From Magic Maker® Amanda Thompson
You have visited the Walt Disney World® Resort in the summer and love it! And then you see the pictures and hear all about the special events going on in
the fall and winter. How it is so much fun to dress up for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and trick or treat at the Magic Kingdom® Park. You see the pictures of the Christmas decorations and Very Merry Christmas Parade and all the extra magic that’s enjoyed at Walt Disney World® Resort around the holidays… but the kids are in school. It’s the great question, “Do I take the kids out of school for a Walt Disney World® Vacation?”
I have recently had to deal with this myself. The answer for that question for me was “YES”. I have two children in school, in sixth and ninth grades. For our September trip, the kids were absent for five days. Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is important to me, but I did not want the kids’ grades to suffer. What did I do? Both kids had to be approved with the school principal to be out on Educational Leave. They did not get counted absent, and even received grades for what they had learned. It may be called something different in your area, but chances are you can get something like this approved for your child as well.
The educational experiences at Walt Disney World® Resort are endless! If you have never heard of such a thing, go to your child’s principal and plead your case. Epcot® is enough to fill any child’s mind with knowledge. Spaceship Earth teaches all about communication and how it has evolved from the beginning of time and how it will progress in the future. Living with the Land is a boat ride that shows crops being grown above ground. Is this the way of the future? It’s amazing! You can even sample these crops as many of the restaurants in Epcot® actually get their produce from there. Don’t forget the World Showcase! Where else can you visit so many different countries in one day? Shop in there authentic department stores, learn all about the culture and talk to people from that country. Sample all kinds of different foods from Japanese to German. A learning experience like no other! At Disney’s Hollywood Studios™ the kids learn all about how movies are made, how stunts are done, and may even get picked to help! Take the kids to Africa on an authentic safari with real animals at Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park.
Those are just a few of so many educational things to do. You can even add your own. Give the kids an allowance to spend, let them learn to budget their own money, and there is your math class! Give them the maps of the parks and let them try to get you to the next ride, for a geography lesson! When they return to school they can tell the teachers and principals how much they learned. One of my children was required to do a one page report and the other was required to keep a portfolio of our trip, much like a scrapbook. I collected extra maps while there, and he used them in his portfolio to show where we had been and what all we had done. It also makes an awesome souvenir of your trip.
The Walt Disney World® Resort is a perfect combination of fun and education. Even I still learn new things each time I go. For me, I feel the lifelong memories of such a trip and life experiences we have while there is worth the time away from school. As long as the teachers and principals are understanding and allow me to do this, I will.. and, of course, if the kids’ grades stay up. What better motivation for good grades on that next report card than a trip to the most Magical Place on Earth!
Tell us what you think. Have you taken your kids out of school for a vacation? How did it work for you?
We took our three kids out of school for 6 days to go to Disney World at the end of September. I never thought to ask if it could be done for a grade. The kids did learn a lot while we were there.
This gives me some ideas for next Fall!
Great Article!
This is great! I would add that there are tours that will increase the educational value of a trip, such as “Behind the Seeds” at The Land!
We’re going towards the end of January 2011 and will take our kids out. In the scope of all their schooling years, what’s a week here and there? The parks are so much better in fall/winter than summer. Better temparatures and crowds.
I never thought of asking if they could do anything for extra credit or a grade. Will have to inquire for this next trip.
LOVE DISNEY!
Cheers 🙂
I have two kids that will be missing a week of school in December for our trip to Disney and I was very worried how the school would handle this. Thank you for the information and I will definetly look to see if this is a possiblity at my children’s school.
Amanda, we do this every 2 years. We have tried going during Christmas time, the summer and we ended up going in the Sept. Oct time frame because the weather is usually nice, not hot and not cold and the school situation came up with us also. They were going to give my children F’s after only missing 3 days and that was nuts and we used the fall break of 2 days. We ended up talking about the educational experiences and the teachers approved their absences. The principle still didnt but we got past that. They did their work early for that week before we left and got extra for the educational experience. This is the best time to go anyway. The Not so Scarry Halloween is such a blast itself. Good ideas.
Bargers, D23 charter member, Stockholder and Disney Fanatic
6 times visited
Love the idea! I’m a teacher and I think it’s a great way for parents to “think outside the box.” Be very careful, however, when planning your trip. Talk to the principal and teachers weeks (months, if possible) in advance to work out any details and assignments. Also, parents need to consider the level of responsibility each child can manage within this experience. Some children may need more structure and motivation in order to get assignments done in advance and to complete their projects/portfolios when they get back. Always keep in mind what is best for your child, not what is best for you.