Let me ask the parents of school age children....

[JoeyandDavid]

Let me ask the parents of school age children.... and anyone else that wants to offer an opinion...

When discussing cruises on line I tend to see post after post from parents who always state "we can only cruise during school vacations!"

That led me to think about when I was a child and on occasion (and they were rare )

The family would be going someplace "educational" like Washington DC..the Grand Canyon.. the Everglades..Mount Rushmore ..Philadelphia..etc someplace that had some significance my parents would go to the school and discuss the negatives and positives of such a trip with our teachers... most of the time if we had good grades the teachers thought it was a great idea and so we would go ...In return I of course had to prepare some sort of report for the class... which leads me to my question....

Would there ever be an itinerary where you would take your children out of school to cruise because of the education factor?

[sailingrose]

I did take my kids from school once......for my parents 50th Anniversary. I am not a believer in removing kids from school for vacation but I think if we were going to Europe I could have been persuaded to do so. Of course they would have to do all the assignments while we were gone. I think any kind of travel is educational......my kids have learned about different cultures, different religions, etc. while cruising on a ship as well as touring ports.

I knew of many parents that just removed the kids from school and didn't tell anyone why. Our school district frowns on the kids missing school because of $$$$ lost for each child missing and would not give permission for you to do so. Too bad things aren't like they used to be Joey.

[55ChevyLady]

My husband and I are planning on taking our two girls out of school next Jan. for a cruise. They will be 7 and 13 at time of sailing and they will be in the 2nd and 7th grade.

I think the most important think to look at is what grade the child is in. High School is a little tougher to miss than elementary or middle school, but that being said, I missed 2 weeks of school every fall from 1st grade thru 12th going to Colorado with my parents bec. Daddy went deer hunting and I always made A's and B's throughout school. So it also depends on the child.

I think any trip is educational, especially when you experience different cultures. Heck, a kid from the south going up north is an education in itself!

We plan on preparing for our girls absence from school far in advance. The time over the Christmas holidays will be spent on them learning the class material they will miss while they are away, doing the work, things like that...I even have a good friend who is an retired elementary teacher who can come in and help me if need be. I think everything will be fine. This is not exactly rocket science here.

[JoeyandDavid]

I think any trip is educational, especially when you experience different cultures. Heck, a kid from the south going up north is an education in itself!

good one!

[55ChevyLady]

I think any trip is educational, especially when you experience different cultures. Heck, a kid from the south going up north is an education in itself!

good one!

I kinda thought you would appreciate that one buddy!!!

[jacketwatch]

Actually traveling to different places and cultures is an education in itself. We have had the good fortune to take our son, now 26, on our travels and it has helped him to see that what we have here is not what others have, that our life styles are not shared by many and that there is so much in this world to see and to do and ther are myriads of perspectives in life. He was nearly 9 yrs. old when we went to India. It was very warm, humid and my inlaws had no A/C which is normal there actually. He never once complained, managed to have fun fishing and flying kites and I was proud of how he handled living in such a differnt and trying culture, at least in so far as it was so different and he was so young. OK, so I'm a proud parent.

[hazelson]

I think learning comes from many sources - not just school.

If the trip has any educational value I say go for it - it also allows the child to share that learning when they return home.

Joey - are you doing prepatory research :o)

[JoeyandDavid]

Joey - are you doing prepatory research :o)

no cause i was going to do it anyway!!

[Joanandjoe]

Since we have a handicapped son, we were able to take very few trips, other than in the summer when he was in camp. Thus, the question seldom came up.

We never once took the kids out of school to go on a trip, and neither of our parents ever took either of us out of school to go on a trip. The sole exception: for family celebrations, we and our parents may have had our kids or us out of school for s single day, but never more than that.

[Suzila]

My two sons, now ages 28 and 29, managed to get all the way through college without us ever having to take them out of school for a vacation. We planned every vacation around their school schedules, right down to the last vacation we took as a family of 4, before they both got married. I had won a Baja cruise a year before, and we waited until the very last week we were able to take the trip, because that was my oldest son's spring break. Happily for us, since he attended an east coast college, none of the west coast schools were on spring break at the time.

The neighbors, on the other hand, have a 13 year old daughter, whom they take out of school at the drop of a hat. They cruise at least 6 times a year, and have taken her out of school for a Baja cruise 'because they couldn't find a baby-sitter'. There were no kids on the cruise, they've been there often and didn't bother getting off the ship. Nothing cultural or educational about that. And the poor kid's grades have suffered because of it. A few times they've left here here with us while they go cruising, and I get her to school, but it's obvious that her education is not a priority for them.