Miss middle school or go during spring break?

[khertz]

My kids are in 2nd and 6th and missed a week for our trip at the end of January. My 6th grader is a good student, and I wouldn't have done it if he wasn't. He was easily able to keep up with the assignments that his teacher wanted him to have upon his return. He was able to most of it in advance, only had a little to do while we were actually on the vacation, and we returned home on a Saturday so he'd have all day Sunday for any additional work he needed to do. He was all caught up and on track with his classmates within a day or two.

I will add the note that my kids are in private school so I think unexcused absences are handled differently than in the public school system.

I like the idea mentioned above about booking both and canceling one when you see how her school year is going.

 

[Silvermist999]

Honestly, depends on your child and how they do in school. If they have no issues “catching” up on missed work or learning, then it’s fine. But if they are already struggling then I would not take them out of school.

We stopped taking our kids out of school for trips when my oldest started high school. We had no issues taking them out even in grade 8 but they are really strong students. To add, we have always pulled them out in May, we have always had terrific weather when we went in May, miss those trips!

 

[AZMermaid]

My straight A, public school, 6th grade honors class son broke his wrist two weeks ago And had surgery. He missed one single day- his first day of the whole year. His math grade dropped 6 points. He got it back up but it was a lot of work on my part and his part to get the make up work and get it fixed. Luckily his ELA teacher is in China right now because he normally gets a TON of ELA homework and falling behind would have been really tough to catch up.

As a first grade teacher who always tells my families to go…. I cant imagine my son could recover from missing a week. But also, it’s middle school. The grades dont really “count.” So if he got a C that quarter, I could probably live with it myself.

 

[brockash]

Usually, I'd say miss school but next year will be my oldest's first year of middle school and I'm not sure what to expect from homework and how hard making up a week will be. She has a May the 4th birthday and has always wanted to celebrate her birthday at Star Wars land, so do I pull both my kids from school for a week to go over her birthday (6th and 2nd grade) or go during their spring break in mid-March? May would be cheaper and less busy, but also hotter.

Is she a decent student? If she's a decent student who doesn't miss much school; we'd pull her and do the much less busy/more enjoyable trip.

We've taken our kids out even in HS. Not going to lie it is nice when they don't miss school, so we're not having to worry about the work, but we still do it.

You could always also get your dds thoughts.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

It does not matter what others have done, it all depends on your DD and how much work your middle school covers in a week. All schools are different, our DD's charter middle school would cover a complete section in a week and in a couple of classes, math and science, this was pretty big because when she got back, the section they were currently covering was based on the previous weeks lessons so she had trouble catching up. Our friends DD's middle school did not cover as much or as fast, so when she missed school it was not that bad. I like the idea of scheduling both trips and see how it goes, if she is getting A's and B's then it should be okay to take her out. Just make sure that the end of year finals will be done by then.

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

My oldest (now in 8th) didn’t like being pulled out for more than a day starting in 5th. Said it’s just too much make up work. This is why we are going in August this year .

 

[JediBonas]

So this is my kids' first year in middle school (and first time in public school) and we had the same concerns. We would take them out for a week for Disney but decided to try a long weekend (left Friday after school and came back Tuesday) so they only missed two days. It worked out great for us. I don't want to deal with the crowds during school breaks or the heat in the summer so this seemed a good compromise, plus they're older so we can push and just do the things they really want to do. It actually worked so well for their bday/Halloween trip we just did it again in January (this time they only missed one day of school since they had a snow day). It may not be an option for you but may be something to consider.

 

[Dakota731]

We stopped taking our kids out of school when they finished elementary school. They would have missed too much work and they didn’t want to skip their sports and extra curriculars either. We started going to WDW in the summers then.

 

[greeneyedchick]

Miss middle school. You will be miserable if you go during spring break and it will cost your more. Middle school GPA doesn't count for college. Most of what is taught in middle school is repeated in high school and has been taught in grade school. And a lot of school is busy work. They aren't missing that much "real" instruction time.

 

[stace1214]

If your daughter is a strong student and you don't feel that she would fall behind, then go in May. My son's workload in middle school has far surpassed anything in elementary school. He is a very high achieving student and when planning our next quick getaway to WDW he asked that we make sure it's in the summer because he feels he can't miss even a day without being behind.

 

[mjkacmom]

Miss middle school. You will be miserable if you go during spring break and it will cost your more. Middle school GPA doesn't count for college. Most of what is taught in middle school is repeated in high school and has been taught in grade school. And a lot of school is busy work. They aren't missing that much "real" instruction time.

Middle school gpa doesn’t count, but some high school classes can start in middle school. My kids took algebra 1 and geometry, Spanish 1 and 2, in middle school.

 

[DLgal]

Miss middle school. You will be miserable if you go during spring break and it will cost your more. Middle school GPA doesn't count for college. Most of what is taught in middle school is repeated in high school and has been taught in grade school. And a lot of school is busy work. They aren't missing that much "real" instruction time.

No, the GPA doesn't count, but some classes like Math pathways and science placements start in middle school and can affect what classes you are allowed to take in HS. If your student is on an accelerated math pathway, and falls behind grade wise, they may not be able to continue in that pathway the following year, which can have a domino effect all the way through high school.

 

[KrazeeK120]

My 1st grader has missed 17 days of school this year so far…RSV, stomach bug, influenza, Covid, and a couple of colds. It’s been rough. And even in 1st grade, the amount of work that gets sent home daily is…a lot. And he’s a very high achieving student. I’ve decided I’m never going to pull him out for a week on purpose. Plus that’s right in the middle of his standardized testing and I wouldn’t pull him during that time anyway.

Ultimately, you’re the parent, but I’d let your daughter get into middle school a bit before making a decision.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My b-day is also May 4th and it really wouldn't have been worth it or that big of a deal to spend it there in Disney as a kid. There's a lot of time left to do that. In fact last year I was able to be in Universal (although not in the parks but on property and had lunch/dinner in CityWalk) on my birthday.

Besides there will be so hoards of people there in DHS (assuming you're talking about WDW). I'm not sure how much fun that will outweigh all the logistics of schoolwork (and worrying about getting it off) and everything. How much will she really get to explore anyhow? Park reservations also can run out quick for those dates.

On the other hand spring break will likely also be super busy. Any chance y'all could wait til just after school ends like end of May/first part of June?

 

[Lumpy1106]

You can't delay the B-day trip to June?

Meh. I was one of those strict, never miss a day of school kids, and insisted my kids never miss a day either - until...you know. 2 years of having my kid outside of a classroom gave me new perspective. I've taken DD out of school on 2 college tours this school year and did not even ask. If you are confident that your kids can keep up with the school work, I say go for it. Spring Break crowds - yeesh! We did that once and never again. Do not recommend.

 

[danceintherain]

I was going to be "good" and stick to Spring Break for our Disney trip this year. Then my baby got cancer. Our tickets (military salute) are blacked out for Thanksgiving and Christmas. So, shucks, we'll "have" to use them in December. Summer doesn't work, because it will be right after the baby finishes chemo and DH can't do hot. We might could pull off parent teacher conference week, when he wouldn't miss a full week, but it's still hot enough then that DH might never leave the room.

ODS will be in 8th grade, so I'm hesitant, but he'll recover, and a Disney trip might be enough motivation to convince him to actually turn in all his work 1st and 2nd quarter next year. He struggled with that this year....

 

[Jen81NYC]

Im always in the minority in these but no, I wouldn’t have my kid miss days of school, and certainly not middle school, for a Disney trip. Yes family time is important but there are a lot of ways to get family time during the year (weekends, holidays, summer, etc). Showing kids that school isn’t easily skippable has long-term value too. Also, you have no idea what other absences may come up in terms of flus or other illnesses that school year. And finally, catching up on missed school days is just not the same as attending school and if they missed something pretty foundational, that can definitely have lots of unintended ripple effects. I know traveling when it’s really busy is annoying—i did it myself last year and am doing it again this year! But this is a small period of their lives—it’s okay to prioritize school over the perfect timing of a vacation for a few years IMO. That’s what parents typically do all the time—prioritize what’s best for our kids over our own convenience Good luck!

 

[HulaHoopy]

I say go in May. I pulled my kids for a week (most years) in elementary and middle school for a vacation, with no issues or concerns. I am considering doing it again next year with two in high school. They all do fairly well in school (might have reconsidered if they struggled academically).

I don't let them miss school for other things, it is clearly the priority, but I do make an exception for a family vaca.

 

[juxtapose]

You can't delay the B-day trip to June?

Meh. I was one of those strict, never miss a day of school kids, and insisted my kids never miss a day either - until...you know. 2 years of having my kid outside of a classroom gave me new perspective. I've taken DD out of school on 2 college tours this school year and did not even ask. If you are confident that your kids can keep up with the school work, I say go for it. Spring Break crowds - yeesh! We did that once and never again. Do not recommend.

June is too hot for us Coloradoans lol. We did a Disney cruise/Orlando trip right when they got out of school last year with a day at Legoland. The weather was perfect for the beach, not perfect for concrete parks. I wish we had another week (or even a few days) out of school, but they have Thanksgiving, New Years, and spring break with no other breaks longer than a day.

 

[MousetersInc]

I'm a bit late to this party, and my recommendation is too late to be any good for this year. BUT. We faced this question this year, and decided to handle it by taking the MLK holiday. Our school system gave us a 4-day weekend, and we skipped two days of school, for a 6-day trip. The crowds were heavier than they would otherwise be in what used to be an "off season" of Jan/Feb, but way less than Spring Break or summer.

I'll note that even just skipping two days did have some ripple effects, as my daughters overlooked a couple of makeup assignments after coming back and hurt their grade. But overall I think it was a good compromise.