About the author

Sara V

Sara Varney is a Travel Planner for MEI & Mouse Fan Travel. She is also Co-Host of the PassPorter Moms Podcast and the Editor of PassPorter News. You can follow her on Twitter at PassPorterMomSV.

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One Comment

  1. 1

    Beth @ TheAngelForever

    As a teacher, I used to get upset when my students were out for extended periods of time. IF the parents asked for work and were willing to play catch up at home, it eased my fears. I should note that I mostly taught older students. Often grades would dip and kids would struggle when they would come back to school. I do believe that as children get older, it gets more difficult to keep up on time away from school. Lessons from a book are very different than hands on learning in the classroom with peers and the teacher.
    Realistically people need to travel when they can and family vacations are full of learning experiences. Typically schools, teachers, and administrators know this. As a parent of a children going into third grade and preschool, I still have some flexibility. For the past three years, I have pulled my oldest out of school to head to Disney World. I told his teachers in advance, took work with us, and followed up when we got back home. My rule of thumb (and I admit I may break this as we move on) is that I would try my hardest not to pull a child out of school once they hit middle school. At that level it can be hard and overwhelming for kids to play catch up and get back into things. I am also going to avoid vacations that are at the same time as state testing. Schools are penalized for children not there, so I would avoid that at all costs.  In the end, we have to do what is needed and best for our family and we know our children.
    BTW – I am not even going to go into the technicality that time out for vacations = an illegal absence. It is what it is and be aware. So long as your child is not chronically out and you work with the school it can work well for everyone.

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