Do you believe in pulling your children from school for family vacations, or do you travel only during school breaks? That’s the question I asked Macaroni Kid publishers recently regarding family travel. The responses were wide and varied.
Travel experiences are educational opportunities
Cheryl Lachendro, a former teacher from Georgetown, Mass., and now a stay-at-home mom and Macaroni Kid publisher, used to cringe at the idea of kids missing school for long periods of time. “They lost some valuable classroom time,” she said. “And although I always sent work with them on their vacations because I had it prepared ahead of time anyway, there was always some extra work to do to help them catch up with what they had missed."
“Now though,” Cheryl said, “I’ve gone over to the dark side.” She admitted that she and her husband have taken their college-aged daughter and elementary school student out of school every year to travel.
“I totally understand why families do it. Especially at this day and age when family time is hard to come by and life is so expensive,” she said. “But I didn’t understand that initially (before I had children).”
California dreamin'
In California, school districts have several long breaks throughout the year — which make it easier for family travel. And since school vacation times vary from others across the United States, travel doesn’t break the bank.
“We have amazing school breaks in our district — two weeks in October, December, and March, and eight weeks for summer,” said Mary Campbell, a publisher from Lodi, Calif.
Jennifer Hill, another California publisher, said her children's California school district used to allow independent study contracts for up to two weeks to allow for travel. As long as travel was approved by the principal and teacher, families could enjoy their vacation and add some experiential learning in there, too. Jennifer said the school district has since limited this to only three times in a child’s educational career, so her family is planning to save those trips for when her two younger children are in junior and senior high.
“Every teacher we have had agrees children should travel, and sometimes it’s easier or only possible during the school year due to parent’s work and other factors,” Jennifer said.
Harder for older students to miss school
Kyrie Collins and her spouse had no qualms about taking their kids out of school to travel when they were in preschool and elementary school — making the effort to meet with teachers ahead of time for work and keeping a travel journal to continue her children’s learning while away. But they put the brakes on travel once her kids hit middle and high school.
“My high schooler has three honors classes," said Kyrie, who lives in Castle Rock, Colo. "Their work is very intensive."
But despite the restrictions, the Collins family has found a way to squeeze in some inexpensive family time and travel.
“We take advantage of four-day weekends for local trips to the mountains and we are lucky to have a fall break in October. Our school year also ends really early (before Memorial Day), so that week in May can be a pretty affordable time to travel.”
What do you do?
A recent Macaroni Kid poll of more than 1,000 Macaroni Kid Family Travel Readers found that 74 percent of readers believed it was OK to take kids out of school for travel, while 17 percent believed it wasn’t OK (9 percent said they didn’t know).
Regardless of what end of the spectrum you fall on, there is no right or wrong answer — you do what is right for your family!
What to consider before making your choice
If you do take your kids out of school for family travel opportunities, here are eight things to consider:
- Know your child. Some kids can handle a week out of school without missing a beat, while others may fall behind. Know which end of the spectrum your child falls under and plan accordingly.
- Research your school or district’s policy. Many schools have a policy about the number of days a child can be absent without penalty and some will even allow you to apply for a special independent study.
- Consider a different time. Many schools have in-service days that can create an opportunity to get away for a long weekend or a vacation week that doesn't fall over peak travel times and allows your child to leave town without missing class.
- Communicate with your child’s teacher. If you give them enough warning, and if district policy allows, many teachers will gladly assign your child work while you're away, allowing your child to get at least partial credit for time missed.
- Make an alternative plan. If your teacher doesn't give you assignments, make an alternative plan to get the assignments from another student in the classroom.
- Cross-check dates with the school. Be sure your travel dates do not conflict with any important dates on the school calendar, especially during state mandated tests.
- Be flexible. Understand that teaching and learning continued while you were away, and it might take a while for a teacher to help your child catch up with the class.
- Include your child’s class in your travels. Took a trip to Spain? Offer to bring your favorite Spanish food in for the class. Visited a National Park or museum? Have your child ask if they can present about it or share during show and tell.
