Taking Child Out of School

I think you need to just let the teacher know that you'll be out of state that week and don't even need to explain anything. If you feel like sharing that's fine but letting them know you'll be gone would let them get any projects of anything to you beforehand so he can get his work done ahead of time.

My son starts kinder next week and we are doing a Disney cruise the first week of October. : )
I think the first three days of school are going to be hectic, since the kids won't be split into a.m./p.m. yet so I'm not going to bring it up right away. After a week or so, when the kids are settled in a bit, I'll let her know we are going and see what, if anything, we should work on while we're away.

She won't miss much as a kindergartener, but you should let the teacher know that you will be out for a week in November and ask her for any work she may have planned for your daughter in advance.

Your daughter will be in kindergarten. It isn't the end of the world for her to miss a week. I wouldn't really be too worried about what the teacher thinks. You are hiring her to teach your child, not the other way around. You could ask her if she has anything for you to do with her during that week to cover what she will be missing. Teaching one child something takes way less time than teaching a classroom full of children. It might take you 30 minutes a day, max. Of course, I homeschool, so my perspective is probably different from others.

There is a standard form that we have to fill out in our district. We take my kids out every year (except last year) and it has never been a problem. Although the district discourages it, I never had a teacher be anything but nice about it.

just tell her.. several kids in my daughters kinder class were out of school for a week for various vacations.. we took our child out of class for 2 days..for thankgiving week..

no big deal.

I have to ask, are your plans actually written in stone? And will this occur during Thanksgiving week? I ask because school, een though in kindergarten is very important, because not only are children learning the math, english skills, but, also socialization, team building, language skills, reading, individualized thinking, responsibility, etc. Skipping kindergarten is as important, as later years in education. How obvious, is it that she will actually remember the trip, because I took my daughter at this same age, during summer, and she really didn't remember or enjoy, as much as I thought she would. Not until, age seven, did she did the full concept of Disney, and she remembered more! i think the social aspect of kindergarten is really more important than Disney. Yeah, we as parents want to provide these niceties to our children, but, at what expense? She needs to be bonding into socialization skills with her classmates, and proper class behavior, and learning skills, for a lifetime of interpersonal and educational skills, more so than bonding with a pretend mouse for a few seconds... Sorry, I do not condone taking her out during school sessions, because the message is school is important, for her future, and sometimes we have to wait to enjoy the pleasures we desire. Make short weekend day trips, until Thanksgiving week, when school curriculum is less directed, due to the numerous holidays included for other religions, vacations, conferences, etc. If you have to ask us here, it is subconsciously apparent that you know your wish for vacation during school isn't "morally," right as a parent... Ithink you had your correct answer already, only you wanted us to justify your rationale... Bake a naturally, healthy snack for your daughter's class, and send her to school, until, the winter break occurs... Kindergarten is school, and is important... "All the things I learned in kindergarten..." Read the book...

I am very interested in the answers to this question, especially the teachers' responses.

As a teacher, I always preferred that a student (or the parent) let me know ahead of time they would be gone (although a couple of weeks or even just one week would probably be plenty of notice). That way, I could send the student's work for that week with them and have them have it ready to turn in when they got back. In fact, in our district, the policy was that if it was not an excused absence (as in had a dr's note stating the child was sick) then if they did NOT have the work ready to turn in immediately, the teacher could give them zeros for that work. Ultimately it was at the teacher's discretion, but they had that option. I was teaching 8th grade, so it was just a tad different than kindergarten, though. ;) A head's up is never the wrong route, but they don't need THIS much notice (they'll forget between now and then anyway).

As for how to go about it (just noticed this was your ACTUAL question), just say "Hey, we've got a family trip planned from Nov X to Nov X and she will miss X days of school. Would you like to give us her work ahead of time, or would you like for her to make it up when she gets back?" Again, a couple of weeks notice would be plenty, and by asking about the work immediately, the teacher will feel better knowing that you at least asked about the work.

We're taking my daughter out of school the last week before Christmas to go to Disney. I told the teacher during the first week of school. I'm sure she will forget about it, but I will be sure to remind her. She won't go back to school until after Christmas break is over so I need to make sure there is nothing she needs to complete work-wise while she's gone. How she'll react is completely dependent on the teacher. Some completely understand while others don't. I don't see a problem with taking a child out of school, even for a week, for a family trip. As long as their work is completed before or after and the teacher has been given plenty of notice. Enjoy and have fun!!!