MMD: Should you take the kids out of school for a holiday?

joanna_willett

sluggy1967 wrote: »

OMG!!!! we'd better make sure our kids go to school even when they're ill then, lest they miss a precious page in the book!!!

You're not the first to make this point, and as yet no one has picked up ont the obvious distinction... illness cannot be helped (well - maybe not strictly true, it can be made a lot less likely by sensible attitudes to hygiene and healthy eating, but that's a whole other can of worms).

Holidays in term time CAN be helped. They are a choice. Illness is not. The original question was about whether you would make a choice to take your child out of school. I'm assuming no-one would choose to make their child ill?

MGB_from_Kent

Admittedly this was in the early 70s, before schools had to adhere to targets, but we were given permission to be taken out of junior school (at 9 and 11) to go on holiday with our parents in May. The experience of that holiday has stayed with me to this day and far outweighed the two week's school missed. The holiday that my parents had saved for was a cruise around the historic sites of the eastern Med - it included Naples, Pompeii, Athens, Crete, Rhodes, Israel (Jerusalem), Lebanon (Baalbek) [tanks and solders everywhere as war was coming] and Yugoslavia (Dubrovik). Beaches and swimming too. A fantastic mixture of cultures. It was amazing. We wrote a daily journal to keep up our writing skills and were asked to read them to our classes on our return. The memories have stayed with me ever since and have influenced my education choices and interests over the years. Whatever I missed during those two weeks (algebra?!?) was nothing compared to the experience of that holiday. Choose the location/s well and it will pay back to your children ten fold. Go for it!
MGB from Kent
PS As my dad was killed in an accident just two years later it proved to be our last family holiday - grab life while you can!

mad-mum_3

Our family attend an event each year, the dates of which are entirely outside our control, which requires that my son misses 2/3 days schooling. It is an event where our son learns a lot, it is not a sitting on the beach soaking up the sun holiday. This will be the fourth time we have been and each time I have requested work from school and each time it has been refused on the basis that the school does not believe that a child on holiday should do school work. I therefore have always got workbooks for him and, yes, a protion of each day has been set aside for him to study, not necessarily the equivalent of a full school day , but I suspect probably of much better quality as he has one to one tuition and we have used this time to work on areas he has perhaps struggled on. I never take him out of school for dental or doctor appointments etc nor for having his hair done ( one child at his school takes a day off every time she has her hair done!).

I have no concerns about the few days he takes off with us. If he was ill he would miss more schooling and no one says you should force a sick child into school. The school in fact actively encourages children to be off for a few days after a sickness bug. If the teacher is ill they children are often not taught properly for the day and have done craft work or watched videos. One term when a teacher could not be bothered to teach they got to see a large number of Disney videos.

In fact I reckon thta there are few weeks a year in which a child is actually fully taught. In September it seems that they are experiencing a period of settling in , then they wind down for half term, after half term they are working towards christmas. After Christmas they do seem to work ( oh panic there are SATS coming up we must fit in the years teaching!) . Then they wind down for Easter. Summer term = brief flurry for SATS then switch off as it will soon be summer.

So in summary No I have no problem about taking my child out of school. I would expect him to do some work but the school will not tell me what he is supposed to be covering as it is too much like hard work for them.

mad-mum_3

Our family attend an event each year, the dates of which are entirely outside our control, which requires that my son misses 2/3 days schooling. It is an event where our son learns a lot, it is not a sitting on the beach soaking up the sun holiday. This will be the fourth time we have been and each time I have requested work from school and each time it has been refused on the basis that the school does not believe that a child on holiday should do school work. I therefore have always got workbooks for him and, yes, a protion of each day has been set aside for him to study, not necessarily the equivalent of a full school day , but I suspect probably of much better quality as he has one to one tuition and we have used this time to work on areas he has perhaps struggled on. I never take him out of school for dental or doctor appointments etc nor for having his hair done ( one child at his school takes a day off every time she has her hair done!).

I have no concerns about the few days he takes off with us. If he was ill he would miss more schooling and no one says you should force a sick child into school. The school in fact actively encourages children to be off for a few days after a sickness bug. If the teacher is ill they children are often not taught properly for the day and have done craft work or watched videos. One term when a teacher could not be bothered to teach they got to see a large number of Disney videos.

In fact I reckon thta there are few weeks a year in which a child is actually fully taught. In September it seems that they are experiencing a period of settling in , then they wind down for half term, after half term they are working towards christmas. After Christmas they do seem to work ( oh panic there are SATS coming up we must fit in the years teaching!) . Then they wind down for Easter. Summer term = brief flurry for SATS then switch off as it will soon be summer.

So in summary No I have no problem about taking my child out of school. I would expect him to do some work but the school will not tell me what he is supposed to be covering as it is too much like hard work for them.

MGB_from_Kent

Admittedly this was in the early 70s, before schools had to adhere to targets, but we were given permission to be taken out of junior school (at 9 and 11) to go on holiday with our parents in May. The experience of that holiday has stayed with me to this day and far outweighed the two week's school missed. The holiday that my parents had saved for was a crusie around the historic sites of the eastern Med - it included Naples, Pompeii, Athens, Crete, Rhodes, Israel (Jerusalem), Lebanon (Baalbek) [tanks and solders everywhere as war was coming] and Yugoslavia (Dubrovik). Beaches and swimming too. A fantastic mixture of cultures. It was amazing. We wrote a daily journal to keep up our writing skills and were asked to read them to our classes on our return. The memories have stayed with me ever since and have influenced my education choices and interests over the years. Whatever I missed during those two weeks (algebra?!?) was nothing compared to the experience of that holiday. Choose the location/s well and it will pay back to your children ten fold. Go for it!
MGB from Kent
PS As my dad was killed in an accident just two years later it proved to be our last family holiday - grab life while you can!

Shrewdmoneysaver

I go with the taking responsibilities seriously and teaching your kids the same view. Going to the costas is unlikely to be any more educational than a few day trips to the seaside, country parks etc. It is probably the parents who want the hot sunny beach and cheap booze. (We are off to the costa del sol next week for exactly that because our kids have now all left home.)
How do we expect kids to respect others and property if parents take the view they will do whatever they want regardless of what damage it may cause? If you cannot raise the money for a posh car you shouldn't steal one. If you can't afford a holiday abroad at the correct time you shouldn't disadvantage your kids.
No excuses, no false justifications - none.

moneysaver2008

I home educate my 6 year old son and one of numerous benefits to this way of life/way of educating is that we can go on holiday whenever we want without asking permission from anybody but ourselves. To assume that time away from school 'on holiday' is time spent away from 'learning' is ludicrous. Yes, children won't be following the prescribed 'curriculum' while they're away but they will be learning something. Education really shouldn't be seen as something administered to our children by 'experts' and 'only' within a school environment. All of life is educational in one way or another.

I pity the parents with children in schools where they will be fined if they take their children on holiday during term time. That said, I understand why schools may react like that. Education in school is 'mass education' and, as much as some of the better schools may 'try' to do their best for each individual child, ultimately school is about getting the 'herd' to move along at the same pace. Consequently, I see how it would be disruptive and inconvenient for schools if everyone took holidays whenever they wanted.

I consider myself lucky because I only have one child to educate and can,therefore, tailor his education to fit his individual needs. This means that breaks for holidays don't need to disrupt learning because a topic can be put down and picked up again on our return, or else we can find ways to incorporate learning opportunites into the holiday itself.

I realise that home education would not be practical or desirable for everyone and that many parents are happy with the education they get in schools but it's worth pointing out that children do NOT have to go to school to be educated. Some previous posters have seemed to imply that school attendance is compulsory when it is not. A full time education IS complusory but that does not HAVE to take place in school. You do have to make a choice though between home ed or school ed - you can't dip in and out unfortunately.

P.S. In anticpation of all those who would love to tear me down in flames for choosing to home educate....

No, I don't keep my son locked up in the house all day away from other children.

Yes, he DOES get plenty of opportunities to socialise with schooled and home educated children (has got more friends since leaving school than he had when he was in school)

Yes, I am a responsible parent who takes the education of my son very seriously.

No, my child is not an angel but he does NOT run wild and their are plenty of times when he has to do things he may not want to do - though I would add that the reasons for 'having to do something' are a lot easier explained than some of the reasons for having to do certain things in a school environment.

Finally, I hope all those who want their holidays find ways to take them and enjoy the well deserved break that all families need : )

geomot

I'm a teacher in an 11-18 school. During the next two weeks in Physics I'll be teaching year 11 basic electrical circuits, Ohms law and simple applications of Kirchhoffs Law, in chemistry they are on electron arrangement of different atoms upto atomic number 20 and in biology they are starting meiosis and mitosis. Similiar work will be done in year 10. Not that easy to catch up and for a secondary pupil thats just the science part of their exams, most students will have another 8 subjects to work through. In English the two weeks could be one of the set poems you miss.

Primary school perhaps you can get away with it.
Year 7 & 8 - again perhaps but there will be topics in science, geography etc you will miss. Most science departments cover a section of work in three weeks for a year 8 pupil they could miss most of the module on Breathing and Respiration.

ben_and_elly

Most definitely, until someone brings in a law to stop the holiday firms/travel agents/airlines increasing their prices in the school holidays. If prices remain static throughout the year, then there would not be a need to take kids out of school for holidays.
:mad:

tonydee

I would take my 2 daughters out of school and have done.

The thing that most irratates me about the subject is that the school expects us to take our holidays out of term yet the teachers take their inset days in term!

If the kids schooling was so important to them then surely the inset days could be done during the huge 6/7 week break.