We have relatives visiting from New Zealand, and they would love to see the Grand Canyon. Based on when their flight leaves, it's probably best that we go during the week. My son is in third grade, so I'd have to pull him from school for two days. What do you think? A legitimate excuse to play hooky? I'm leaning toward it but feeling a little guilty.
Karina Bland is raising her 9-year-old son in Tempe with a lot of love, humor and support from her friends and family. A longtime journalist covering child welfare and education issues for The Arizona Republic, she blogs about raising good kids.
Well, it IS educational . .
Well, it IS educational . . . Hee hee :) I'd probably go ahead and take him out of school.
I would take him out. This
I would take him out. This is a rare occurence.
I think you should, just
I think you should, just call the teacher and tell her what days you'll be gone so you can get his work before you leave and watch for school state testing that I know is coming up. My son went last summer with my mom...he loved it and said he hoped to go back again!
"It's not to late to become who you've always wanted to be..."
I would do it...it's two
I would do it...it's two days, and these are precious life experiences and memories that will last.
When my son was in first grade we took him out of school for a week in September to take a family vacation to Disneyland.
We obtained all of the classwork he'd miss from his teacher, and we took a little time each day to work through it and study.
His teacher didn't approve and made a lot of snide comments, but he did not fall behind so I have never regretted doing it.
We had so much fun together as a family, I wouldn't trade that week of fun and magic for anything.
Seeing that this is a rare
Seeing that this is a rare occasion and he doesn't play hooky at all. I'd say take him with you to the grand canyon and I'd be up front with his teacher and tell her exactly what the plan is. Have all his homework for those 2 days travel with him on the trip and he can work on it on the drive. Also, maybe for a little extra credit he can do a report about what he learned while visiting the grand canyon. It can become an educational experience.
LisaMommy is a 38 year old discussion leader for arizonamoms.com from the Paradise Valley/Scottsdale area. Her two boys are ages 9 months and 3 years old.
Definitely take him out for
Definitely take him out for those 2 days, as long as he is not behind or struggling in school. At that age, he is old enough to enjoy the Grand Canyon, and the time with family, too. I'd just make sure he understands it's for a special, once-in-a-lifetime kind of reason, and that skipping school won't happen regularly. And don't feel guilty- you're going to make sure he does the homework, right? (Of course you are! It's not like you're taking him out of school to go to Disneyland or anything!)
Is that supposed to be some
Is that supposed to be some sort of swipe at me? What would be wrong with it if she were taking him to Disneyland - as I stated above, I collected all of my son's homework and we brought it along, and he was in no way behind his class when we returned. We don't take family vacations often, and this was a once in a lifetime experience for us.....and further to that it was a birthday gift to my son. I saw immense value in the whole experience. We prefer to go in the off season and not fight the ridiculous crowds. We had the park almost to ourselves on several days, it was fantastic.
My son rarely misses school for any reason - he has several perfect attendance awards, as a matter of fact. So it is not as if I let him take off whenever he feels like it.
I took my daughter out of
I took my daughter out of school for a week to go to Disneyland also and we took her homework with us. She did not fall behind at all and her teacher was really supportive and nice about getting all of her work together for us. I would do it again if that was when we had time to go on a vacation because we do not get time to go on vacation very often either and it is a lot more fun to go when you are not fighting the crowds.
Katy, for the record I
Katy, for the record I don’t think that you did anything wrong. I too, have let my son play hooky on a few occasions and one time included going to Disneyworld with his stepfather (3 days). My daughter and son also played hooky last year when her dad (my son is extremely close to him also) returned from Afghanistan from a tour of duty (would someone like to say I was wrong for that???). I considered taking him and his sister out next month for a trip to KNF but luckily was able to take some of the spring break off. Some parents don’t understand that our work schedules might not always work with a student’s school schedule and while I feel school is VERY important, I also feel like showing my children real life, real experiences and letting them live the most out of theirs is far more. For that reason alone I feel that any time you think it’s beneficial for your child to play hooky, it is. You can always take school work with you.
"It's not to late to become who you've always wanted to be..."
No offense meant by that,
No offense meant by that, just making a distinction between taking 2 days off to see the Grand Canyon and taking a week off to go to Disneyland.
Just for the record ladies.
Just for the record ladies. Its your child, If u want to take him/her out of school for a few days for a vacation anywhere. Go for it. doesnt matter where you take them, u still should call and get homework or assignments and then just have fun on the vacation!
I totally agree....take
I totally agree....take him.Build memories....have fun!
I too have taken my son out of school for a few days...or even a day here and there.He gets his homework and does it at home. No biggie!
School isn't the only thing that is educational.Life experiences are as well.
Karina, don't give it a
Karina, don't give it a second thought. Go.
1) He's only in 3rd grade -- what's he going to miss?!
2) The Grand Canyon has a wonderful junior ranger program for kids where they get do to fun activities, play games, attend an interesting lecture on the canyon's history, and then end up with a ranger badge. I doubt he'd have anywhere near the same educational experience in a classroom.
3) This will not put him in a "let's play hooky again" mode -- afterall, he has a dozen plus more years left in school. This is a microscopic blip on the radar screen of his school career.
4) Why in the world would you feel guilty?? Think about all of the kids who will never ever have the opportunity to go to the Grand Canyon. You are giving him an incredible gift.
Have fun!!!
DesertMom
http://ppdsurvivor.blogspot.com
Kari - It's not hooky now
Kari - It's not hooky now that you've put it on the website! Take Sawyer out. Get his work from the teacher ahead of time and ensure he completes it by the time he gets back and add a special report about the canyon and how it compares to natural wonders in New Zealand. (that way the relatives can participate). I do think this is different than taking a kid out to go to Disneyland -- on so many levels -- but you want him to get the lesson of valuing school and valuing family BOTH, and honesty, by being upfront with his teacher. We did the ranger program the last time Q was at the canyon. Very educational and age-based. He may have to suffer the natural consequences - attendance prizes, a lower grade, or extra effort to catch up. People make these choices all the time - weddings, opportunity to go to Asia for a week, family reunions, sporting events and the like. So release the guilt.
Go, for goodness sake.
Go, for goodness sake. Sure, he needs to make up the work he'll miss, but I wouldn't add any new academic work. It's two days out of the 2340 days (a conservative estimate) that he'll be scheduled for school K-12. Judging from the demand for subs in Tempe, I'd bet that most of the teachers in his school will be out more often than he is.
Don't I remember something about, when his class took a field trip to the zoo, the kids had to spend at least as much time writing in their science notebooks as they did enjoying the creatures? Didn't that really interrupt the whole experience?
How many memories is he going to have with the New Zealand relatives? He's probably going to learn -- and remember -- a whole lot more from the road trip than he would have at school, even if it won't be on the AIMS test.
If the point is to get him engaged, then why not ask him to record the trip with a camera? Even disposable cameras take shots that can be printed to electronic format. He can think up captions as he shoots.
Phonics, arithmetic, and lunch lines will all be there when he gets back.
Play hooky! The memories
Play hooky! The memories are more important. I support school but this is ONLY elementary school. When you get to middle and high school, it is too easy for kids to fall behind if they miss days due to the academic loads. So skip now while you can. We did - no regrets.
Mom of teenage boys!
the school probably wont
the school probably wont like it becasue they lose money every time a child misses school but it will be an educational experience and one that your child will always remember. plus how often do your guests come form new zealand? i would go to the teacher and ask for the work that he will be missing and have him do it befroe or during the outing and yes , by all means take him. you cant practice math by claculating how many miles you go betwen stops and the total miles. reading by reading the road signs etc, if this will help you feel less guilty. maybe he can do a presentation to his class complete with pictures or videos
We are booked to go to the
We are booked to go to the Canyon! Thank you for all the encouragement. Sawyer's teacher was very enthusiastic about him going. He rarely misses school and right now they're studying rocks and fossils, so it's perfect. He can tell the class all about it when he returns!
Karina Bland is raising her 9-year-old son in Tempe with a lot of love, humor and support from her friends and family. A longtime journalist covering child welfare and education issues for The Arizona Republic, she blogs about raising good kids.
Oh, we're also going to stop
Oh, we're also going to stop at Montezuma's Castle on the way as well as Flagstaff - maybe we'll get into the Lowell Observatory.
Karina Bland is raising her 9-year-old son in Tempe with a lot of love, humor and support from her friends and family. A longtime journalist covering child welfare and education issues for The Arizona Republic, she blogs about raising good kids.