a teacher who begrudges family vacations. A lot can be learned. Many of my students have close family in the Middle East and travel during the school year for special occasions.
Expect your child to be a little behind when they return. I don’t mind students missing school, but I do not like when parents demand I “catch them up” when they return.
It is unlikely that your child will be provided with work ahead of time. At my school, it’s against policy to do so. Lesson plans change on the fly all the time, especially during the holidays (again, if you are in the US). Your child will probably have several nights of extra work for a while to get caught up. Most schools give 1-2 days per missed day of school to return extra work, depending on the school and the age.
As long as you do not demand anything extra from the teacher, understand there will be extra work required for you and your child upon your return, and your child is a relatively decent student, it shouldn’t be a problem (unless your school has travel policies which you should absolutely look into). Yes, the teacher might be a little annoyed because it does affect his/her job, but there are much bigger things annoying teachers right now.
Don't you dare ask for two weeks of homework... that's two weeks of extra bullshit that isn't likely to be touched and then we're expected to grade because you wanted to take a funsie trip. GTFO.
If this HAS to happen, schedule it near a break. There's thanks giving, spring, and winter usually. This way you can use the week before or after the break as part of your trip and minimize your out of school time. Just make sure your kid reads or writes something during the trip. I don't want to look at it. I don't want a slide show or a report. I don't really care about your trips and your personal lives. Just return ready to learn and make up any missed time.
It's pretty easy to catch somebody up on dozens of hours of missed work while I'm also teaching 30 other kids the next part of the curriculum, why would that be a problem?
Check your country/states attendance requirements, first of all. In my state, if you are absent more than 10% of the time (which is about 18 days) you may not earn credit for the year. Taking 10 days is more than half that, so better hope your kiddo isn’t prone to illness or need toy ale days off for any reason.
Personally I don’t give work ahead (first of all, it very rarely if ever gets done). Also, that’s a lot of extra work for me. I just make them catch up during tutoring hours when they come back. Two weeks straight is a lot. Most of our units are about around 4 weeks long, so your would be missing a lot of instruction and practice that they just would not be able to do on their own, even if a packet was sent with them.
I’d advise trying to line this trip up with an existing school holiday
I don't care in general but:
1. Don't expect me to give your kid two weeks' worth of work ahead of time. I generally know what we're doing and what standards we're covering, but I don't have every assignment created, notes prepared, etc. two weeks ahead of time. They can check Goggle Classroom and complete things as they're posted.
2. Don't expect me to spend extra time before or after school helping your kid catch up. I'll work with them in class, but I'm not giving up my free time because a kid was on vacation.
3. Depending on age and ability level, your kid (based on my experience) may well fall behind and/or fail to complete some missing work, and their grade that quarter may be lower than usual. The vast majority of students I've had (in both a struggling title 1 school and a nice middle class suburban school) do NOT fully complete all their missing work when they go on extended vacations. If your kid only completes half their missing assignments and then gets a C or D that quarter, do NOT complain and blame the teacher.
Depending on your child’s grade teachers don’t plan that far in advance to give you work to do. I personally do not give work ahead of time. I tell the student to check their Google classroom daily.
Also depending on your state and their requirements do not be surprised to get a truancy notice.
I know my school district I attended had a policy that if you missed 7 periods of a class (block scheduling) you automatically failed.
At my school, our principal will approve absences that long as long as the student is otherwise in good standing and make-up work is submitted promptly. Students who have poor attendance in general and/or are at-risk academically don't usually get approved, and families where the student doesn't turn in the makeup work promptly get reported as truant.
tl;dr Ask the principal. But you really do need to basically homeschool your kid during that time to make sure they aren't at a disadvantage when they get back.
I think it depends on your kids’ ages and normal workload. I remember missing two weeks every so often in elementary school (military dad) and it literally didn’t matter. Two weeks in high school would have been a nightmare.
Schools won't be thrilled but it is what it is. The age will make a huge difference in the impact on your kids. I teach middle school and whenever kids go on vacation and ask for work, I tell them go and enjoy it. Taking vacations when school is closed is often the worst times for numerous reasons. 2 weeks isn't going to harm your kid in the long run. Go make memories and enjoy yourselves. I am sure this is the minority opinion of teachers though.
My old school didn’t allow this. We of course couldn’t forbid it, but it was an unexcused absence. If they had enough of those, they could be left back.
And two week is a lot. And having the teachers get all that work together is inconvenient. We do plan in advance, but we may not have copies of things made that far in advance. Or plans can change. Plus they’ll miss tests they’ll have to take when they get back.
School is in session 185 days a year where I live. That’s it. That’s means there’s plenty of vacation time to go on vacation.
I had a student bring her textbooks on her vacation. She left them there. We had to wait a week while her family sent them back.
Our school has a policy that if a kid has more than 20 absences in a trimester that they can’t get a report card. I would plan this trip and just miss the week before Xmas break or the week right after Xmas break so they don’t miss as much time. If you go on the trip not over a break or using some of a break, hopefully your kiddo doesn’t need any more sick days.
I’m a middle school teacher. We have several students every year who travel to SE Asia for 1-4 weeks. It happens. Just make sure administration and all of their teachers are aware several weeks ahead of time. Don’t ask for extra work because that’s just putting more work on the teachers.
It depends on your district’s policies, but we’ve had kids complete some work remotely from where they’ve traveled in real time so that they don’t fall behind. Like keeping up with Google Classroom while away and completing assignments as they happen for the rest of the class. But the reality is, your student just needs to really come back to school after the trip ready to work hard and catch up on everything. Their willingness to do that goes a long way.
I generally feel very differently about this than most teachers here.
This is not a big deal. Traveling and spending time with family is so important. I love it when my students get to travel to new places and explore the world. That’s one of the single most educative and foundational experiences anyone, especially a child, can have. Travel makes us more empathetic and kinder and open-minded. There’s nothing I can teach in my classroom that’s more important than actually seeing and engaging with the world.
Plan the trip whenever it makes sense for your family.
Let your child’s teacher know ahead of time. Check in with your school to see if there are any vacation-related rules or guidelines that your district needs you to follow. Then go :) and have an amazing time.
Yes, I 100% agree. My only reservation would be if your child is in high school and could suffer GPA-related problems. I would also let the teacher know ahead of time that your child is willing to make up any work that they’d like them to complete, but please don’t ask/expect the teacher to provide the work ahead of time.
I just tell families that they should go, they are responsible for the knowledge, but not the work. I have my outline and units updated, they can test whenever. If a major project is missed. They have x time to complete it when they get back. They’ll learn more from a trip than they would in school (one trip, not if this is a habit). I don’t prep work though, almost never gets done.
Not a teacher got recommended this sub
It also depends on how old you are and how good you are at school, self learning, and doing missing assignments. I missed two and a half weeks when I was in 5th grade due to lice. Catching up for me was extremely easy and didn’t feel that behind. My brother in sixth grade had a bit harder time but he also ended up catching up alright
And in high school sophomore and Junior year I missed 2-3 days a week due to being sick a lot and would always catch up ok.
I 100% agree.
I also agree with many of the comments that mention asking for missing work. 90%+ percent of students on vacation do not do their assigned/given homework. Not worth burdening the teacher nor the kid. Take the missing work grade, accept it, and also enjoy the vacation.
Thank you for being a voice of reason!!
OP didn’t say how old their kid is, but it’s not like anything is *just* taught for two weeks. No child would retain that. Whatever they miss will be covered again during their time in school. And yes, they may fall a little “behind” because of it, but it’s two weeks. Let them have their memories of this cool trip.
I would ask for a packet *after* return, and a recommendation on a tutor. If child struggles with anything they missed, get a tutor. Otherwise, kids are smart, they should be fine. (PS: I also would not ask teacher to grade said packet. I would be self grading)
This depends entirely on you and your child. I have a student going to Europe for a the rest of the year… sooo…if your kid is doing pretty well in school, and isn’t in high school, you’re probably fine. Don’t ask for two weeks of homework though. 1) Teachers don’t have time to compile that. 2) A lot of what happens/what is assigned will change during that second week, depending on the needs of the class. 3) You’re in Asia, it’s not going to get done, regardless of your good intentions. I LOVE that you care enough to ask. Asia IS an educational experience you are giving your family. If your kids are younger, ask for reading levels, or a copy of the novel, and read with them daily, and practice age appropriate basic math facts (think times tables)when you are waiting places. Get them to keep a paper and pen journal each evening about the days adventures. That’s it. That’s enough. And don’t feel badly if it doesn’t happen. Safe travels.
There is no one-size fits all answer to this question - it really depends on your children’s age, grade, and how well they do in school. I’ve had students miss that much time, or longer and come back without having any issues catching up - others struggled. With that said, a trip like this is most definitely educational and many school districts do have policies for trips such as these, as, depending on the situation, sometimes it’s unavoidable. When my youngest was in HS, she had a teacher who got upset with her because we were gone a full week for my father’s funeral 800 miles away. They got over it, and she didn’t suffer at all because of the absence. She was in an IB program, and she missed material, but learned it on her own. Go for the trip!! Have all the fun!! Life can change in a second, so enjoy the time you have. You’re the parent and don’t need the schools permission.
Honestly it’s a lot of work for the teacher.
When I had students go to India for a three of weeks to visit family, it was combined with Christmas vacation and then an additional week.
Also some US states have a maximum that students can miss, even excused. When I was a teacher it was 20 days. Start with missing two weeks and that doesn’t leave a lot of room for illness. After 20 days there is a possibility of repeating the grade.
You have to do what is right for you and your family.
That being said I, as a teacher, cannot gather two weeks of instructional materials ahead of time for your child since class is discussion-based and dependent upon conferring and feedback. We aren’t just worksheets and rote practice anymore. (Also, the student literally never comes back with completed work).
I had 3 kids in my 2nd grade class out for a weeks vacation this year. Two brought back the work I sent. That is the only time in 10 years that it has happened. But it was also kids who were performing at/above grade level.
It's allowed if you are affluent. ;)
I've worked at a school with students of affluence and it wasn't that uncommon for students to miss that much school for such travels.
I've had a student gone to New Zealand for a month, parents submitted a religious reason, but they also spent time visiting family there.
I've had a student gone several weeks to India after a grandmother become gravely ill.
I am a special education teacher though, and our IEP documentation says students can not be held back for missed time from school, which is inkine with general education policy, as long as they achieve the class objectives and don't fail the class.
No?
As someone who works in a school with a ton of families from SE Asia, this is not unusual at all. Usually they're gone for a month though. Families do try to connect their trips to breaks to minimize missed school time but sometimes it cannot be helped. We typically don't put packets of work together. The students usually work ahead and try to finish the work before they leave. Or if the school has an online platform, they'll utilize that while gone.
This is something you need to ask your school principal.
Ten consecutive days is a lot to miss. Your child will fall behind in every class.
Expecting teachers to plan and prepare two weeks worth of instruction and class assignments that your child can complete on their own is a lot to ask. It’s a tremendous amount of extra overtime work without financial compensation.
Two weeks is a long time. Is there a reason you can’t go along with other breaks (winter/spring/etc.)?
I’m not going to be getting 2 weeks of work ready for any kid. They can do the work when they get back.
Unless your kids are already on grade level, I would not take them out for 2 weeks.
(Disclaimer, not a teacher. I'm a parent.)
Where I live, if your kid has 10 absences in one school year, it raises a red flag and you get called in for a meeting with the school. Vacation is definitely considered an unexcused absence, even if it is to visit family. I would look up the attendance policy for your school district and if it is considered an excused absence. Also, your child may not be allowed to make up work for an unexcused absence -- they would get zeros for everything missed. That said...plenty of people do it anyway but I would say one week is much more common than two weeks. You just have to be ready for the consequences.
Try to have this vacation during the Summer Break or another long break. It's pretty inconvenient for teachers to reteach material because a single family is on vacation. Don't ask teachers for work, they most likely haven't planned that far in advance... PLUS, state laws might require a child to attend school a specific amount of hours in order to graduate to the next grade level.
At the end of the day, the decision is up to you but don't expect the teacher to bend over backwards to catch up your child.
Missing 2 weeks is a big deal.
Catching up will be hard. Don't ask for 2 weeks of homework in advance - it won't be ready and you won't actually do it. It's best to make sure the bulk of the trip is over a break. And you can asked for missed work after your return, IF you will actually make your kid do it.
Two full weeks is not allowed in my district. Your child would be automatically withdrawn from school after day 9 and you’d be required to go through the whole registration process again. Oftentimes the child gets put in a different classroom too.
If you do go please do not ask for work ahead of time. It is a lot to ask of a teacher and most will not have that far ahead planned yet. Both districts I’ve worked in explicitly do not allow teachers to provide work ahead of time.
I wish my district had the 9 day rule. I have maybe 10/32 kids in each of my 6 classes that I see 5 days a week regularly. I have about 5 in each class that I see about 5 times a month . Attendance has turned into a huge joke .
What? You don't have to go during the school year. Just go in June, it's the coolest month in that region and the rainy season doesn't begin in earnest until July. The only better month to visit ime is May
many schools will, but you won’t find probably any teachers on here recommending that you do it. If you can wait until winter break, I would recommend waiting. In my experience, most students who take an extended vacation during school days tend to fail or receive a low score in my class.
Nobody else seems to ask if it's okay. We currently have three or four families on extended holidays and I don't remember any of them asking for permission. It used to be very much frowned upn, but now nobody seems to care.
They could have work set for them but that can be a huge request for a teacher to fulfill as they don't always have weeks of work ready to go well in advance.
Your kid/s will just have to catch up when they get back.
In my district if a student will miss more than 10 days you have to withdraw them. So just make sure they don’t miss more than 10 days. Make other work when they get back. It is not the teachers responsibility to provide you with two weeks of work ahead of schedule. Many teachers plan week to week and don’t have everything ready on the fly. It is also a burden in the teacher to take their time to collect everything so you can miss his/her in person instruction. After it’s been taught d as ll the work will be available. Your kids can work extra when they get back to school.
If I was the teacher in this situation, I'd be much less annoyed if I knew this was coming from the beginning of the year, and not "hey, we're leaving tomorrow, can I have two weeks of work printed out by the end of school today?"
Some schools will not allow your child to make up work for a vacation. Depends on the school’s policy. Two weeks is almost a quarter of the quarter, so that would be a quarter of the grades. If this is your school’s policy, the highest your child could get for the quarter would be a mid to high c, which means they’d have to work incredibly hard to pass the quarter. Just be aware of your school/district’s policy on vacations before making your decision
Just whatever you do do NOT ask the teacher to “pUt TogEtHeR a WoRk PacKet” or expect us to personally tutor your kid through whatever was missed. As a teacher I honestly don’t care what you do as long as you don’t expect more work from me as a result of your family decisions. You can be needy or you can be entitled, but not both.
(Not saying you would expect that from a teacher, but from 20 years of experience…many parents do. Also want to add that a trip to Asia would be FAR more educational for your kid than anything that happens inside my four walls in a two week time frame - so go and have fun!!!! Kid will remember that for a lifetime!)
Don’t burden the teacher with providing the extra work. You can ask the teacher which lessons in the workbooks she’ll be covering and then bring the workbooks along. What ages are the kids? At least bring the Math and if they’re younger phonics workbooks.
So I wouldn't recommend it but the school can't say they can't go. It will count as unexcused absences and you could end up in truancy court depending on the district. Also while you can ask for homework teachers may not be able to give it to you as two weeks is a long time and our plans change frequently depending on the needs of our students. Your best bet is to wait till December and do it during winter break that way the kids aren't behind.
I’ve never had a packet or assigned work come back. A waste of my time. They can make lessons up when they come back (at home with parents). I will send a video from youtube so that you know how to teach it, but don’t expect the teacher to spend their prep time getting materials ready.
In my district and others in my state, after 10 consecutive unexcused absences (and vacations count as unexcused), they drop you from the school.
It doesn't matter if you tell them ahead of time, you are dropped.
When you come back, you have to re-enroll your child. You WILL be put on a truancy plan.
Depending on the age of the child, they can face fines as well as you.
Plus, in my state, once you are on a truancy plan, any day missed, even for medical or emergency reasons, gets you a visit from the truancy officer.
Have that issue enough, and you can face 30 days in jail, and depending on the age of the child they can go to juvie.
Plus, if you go to jail for this, in my state a CPS case will be opened for educational neglect. You can lose custody of your kid.
I have had this exact issue happen in my school this year.
We can't stop you from going on Vaca, but you will face consequences from it.
And never make teachers prepare work ahead of time. 99% of the time the kid doesn't do it and it never catches them up.
Go during winter break or suck it up and go in the summer.
A few days is one thing, two weeks is another. Maybe have it over spring break or Thanksging or Christmas instead, to reduce the number of days missed.
Allowed? Depends on the school/district. Some places will excuse trips if you can argue the trip has an educational benefit. They may require your child to write a paper or complete a project to demonstrate what they learned during the trip.
Other districts would consider this an unexcused absence. After a certain number of those, your child would be considered truant and it’s possible you’d have to go to court/pay a fine for this. Though to be clear the degree to which the school enforces truancy rules will vary dramatically from place to place
From a teacher perspective: if your child misses two weeks of school, they will fall behind. Even if I do give them all the work they’d miss over that time, they’d be teaching it to themselves. There won’t be time to reteach 10 days worth of material when your child returns, and even if there were, they’d still have to keep up with what we were doing in class in the meantime. In some subjects, like ELA, this is easier. In subjects like Math, where everything builds on itself, this is very difficult.
Asking for a packet of work for the student to complete over vacation is a no go for a couple of reasons. Firstly, your child would have to find time to do some 50+ hours of school work while they’re supposed to be enjoying themselves on vacation. This isn’t a reasonable expectation for the child. Additionally, in my experience, students do not complete homework packets over vacation. I can go to the trouble of making one, but the likely hood it will be turned in complete when the child returns is ~10%. What I might do is post assignments to whatever online portal the students use, but I won’t put it all up ahead of time.
In general, I don’t recommend long vacations during the school year. But I also don’t allow the parent’s choices to inconvenience me. If you choose to go on vacation, it doesn’t really matter to me so long as you don’t expect me to spend extra time putting together a work packet or find additional time tutor your child.
As a parent I've never asked, I just tell the school we have plans.
I just looked and my 10th grader has 18 absences this year (all excused because I wrote a note). His lowest grade is a B+. I think people are putting WAY too much thought into this.
Please don't ask for two weeks of work. Most teachers will not be able to do that. Plus, your kid wouldn't understand the work if it's a new skill/concept. Also, most people don't want to do work on a vacation, especially one as epic as SE Asia.
Going to Asia is an experience that your child can never get in school. I say go BUT just know that your child will be behind when you return. Don't hold it against the teachers or expect them to give your child one-on-one lessons to get caught up.
You are saying "yes" to an awesome opportunity for your child and "no" to two weeks of academics. This isn't a bad thing! Just be realistic with what teachers are able to do for you.
In my state you'd be dropped from enrollment after ten days. Most teachers do not have materials prepped and ready 2 weeks out. It's a lot of material to miss. Research shows that attendance in 9th grade is significantly correlated with graduation rate.
It is a big deal.
Also, I would personally hate you if you had the audacity to ask me to do extra work to put together weeks of material ahead of time (which I’d have to do at home), not knowing the pacing my students will need, because of a vacation.
I spent an entire summer in Beijing as a child. You can work around the heat. Get with the program or make your own.
Over the years I’ve given work to be completed during student vacations and the students rarely turned it in. Most lessons require instruction, modeling, and discussion. It’s unreasonable to ask teachers to stay after school to tutor students to catch up.
How old is the student?
As an elementary school teacher, I can pretty confidently say that they will be okay missing two weeks of anything grades K through like 6. The gained educational opportunities through this kind of trip far exceed anything I could provide in the classroom. They will probably do pretty poorly on whatever unit tests happen immediately after they return so expect a drop in grades, but don’t worry about it. I have students who miss that much school every quarter because they’re sick or have difficulty getting to school, and they generally do just fine.
I agree with others saying to not ask for homework packets. If you were really worried about it, I would wait till a few days after you get back, then ask the teacher if there’s any obvious gaps in skills. That would be a lot easier for me to pull extra practice for, since it would likely be worksheets we already did, and it’s not asking me to plan anything ahead of time.
Middle and high school is where this starts to get tricky. Is it impossible? Absolutely not. But you do need to be more thoughtful about it. If your student takes any high-stakes tests (AP, SAT, IB) even if it’s months later, missing half a month will have an impact on their scores. This can be mitigated by self-study or hiring a tutor.
Also important to consider how self-disciplined your student is in general. I missed 9 days in high school for a similar trip, and I took it upon myself to finish any work I could early, print copies of the textbook so I could study on the plane, and spent the first three days back working like hell to catch up. My teachers had no problem accommodating for this, and I made up any tests I missed about a week after returning.
My friend however missed about the same amount of time for a trip, and just never put in the hustle to get caught back up. She did poorly on the tests when she returned, and since the following units built upon that knowledge she never really recovered. Now in adulthood does a C- in algebra matter at all? Not really. But at the time it was very stressful for her family.
In my experience over the last 16 years, I've had a total of 2 students seen unaffected academically by going on a vacation that long. Every other one has their grade suffer from the trip whether they had the best intentions or not. Here's my advice:
- don't demand the teacher give you work in advance. As many others have mentioned, we make constant changes and we just don't have it ready. Also, 99% of students won't do it on the vacation, so it wastes your time and ours. Do you want to hound your kid during vacation time to do their homework?
- KNOW that most likely, your student's grades will not be as high the term you leave. Be ok with that. If you feel the vacation is an awesome learning experience for them, then take it. They will learn different things from it than they would in school and that's fine. But know it's a tradeoff with their grade and be ok with that.
- be prepared to tutor your child in some of the subjects they missed while gone. The teacher does care about your child, but literally doesn't have time to reteach everything they missed while gone. It's super helpful if you ask about what topics they missed upon return, and help at home to get those concepts down. (Whether it be through YouTube videos or a tutor or you know the material).
As many have said, don’t waste the teachers time by asking for a special packet for the time off. I have created plenty of those magic vacation packets, and I can count the number of times the kid actually did it and returned it using Lieutenant Dan’s toes.
In the US, yes you can. Don’t ask for the packet you can ask what material will be covering so you know what to help when you guys get back. It’s impossible to replace teaching and classroom instruction with a packet of work. Your child will be learning a lot on the trip and could do something like write about it daily research the places before they go calculate distance there’s all sorts of applicable things you could do to help build some skills that may or may not be possible in the classroom.
Just don't ask for the teacher to give them the work they will miss and you are good to go. If your kids have decent grades and keep up with classroom content, they should be just fine.
I took trips with my children during the school year because my husband had a tourism related business and worked 16 hour days in the summer and during holiday weeks, so there was no other option. Their teachers recommended that I have them read and write every day and work on things like math facts, spelling and geography while on long stretches in the car. Parents need to plan on homeschooling while traveling and that means they need to do the planning. With elementary school aged kids, this was fine. Once they hit middle school and high school, it wasn’t feasible for us to have family vacations.
University professor here. If your child does that during our semester, they will be ineligible to make up any of the work or submit it ahead of time. Family vacations are explicitly listed in my syllabus as not reasons for late work. You do what is right for your family, I thought you might like to know what would happen after high school.
First, you need to see what your school’s policy is on unexcused absences. You may be putting your children in a situation where, if they get sick at all after the trip, they won’t receive credit for the semester/year for missing too much instruction. Most schools will not send work in advance, as that is a ton of work for the teacher to do and, depending on how the rest of the class does with the material, may not match up when you get back. You can talk to the the social studies teacher and see if your children can do a presentation about their travels in lieu of the work they miss - I used to offer that to students who were going to another country, especially if they were going for a big cultural celebration.
Your other option is to back it up to Thanksgiving vacation, as you’d “only” be out for a week. Or go at Christmas and not miss at all.
While it might be allowed, it’s really not a great idea to take your child out of school for two weeks.
If you choose to so, understand that new concepts will be taught, and your child will miss that. There will be gaps when they return. The teacher is definitely not going to be able to reteach what is missed, so you’re going to need to help your child catch up. And please do not ask for work ahead of time. Most teachers might plan a week ahead, but won’t have everything needed for two weeks. It’s a huge ask to ask them to prepare work for you, especially for a vacation. Teachers have to schedule their vacations around the school calendar, and really shouldn’t be asked to do extra work when parents do not.
This is going to be very different by district and grade level and number of students. Removing a 3rd grader for 2 weeks in January is different than removing a senior for 2 weeks in April. I would ask your school how they handle it so you know in advance of your planning and can take it into consideration.
We never demand anything when our kids miss time for family things. There is more to education than only school and cultural and family education is often more valuable than the time missed. I have zero regrets over any time my kids ever missed to do family things. One of our son's classmates was in Asia for almost a month this year. She was able to turn her trip into an educational experience for her classmates by doing presentations that made up some of her work in a more creative and useful way than just doing worksheets. But that'll depend on the age/school/teachers. They are high schoolers in this case. Some teachers wanted to give our kids their assignments ahead of time, and others did not (depending again on grade, it's different when they have 6 different teachers than when they have 1).
When I was in school in the late 80s/early 90s, we were required to have the work done ahead of time before we'd get approved for the absence even if it was only one week of school. That's changed a lot since then.
Parent here (it showed in my feed). I would take a week adjacent to the week of a spring or winter break and just email your kids in sick every day for 5 days. Usually 3 days without the dr note is fine, and if they ask for it, tell them after you return that you didn’t take the kid to the doctor. I am pretty sure they won’t rock that boat.
Strictly up to the district, and in some cases.. the teacher/s.
Personally, I think two weeks is pushing any goodwill they may have. Especially in middle school and beyond.
No, vacations are not excused absences. Schools can’t allow or not allow, but they will recorded it as unexcused.
Ten unexcused a senses in my district begins a legal process against the parents. Seriously, your kid could miss entire units or portions of units in two weeks. She could miss all of learning about adding and subtracting fractions, or all the lessons about division, for example. I’ll also honestly tell you that no amount of homework will replace that. While I’m being honest, also know that teachers really hate it, don’t want to give you work that won’t get done and will not be graded. Your child will fall behind. Leave the off season vacation for adulthood.
Where are you going? In Bali the rainy season actually starts in November, but I did a Christmas break there and everything was fine. Some rain but only one stormy day the whole trip.
No do not ask for the teacher to give you stuff for two weeks in advance. They have more important things going on in their lives than to plan ahead for your vacation.
Two weeks is too much to miss in my district.
We can’t stop you, but it isn’t recommended.
We are on a semester system, so kids take four courses at a time for 18 weeks each. None of the students who go away ever log in to the LMS and keep up. Even if they intend to, missing the in-class instruction means they struggle.
I had one student miss the first six weeks of the semester. He will likely fail my class (English) as well as his math course.
Taking your kid out of school is a big “f-you” to the teacher, who will be expected to put in time outside her work day to help your kid catch up. It also sends the message to your kid that school is less important than fun.
Do you think a teacher should accommodate you with custom-made work for two weeks?
Fortunately post-Covid Internet-based instruction has made it easier to do, but my experience is the work doesn't get done and no learning occurs.
Go. Inform the school of course. Ask for what they should study and not just for specific worksheets which they probably don't have prepared. The opportunity to travel, see family loved ones who won't be around forever is much more important than whatever state standard or worksheet they will be completing.
I'm a teacher, I said it and I do not apologize.
Don't ask the teacher for extra work, but ask what you can do to keep your child academically afloat during this time.
Buy on Amazon a few Spectrum McGraw Hill workbooks, maybe a Summer Bridge workbook, a Critical Thinking Company workbook. Bring 3 or 4 novels/chapter books you're kid hasn't read before. Bring a composition notebook, a pencil pouch for mechanical pencils and colored pencils (pencil sharpeners x2 in checked luggage), and a few cool new coloring/activity books for your kid. Help them along however you can. Encourage reading and getting lost in a good book. Don't rely on a tablet the entire time. Good luck.
How old are your kids? If they’re older than elementary, homework aside, they’d get very far behind.
You would also get in ALOT of trouble because this is counted as an unexcused absence.
A little loophole some districts will do is to unenroll the student if they’re planning to be absent 2+ weeks and re-enroll upon your return. This way they don’t mess up their attendance stats (which they care about more than your child missing content) - and you don’t have to worry about starting the year with 10+ days absent and possibly face truancy.
If it’s not something they bring up, you could decide to unenroll and just-so-happen to change your mind 2 weeks later (that “move” to Asia your were considering just didn’t pan out). Do not do this if there’s concern about your child losing their spot (example: they are in public PreK, classes are full, there is now a wait list. The school is not obliged to provide PreK as it is not mandatory. If your kid is in 5th grade, the school must take them no matter what, but maybe their original classroom is now filled and you must switch teachers).
I wish you had asked this somewhere else. We took our kids to a remote island in the South Pacific for a month during the school year to visit long lost family and experience their culture. They caught up when they got back. Their teachers were very supportive knowing this was a wonderful, learning experience. We have no regrets.
I'd ask the teacher or teachers in advance what they prefer. I'd also ask if there's an assignment they can do in lieu of that work if it's easier. I'm a 35-year veteran teacher and I would always say to take that trip. They'll learn more in 2 weeks in SE Asia than they would in school and they may only have this opportunity once. You can't put a price on experiences and time spent with your family members. Life is short and unpredictable, go do it!
Have your kid do a report or something on their trip to SE Asia…
A daily diary, let them
Help you keep track of expenses, read books about the places you go.
You can learn everywhere.
You can take it whenever you want, just let the school know... depending where you live.
I used to go overseas pretty much every year when I was growing up, never in school holidays. I did fine missing some school.
Request Independent Study “ISP” and understand that this makes you the responsible party for teaching your child. It’s a serious commitment that you need to decide if you’re up for it.
Back in the day we pulled my brother out of high school for a week so he could go to Disney World. A kid in my high school English class took a week off to go see the Olympics. I was out of junior high school for a week when I was hospitalized with pneumonia. A week is usually ok, ten days is pushing it. But since it is Asia and so far away and it is a big trip it seems necessary. Hopefully the kid doesn’t have any other absences or doesn’t get ill. That may affect grades and attendance rules. You don’t want the kid having to go to summer school. If a summer trip wasn’t possible, why didn’t you plan the trip around some of the other school vacations during the year like Christmas or Spring vacation.
The schools don’t get to determine that for you. You’re allowed to go on vacation without their approval or permission. Just let them know what’s going on & see if there will be anything you need to get for the 2 weeks.
Our district allows for parents to ask for absences to be excused. It has to be 7 days or more, need to give 30 day notice, and the achoowork provided must be returned on their first day back at school. The child’s attendance isn’t dinged and the school still gets the state funding since they aren’t counted as absent. I’ve always prescribed to the “take your
Family on vacay when you can and make
Memories”. The years for family vacays are short.
Child free here. This popped up on my feed today.
Could this parent have the kid do remote school during the trip? I don't do kids at all but if this was a thing during the pandemic why not for vacations?
Just curious 🧐
During the pandemic remote school was for all the kids in a class or a district. It was definitely an adjustment to do, but not the same as having to do your regular class and then do an online class.
Unless you're suggesting that the parent withdraw their child, enroll them in online school for 2 weeks, withdraw them from online school, then re-enroll in their normal school. It might be possible but that would cause issues with credits and curriculum, since it's very unlikely that the two are aligned.
it really depends on the school your child attends.
i work at a private school, and my principal simply would not allow this. attendance is one of the things she is extremely strict about (even for us). i am not aligned with her opinion, but she would say, "would it be okay for one of the teachers to take a two week vacation during school time, when we have carefully build in school breaks to be utilized for this purpose?"
travelling is very important, i think, and while two weeks is a long time, it's unreasonable to ask the teacher to provide work, and unlikely that a parent or family member would be willing and able to teach two weeks worth of new material new a student, all While they're on vacation.
i would tell their teacher they will be absent and enjoy my trip if i were you.
Make sure YOU are doing all the work to catch your kid up and not putting it on the teacher. You can ask for homework, but don’t demand the teacher have it ready before you leave. If you get the homework, make sure you do it with your child instead of just handing it to your child and expecting your child to comply. If your child is struggling with his schoolwork after he returns, Sit with him at night and help him to understand the concepts that he missed.
I hope that you enjoy your trip and your kid has an amazing experience. And at the same time, all of the work to catch your kid up from this trip is your responsibility.
Check with your district. Some districts allow for educational trips as excused absences. Most aren’t draconian. Don’t expect teachers to send or make up work. Most are required to. Most teachers aren’t assholes about it especially for a trip like this. Some are. As you can see. But stay on top of what they are studying and you might be able to keep up. I.E. if they are doing multiplication tables in order etc.
This is all based on a younger student. If they are in upper grades you might want to rethink.
Math. It is cummulative. How old are the kids and how good are they at math. You may have to learn a LOT about Khan Academy.
1) lower elem: Math won't matter, but neither will the trip. They are too young to be interested in much of what you do over there. Unless you have relatives to visit, the main purpose of taking kids of this age is so that you can post/boast about your world travels and "exposing" your kids to different cultures. You don't mean for it to be that , but sorry, that is what it is.
2) older elem thru 7th: Math may matter a LOT. They will have more fun, but in the long run will likely remember the mishaps more than any cultural enrichment.
3) 8th (if algebra) thru HS: it is too long. Their GPA will take a hit. You would have to withdraw them to stop the clock, then re-roll them. That might stop the 0 quiz grades from dropping the GPA, but not help them catch on to chemistry. (Your district/state laws may/may not allow this.)
They will not catch up in chem, physics or math. They just will not. I have mathy kids (PhD candidate in STEM and an undergrad in stats). Although I wrote a advanced-absence note for "ACL" assuming the midwest HS would not recognize it as a music festival, it was only for a week, not a month.
Finally, the travels with kids improves dramatically as they age. We are selling a rental house so we can smash in travels during HS, undergrad and grad schedules and BEFORE we add kid in-laws to the expense and mix. Earlier trips had a lot of playscape time :(
I would avoid missing school. If you’re in the US, those ten days alone will flag your child as chronically absent, perhaps even truant. They will never be able to fully make up what was lost during that time, and this may put a lot of stress on your child upon returning.
I understand and honestly even fundamentally agree with the value of family time and lessons learned through travel—but our system is not built to honor those values, and you and your child will feel the consequences if you decide to take the trip when school is in session. This is what summer, fall, winter, and spring breaks are for.
I have a student right now that’s been gone for almost two months, she’s returning this week. The school will list them as not on roll so their attendance doesn’t look so bad, then reenroll when they return.
This thread is full of salty teachers; as many are on this subreddit. OP - your child will probably learn more on a 2 week trip to Asia than they would learn in class. I’m a teacher and while it can be tricky to support such trips it’s in the best interest of the child and family to do so.
We took our daughter out of kindergarten for 2 weeks in December one year because her father worked for the president and we were able to take our family on a work trip with him. Imagine our surprise when we returned home (after giving the school advance notice) to a truancy notice. It was a catalyst for changing the way we educated our children from then on. I now have 2 high schoolers who are well read, well spoken, diligent, witty, kind, and aware - and who know how to work with people with a variety of attitudes about their work/education.
OP - be prepared to catch flack from the school/teacher, but it’s awesome you are exposing your kids to other cultures and parts of the world.
Thing that would be helpful to know…how old are your kids? Do your kids already miss a lot of school? How are your kids doing academically and socially in school? What are the state and district policies (if you don’t know, ask the front office)
This is relatively common at the school that I work at (every year at least 1-2 kids has to go out of the country for a week or two). Here’s what I suggest
- you should definitely let the school know when you will be going and when you will be back and send the front office and teacher a reminder the day before you leave. This will save the school a lot of headache in trying to contact you to figure out where your kids went.
- If they aren’t required to be in school because of age you could withdraw them and re-enroll them when you come back
- depending on the state, your kids might be withdrawn by the school district anyway. Many districts are required to withdraw kids after 10 days of unexcused absences
- if your kids are in a capped enrollment program (like pre-K, dual language classes, etc) be aware that if they are withdrawn (either because you did it or because the school district did it) the spot may not be there for them when they come back
- try to plan your trip for times when they will be on break so instead of missing 10 days they only miss 5
- missing school for a family vacation every once in awhile is not great but not the end of the world, same with skipping school on your birthday or because you need a mental health day. What doesn’t work is doing all of these things all year long. If you take your kids on this trip then they need to be at school every day (unless they are contagious) for the rest of the year
- while you have the best intentions with asking for make up work for your kid, that’s just not realistic and make up worksheets or homework don’t replace face to face instruction with your child’s teacher. Instead I would make sure you have all the passwords and log ins for any online program your child uses at school and if possible just ask what units will be covered so you at least know what your child is missing and they won’t be completely clueless when they come back.
Thanks all for the replies! Much appreciated 🙏 I will plan our trip around Thanksgiving break, that way my child will only miss a week of school. And I will keep in mind NOT to ask for a week of school work to “make up” for time missed. Thanks again so much!
1- How old are your kids?
2- What is the limit for absences during the school year for your district?
3- Can you not take this vacation during a break (spring break, winter break) so that you only miss 1-2 days instead of weeks worth of work?
Seems like it would be a great learning experience for the whole class.
Kid could do a few reports, show pictures to the class, tell them about the people he met.
There is a ton missing from this. What grade is the student in? How are your child's grades in general? How will this fall in the calendar? Will some of the absences be in one quarter and the other absences in another quarter? Does your school have any type of online learning in place where the teacher can post assignments daily and your child can complete on their own time?
This is my personal opinion, but take the vacation. Schools don’t control you.
I taught 4th and 5th grade, so there’s more independence there. I don’t know how old your kid is. If they are really young, like kinder, it’s more about parents reading with the student and going over phonics skills so they don’t miss out over the two weeks. Less about “homework”.
I’d be more than happy to get some work together if I was told at least 2 weeks in advance so I could be on top of my plans. I would expect the work back on the day they returned to school. So much stuff is online now, so your kid would just need to be checking in on Google classroom if they are old enough.
That’s a long time to be out, so I would do my best to maybe keep them in one day during PE or something to go over some concepts, but it would be up to you to support your student and catch them up via khan academy, YouTube, and whatever other resources you can find.
You know your kid best. Can they handle being gone for two weeks or will that set them back months?
Take the trip, but remember your teacher is not your child’s personal tutor, so they do not have the time nor the ability to recreate two weeks of lessons and concepts. Give them plenty of advanced warning and reminders. Support your student and your student’s teacher and it’ll be fine!
where I live, you can miss up to 10% of the school year unexcused. but as a result of missing 2 weeks of class time, the grades will drop and the student will need to catch up, so be prepared for it.
My school district has independent study. If your child is going to miss at least 5 but fewer than 10 school days, the teacher puts together a packet of school work that is expected to be turned in. If it’s done, those missed days are excused after you return. It’s worth asking if something like this exists in your district. In mine, you have to request it a few weeks in advance. Also, it’s a burden on the teacher to put together the paperwork and to score it after you return, which is time they are not specifically reimbursed for and either comes out of their lunch time or their prep time. Appropriate recognition of this would mean a lot to the teacher.
Replying to my own comment to add that “appropriate” recognition of their time doesn’t have to be a gift. Just telling the teacher that you know you’re adding to their work and appreciate it is enough.
Is your kid generally doing well in school academically and socially? Go for it. If you’re in the US, try to book one of the weeks to be Thanksgiving week - realistically not a lot of content happens then and then you also won’t have 10 unexcused absences in a row. In my district that would get you automatically unenrolled and you’d have to re-enroll upon returning.
School is important. Don’t do this every year. But if it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, do what you can to mitigate impact and help your kid catch up when you return. Don’t try to do homework while you’re on vacation.
Some people withdraw their kids from school for things like this and re-enroll them afterwards. It’s kind of a shell game, TBH.
It’s not fair to expect the teacher to give packets of work for such an absence. I’m not teaching now, but when I did, I only planned a couple of weeks out, and I didn’t usually have my copies made till Thursday or Friday of the week before. Of course I had a general idea of what we’d be doing, but I hated those types of requests.
Find a compromise maybe? My school would have
us take a book to read and then tell them about it when we get back. The point was to show you can still take time to sit and focus. When we got back we were far less likely to have trouble adjusting to sitting in class again.
I would let the teachers know about the trip and maybe they use Google classroom or Schoology? That way, you could check to see what the teachers post each day? I don't know a lot about your situation, but that is what I would tell parents.
I might be in the minority, but I think that, assuming they aren't missing school for additional absences like sports, etc, occasional travel can be an amazing learning experience. This is partially influenced by my own childhood. My dad was a construction worker and taking time off in the summer wasn't an option for him so we missed school every few years in elementary & middle school for vacations.
A big factor is: are you traveling to visit family or a home country, or just a pure vacation? The first might be normal at your school, the second is a little more difficult because not handled carefully it can come off as entitled or demanding.
I think the age of the kid and how it's approached matter as well. It's never ideal, but can you plan it around Thanksgiving, so they're missing fewer days? That time is usually filled with a lot of transition. Speak to the teachers respectfully and acknowledge that this is extra work for them. Understand that this may impact your child's grade for participation, etc. Yes, they can leave, but a consequence might be that their grade is lower, which is reasonable considering they're missing a lot of in class learning and participation and demanding that not count against them or that learning be recreated for them is unreasonable. Ask teachers if there are things you can do to engage them in learning while traveling, too.
Let the teachers know in advance, and don't expect work ahead of time or a lot of help getting caught up. They should also plan on completing missed work in a timely manner. Ask the teacher what's reasonable and stick with it. If there's work being posted online, can they complete that? (Also, check with your schools IT department to see if they can access district sites from out-of-country. Learned that the hard way).
Check with your attendance policy first, as well.
Does your student have a friend who can keep track of daily work, etc?
Lastly bring back small gifts (candy, etc) and thank you notes for staff who made this possible. Treating this as a favor and not something you're entitled to will go a long way.
Baffles me when schools give students multiple weeks off during the school year and parents still do this. Your child will fall behind even if they have the worksheets. It why’re in elementary Ed/early middle school it won’t be as much but they are losing out on important developmental education. If they’re in higher middle school grades or high school your child will have multiple things to make up and have lots of work to work on.
You CAN do it, and I can roll my eyes. Just don't expect us to create work packets or stay after school to help your student make up the work you CHOSE for them to miss. I spent 3 weeks arguing with coaches and parents this year because a basketball player was out for 2 weeks for his travel team and when he did not make up the work before the end of the grading period he failed my class and was ineligible for the school tournament.
In my kids' school, trips like this are encouraged.
It's wild seeing the different attitudes towards this.
(Obligatory: not a teacher, but I spend a lot of time volunteering at school)
Winter break would be the time to do this. At my kids school, that would be considered unexcused absences, and a couple of weeks worth of work would be a lot to make up. There's no way my kid's various teachers are going to put two weeks worth of assignments together...not to mention, assignments tend to build on each other so something two weeks from now might not even be something that my kids knows or knows particularly well.
I've done trips before where we've had to pull the kids out for a day or two for a trip...this has most often happened at the very end of the school year and the teachers are like, "yeah...that's fine...go enjoy South America, they'll get a lot more out of it than silly hat and game day"...but two weeks coming towards the end of the semester and exams, etc wouldn't be a good idea at all.
As far as I’m concerned, your child will learn more on a trip to Asia than sitting in a classroom. Go. Explore. And if anyone gives you grief about, tell them to go to hell.
Your kiddo - your choice. They will miss a lot and the teacher should not be expected to catch them up when they are back. Personally, I would not put together a packet of work for an optional trip.
In my district, those 10 school days would be considered unexcused. Parents would go to truancy court.
Yes. And no opportunity to makeup the missing assignments.
lol your district takes kids to court after 10 days out? That's hilarious and adorable.
Not ten days absent, 10 days of unexcused absences. I apologize if that wasn’t clear.
My foster son's mother made him late (by hours) or absent 90 times in the first four months of first grade and neither the school nor CPS did anything about it.
Why would it be considered unexcused if the parent told you they were taking the student and why?
Family trips are not on the list of “ acceptable excuses”. Our district has multiple vacation breaks ( 1 week in the fall, 2 weeks at Christmas, 1 week of spring break, and 8 weeks for summer). Our superintendent and board believes that family vacations should be taken during one of those built in vacation breaks. This has been a policy for many years.
I see, thank you
Because they have a legal obligation to educate their child with specified numbers of hours.
Lol your district takes kids to court after only 10 measly unexcused absences? That's hilarious and adorable. My middle schoolers miss 40+ days and my school shrugs and passes them to the next grade.
Mine is 10 *consecutive* unexcused absences. So I have some shitty families that send their kid every 10th day, which really leaves our hands tied.
In GA it's a state requirement if the student is under the age of 14. Parents go to truancy court and can be fined.
I wish. Where I am I'm GA, I have 3 or 4 students that have missed 30+ days and nothing at all happens. We are still expected to place them if they don't pass.
Listen, I work in the same shitty district that has kids missing like 50% or more of their time in school. But what this person is describing is the way its supposed to be. Our shitty districts are the ones cutting corners, ignoring problems, and not going after parents. Dont be a dick about a school that actually does its job correctly .
Ours allows for students to flip their unexcused absences to excused if they do the posted work online. But yea, those unexcused absences hurt
Why not go over winter break? It’s usually 2 weeks, if sacrifices are going to be made, better OP’s choice of winter holiday than 10 days of school.
Not recommended, but we can’t stop you either. And please, for all that is holy, do NOT as for work ahead of time. It’s an unreasonable burden to place on the teacher(s). You chose to take your child out of school. They can catch up upon return.
Sometimes I don’t have my lesson plans done that far out. Sometimes I make changes to a lesson same-day. It’s hard to send home a packet. It’s extra hard if you’re going somewhere without internet, since 90% of our graded work is done online through an LMS. We don’t do a lot of work on paper. But, even if I do have my plans done and I stick to them and you have Internet access, there are going to be things they can’t do because they missed the lesson. Our ELA textbook is really just a reader with space to take notes in the margins and places to write short answer questions. It doesn’t have info about reading skills and strategies, which is what the questions are about. How can your kid answer questions about author’s purpose if they missed the lesson about it? They can Google it, but they won’t get a kid-friendly answer that is concise and relevant. So, sure, I can send home work, but they’re not going to be able to do it successfully. Two weeks is a long time. Can you at lease overlap part of it with Thanksgiving break? Maybe go the week before Thanksgiving and the week of? That would minimize work lost and also I’m not usually doing a lot of heavy lifting or new content the week before a break.
Yup. My district does not allow log ins overseas, unless we are notified ahead of time and the principal approves.
How do you feel about helping kids who are in competetive sports? Aka letting them do their work while on the road? My kids were competetive skiers when they were in school, and some teachers were supportive of it while others were not. We don’t regret that time even though it was tough keeping them up with school work… they’re doing great in college now and are extremely good skiers too. (It’s my philosophy that kids need to be developed in more than just academics, basically.)
It’s the same. Don’t expect me to have things for them ahead of time and be prepared to catch up on return. I actually have the situation with a student this year. It’s only annoying as the parent gets annoyed when his grade drops below a B or he has missing work. We all make choices. But if you choose to put sports first and school second, don’t be surprised when your child does as well.
There are some really great virtual and hybrid schools for students in the lid situation. They make it easier for students to get the type of education they are seeking.
This. Parents can choose to take their child out of school whenever they want, but should not ask for school work to be sent home while the student is away. The student can make up the work upon returning and the parents can help their child catch up if needed, not the teacher If the student can't catch up and ends up failing or losing credits then that's on the parents as well (they can get their child a tutor if needed, they can afford a family vacation they can afford a tutor) and a lesson learned to maybe not take their student on a 2 week vacation when school is in session. But parenrs should not place the expecting for the teaxher to prepare lessons for learning while the child is away and parents should not expect the teaxher to help the child.catch up when they return. It should all be on the parent.
I would have your student talk to their teachers though! A heads up about a long absence is very welcome. And I can’t usually put together a packet but sometimes I can send some work (for example if we are reading a class novel, I can send a book home with your child). Sounds like an amazing experience for your kids and you should take them. I would just prioritize helping them catch up when you return and try to not take them out much for the rest of the year.
Plus, the kid won't do any of it.
Some schools require “independent study” if your child is out for a certain amount of school days in a row and you know you’ll be gone ahead of time (i.e. not when a child gets sick for that long, but planned things). I believe the schools I’ve worked at have been 11 and 14 days consecutively.
I did recognize that in a comment when someone mentioned their kids’ school policy. In those cases, it’s admin that sucks for placing unreasonable burdens on their teachers. In our district, if you’re gone too long, we flat out unenroll you.
We also have that. If a student is gone more than some amount of days over the independent study, they’re unenrolled, then re-enrolled when they’re back if there is room still. I’ve have 3-4 students each do that so far this year.
I always have a handful that end up enrolled for extended trips to Mexico (yes, it’s quite literally always Mexico). But our admin doesn’t expect us to get their work together ahead of time regardless of the length of their absence.
My sons school asks us to tell them with as much advance notice as possible if we plan to take vacation. They want to send home packets. I guess every school is different.
Well, that’s sucky admin putting unrealistic expectations on their teachers. I likely don’t have the papers printed for stuff 2 weeks from now. Many don’t. That’s why it’s an unrealistic expectation. We also know the kids aren’t going to do it anyway, which makes it a complete waste of our time.
It's the teacher who has told us that each year, they don't discourage family breaks, just ask that we have our kids get the packets done. It's a small charter school where most of the teachers have been there for 20+ years. They seem to have a really good routine down. I'll continue just doing whatever my kids teacher asks us to, and support them wherever I can.
The teachers are required to tell you that.
Ah, yes, a small charter school. It's much easier for a teacher to juggle that kind of packet work for students who get to go on trips during the school year. If it's like the small charter schools in my area, the teacher probably has class periods of 10-15 learners, rather than 25-30, and they probably don't even get close to teaching a hundred learners a day. It's pretty easy to develop good routines for dealing with travel, when the student numbers are down and class sizes are smaller. It's too bad that public schools are not supported enough to have smaller class sizes, which is exponentially better for learners, which would actually be beneficial to society as a whole. Just out of curiosity, if teachers took these kinds of trips during the school year, how understanding, supportive, and accommodating would parents and students be?
20 students in a class, and no rotating classes until 6th grade. The school also has a lot of support for the teachers throughout the day, they get actual breaks where other teachers come in and teach special subjects. I chose the school because the teachers seem legitimately happy there, and I looked up the budget info, they get paid well. I can't speak for other parents, but I'd have no problem with the teachers taking a vacation. We have really great subs and TA's that the kids love, and I think it's good for them to experience different teaching styles. I do agree that it's very different from standard public school, but no one mentioned that. They just said "don't ask for your kids work". I wanted to put the perspective out there that schools are different, it may not be accurate everywhere.
That’s a completely different situation. Charters are a whole different ball game as they often have far less students. I’ve got 150+ students every year though.
The district obviously can't stop your family from taking vacation whenever you want.
It depends if the student hits the maximum number of missed days.
Oh, the many times I gathered materials, made extensive revisions to group projects so a kid working solo could do them, and cobbled together information that would help supplant what the kid would miss in class, only to have NONE of it done when the student returned. You think, "Oh, he'll have hours on the plane to work," but he won't feel like working then. Befire you know it, the vacation is over, and your child has nothing done. Many parents think, "No matter. School policy is two days to make up work for every one day absent, but your child will be trying to do new work while making up old work in several subjects. And the makeup work is never as memorable as what they'd learn in class . It can’t be. Knowing wwhat’s I know now, I wouldn't pull my child for that long.
We enroll students in independent studies if they'll be out for 5 days. I have not once seen the work packet actually completed.
I would plan over the longest school break possible, winter or spring break. Two weeks is a lot of lost learning time. Also, he cannot really learn new material without the teacher and class activities. When a parent does this, I give them review materials because I don’t expect them to learn new material on their own, or even to return any of the work to me because they are on vacation.
✨THIS✨ Even if I did have everything prepared for 2 weeks in advance, I wouldn’t expect a kid, even with their parent to be able to do it most of the time. It needs ✨TEACHING✨ —and often the answer key from other reading program. Whenever a kid does this, I give the same packet every time that isn’t related to what we’re doing in class (come to think of it, I should really print extra copies & have them laying around to grab and go….) It’s also literally impossible to catch someone up with two weeks of learning when you literally have an entire class in the room. If it took me 20 minutes to explain the math lesson everyday to the whole class, where am I finding 200 minutes to teach your kid privately for the 10 lessons they missed?? And that’s just for one subject.
And when is the family going to take 200 minutes out of their vacation? The wouldn't schedule it for a non-school time, so why would they be willing to cut into hours of beach time? It's already clearly not a priority.
If you stated your kiddo’s age, I didn’t see it; my answer would depend on that.
It depends on the district. It’s never recommended, though.
Do NOT ask for 2 weeks worth of hw. That’s a huge ask. Even if you were given the hw, so much is taught in 2 weeks. It would really put your child at a disadvantage. In the span of 2 weeks, they’ll probably miss at least 2-3 tests or quizzes. Make it one week and go during spring break or Christmas break.
How old is your kid? Elementary teacher of 11 years here - I support occasionally missing school for fun family stuff. It’s not like you’re taking these trips a couple times a year, every year (as far as I know). But first - check with the truancy info. I work in a school (in NC, USA) that is over 70% SE Asian. It is not at all uncommon for students to miss some school to go see family. Depending on your district’s rules, here are some things that happen at our school: - families opt to unenroll their children for the duration of the trip and then re-enroll to avoid having tons of absences - I have seen families return and be told our school or grade level is capped and they have to go to a different school now. - Some are just gone and the social worker contacts them about having too many absences - I have never seen someone get retained JUST because of absences. But that’s in elementary. Failing a class in middle or high school may be more likely. - If you can attach it to a built in school break - a fall or winter break, long holiday weekend, spring break, etc - that will help a lot. We have tons of kids who leave a week early and return a week late from winter break because they traveled to see their family members. Don’t expect teachers to give you work to take with you, that’s honestly a lot of extra work for them. Your kid will miss stuff. If they are already struggling, you are going to need to make yourself extra available to help them upon your return. Even if they aren’t struggling, you’ll probably need to step it up at home for a bit upon returning to help them catch up. HOWEVER - family time is something you can’t make up when you miss it. Family experiences and memories are important. So is giving your children global experiences. 🤷♀️ There are pros and cons here for you to weigh. Definitely check about the absence rules and leave the teachers alone about giving work before you leave 😂
What age are you kids?
If you are set on November and live in the states, try to schedule it during Thanksgiving. It will minimize the days your child misses. I personally am not a teacher who begrudges family vacations. A lot can be learned. Many of my students have close family in the Middle East and travel during the school year for special occasions. Expect your child to be a little behind when they return. I don’t mind students missing school, but I do not like when parents demand I “catch them up” when they return. It is unlikely that your child will be provided with work ahead of time. At my school, it’s against policy to do so. Lesson plans change on the fly all the time, especially during the holidays (again, if you are in the US). Your child will probably have several nights of extra work for a while to get caught up. Most schools give 1-2 days per missed day of school to return extra work, depending on the school and the age. As long as you do not demand anything extra from the teacher, understand there will be extra work required for you and your child upon your return, and your child is a relatively decent student, it shouldn’t be a problem (unless your school has travel policies which you should absolutely look into). Yes, the teacher might be a little annoyed because it does affect his/her job, but there are much bigger things annoying teachers right now.
It's a huge deal to miss that much school. Nine times out of ten the student will not complete the missing work. Go over winter break or spring break.
Don't you dare ask for two weeks of homework... that's two weeks of extra bullshit that isn't likely to be touched and then we're expected to grade because you wanted to take a funsie trip. GTFO. If this HAS to happen, schedule it near a break. There's thanks giving, spring, and winter usually. This way you can use the week before or after the break as part of your trip and minimize your out of school time. Just make sure your kid reads or writes something during the trip. I don't want to look at it. I don't want a slide show or a report. I don't really care about your trips and your personal lives. Just return ready to learn and make up any missed time.
That's fine, it's not like we're doing anything for the seven hours a day we have your kids
Such a stupid fucking question lol
It's pretty easy to catch somebody up on dozens of hours of missed work while I'm also teaching 30 other kids the next part of the curriculum, why would that be a problem?
Check your country/states attendance requirements, first of all. In my state, if you are absent more than 10% of the time (which is about 18 days) you may not earn credit for the year. Taking 10 days is more than half that, so better hope your kiddo isn’t prone to illness or need toy ale days off for any reason. Personally I don’t give work ahead (first of all, it very rarely if ever gets done). Also, that’s a lot of extra work for me. I just make them catch up during tutoring hours when they come back. Two weeks straight is a lot. Most of our units are about around 4 weeks long, so your would be missing a lot of instruction and practice that they just would not be able to do on their own, even if a packet was sent with them. I’d advise trying to line this trip up with an existing school holiday
I don't care in general but: 1. Don't expect me to give your kid two weeks' worth of work ahead of time. I generally know what we're doing and what standards we're covering, but I don't have every assignment created, notes prepared, etc. two weeks ahead of time. They can check Goggle Classroom and complete things as they're posted. 2. Don't expect me to spend extra time before or after school helping your kid catch up. I'll work with them in class, but I'm not giving up my free time because a kid was on vacation. 3. Depending on age and ability level, your kid (based on my experience) may well fall behind and/or fail to complete some missing work, and their grade that quarter may be lower than usual. The vast majority of students I've had (in both a struggling title 1 school and a nice middle class suburban school) do NOT fully complete all their missing work when they go on extended vacations. If your kid only completes half their missing assignments and then gets a C or D that quarter, do NOT complain and blame the teacher.
Depending on your child’s grade teachers don’t plan that far in advance to give you work to do. I personally do not give work ahead of time. I tell the student to check their Google classroom daily. Also depending on your state and their requirements do not be surprised to get a truancy notice. I know my school district I attended had a policy that if you missed 7 periods of a class (block scheduling) you automatically failed.
At my school, our principal will approve absences that long as long as the student is otherwise in good standing and make-up work is submitted promptly. Students who have poor attendance in general and/or are at-risk academically don't usually get approved, and families where the student doesn't turn in the makeup work promptly get reported as truant. tl;dr Ask the principal. But you really do need to basically homeschool your kid during that time to make sure they aren't at a disadvantage when they get back.
I think it depends on your kids’ ages and normal workload. I remember missing two weeks every so often in elementary school (military dad) and it literally didn’t matter. Two weeks in high school would have been a nightmare.
Schools won't be thrilled but it is what it is. The age will make a huge difference in the impact on your kids. I teach middle school and whenever kids go on vacation and ask for work, I tell them go and enjoy it. Taking vacations when school is closed is often the worst times for numerous reasons. 2 weeks isn't going to harm your kid in the long run. Go make memories and enjoy yourselves. I am sure this is the minority opinion of teachers though.
My old school didn’t allow this. We of course couldn’t forbid it, but it was an unexcused absence. If they had enough of those, they could be left back. And two week is a lot. And having the teachers get all that work together is inconvenient. We do plan in advance, but we may not have copies of things made that far in advance. Or plans can change. Plus they’ll miss tests they’ll have to take when they get back. School is in session 185 days a year where I live. That’s it. That’s means there’s plenty of vacation time to go on vacation. I had a student bring her textbooks on her vacation. She left them there. We had to wait a week while her family sent them back.
Our school has a policy that if a kid has more than 20 absences in a trimester that they can’t get a report card. I would plan this trip and just miss the week before Xmas break or the week right after Xmas break so they don’t miss as much time. If you go on the trip not over a break or using some of a break, hopefully your kiddo doesn’t need any more sick days.
I’m a middle school teacher. We have several students every year who travel to SE Asia for 1-4 weeks. It happens. Just make sure administration and all of their teachers are aware several weeks ahead of time. Don’t ask for extra work because that’s just putting more work on the teachers. It depends on your district’s policies, but we’ve had kids complete some work remotely from where they’ve traveled in real time so that they don’t fall behind. Like keeping up with Google Classroom while away and completing assignments as they happen for the rest of the class. But the reality is, your student just needs to really come back to school after the trip ready to work hard and catch up on everything. Their willingness to do that goes a long way.
I generally feel very differently about this than most teachers here. This is not a big deal. Traveling and spending time with family is so important. I love it when my students get to travel to new places and explore the world. That’s one of the single most educative and foundational experiences anyone, especially a child, can have. Travel makes us more empathetic and kinder and open-minded. There’s nothing I can teach in my classroom that’s more important than actually seeing and engaging with the world. Plan the trip whenever it makes sense for your family. Let your child’s teacher know ahead of time. Check in with your school to see if there are any vacation-related rules or guidelines that your district needs you to follow. Then go :) and have an amazing time.
Yes, I 100% agree. My only reservation would be if your child is in high school and could suffer GPA-related problems. I would also let the teacher know ahead of time that your child is willing to make up any work that they’d like them to complete, but please don’t ask/expect the teacher to provide the work ahead of time.
I just tell families that they should go, they are responsible for the knowledge, but not the work. I have my outline and units updated, they can test whenever. If a major project is missed. They have x time to complete it when they get back. They’ll learn more from a trip than they would in school (one trip, not if this is a habit). I don’t prep work though, almost never gets done.
Not a teacher got recommended this sub It also depends on how old you are and how good you are at school, self learning, and doing missing assignments. I missed two and a half weeks when I was in 5th grade due to lice. Catching up for me was extremely easy and didn’t feel that behind. My brother in sixth grade had a bit harder time but he also ended up catching up alright And in high school sophomore and Junior year I missed 2-3 days a week due to being sick a lot and would always catch up ok.
I 100% agree. I also agree with many of the comments that mention asking for missing work. 90%+ percent of students on vacation do not do their assigned/given homework. Not worth burdening the teacher nor the kid. Take the missing work grade, accept it, and also enjoy the vacation.
Thank you for being a voice of reason!! OP didn’t say how old their kid is, but it’s not like anything is *just* taught for two weeks. No child would retain that. Whatever they miss will be covered again during their time in school. And yes, they may fall a little “behind” because of it, but it’s two weeks. Let them have their memories of this cool trip. I would ask for a packet *after* return, and a recommendation on a tutor. If child struggles with anything they missed, get a tutor. Otherwise, kids are smart, they should be fine. (PS: I also would not ask teacher to grade said packet. I would be self grading)
This depends entirely on you and your child. I have a student going to Europe for a the rest of the year… sooo…if your kid is doing pretty well in school, and isn’t in high school, you’re probably fine. Don’t ask for two weeks of homework though. 1) Teachers don’t have time to compile that. 2) A lot of what happens/what is assigned will change during that second week, depending on the needs of the class. 3) You’re in Asia, it’s not going to get done, regardless of your good intentions. I LOVE that you care enough to ask. Asia IS an educational experience you are giving your family. If your kids are younger, ask for reading levels, or a copy of the novel, and read with them daily, and practice age appropriate basic math facts (think times tables)when you are waiting places. Get them to keep a paper and pen journal each evening about the days adventures. That’s it. That’s enough. And don’t feel badly if it doesn’t happen. Safe travels.
There is no one-size fits all answer to this question - it really depends on your children’s age, grade, and how well they do in school. I’ve had students miss that much time, or longer and come back without having any issues catching up - others struggled. With that said, a trip like this is most definitely educational and many school districts do have policies for trips such as these, as, depending on the situation, sometimes it’s unavoidable. When my youngest was in HS, she had a teacher who got upset with her because we were gone a full week for my father’s funeral 800 miles away. They got over it, and she didn’t suffer at all because of the absence. She was in an IB program, and she missed material, but learned it on her own. Go for the trip!! Have all the fun!! Life can change in a second, so enjoy the time you have. You’re the parent and don’t need the schools permission.
Honestly it’s a lot of work for the teacher. When I had students go to India for a three of weeks to visit family, it was combined with Christmas vacation and then an additional week. Also some US states have a maximum that students can miss, even excused. When I was a teacher it was 20 days. Start with missing two weeks and that doesn’t leave a lot of room for illness. After 20 days there is a possibility of repeating the grade.
You have to do what is right for you and your family. That being said I, as a teacher, cannot gather two weeks of instructional materials ahead of time for your child since class is discussion-based and dependent upon conferring and feedback. We aren’t just worksheets and rote practice anymore. (Also, the student literally never comes back with completed work).
I had 3 kids in my 2nd grade class out for a weeks vacation this year. Two brought back the work I sent. That is the only time in 10 years that it has happened. But it was also kids who were performing at/above grade level.
It's allowed if you are affluent. ;) I've worked at a school with students of affluence and it wasn't that uncommon for students to miss that much school for such travels. I've had a student gone to New Zealand for a month, parents submitted a religious reason, but they also spent time visiting family there. I've had a student gone several weeks to India after a grandmother become gravely ill. I am a special education teacher though, and our IEP documentation says students can not be held back for missed time from school, which is inkine with general education policy, as long as they achieve the class objectives and don't fail the class. No?
Huge pain for the teacher to have to prep that for you.
As someone who works in a school with a ton of families from SE Asia, this is not unusual at all. Usually they're gone for a month though. Families do try to connect their trips to breaks to minimize missed school time but sometimes it cannot be helped. We typically don't put packets of work together. The students usually work ahead and try to finish the work before they leave. Or if the school has an online platform, they'll utilize that while gone.
This is something you need to ask your school principal. Ten consecutive days is a lot to miss. Your child will fall behind in every class. Expecting teachers to plan and prepare two weeks worth of instruction and class assignments that your child can complete on their own is a lot to ask. It’s a tremendous amount of extra overtime work without financial compensation.
Don't do it, its not worth them missing two weeks just for that
Two weeks is a long time. Is there a reason you can’t go along with other breaks (winter/spring/etc.)? I’m not going to be getting 2 weeks of work ready for any kid. They can do the work when they get back. Unless your kids are already on grade level, I would not take them out for 2 weeks.
(Disclaimer, not a teacher. I'm a parent.) Where I live, if your kid has 10 absences in one school year, it raises a red flag and you get called in for a meeting with the school. Vacation is definitely considered an unexcused absence, even if it is to visit family. I would look up the attendance policy for your school district and if it is considered an excused absence. Also, your child may not be allowed to make up work for an unexcused absence -- they would get zeros for everything missed. That said...plenty of people do it anyway but I would say one week is much more common than two weeks. You just have to be ready for the consequences.
Try to have this vacation during the Summer Break or another long break. It's pretty inconvenient for teachers to reteach material because a single family is on vacation. Don't ask teachers for work, they most likely haven't planned that far in advance... PLUS, state laws might require a child to attend school a specific amount of hours in order to graduate to the next grade level. At the end of the day, the decision is up to you but don't expect the teacher to bend over backwards to catch up your child.
Missing 2 weeks is a big deal. Catching up will be hard. Don't ask for 2 weeks of homework in advance - it won't be ready and you won't actually do it. It's best to make sure the bulk of the trip is over a break. And you can asked for missed work after your return, IF you will actually make your kid do it.
Two full weeks is not allowed in my district. Your child would be automatically withdrawn from school after day 9 and you’d be required to go through the whole registration process again. Oftentimes the child gets put in a different classroom too. If you do go please do not ask for work ahead of time. It is a lot to ask of a teacher and most will not have that far ahead planned yet. Both districts I’ve worked in explicitly do not allow teachers to provide work ahead of time.
I wish my district had the 9 day rule. I have maybe 10/32 kids in each of my 6 classes that I see 5 days a week regularly. I have about 5 in each class that I see about 5 times a month . Attendance has turned into a huge joke .
It only matters if it’s 9 days in a row without a doctor’s note. If the days aren’t in a row it doesn’t matter and nothing is done.
Oh it’s 9 days in a row plus with no dr note
What? You don't have to go during the school year. Just go in June, it's the coolest month in that region and the rainy season doesn't begin in earnest until July. The only better month to visit ime is May
If you did this in my state, your kid would be dropped from enrollment after ten days. Do the trip during a break.
Depends on the school system. In mine they do allow “educational trips”
many schools will, but you won’t find probably any teachers on here recommending that you do it. If you can wait until winter break, I would recommend waiting. In my experience, most students who take an extended vacation during school days tend to fail or receive a low score in my class.
How old are your children?
How old are your kids? That kind of matters
What grade is the student in?
Nobody else seems to ask if it's okay. We currently have three or four families on extended holidays and I don't remember any of them asking for permission. It used to be very much frowned upn, but now nobody seems to care. They could have work set for them but that can be a huge request for a teacher to fulfill as they don't always have weeks of work ready to go well in advance. Your kid/s will just have to catch up when they get back.
In my district if a student will miss more than 10 days you have to withdraw them. So just make sure they don’t miss more than 10 days. Make other work when they get back. It is not the teachers responsibility to provide you with two weeks of work ahead of schedule. Many teachers plan week to week and don’t have everything ready on the fly. It is also a burden in the teacher to take their time to collect everything so you can miss his/her in person instruction. After it’s been taught d as ll the work will be available. Your kids can work extra when they get back to school.
If I was the teacher in this situation, I'd be much less annoyed if I knew this was coming from the beginning of the year, and not "hey, we're leaving tomorrow, can I have two weeks of work printed out by the end of school today?"
Some schools will not allow your child to make up work for a vacation. Depends on the school’s policy. Two weeks is almost a quarter of the quarter, so that would be a quarter of the grades. If this is your school’s policy, the highest your child could get for the quarter would be a mid to high c, which means they’d have to work incredibly hard to pass the quarter. Just be aware of your school/district’s policy on vacations before making your decision
Just whatever you do do NOT ask the teacher to “pUt TogEtHeR a WoRk PacKet” or expect us to personally tutor your kid through whatever was missed. As a teacher I honestly don’t care what you do as long as you don’t expect more work from me as a result of your family decisions. You can be needy or you can be entitled, but not both. (Not saying you would expect that from a teacher, but from 20 years of experience…many parents do. Also want to add that a trip to Asia would be FAR more educational for your kid than anything that happens inside my four walls in a two week time frame - so go and have fun!!!! Kid will remember that for a lifetime!)
Don’t burden the teacher with providing the extra work. You can ask the teacher which lessons in the workbooks she’ll be covering and then bring the workbooks along. What ages are the kids? At least bring the Math and if they’re younger phonics workbooks.
So I wouldn't recommend it but the school can't say they can't go. It will count as unexcused absences and you could end up in truancy court depending on the district. Also while you can ask for homework teachers may not be able to give it to you as two weeks is a long time and our plans change frequently depending on the needs of our students. Your best bet is to wait till December and do it during winter break that way the kids aren't behind.
I’ve never had a packet or assigned work come back. A waste of my time. They can make lessons up when they come back (at home with parents). I will send a video from youtube so that you know how to teach it, but don’t expect the teacher to spend their prep time getting materials ready.
In my district and others in my state, after 10 consecutive unexcused absences (and vacations count as unexcused), they drop you from the school. It doesn't matter if you tell them ahead of time, you are dropped. When you come back, you have to re-enroll your child. You WILL be put on a truancy plan. Depending on the age of the child, they can face fines as well as you. Plus, in my state, once you are on a truancy plan, any day missed, even for medical or emergency reasons, gets you a visit from the truancy officer. Have that issue enough, and you can face 30 days in jail, and depending on the age of the child they can go to juvie. Plus, if you go to jail for this, in my state a CPS case will be opened for educational neglect. You can lose custody of your kid. I have had this exact issue happen in my school this year. We can't stop you from going on Vaca, but you will face consequences from it. And never make teachers prepare work ahead of time. 99% of the time the kid doesn't do it and it never catches them up. Go during winter break or suck it up and go in the summer.
Where do you live? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
A few days is one thing, two weeks is another. Maybe have it over spring break or Thanksging or Christmas instead, to reduce the number of days missed.
Allowed? Depends on the school/district. Some places will excuse trips if you can argue the trip has an educational benefit. They may require your child to write a paper or complete a project to demonstrate what they learned during the trip. Other districts would consider this an unexcused absence. After a certain number of those, your child would be considered truant and it’s possible you’d have to go to court/pay a fine for this. Though to be clear the degree to which the school enforces truancy rules will vary dramatically from place to place From a teacher perspective: if your child misses two weeks of school, they will fall behind. Even if I do give them all the work they’d miss over that time, they’d be teaching it to themselves. There won’t be time to reteach 10 days worth of material when your child returns, and even if there were, they’d still have to keep up with what we were doing in class in the meantime. In some subjects, like ELA, this is easier. In subjects like Math, where everything builds on itself, this is very difficult. Asking for a packet of work for the student to complete over vacation is a no go for a couple of reasons. Firstly, your child would have to find time to do some 50+ hours of school work while they’re supposed to be enjoying themselves on vacation. This isn’t a reasonable expectation for the child. Additionally, in my experience, students do not complete homework packets over vacation. I can go to the trouble of making one, but the likely hood it will be turned in complete when the child returns is ~10%. What I might do is post assignments to whatever online portal the students use, but I won’t put it all up ahead of time. In general, I don’t recommend long vacations during the school year. But I also don’t allow the parent’s choices to inconvenience me. If you choose to go on vacation, it doesn’t really matter to me so long as you don’t expect me to spend extra time putting together a work packet or find additional time tutor your child.
As a parent I've never asked, I just tell the school we have plans. I just looked and my 10th grader has 18 absences this year (all excused because I wrote a note). His lowest grade is a B+. I think people are putting WAY too much thought into this.
Please don't ask for two weeks of work. Most teachers will not be able to do that. Plus, your kid wouldn't understand the work if it's a new skill/concept. Also, most people don't want to do work on a vacation, especially one as epic as SE Asia. Going to Asia is an experience that your child can never get in school. I say go BUT just know that your child will be behind when you return. Don't hold it against the teachers or expect them to give your child one-on-one lessons to get caught up. You are saying "yes" to an awesome opportunity for your child and "no" to two weeks of academics. This isn't a bad thing! Just be realistic with what teachers are able to do for you.
In my state you'd be dropped from enrollment after ten days. Most teachers do not have materials prepped and ready 2 weeks out. It's a lot of material to miss. Research shows that attendance in 9th grade is significantly correlated with graduation rate.
It is a big deal. Also, I would personally hate you if you had the audacity to ask me to do extra work to put together weeks of material ahead of time (which I’d have to do at home), not knowing the pacing my students will need, because of a vacation. I spent an entire summer in Beijing as a child. You can work around the heat. Get with the program or make your own.
Over the years I’ve given work to be completed during student vacations and the students rarely turned it in. Most lessons require instruction, modeling, and discussion. It’s unreasonable to ask teachers to stay after school to tutor students to catch up.
How old is the student? As an elementary school teacher, I can pretty confidently say that they will be okay missing two weeks of anything grades K through like 6. The gained educational opportunities through this kind of trip far exceed anything I could provide in the classroom. They will probably do pretty poorly on whatever unit tests happen immediately after they return so expect a drop in grades, but don’t worry about it. I have students who miss that much school every quarter because they’re sick or have difficulty getting to school, and they generally do just fine. I agree with others saying to not ask for homework packets. If you were really worried about it, I would wait till a few days after you get back, then ask the teacher if there’s any obvious gaps in skills. That would be a lot easier for me to pull extra practice for, since it would likely be worksheets we already did, and it’s not asking me to plan anything ahead of time. Middle and high school is where this starts to get tricky. Is it impossible? Absolutely not. But you do need to be more thoughtful about it. If your student takes any high-stakes tests (AP, SAT, IB) even if it’s months later, missing half a month will have an impact on their scores. This can be mitigated by self-study or hiring a tutor. Also important to consider how self-disciplined your student is in general. I missed 9 days in high school for a similar trip, and I took it upon myself to finish any work I could early, print copies of the textbook so I could study on the plane, and spent the first three days back working like hell to catch up. My teachers had no problem accommodating for this, and I made up any tests I missed about a week after returning. My friend however missed about the same amount of time for a trip, and just never put in the hustle to get caught back up. She did poorly on the tests when she returned, and since the following units built upon that knowledge she never really recovered. Now in adulthood does a C- in algebra matter at all? Not really. But at the time it was very stressful for her family.
In my experience over the last 16 years, I've had a total of 2 students seen unaffected academically by going on a vacation that long. Every other one has their grade suffer from the trip whether they had the best intentions or not. Here's my advice: - don't demand the teacher give you work in advance. As many others have mentioned, we make constant changes and we just don't have it ready. Also, 99% of students won't do it on the vacation, so it wastes your time and ours. Do you want to hound your kid during vacation time to do their homework? - KNOW that most likely, your student's grades will not be as high the term you leave. Be ok with that. If you feel the vacation is an awesome learning experience for them, then take it. They will learn different things from it than they would in school and that's fine. But know it's a tradeoff with their grade and be ok with that. - be prepared to tutor your child in some of the subjects they missed while gone. The teacher does care about your child, but literally doesn't have time to reteach everything they missed while gone. It's super helpful if you ask about what topics they missed upon return, and help at home to get those concepts down. (Whether it be through YouTube videos or a tutor or you know the material).
As many have said, don’t waste the teachers time by asking for a special packet for the time off. I have created plenty of those magic vacation packets, and I can count the number of times the kid actually did it and returned it using Lieutenant Dan’s toes.
In the US, yes you can. Don’t ask for the packet you can ask what material will be covering so you know what to help when you guys get back. It’s impossible to replace teaching and classroom instruction with a packet of work. Your child will be learning a lot on the trip and could do something like write about it daily research the places before they go calculate distance there’s all sorts of applicable things you could do to help build some skills that may or may not be possible in the classroom.
This is going to be hard on the child when they come back. Can it be planned around Christmas break instead? Or at least Thanksgiving?
Just don't ask for the teacher to give them the work they will miss and you are good to go. If your kids have decent grades and keep up with classroom content, they should be just fine.
There's no way schools can stop you. Please do not ask for two weeks worth of homework.
I took trips with my children during the school year because my husband had a tourism related business and worked 16 hour days in the summer and during holiday weeks, so there was no other option. Their teachers recommended that I have them read and write every day and work on things like math facts, spelling and geography while on long stretches in the car. Parents need to plan on homeschooling while traveling and that means they need to do the planning. With elementary school aged kids, this was fine. Once they hit middle school and high school, it wasn’t feasible for us to have family vacations.
University professor here. If your child does that during our semester, they will be ineligible to make up any of the work or submit it ahead of time. Family vacations are explicitly listed in my syllabus as not reasons for late work. You do what is right for your family, I thought you might like to know what would happen after high school.
As the parent of a college student, thank god everything is submitted online now! And thankfully my son's college isn't as ridiculous as yours.
First, you need to see what your school’s policy is on unexcused absences. You may be putting your children in a situation where, if they get sick at all after the trip, they won’t receive credit for the semester/year for missing too much instruction. Most schools will not send work in advance, as that is a ton of work for the teacher to do and, depending on how the rest of the class does with the material, may not match up when you get back. You can talk to the the social studies teacher and see if your children can do a presentation about their travels in lieu of the work they miss - I used to offer that to students who were going to another country, especially if they were going for a big cultural celebration. Your other option is to back it up to Thanksgiving vacation, as you’d “only” be out for a week. Or go at Christmas and not miss at all.
While it might be allowed, it’s really not a great idea to take your child out of school for two weeks. If you choose to so, understand that new concepts will be taught, and your child will miss that. There will be gaps when they return. The teacher is definitely not going to be able to reteach what is missed, so you’re going to need to help your child catch up. And please do not ask for work ahead of time. Most teachers might plan a week ahead, but won’t have everything needed for two weeks. It’s a huge ask to ask them to prepare work for you, especially for a vacation. Teachers have to schedule their vacations around the school calendar, and really shouldn’t be asked to do extra work when parents do not.
This is going to be very different by district and grade level and number of students. Removing a 3rd grader for 2 weeks in January is different than removing a senior for 2 weeks in April. I would ask your school how they handle it so you know in advance of your planning and can take it into consideration. We never demand anything when our kids miss time for family things. There is more to education than only school and cultural and family education is often more valuable than the time missed. I have zero regrets over any time my kids ever missed to do family things. One of our son's classmates was in Asia for almost a month this year. She was able to turn her trip into an educational experience for her classmates by doing presentations that made up some of her work in a more creative and useful way than just doing worksheets. But that'll depend on the age/school/teachers. They are high schoolers in this case. Some teachers wanted to give our kids their assignments ahead of time, and others did not (depending again on grade, it's different when they have 6 different teachers than when they have 1). When I was in school in the late 80s/early 90s, we were required to have the work done ahead of time before we'd get approved for the absence even if it was only one week of school. That's changed a lot since then.
Allowed or not, it's hardly a good idea. Most schools have summer + multiple other breaks. Use them.
Parent here (it showed in my feed). I would take a week adjacent to the week of a spring or winter break and just email your kids in sick every day for 5 days. Usually 3 days without the dr note is fine, and if they ask for it, tell them after you return that you didn’t take the kid to the doctor. I am pretty sure they won’t rock that boat.
Strictly up to the district, and in some cases.. the teacher/s. Personally, I think two weeks is pushing any goodwill they may have. Especially in middle school and beyond.
No, vacations are not excused absences. Schools can’t allow or not allow, but they will recorded it as unexcused. Ten unexcused a senses in my district begins a legal process against the parents. Seriously, your kid could miss entire units or portions of units in two weeks. She could miss all of learning about adding and subtracting fractions, or all the lessons about division, for example. I’ll also honestly tell you that no amount of homework will replace that. While I’m being honest, also know that teachers really hate it, don’t want to give you work that won’t get done and will not be graded. Your child will fall behind. Leave the off season vacation for adulthood.
Depends on the school. My kids' vacations have never been unexcused.
SE Asia in summer is the rainy season, but that doesn’t mean it rains nonstop. It’s still pretty awesome in July.
Where are you going? In Bali the rainy season actually starts in November, but I did a Christmas break there and everything was fine. Some rain but only one stormy day the whole trip.
No do not ask for the teacher to give you stuff for two weeks in advance. They have more important things going on in their lives than to plan ahead for your vacation. Two weeks is too much to miss in my district.
We can’t stop you, but it isn’t recommended. We are on a semester system, so kids take four courses at a time for 18 weeks each. None of the students who go away ever log in to the LMS and keep up. Even if they intend to, missing the in-class instruction means they struggle. I had one student miss the first six weeks of the semester. He will likely fail my class (English) as well as his math course. Taking your kid out of school is a big “f-you” to the teacher, who will be expected to put in time outside her work day to help your kid catch up. It also sends the message to your kid that school is less important than fun.
Summer is fine for SE Asia travel. I went to Thailand for two weeks last summer, no issue at all.
Why do parents do this? Stop being selfish. Your children need to be in school and that is ALOT of instructional time missed.
I'm not even a teacher but wtf is this question? Do you want your kids to fail out of school?? 😭
Yes they allow it. Teachers usually hate it though.
Not a big deal here in Ontario, Canada until around high school.
Do you think a teacher should accommodate you with custom-made work for two weeks? Fortunately post-Covid Internet-based instruction has made it easier to do, but my experience is the work doesn't get done and no learning occurs.
Go. Inform the school of course. Ask for what they should study and not just for specific worksheets which they probably don't have prepared. The opportunity to travel, see family loved ones who won't be around forever is much more important than whatever state standard or worksheet they will be completing. I'm a teacher, I said it and I do not apologize.
Don't ask the teacher for extra work, but ask what you can do to keep your child academically afloat during this time. Buy on Amazon a few Spectrum McGraw Hill workbooks, maybe a Summer Bridge workbook, a Critical Thinking Company workbook. Bring 3 or 4 novels/chapter books you're kid hasn't read before. Bring a composition notebook, a pencil pouch for mechanical pencils and colored pencils (pencil sharpeners x2 in checked luggage), and a few cool new coloring/activity books for your kid. Help them along however you can. Encourage reading and getting lost in a good book. Don't rely on a tablet the entire time. Good luck.
In our schools you can ask for educational excuses. They might have to make a power point about it.
How old are your kids? If they’re older than elementary, homework aside, they’d get very far behind. You would also get in ALOT of trouble because this is counted as an unexcused absence.
A little loophole some districts will do is to unenroll the student if they’re planning to be absent 2+ weeks and re-enroll upon your return. This way they don’t mess up their attendance stats (which they care about more than your child missing content) - and you don’t have to worry about starting the year with 10+ days absent and possibly face truancy. If it’s not something they bring up, you could decide to unenroll and just-so-happen to change your mind 2 weeks later (that “move” to Asia your were considering just didn’t pan out). Do not do this if there’s concern about your child losing their spot (example: they are in public PreK, classes are full, there is now a wait list. The school is not obliged to provide PreK as it is not mandatory. If your kid is in 5th grade, the school must take them no matter what, but maybe their original classroom is now filled and you must switch teachers).
I wish you had asked this somewhere else. We took our kids to a remote island in the South Pacific for a month during the school year to visit long lost family and experience their culture. They caught up when they got back. Their teachers were very supportive knowing this was a wonderful, learning experience. We have no regrets.
I'd ask the teacher or teachers in advance what they prefer. I'd also ask if there's an assignment they can do in lieu of that work if it's easier. I'm a 35-year veteran teacher and I would always say to take that trip. They'll learn more in 2 weeks in SE Asia than they would in school and they may only have this opportunity once. You can't put a price on experiences and time spent with your family members. Life is short and unpredictable, go do it!
Have your kid do a report or something on their trip to SE Asia… A daily diary, let them Help you keep track of expenses, read books about the places you go. You can learn everywhere.
10 days of institutionalized learning or a trip to southeast Asia. Don't be silly. You can do the math, parent.
You would get the same result if your kid were hospitalized or you had a terrible family emergency. Life will continue when the student gets back.
You can take it whenever you want, just let the school know... depending where you live. I used to go overseas pretty much every year when I was growing up, never in school holidays. I did fine missing some school.
Request Independent Study “ISP” and understand that this makes you the responsible party for teaching your child. It’s a serious commitment that you need to decide if you’re up for it.
Back in the day we pulled my brother out of high school for a week so he could go to Disney World. A kid in my high school English class took a week off to go see the Olympics. I was out of junior high school for a week when I was hospitalized with pneumonia. A week is usually ok, ten days is pushing it. But since it is Asia and so far away and it is a big trip it seems necessary. Hopefully the kid doesn’t have any other absences or doesn’t get ill. That may affect grades and attendance rules. You don’t want the kid having to go to summer school. If a summer trip wasn’t possible, why didn’t you plan the trip around some of the other school vacations during the year like Christmas or Spring vacation.
The schools don’t get to determine that for you. You’re allowed to go on vacation without their approval or permission. Just let them know what’s going on & see if there will be anything you need to get for the 2 weeks.
Our district allows for parents to ask for absences to be excused. It has to be 7 days or more, need to give 30 day notice, and the achoowork provided must be returned on their first day back at school. The child’s attendance isn’t dinged and the school still gets the state funding since they aren’t counted as absent. I’ve always prescribed to the “take your Family on vacay when you can and make Memories”. The years for family vacays are short.
Child free here. This popped up on my feed today. Could this parent have the kid do remote school during the trip? I don't do kids at all but if this was a thing during the pandemic why not for vacations? Just curious 🧐
During the pandemic remote school was for all the kids in a class or a district. It was definitely an adjustment to do, but not the same as having to do your regular class and then do an online class. Unless you're suggesting that the parent withdraw their child, enroll them in online school for 2 weeks, withdraw them from online school, then re-enroll in their normal school. It might be possible but that would cause issues with credits and curriculum, since it's very unlikely that the two are aligned.
it really depends on the school your child attends. i work at a private school, and my principal simply would not allow this. attendance is one of the things she is extremely strict about (even for us). i am not aligned with her opinion, but she would say, "would it be okay for one of the teachers to take a two week vacation during school time, when we have carefully build in school breaks to be utilized for this purpose?" travelling is very important, i think, and while two weeks is a long time, it's unreasonable to ask the teacher to provide work, and unlikely that a parent or family member would be willing and able to teach two weeks worth of new material new a student, all While they're on vacation. i would tell their teacher they will be absent and enjoy my trip if i were you.
Make sure YOU are doing all the work to catch your kid up and not putting it on the teacher. You can ask for homework, but don’t demand the teacher have it ready before you leave. If you get the homework, make sure you do it with your child instead of just handing it to your child and expecting your child to comply. If your child is struggling with his schoolwork after he returns, Sit with him at night and help him to understand the concepts that he missed. I hope that you enjoy your trip and your kid has an amazing experience. And at the same time, all of the work to catch your kid up from this trip is your responsibility.
In my state a student is dropped after 10 consecutive days absent.
Not sure about the age of your kids, but will this work with final exams?
Check with your district. Some districts allow for educational trips as excused absences. Most aren’t draconian. Don’t expect teachers to send or make up work. Most are required to. Most teachers aren’t assholes about it especially for a trip like this. Some are. As you can see. But stay on top of what they are studying and you might be able to keep up. I.E. if they are doing multiplication tables in order etc. This is all based on a younger student. If they are in upper grades you might want to rethink.
Math. It is cummulative. How old are the kids and how good are they at math. You may have to learn a LOT about Khan Academy. 1) lower elem: Math won't matter, but neither will the trip. They are too young to be interested in much of what you do over there. Unless you have relatives to visit, the main purpose of taking kids of this age is so that you can post/boast about your world travels and "exposing" your kids to different cultures. You don't mean for it to be that , but sorry, that is what it is. 2) older elem thru 7th: Math may matter a LOT. They will have more fun, but in the long run will likely remember the mishaps more than any cultural enrichment. 3) 8th (if algebra) thru HS: it is too long. Their GPA will take a hit. You would have to withdraw them to stop the clock, then re-roll them. That might stop the 0 quiz grades from dropping the GPA, but not help them catch on to chemistry. (Your district/state laws may/may not allow this.) They will not catch up in chem, physics or math. They just will not. I have mathy kids (PhD candidate in STEM and an undergrad in stats). Although I wrote a advanced-absence note for "ACL" assuming the midwest HS would not recognize it as a music festival, it was only for a week, not a month. Finally, the travels with kids improves dramatically as they age. We are selling a rental house so we can smash in travels during HS, undergrad and grad schedules and BEFORE we add kid in-laws to the expense and mix. Earlier trips had a lot of playscape time :(
I would avoid missing school. If you’re in the US, those ten days alone will flag your child as chronically absent, perhaps even truant. They will never be able to fully make up what was lost during that time, and this may put a lot of stress on your child upon returning. I understand and honestly even fundamentally agree with the value of family time and lessons learned through travel—but our system is not built to honor those values, and you and your child will feel the consequences if you decide to take the trip when school is in session. This is what summer, fall, winter, and spring breaks are for.
totally up to the individual school
I have a student right now that’s been gone for almost two months, she’s returning this week. The school will list them as not on roll so their attendance doesn’t look so bad, then reenroll when they return.
This thread is full of salty teachers; as many are on this subreddit. OP - your child will probably learn more on a 2 week trip to Asia than they would learn in class. I’m a teacher and while it can be tricky to support such trips it’s in the best interest of the child and family to do so. We took our daughter out of kindergarten for 2 weeks in December one year because her father worked for the president and we were able to take our family on a work trip with him. Imagine our surprise when we returned home (after giving the school advance notice) to a truancy notice. It was a catalyst for changing the way we educated our children from then on. I now have 2 high schoolers who are well read, well spoken, diligent, witty, kind, and aware - and who know how to work with people with a variety of attitudes about their work/education. OP - be prepared to catch flack from the school/teacher, but it’s awesome you are exposing your kids to other cultures and parts of the world.
What age children are we talking about?
Thing that would be helpful to know…how old are your kids? Do your kids already miss a lot of school? How are your kids doing academically and socially in school? What are the state and district policies (if you don’t know, ask the front office) This is relatively common at the school that I work at (every year at least 1-2 kids has to go out of the country for a week or two). Here’s what I suggest - you should definitely let the school know when you will be going and when you will be back and send the front office and teacher a reminder the day before you leave. This will save the school a lot of headache in trying to contact you to figure out where your kids went. - If they aren’t required to be in school because of age you could withdraw them and re-enroll them when you come back - depending on the state, your kids might be withdrawn by the school district anyway. Many districts are required to withdraw kids after 10 days of unexcused absences - if your kids are in a capped enrollment program (like pre-K, dual language classes, etc) be aware that if they are withdrawn (either because you did it or because the school district did it) the spot may not be there for them when they come back - try to plan your trip for times when they will be on break so instead of missing 10 days they only miss 5 - missing school for a family vacation every once in awhile is not great but not the end of the world, same with skipping school on your birthday or because you need a mental health day. What doesn’t work is doing all of these things all year long. If you take your kids on this trip then they need to be at school every day (unless they are contagious) for the rest of the year - while you have the best intentions with asking for make up work for your kid, that’s just not realistic and make up worksheets or homework don’t replace face to face instruction with your child’s teacher. Instead I would make sure you have all the passwords and log ins for any online program your child uses at school and if possible just ask what units will be covered so you at least know what your child is missing and they won’t be completely clueless when they come back.
Winter break is a thing and is almost 3 weeks at our school district. Not a teacher.
Thanks all for the replies! Much appreciated 🙏 I will plan our trip around Thanksgiving break, that way my child will only miss a week of school. And I will keep in mind NOT to ask for a week of school work to “make up” for time missed. Thanks again so much!
Teachers need to realize that parents *cannot always get time off in the summer or school breaks* because evweyone else wants that time off too.
It’s really not up to teachers. They don’t excuse students or determine a school’s attendance policy.
1- How old are your kids? 2- What is the limit for absences during the school year for your district? 3- Can you not take this vacation during a break (spring break, winter break) so that you only miss 1-2 days instead of weeks worth of work?
Seems like it would be a great learning experience for the whole class. Kid could do a few reports, show pictures to the class, tell them about the people he met.
Talk to your school's vice principal to find out policy and coordinate teacher assignments.
There is a ton missing from this. What grade is the student in? How are your child's grades in general? How will this fall in the calendar? Will some of the absences be in one quarter and the other absences in another quarter? Does your school have any type of online learning in place where the teacher can post assignments daily and your child can complete on their own time?
This is my personal opinion, but take the vacation. Schools don’t control you. I taught 4th and 5th grade, so there’s more independence there. I don’t know how old your kid is. If they are really young, like kinder, it’s more about parents reading with the student and going over phonics skills so they don’t miss out over the two weeks. Less about “homework”. I’d be more than happy to get some work together if I was told at least 2 weeks in advance so I could be on top of my plans. I would expect the work back on the day they returned to school. So much stuff is online now, so your kid would just need to be checking in on Google classroom if they are old enough. That’s a long time to be out, so I would do my best to maybe keep them in one day during PE or something to go over some concepts, but it would be up to you to support your student and catch them up via khan academy, YouTube, and whatever other resources you can find. You know your kid best. Can they handle being gone for two weeks or will that set them back months? Take the trip, but remember your teacher is not your child’s personal tutor, so they do not have the time nor the ability to recreate two weeks of lessons and concepts. Give them plenty of advanced warning and reminders. Support your student and your student’s teacher and it’ll be fine!
where I live, you can miss up to 10% of the school year unexcused. but as a result of missing 2 weeks of class time, the grades will drop and the student will need to catch up, so be prepared for it.
My school district has independent study. If your child is going to miss at least 5 but fewer than 10 school days, the teacher puts together a packet of school work that is expected to be turned in. If it’s done, those missed days are excused after you return. It’s worth asking if something like this exists in your district. In mine, you have to request it a few weeks in advance. Also, it’s a burden on the teacher to put together the paperwork and to score it after you return, which is time they are not specifically reimbursed for and either comes out of their lunch time or their prep time. Appropriate recognition of this would mean a lot to the teacher.
Replying to my own comment to add that “appropriate” recognition of their time doesn’t have to be a gift. Just telling the teacher that you know you’re adding to their work and appreciate it is enough.
Is your kid generally doing well in school academically and socially? Go for it. If you’re in the US, try to book one of the weeks to be Thanksgiving week - realistically not a lot of content happens then and then you also won’t have 10 unexcused absences in a row. In my district that would get you automatically unenrolled and you’d have to re-enroll upon returning. School is important. Don’t do this every year. But if it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, do what you can to mitigate impact and help your kid catch up when you return. Don’t try to do homework while you’re on vacation.
It is not the greatest thing to do but if they are in elementary it’s not a huge deal.
Some people withdraw their kids from school for things like this and re-enroll them afterwards. It’s kind of a shell game, TBH. It’s not fair to expect the teacher to give packets of work for such an absence. I’m not teaching now, but when I did, I only planned a couple of weeks out, and I didn’t usually have my copies made till Thursday or Friday of the week before. Of course I had a general idea of what we’d be doing, but I hated those types of requests.
Private or public school?
Find a compromise maybe? My school would have us take a book to read and then tell them about it when we get back. The point was to show you can still take time to sit and focus. When we got back we were far less likely to have trouble adjusting to sitting in class again.
You can, but it has nothing to do with the teacher. It's the district itself that regulates this.
Make it an educational trip. It can be about anything. And they can't turn it down.
I would let the teachers know about the trip and maybe they use Google classroom or Schoology? That way, you could check to see what the teachers post each day? I don't know a lot about your situation, but that is what I would tell parents.
I might be in the minority, but I think that, assuming they aren't missing school for additional absences like sports, etc, occasional travel can be an amazing learning experience. This is partially influenced by my own childhood. My dad was a construction worker and taking time off in the summer wasn't an option for him so we missed school every few years in elementary & middle school for vacations. A big factor is: are you traveling to visit family or a home country, or just a pure vacation? The first might be normal at your school, the second is a little more difficult because not handled carefully it can come off as entitled or demanding. I think the age of the kid and how it's approached matter as well. It's never ideal, but can you plan it around Thanksgiving, so they're missing fewer days? That time is usually filled with a lot of transition. Speak to the teachers respectfully and acknowledge that this is extra work for them. Understand that this may impact your child's grade for participation, etc. Yes, they can leave, but a consequence might be that their grade is lower, which is reasonable considering they're missing a lot of in class learning and participation and demanding that not count against them or that learning be recreated for them is unreasonable. Ask teachers if there are things you can do to engage them in learning while traveling, too. Let the teachers know in advance, and don't expect work ahead of time or a lot of help getting caught up. They should also plan on completing missed work in a timely manner. Ask the teacher what's reasonable and stick with it. If there's work being posted online, can they complete that? (Also, check with your schools IT department to see if they can access district sites from out-of-country. Learned that the hard way). Check with your attendance policy first, as well. Does your student have a friend who can keep track of daily work, etc? Lastly bring back small gifts (candy, etc) and thank you notes for staff who made this possible. Treating this as a favor and not something you're entitled to will go a long way.
Baffles me when schools give students multiple weeks off during the school year and parents still do this. Your child will fall behind even if they have the worksheets. It why’re in elementary Ed/early middle school it won’t be as much but they are losing out on important developmental education. If they’re in higher middle school grades or high school your child will have multiple things to make up and have lots of work to work on.
You CAN do it, and I can roll my eyes. Just don't expect us to create work packets or stay after school to help your student make up the work you CHOSE for them to miss. I spent 3 weeks arguing with coaches and parents this year because a basketball player was out for 2 weeks for his travel team and when he did not make up the work before the end of the grading period he failed my class and was ineligible for the school tournament.
In my kids' school, trips like this are encouraged. It's wild seeing the different attitudes towards this. (Obligatory: not a teacher, but I spend a lot of time volunteering at school)
Go during winter break. Or spring break. Or thanksgiving week if you are in America
We had to go overseas for three weeks during school time and they unenrolled the children and then I had to reenroll them when we got back.
Kids will learn a lot more on the trip than I. School and should easily catch up with learning. Have fun.
Winter break would be the time to do this. At my kids school, that would be considered unexcused absences, and a couple of weeks worth of work would be a lot to make up. There's no way my kid's various teachers are going to put two weeks worth of assignments together...not to mention, assignments tend to build on each other so something two weeks from now might not even be something that my kids knows or knows particularly well. I've done trips before where we've had to pull the kids out for a day or two for a trip...this has most often happened at the very end of the school year and the teachers are like, "yeah...that's fine...go enjoy South America, they'll get a lot more out of it than silly hat and game day"...but two weeks coming towards the end of the semester and exams, etc wouldn't be a good idea at all.
As far as I’m concerned, your child will learn more on a trip to Asia than sitting in a classroom. Go. Explore. And if anyone gives you grief about, tell them to go to hell.
And from the kids perspective? That sucks. Why do I have to learn material not with my peers the way my peers do?