The debate on if you should be taking your kids out of school for a Disney vacation is a hot topic among parents. Over the years I have seen arguments from both sides. Some parents are very adamant that their child not miss a day of school while others feel that a Disney vacation offers more learning opportunities than a week in the classroom.
At first I was on the side that I would not take my child out of school for a vacation. I felt like I needed to take her education very seriously. Then a few weeks into 1st grade her appendix ruptured. By the time we realized what it was (it presented as a stomach bug), she was very sick and had to be admitted to Children’s Hospital for 8 nights. During those rough touch and go moments, when I had to hand my child over to a surgeon and trust and have faith, it was then that I decided how important memories are. I changed my stance.
Walt Disney World is busy (sometimes to the point where it is hard to move) and more expensive when school is on break (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break and summer). By choosing to take your child out of school, you will pay less and you will accomplish up to 300% more on your vacation since the parks aren’t crowded.
No one can decide what is best for your children but you. If you feel that the memories are worth more than the classroom attained knowledge, then by all means go for it and don’t let anyone sway your decision. If you feel that attending school is more important, then schedule your vacation for the very first week school gets out in the summer or the week just before it goes back.
We now homeschool our children and we no longer have to debate on if we will take them out of school for our trips. We just schedule our school year around any planned vacations. We use our Disney trips as learning opportunities. There are so many educational things to experience at Walt Disney World.
Learn more about planning your Walt Disney World vacation. Plus overwhelmed with all the planning? Destinations in Florida can help you plan your perfect trip.
Although she’s an adult now, we took our daughter out of school for vacations twice a year until she went to high school. She had good grades and teachers willing to supply her with work to do while away. Our vacations always included driving to FL from NJ to visit elderly relatives, spend some time at WDW, and visit with cousins her own age. One trip saw her meet up with one cousin from Florida, and one from California at Space Camp.
I don’t believe these vacations harmed her in any way. With such busy schedules, the two day drive gave us a chance to reconnect as a family and that’s priceless!
Same thing happened with my daughter. Thought she had a stomach bug but after 2 days when she wasn’t getting any better I brought her to the ER to find out it was her appendix! After the doctors poked at her it ruptured and off to emergency surgery she went!
If your child has already missed 22 days of school for other things, it may be an issue but if they’ve only missed a day or 2 it shouldn’t be a big deal really. Disney doesnt happen every day and You can always get make up work when you get back!
I’m a mother of 3 daughters and a teacher. We always took our girls out of school for our vacations to Disney and Mexico. School work can be made up either before vaca or afterwards. The experiences on vacations are immeasurable. Don’t advise taking them out when it is time for standardized testing though.