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

Gregswife · July 4, 2008

Kevin, kudos to your son. What part of Colorado do you live in? We live in the Denver area, though not directly in Denver. We live in Adams county, but our kids went to school in Jefferson county. We built this house and moved when my youngest was in his sophomore yr. and so I drove him all the way to school and back at Standley Lake H.S. until he turned 16 (his jr. year) and then he was able to cart himself around...

lashl · July 4, 2008

We never took our kids out of school to go on vacation. Always thought it would be to hard on them to catch up when they got back, besides, it's beautiful in Florida in August!

cruisetarp · July 4, 2008

We still have three kids in school; but the only time we cruised during the school year was during a period where Sharon home schooled my older two. All kids are in the public school system now, so we can't do that anymore. I might be willing to consider it, but my oldest insists on not missing class. He's in high school, and perfect attendance is one of the criteria for exemption from finals.
Kevin

Keven - sounds like you have one fine young man there. Congratulations.

coloradocruisers · July 4, 2008

Kevin, kudos to your son. What part of Colorado do you live in? We live in the Denver area, though not directly in Denver. We live in Adams county, but our kids went to school in Jefferson county. We built this house and moved when my youngest was in his sophomore yr. and so I drove him all the way to school and back at Standley Lake H.S. until he turned 16 (his jr. year) and then he was able to cart himself around...

Cheryl

We live in an unincorporated area of Elbert County, near the town of Elizabeth. We also have a place near Breckenridge, where I'm writing you from now.

We're fighting the pine beetles on both fronts, but they're much worse in Summit County. The Forest Service is predicting that we'll lose 95% of the lodgepole pines in this area. :sad2:

Have they affeted your area?

Kevin

coloradocruisers · July 4, 2008

We still have three kids in school; but the only time we cruised during the school year was during a period where Sharon home schooled my older two. All kids are in the public school system now, so we can't do that anymore. I might be willing to consider it, but my oldest insists on not missing class. He's in high school, and perfect attendance is one of the criteria for exemption from finals.
Kevin

Keven - sounds like you have one fine young man there. Congratulations.

Thank you, MaryLou. Yeah, he's a good kid; more committed than I was at that age. He's starting a community service project this month to earn his Eagle Scout rating in Boy Scouts, and carrying a straight A average after two years of high school. Here's hoping for an academic scholarship :excl: Then I could spend his college money on a cruise. :smile:

Kevin

hazelson · July 5, 2008

Kevin - DD got most of her post-secondary education covered because of her grades - she was A honor roll as well :o). It really does help with the cost of learning VBG

It actually shocked me when she wanted to be a costmetologist - but it turned out to be a great move - she has never been out of work, even for a few days, and now she manages a very successful spa. Guess she knew what she wanted to do.

BTW - never too early for a red hat :thumbup:

agentjoey · July 15, 2008

When we pull our kids out we ask for the materials from the teacher and we have school on the ship!!

My kids are great and don't mind this too much. It has worked very well for us so far.

deb1220 · July 15, 2008

My son is 19 and we've only taken him out of school once - for a trip to Disney World when he was in 2nd Grade. We never found it inconvenient to wait for school breaks to take a trip or a cruise. We may have paid a little more because of it but then he was able to have perfect attendance in High School (and good grades) and supplement his education with all the wonderful trips we've been on!

Believe me, I'm not blasting anyone who decides to take their children out of school for a cruise - it's a personal choice - what you feel is right for your child(ren). I can also understand where Jud is coming from, being from a family of 3 teachers - brother, sister-in-law and niece.

Southernbelle73 · July 15, 2008

Ok - so here is my 2 cents worth from Mississippi. I am a parent that believes that it is not the school systems total responsibility to educate my child (of which is 12 and going into the 7th grade) I believe that the Lord gave me the responsibilty to see to it that my child gets everything she needs and if that requires me to supplement her education by taking her to see places that have history, no matter where that may be - it can only be a positive. So YES, I would remove her from school in a heartbeat to see a possible once in a lifetime location. Life is too short and I only have a limited amount of time to nurture my child before she is gone.

Keep in mind my child attends a very small private school and doesn't always get everything she needs education wise. We are zoned to a public school that is far below standards, therefore I send her by choice/necessity.

I believe it is each parents responsibility to examine themselves and decide if the vacation is going to enhance or hinder the child in the future. You never know one trip could change the heart and view of a child shaping them in a positive way for the future.

PATJUD · July 15, 2008

"Keep in mind my child attends a very small private school and doesn't always get everything she needs education wise. We are zoned to a public school that is far below standards, therefore I send her by choice/necessity."

You have definitely made several valid points in your posting.

1. Parents have a great responsibility in the education of their children by seeing to it that they have everything they need for this education.

2. Travel is an education - actually visiting places studied from geography classes beats a textbook any day.

3. Time spent with children by parents is better than time spent with other people and time with children is brief.

However, Your quote above also makes some points. Public education is one of the most valuable things that our country can do for our young people. We owe our young people the best education that we can provide and we've been trying to provide it since our country began. Those parents that remove their children from public schools to place them in private schools or home schooling are doing great harm to our public school systems. I certainly realize that these parents believe that they are doing the best thing for their own children. But - look what it's doing to the public schools. You said it yourself in your posting - "We are zoned to a public school that is far below standards." If you as a supportive parent were involved in the affairs of that school and your bright child was a student in that school and the other parents like you in that zoned area were as well, that school would not be "below standards."