I am a High School teacher at a school where families leave for sometimes a few months during the school year. I feel bad for the kids as you tell them to check “D2L” but so few though. I am glad that there is summer school available for them.
A few months during high school basically means you're repeating that semester I would think?
That seems pretty different to me than a week of grade 4.
CBE has a 6 day weekend this upcoming weekend, so we're outta here to somewhere warm on Thursday, and will be back after the kids have missed half a week of school next week. Don't feel bad about it at all. I booked the flights in the summer before I think people realized there would be the big CBE reading break, but I suspect others have caught on, because flights are 5x what I paid now.
Man do I suck at life. I can't afford to go on vacations that would be worth taking my kids out of school for. If I could I would do it. But a trip to see their grand parents in January..hard to justify. My kids get to help me replace some tile in the bathroom at the rental property during their 5 day weekend.
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Usually for about a week every year they would miss. For us it was more of a concern to miss sports than the week of school.
This. And other activities too.
After about grade 6, school becomes more than just classes and grades to many students and I get why they don't want to miss.
When i read things like "don't let school get in the way of travel" I get confused.
The school year is maybe 9 months long in total. We always found enough time for travel in those window with an occasional extra day or two thrown in if we happened to go somewhere around a long weekend or spring break.
Man do I suck at life. I can't afford to go on vacations that would be worth taking my kids out of school for. If I could I would do it. But a trip to see their grand parents in January..hard to justify. My kids get to help me replace some tile in the bathroom at the rental property during their 5 day weekend.
See? Now this man has priorities straight.
Taking your children on Vacations? No sir!
Engage them in some good old fashioned Child Labour! Teach them about the real world and impart some marketable skills upon them! This is the way!
If they're lucky they'll get some beer and pizza!
Good for you sir!
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I have to hang out with my kids for the rest of my life. I'd rather them not end up weirdos.
You know this was my thought as well as the 90’s everyone who was homeschooled was legitimately labelled weird. Now however, things have changed immensely - pretty well a complete 180° from then. The amount of curriculum available basically sets you up that it’s impossible for you to ‘fail’ your child in raising/teaching them. The social aspect and the gym component were my two obstacles. However, I’d honestly compare my kids to anyone else’s and they by and large get comments all the time to how well they are to be around. Very positive comments. But that comes through making sure they are involved in social activities as it can be very easy to be locked in a house and never learn how to be social. They can also easily socialize with kids across different grades - doesn’t happen well in schools. For gym, there are plenty of co-ops to get involved with, and ideally you get part of a club sport for evenings.
The single, biggest, most positive factor that makes this the best decision we’ve made with our kids is you get your kid back. It can’t be overstated. You have zero idea how much you have disconnected with them and them from their siblings/family. Being involved with your kid(s) in everyday life (which includes schooling at home) brings the family close together. They readily talk to you, value your input and are willing to trust/apply what you share because they know you again. This alone makes homeschooling invaluable. Makes you a better parent as well. The positives far outweigh the negatives. And yes, you can take trips whenever. But I’m like the other poster… means my kids comes to work and gets to help renovate every now and again too. ‘Shop’ class with real life application!
Man do I suck at life. I can't afford to go on vacations that would be worth taking my kids out of school for. If I could I would do it. But a trip to see their grand parents in January..hard to justify. My kids get to help me replace some tile in the bathroom at the rental property during their 5 day weekend.
Complains about not being able to go on good vacations.
We never did but there were plenty of people who did and it's generally not a big deal IMHO. It did cause quite an uproar once my kids go to high school. The school sent out notice that no exceptions or accommodations were going to made for missing exams due to students being pulled from class for vacation.
My wife and I have discussed this. Once both kids are in school, we think we might do it here and there, but perhaps not much more than 3-5 school days max at a time.
But we've also discussed our thoughts on a modern approach to learning for the kids. Many parents seem to assume that nearly 100% of the kids education will be through institutions. For my wife and I we believe it's going to be 80:20 to 90:10 institution and then remainder us in a sort of home schooled environment. Almost like a public school/home school hybrid. If they're doing well in school and bored, we'll get them to learn specific skills and topics on the side. In the summer, there will be work books and reading and misc skills to learn with rewards on the side. This doesn't include the possiblity of summer camps, but we consider this as institutional education.
Sorry for the mind dump...
Spoiler!
Part of this is parallel to a career where learning random useful stuff on the side that is optional or completely necessary for where you are at, but it also sets you up for the next level. Whether this be useful work skills that are boring, or hobby things that are useful for networking/navigating work politics... we think that it'll be a good approach. Institutions don't teach you everything you need to know for your life path forward.
Kids don't get homework anymore as far as I can tell. The closest they have to homework are all the damn forms they bring home for mom/dad/guardians to fill out. They have stuff to bring home and do on occasion, but that's typically work they didn't finish in class. My son never has any homework but loves learning. My daughter I suspect will be the same. That's why it will be important to figure out a way to "home school" other categories of topics and activities. Whether that's a ton of building and imagination (ie: K'nex, Lego, crafts, Minecraft etc.) or dumb things to learn (ie: Random topics on Youtube, random skills like dancing or beat boxing etc. on Youtube, skateboarding etc.) but basically homeschooling exposure to pop culture skills and topics and nurturing the idea of understanding now to navigate many of them even if it's not their specific interest. I've also been specific in trying to help the kids learn failure. They always have to try first before I "help" them (which typically turns into an attitude of something like, "Do it for me instead of guiding me". I feel like many of us sorta just accidentally had this done for us in the past with little planning whether it be sports, collections, a hobby our parents or relatives already had etc. But all of this is important to learn and I want to aim for a bit more specificity than stumbling through it randomly.
The quote that another CP member had on his obituary sticks out for me on this, "This is the first time I'm a parent. This is the first time you're a kid. Mistakes are bound to be made, we'll figure it out together." It's a mulligan, but part of it is also a good and intentional example.
Another sorta annoying facet I've already noticed is learned fear. My kids had little fear and now they're learning "fear" that limits them trying things when they used to try everything. Learning to fear the dark, telling me they are incapable of things they had done just fine in the past. Part of it could be attention mechanisms to get us to engage them more, but I also feel like a part of it has to do with some adults telling the kids they don't do certain things because fear or whatever. Once my kids are like aged 6/4, I feel like I will proceed forward in fighting through fear to learn things with the kids. I think many of us adults haven't truly mapped ourselves out. We realize there are certain flaws in our character that perhaps we don't want our kids to emulate, but we basically just explain its for their own good to fight through that fear and resistance themselves without ever understanding why mom/dad/other adults stopped trying to overcome those things. I don't want my kids to see that in me.
I'll be planning to do controlled battles of bruises and injuries in my 40s to learn to skate board or whatever other such activities they want to learn and we'll bond over it. But I really do want to teach them about a specific pet peeve of mine. There are too many people that seem like they stopped truly learning in their 20s. That's fine for normal people, but I'd rather myself and my kids to be the type to be learning until the very end. I'll be intentional in wanting them to put in 10 or 100 hours on certain activities to learn how the mechanics of the topic/skill works and the skills/difficulty involved with it. If they want to continue on their own, cool. But if not, at least they understand the logic of how to navigate the topic in a scenario that isn't ultra stressful or doomed to failure due to lack of time available for navigation. Then we'd sit down and figure out at a basic level how it could associate with other topics and skills. This goes towards ideas of biking vs skateboarding vs scooters, perhaps flips vs yoga vs swimming vs climbing/heights, or dumb stuff like singing vs beatboxing vs drumming/physical beats and perhaps step up things like building furniture with dad (IKEA), handyman repairing things, changing a tire, driving non-autopilot, gardening, navigating new places we've never been/foreign country etc. This is perhaps a step up than just the traveling concept that proactive parents have.
It sounds crazy. Absolutely. But looking at many of the older people I interact with, many of them sorta just stopped trying after the pandemic. People who could figure out on their own why their car or phone wasn't working suddenly just started acting like it was always normal for them to be hand held through things in getting a solution. I don't want to be that. I don't want to hit my 40s-50s and then sorta be in a rut. I already feel this in my late 30s. I want my kids like me to know things they don't like via experience vs projecting they don't like it without really knowing. I want them to know what they don't know vs assuming certain things.
I do think one of the insanities of the modern future of our children will be forcing them to embrace a chaotic mind. There just too much information at their finger tips and too much emphasis and expectation of people in general that you should know it/know better because you can look it up. I've noticed this for my situations and I only expect it to get worse. Everyone has some level of ADHD in studies, because IMO going forward, someone who cannot think in that manner or navigate information that manner will get left behind or be hand held via AI/targeted algorithms. It's part of why many of my "peers" as parents are so scared. However, I just view it as the same thing my parents generations worried about... automation and increased mental distraction.... just with a different label. Discarded tools of the past may end up as perfect tools for the future. Not quite like reviving things and calling it vintage in a hipster way... but something like Mr Dressup might be an important "down time" like guided experience that will be important in between stuff like the insane non-stop go go go flashy lights kids programs out there.
This prediction of mine factors in the increase in mental stimulation when VR, AR and XR become perhaps more common in 5-10+ years. It'll start innocuously, but I do think it'll happen. Things such as scanning a QR code for a menu is going to expand. IMO, labels will start adding to this stuff for instructions, coupons, additional info and even advertising. I want to be one step ahead from a mental health perspective. It's dizzying, but consuming less as my parents instructed me to do isn't the answer IMO. It's consuming more that can leave a lasting effect vs consuming lots that our brains dump/forget relatively quickly leaving nothing to show rather than add more "mileage" on our mental consumption that requires mental upkeep and maintenance... I want to be aware of that early
A little different than vacation but an example of having kids out during school.
My teen is in a competitive sport and whether there is travel on a Thursday/Friday or the actual sporting event - Yes my wife and I pull them out of school.
They compete against athletes normally older than they are and the sporting organizations are not changing their schedules for kids/teens or university age or older
(work).
My teen has the responsibility to discuss the absence(s) with their teachers and do the assigned school work.
Last edited by Inferno099; 11-07-2023 at 08:29 AM.
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Since my kids were in elementary, we’ve pulled them for travel (usually multiple countries) for a few weeks in December.
They are both in JH and my son will be in SH next year. So we are still trying to pull them but in more strategic dates - so as to not disrupt schooling. First week in Jan is now the aim. Going during traditional breaks is just too much $$ and the kids have tons to do during that time.
A few months during high school basically means you're repeating that semester I would think?
That seems pretty different to me than a week of grade 4.
If it happens in Grade 10 what usually happens is a student usually end up in a recovery class where they are able to with a little perseverance end up with 10 credits at the -2 level if it is a Humanities course. If it is Science 10 or Math 10C they then would have to repeat in summer school. I find that in our school community that we have way more students taking summer school courses compared to other areas of the city. For example there are lots of students in my 30 level course with well over 100 credits already at the beginning of their Grade 12 year.
