A vent: taking dd out of school for WDW

[MickeyMonstersMom]

Perhaps they only prosecute as a last resort if a child is in danger of failing because of tardies and unexcused absences. I don't allow my son to stay home simply because I can't be bothered to get him to school each day!

I think you hit the nail on the head there. These policies aren't really in place for the involved parent who values their child's education, but for those who can't or don't support their children's educational needs by allowing them to be truant, excessively tardy, etc. Your statement had me thinking about a few students in my school who are simply never here, and all the times we've actually had administrators in court with attendance records to prove educational neglect on the part of the parents - it really helps to have those written policies in place so that we can demonstrate repeated defiance of the policies as well as the steps we've taken to get these kids into school on time and every day. Even with the attendance records, it is usually a matter of several court appearances before the judge will order the parents to make their children go to school, and then it's another several months of poor attendance and rounds of court dates before the judge takes further steps.

Your post made me see these policies in a different light - I bet that families whose kids have good attendance and make up work after vacations have very little to worry about.

 

[mongobites]

I love it I think it's very funny. I don't really explain to the school why my kids won't be there. I just tell them we will be away and please could they arrange to have their homework a head of time.

 

[rumrunnergirl]

I love it I think it's very funny. I don't really explain to the school why my kids won't be there. I just tell them we will be away and please could they arrange to have their homework a head of time.

Yep, same here. We are going next week and I just sent in a little note to DD's Kindergarten teacher that said "DD will miss school for a week due to us being out of town, may I have her homework before we go. Thank you."

 

[crisi]

Your post made me see these policies in a different light - I bet that families whose kids have good attendance and make up work after vacations have very little to worry about.

Yep, where there is an subjective component (i.e. the school is not required by law to turn over names). But that illustrates why its important to go into the school with an attitude of cooperation. Make life difficult for your school and they may make life difficult for you. Volunteer when you can (and not everyone can), support your PTO, make sure the principal knows your name (and in a good way), don't go into every conference with "my kid is perfect and if there is a problem it must be your fault" attitude, and you may get a lot more cooperation.

As I said, our school has a pretty strict policy, yet the neighbor pulls her kids for a week every year. She also was chair of the school carnival this year, volunteers regularly, attends PTO meetings

 

[crazymomof4]

Yep, where there is an subjective component (i.e. the school is not required by law to turn over names). But that illustrates why its important to go into the school with an attitude of cooperation. Make life difficult for your school and they may make life difficult for you. Volunteer when you can (and not everyone can), support your PTO, make sure the principal knows your name (and in a good way), don't go into every conference with "my kid is perfect and if there is a problem it must be your fault" attitude, and you may get a lot more cooperation.

As I said, our school has a pretty strict policy, yet the neighbor pulls her kids for a week every year. She also was chair of the school carnival this year, volunteers regularly, attends PTO meetings

I totally agree!

 

[btass]

the teacher laughed when she read the letter and showed another teacher.[/color][/size][/font][/font]

My DS's teacher did the same thing but in front of me. I was a little annoyed but I told her that I had projects planned for the vacation and she will be glad to see what he did when he got back. We did right a journal everyday and he really did learn how to read a map when we were there. I had him show her when he got back to school how he could get from one place to another by looking at the map and pointing the way.

She was very impressed by all of it and happy to see that he did learn something.

BYW: he is in Kindergarten!

 

[btass]

the teacher laughed when she read the letter and showed another teacher.[/color][/size][/font][/font]

My DS's teacher did the same thing but in front of me. I was a little annoyed but I told her that I had projects planned for the vacation and she will be glad to see what he did when he got back. We did right a journal everyday and he really did learn how to read a map when we were there. I had him show her when he got back to school how he could get from one place to another by looking at the map and pointing the way.

She was very impressed by all of it and happy to see that he did learn something.

BTW: he is in Kindergarten!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I was scrutinizing the attendance policy again last night. It appears if I AM prosecuted for truancy I will be fined up to $500 OR I will be sentenced to community service. I wonder if they will take into consideration that I already volunteer hundreds of hours every year with the AIDS walk?

Because I am a full time nanny for a 3 year old and her 20 month old brother it is very difficult for me to volunteer to do things at my son's school. Hopefully next Fall when the baby is in preschool I will be able to do more.

I do try to attend PTA meetings and I do make an effort to keep the lines of communication open with the teachers. Hopefully they won't be upset with DS going to WDW in October. (He will have the same 3 core teachers next year - they team teach third and fourth grade).

 

[gradtchr]

I've seen a letter similar to this when I was in the classroom and I must admit I laughed and the teachers who were standing by me at the time read it and laughed too. The letter itself is funny, I'm sorry but it is. In my case I caught the mom after school and told her that I got a laugh out of it and to have fun. She grinned and said she knew I would the minute she saw the letter she knew that's what she had to send, and she had to send it with her son so she wouldn't die laughing as she handed it to me. He got his make up work when he got back, but he had a packet of "homework" to do when he was there which was mainly a scavenger hunt of things to locate at Disney. He was also to bring back maps that were marked with where he had been and his mom had him write a summary of what he had seen there. I also requested (after talking to his mom and having her beg me to) that as part of his Disney homework that he try out two different countries foods. He was a picky eater so having it as homework made it doable for him. His family had a great time, and I got a new Pooh Bear for my collection.

 

[jeast]

You know, teachers often DO have some independence in how they treat absences and make-up work. The policy may say that unexcused absences result in a zero, but the teacher does his/her own gradebook. Should you be nice to the teacher and ask for help, he/she may accomodate you. Not everyone is a stickler for stupid rules. I have yet to see a principal demand to audit a gradebook.