Do you pull your kids out of school to travel?

The New York Times published a story about whether taking your kids out of school for vacation should be against the law. Some states in the U.S. give schools the authority to impose fines for truancy while other states allow parents to be charged if children are missing school regularly.  There are truant officers in airports and train stations in the Netherlands and Britain to ensure parents don’t take children on vacation during the school term.

In Ontario, taking children out of school for vacation isn’t an issue. In fact, I have seen parents pull their children out for weeks, even months at a time to go back to their native countries.

But to go as far as to make it illegal and impose fines? It seems like a severe penalty.

I can understand imposing fines on children who miss out on school for no apparent reason but not because of travel. Traveling gives children another form of education in real-life experience that can’t be taught in the classroom. It should be up to the parent to decide on their child’s education, no?

I’ve thought twice about pulling out my older child for long periods of time for fear of missing too much school and how it would affect his learning and grades. A younger child might not miss out on so much in the classroom and with homework.

However imagine seeing ancient sites in real life rather than from a text book?  I’d love to show my kids the Acropolis first hand rather than learn about Ancient Greece in the classroom.

Taking children out of school to travel should be evaluated on an individual basis; the length and frequency of vacation time and if the child is doing well in school should be considered when deciding on travel.

I’d love to take my kids out in the summer on vacation however it’s busy season for my husband and he can’t take the time off. March Break is too expensive as is Christmas time. So for us, spring makes sense to take a week off to travel.

Do you or would you take your children out of school to travel?