At some point in your child's life you are going to take them on vacation during the school year.
It's almost inevitable.
Rates are lower, rooms are more readily available, and there are fewer tourists during the off-peak season. Even if you are fanatical about school and your child's education, chances are, you will find yourself seeing how much money you could save on your next family vacation if you only went in November instead of July.
This has happened to us this year. It just so happens that we are going to be taking our family on vacation to Disneyland soon. DISNEYLAND!!!!!
Ok, so now that we have everything booked, and almost paid for, how do we go about telling our teacher that we will be missing school for almost 2 weeks.
Hmmmmm???!!!
Now, remember that every teacher is different and chances are that the older your child is the harder it will be to take them out of school for family vacation. However, if you follow these few guidelines, perhaps you can pull it off effortlessly. :)
1. Check your child's school calendar. Make sure that as you are planning your vacation that you are aware of any testing periods, class pictures, or field trips that your child won't want to miss. I can't stress this enough!! Please don't plan your family vacation over testing. Ever.
2. Send a note to your child's teacher two weeks before you leave, telling him/her which days your child will be missing and where they will be going. Make sure that you specify that you are willing to help your child catch up with any missed work when you get back, as well as help them complete assignments before vacation.
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| scroll down to get this printable for free!! |
Don't ask your child to gather their homework for you to take on vacation. Most teachers won't have that ready until the week they are using it. Asking them to get it early can strike a sour note with most teachers.
Some teachers may send work with your child to complete during vacation. I, as a teacher, never sent anything difficult, and I only sent it when a child's parent was insistent that I send
something. I usually sent a travel journal and the worksheets they would miss from classwork. Most teachers understand that learning is done inside
and outside the classroom. Your child can learn a LOT from a family vacation, i.e. time, money, interpersonal communications...haha! You get the idea. Life is full of learning opportunities!
3. Remind your child's teacher 1 to 2 days before you leave that your child will be missing school. Just because your vacation is all you can think about, and you're counting down the days, doesn't mean that your child's teacher is thinking about it. They have a lot on their plates. Just give them a reminder heads up that you are leaving tomorrow or in the next few days. Doing this through email is fine.
4. While on vacation, if your child's teacher sent work, make time to do it. You can complete it in the car or on the plane while traveling. This is the easiest place to do it. Also, have your child read. Let them take a book with you and READ! If your child's teacher wants them to keep a journal, just have them write down what they did every day at the end of the day. If they are too young to write, have them draw it out. Make sure that you are having FUN, though. Don't sacrifice family time or fun time to do homework. You can always catch up when you get home!
5. Bring your child's teacher a souvenir from your vacation. This sounds cheesy, however, believe me, it helps boost the spirit of that teacher that now has to make sure that your child catches back up with the class and the work that they missed for the all day every day work of school. It doesn't need to be big or expensive. A few years ago, when we traveled to Las Vegas, we brought back a pen from the M&M factory along with a bag of M&Ms for each of my daughter's teachers. They appreciated the fact that we thought of them while on vacation.
6. Help your child catch up with their homework they missed. Some teachers will send extra homework while others will just send home basic homework that was missed. It's your job to now help your child catch back up. Even if it takes you 1 or 2 weeks...you need to invest a bit more time into homework!
So, now that you have some guidelines, how about a free printable? Here is a note you can send to your child's teacher to notify them of your upcoming vacation.
Happy Vacationing!
Valerie
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