I looked up my state's laws.<BR><BR>From California Education Code §48260(a): Any pupil subject to compulsory full-time education or to compulsory continuation education who is absent from school without valid excuse three full days in one school year...is a truant....<BR><BR>A truant may be arrested (Cal Educ C §48264) and required, among other things, to attend makeup classes (Cal Educ C §48264.5) and the parents can be fined (Cal Educ C §48293).<BR><BR>However, I couldn't find a definition of "valid excuse" anywhere. Perhaps it is set by the local school boards or perhaps it's just hiding. You can judge for yourselves why some parents who couldn't afford emergency child care and kept older children at home to care for younger siblings have been reported, while it seems to be okay for parents who can afford it to take their kids on vacation with them.

I'm with the majority here... I don't think its fair to either the student or the teachers to take your kids out of school that long for a vacation. BUT, since you have apparently decided to do it, I think it is only fair that you hire tutors to catch your kids up rather than expecting the teacher to deal with catching them up. Just think.. if there are 28 kids in the class, and each of them decides to miss a few weeks for vacation, and the teacher is supposed to give them assignments ahead of time, make-up tests, and special reviews to bring them up to speed, when is she supposed to teach the planned curriculum?<BR><BR>Travel can be very educational, but is shouldn't take place during the 180 days during the year that a kid is supposed to be in school.<BR><BR>That's my 2cents worth!<BR><BR>Anne

I don't understand the assumption that kids always will learn so much just from going to Europe. Don't we all know people who have traveled a lot without having seemed to have learned very much about history, culture, language, or whatever it is that we assume the kids will pick up? Just seeing old buildings does not, without more, teach anything about history. Just seeing people eating different foods and hearing them speak a different language doesn't, in itself, exactly tell you a lot about anthropology or sociology or whatever. And if you think it does, and that it's all that crucial, why not go during school vacations?<BR><BR>Sure it will be memorable to see exciting things. I remember seeing the Rolling Stones live when I was in seventh grade a lot better than I remember any single moment spent that year learning algebra or English.

Mary:<BR><BR>I might agree that kids will learn "more" in a very generic sense in two weeks in Europe than they will at school, but they will NOT learn what is being taught to them in the curriculum at school, which is the point here. <BR><BR>First of all, they could learn whatever they learn in Europe in two weeks that don't coincide with school days. <BR><BR>Second of all, missing two weeks out of a curriculum (even if that curriculum happens to coincide with things they are seeing in Europe) is disastrous for the kids and for the rest of the class, which must ultimately accommodate the missing student's absence.<BR><BR>And finally, unless the parents take a phenomenally pedantic approach to the trip abroad, the kids probably WON't learn as much in two weeks as they would in the classroom at home. They'll be focusing on the things that kids traveling focus on - what fashions the locals are wearing, the local ice cream flavors, bringing home cheap souvenirs for friends, sending postcards. I've been traveling with two kids in Europe yearly for 15 years and I think I can vouch for the fact that they are not by themselves going to link the Bayeux tapestry to the Norman Conquest, if they even know what that is - they're going to say they saw a long embroidered piece of cloth and then they got to go to the beach. <BR><BR>It's a nice panacea to say that they'll be learning more in Europe than they would in the classroom, but in reality, that's not the case. They are missing valuable classroom time that cannot realistically be made up without some teacher taking a huge amount of time to deal with what the kid has missed - and that's just not fair. You've heard it right from the horse's mouth here, from teachers themselves. <BR><BR><BR><BR>

My son's school actually encourage global travel w/ kids as they are a charter school with an eye on being a "global citizen". It was a little difficult on him to get some extra work done before, during and after the trip but the experience was life changing for him. It opened up the world. We always read about the sites we were about to see and he kept a journal fopr the first time in his life. School, of course is important, but so is expanding your vision past the classroom. He loved every minute of it and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Oh, one of "those" schools!<BR>Great, expand his world. Just do it in the 185 non-school days!!

&lt;&lt;if the opportunity had come up I would have done so.&gt;&gt;<BR><BR>I shouldn't make assumptions, and beeper hasnt said one way or another - - but I don't think this is one of those once-in-a-lifetime, thunderbolt from the sky opportunities.<BR><BR>And beeper is possibly "suffering" a little bit from "haven't had one in high school yet".<BR><BR>Hopefully this thread can shift its focus on what to do now. The decision is already made.<BR><BR>The HS principal is probably on the job this week, maybe all summer long. I would go there TOMORROW, and start working in "the plan". Enlist his/her support, and that might mean as much to securing the best opportunities for your kid - - all EIGHT semesters - - not just this one. Be prepared for the principal to ask "now that we have worked out how to help you - - how can you help us back?"<BR><BR>We are so fortunate in our community. We have a principal that has known us - - and hundreds, maybe thousands of other families by name and family situation. In his office all summer long, and available for anything all school year long.<BR><BR>Cultivate that. You've got ten more years with the school system, between the three of them.<BR>

This is a most interesting travel board!<BR><BR>It's just crossed my mind that when I was a kid, you got significant "brownie points" for perfect attendance at school. I had perfect attendance in every grade except Third and Eighth, because in the former I had a horrific episode of poison ivy that kept me home for about a week, and in the latter I had mononucleosis, which kept me out of school for the better part of a month.<BR><BR>I survived both by having a neighbor and friend bring me the assignments daily, and in both cases I had nothing much to do at home besides keep up the schoolwork.<BR><BR>My question is: Do schools these days give awards as they did when I was young for perfect attendance? It was certainly something we all strived for, and I achieved it almost every year.<BR><BR>This is fodder for a great travel article, by the way!

What about "home schooling"? It is quite the trend here in the Midwest to homeschool. In my husband's firm, several of the parents have dropped their children out of school for six months while they were on sabbatical leave and "home schooled" their children while traveling. I am contemplating this arrangement while we are on sabbatical, as I have taught K-8th grades and my husband is certified in most of the high school subjects. We could easily design a curriculum for our kindergartener and 6th grader. I am aware of all the disadvantages of home-schooling. Has anyone gone this route while traveling?

I really think that the decision whether or not to take the kids out of school on a vacation is a personal decision amongst the family members. In many instances I don't believe many families pull their kids out of school each school year. And if they do take their kids out of school it's probably for a week or so-not a month or more. If they do go on a monthlong vacation or longer, I seriously doubt it's a yearly thing they do.<BR><BR>Many of you are getting on those parents cases and acting as though their kids are going to fail the whole semester or fall so far behind that they won't graduate at all.

Wow. Still a hot topic even revisited for the umpteenth time.<BR>I moved Continents four times and school curriculems five times from age nine. This included a nine month vacation at age 14 from Canada to South Africa. My parents were always pulling me from school early or dropping me off late. I still graduated grade 12 at 17. The only thing that seems to have suffered is my spelling.

I never took my kids out of school for discretionary travel. Once they get to junior high, it becomes very difficult. In high school, a student would be faced with making up science labs. While I could help my child with English and history homework, the last math I had was 11th grade trigonometry. I remember nothing beyond simple computational math.<BR><BR>With the summer free and Christmas and Easter holidays, there is plenty of time to travel without putting your child behind the 8 ball in school.<BR><BR>I took my kids overseas a few times as well as plenty of places in the US but always when they were on school break.<BR><BR>Maybe if you have a genius who can teach himself you can do what you want. I agree with the person who said that saving money on airfare was not a good reason to put your child's education at risk. They are, after all, only in school for half the days in a year.

While my sonwas young (before high school) we always took our vacations in September. The first year the teachers were not sure, but the following years they were in agreement as his grades did not suffer and he learned so much on our trips. After he entered high school we only took him out of school once for a trip. A major point, though, was that he always studied very hard and was always in the GATE program. He graduated with a 4.47 grade average so I guess it did not hurt him to much.<BR>

I said I did not take my kids out of school but I guess I did. Once for a semester in Auckland, New Zealand, and once for a semester in Christchurch, NZ.<BR><BR>Since the seasons and curriculums were out of sync, they're schooling there did not amount to much.<BR><BR>I think it depends on the child. My children did not learn that much in school. They made A's and B's in school but were at the tops of their classes on achievement tests. I always said they learned a lot but not necessarily what the teachers were teaching.<BR><BR>Anne saw the Rosetta stone in London at age 8 and it made seemingly made no impression. She later read a book on it and its significance because real to her so that the next trip to London that was her number one objective: to see the stone.<BR><BR>I think this question comes down to the values of each family. Now that my children are grown I only regret the trips we didn't take.

Typed too fast. It should be "their schooling" not "they're schooling."

man, i think this is the first thread that i was unable to read in its entirety. why do i insist on frustrating myself by trying to read these ones? everyone starts to sound the same after a while, because i think everyone is coming from a similarly-aged bracket. <BR><BR>well, here's a *recent* remembrance from high school:<BR><BR>i remember this guy whose family used to pull him out of school for a few weeks every winter to go skiing. he got made fun of by the rest of the kids for being spoiled, most likely because we were jealous of his good fortune. also, because he really was spoiled. and he never did well in school, and didn't do a single thing to make up for his vacations when he got back. i knew, i dated him. after i made fun of him. what a cruel world we create.<BR><BR>though he is far from breing the brightest dear in the forest, he has an incredible work ethic and is now a pro ski instructor and a white-water raft guide, makes great money and is terrifically happy with his adventurous lifestyle. did his parents help him find his true happiness on the slopes, or did they encourage his belief that academic education was unimportant?<BR><BR>luckily, i don't have to figure that out! <BR><BR>good luck. i don't relish the thought of making these sorts of decisions about my hypothetical children.

YIKES!!!!!!!!!! As if mine will get read! I work at a school in a position that offers me an input from teachers and administrators. As long as the school gets their money they could care less when you vacation! The schools here will still get their money as long as you sign a contract saying you will make up the work. The teachers, most but not all, think that traveling is a great experience for children. As long as it's NOT to something so simple as Disneyland, etc.<BR><BR>I am taking my 7th grader(an A student) and my 4th grader(another A student) out of school the end of September for 3 weeks also. I and I mean I, have always wanted to see the fall colors in the New England states. Every teacher I have worked with and for shares the idea that the first month and a half of school, unfortunately, is getting the childs brain back into school mode. Hence, going over the last month and a half of the previous school years material. So, I think it matters when you take your child out and what grade they are in and what kind of student they are and the reason for it being during the school year. My reason for doing this is because the fall colors are ONLY in the fall!! And my husband has a job that has not allowed him for the last 16 years to take a vacation in the fall. And it is the only fall for the next 12 that we could do this too. We are incorporating American Revolutionary war sites and American history on our trip.<BR><BR>In closing...........use your common sense on whether you think this is the right descision for your family. We went to Europe last summer(NO school was missed) and our children learned so much about everything. Even if it isn't about art or history. Learning that some countries make you pay for bathrooms and water is a learning experience <BR><BR>Signed,<BR>educator, board member, and truant parent!

Forgot about the reason for your post....have them do a little each night and on the plane ride home they should have PLENTY of time to do their work! My 7th grader was worried too, but he wouldn't hear of us taking this trip without him. After all, he wants to see Washington D.C. where all the truancy laws are made! hehehehehahaha

In Ireland our government is introducing a fine for parents who take their children out of school for a holiday. Considering all children of high school age are free from school for the months of June, July and August (unless they're sitting state exams), I think that that's fair enough. What do you think?

"Truant parent:" truancy laws are not made in Washington, they're made at the state and local levels.