[Alaine]

My daughter just started grade 7. Today I found out that all her 7 teachers expect her to do school work & homework while on our 11 day WDW vacation. All her school books are on line and the teachers will post her daily work on line. She is expected to complete as much as she can during our trip & she'll have 7 days after our trip to finish up. SO, MY QUESTION IS? Should I bring her laptop with us? Will it work OK down in WDW? Do I need to bring a router with us? I hear the Polynesian has internet access. Does that mean access for us to use "their" computer. Also, will it cost anything? Sorry, if I sound confused...but I don't have too much knowledge about that stuff.

[tea]

I know they charge for internet access (on a daily basis) but I have never taken our laptop on a trip - we actually will take it on our upcoming one so I hope others come along and give us more info :)

[gemdisney]

I can't remember about the cable needed but I do know the internet charge is $10 a day. I think it is a little harsh to make her complete in within 7 days. My DS now 11 was given things to do last vacation I certainly hope they don't expect me to go online with him each day this year. I am going on vacation-not to become a teacher for the week. We have very lttle flexiblilty when we can take vacation and the school has accepted that. I hope all works out great. My DS also stays after to help complete the work we didn't get done. Mybe you should see if that is a possibility for her. I know staying after stinks but it's better than doing so much on vacation.
Have fun and good luck.

[keljen]

Originally Posted by Alaine

My daughter just started grade 7. Today I found out that all her 7 teachers expect her to do school work & homework while on our 11 day WDW vacation. All her school books are on line and the teachers will post her daily work on line. She is expected to complete as much as she can during our trip & she'll have 7 days after our trip to finish up. SO, MY QUESTION IS? Should I bring her laptop with us? Will it work OK down in WDW? Do I need to bring a router with us? I hear the Polynesian has internet access. Does that mean access for us to use "their" computer. Also, will it cost anything? Sorry, if I sound confused...but I don't have too much knowledge about that stuff.

I say bring your Laptop if she has to do school work. It does cost for the Internet and you will need to bring an Internet cable not your router. Most places have a location by the phones to plug the Laptop in and there's AC also so bring all your cables.They don't supply PC's

[Alaine]

Any idea how much it costs?

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by keljen

I say bring your Laptop if she has to do school work. It does cost for the Internet and you will need to bring an Internet cable not your router. Most places have a location by the phones to plug the Laptop in and there's AC also so bring all your cables.They don't supply PC's

The cable will be hanging in the closet. If it isn't there call the front desk and one will be brought to your room.

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by Alaine

My daughter just started grade 7. Today I found out that all her 7 teachers expect her to do school work & homework while on our 11 day WDW vacation. All her school books are on line and the teachers will post her daily work on line. She is expected to complete as much as she can during our trip & she'll have 7 days after our trip to finish up. SO, MY QUESTION IS? Should I bring her laptop with us? Will it work OK down in WDW? Do I need to bring a router with us? I hear the Polynesian has internet access. Does that mean access for us to use "their" computer. Also, will it cost anything? Sorry, if I sound confused...but I don't have too much knowledge about that stuff.

If you don't want to pay the cost of Internet each day ($10-12 a day) you could copy the pages in the book she needs and ask the teacher what she needs to have done when she returns. The charges will add up by the end of your trip, hopefully the teachers will understand and help you out.

I would expect a student to have work done when he/she returns from a vacation. I know it takes time but they are already missing a lot of class time so they need to be caught up when they return so they don't fall even more behind.

[bethishooked]

At that age, both my DS's would miss a week of school to go to Disney. They then had a week to make up all the work, which sounds similar to what was offered to you. I would keep the laptop at home. Both my boys were able to complete their homework within two days of returning. They were in the homework mode at that point. I'm not so sure they would have done such a good job doing their homework at Disney, knowing that Space Mountain was calling them. It would be rushed.

[nanu57v]

I've brought a laptop to WDW. I did have some connectivity problems, but I'd always call tech support, and they'd fix it, and give a free day of internet. I would only purchase it every other day. It goes for 24 hours, so I'd buy it Monday at 9pm, do my school work (online college class) that night, then log in during the afternoon on Tuesday and do my online work for Tuesday. This was only $10. Then Wednesday again I'd log on at 9pm, and do work again Thursday during the day. So I only was "buying" internet every other day, but getting on every day.

[Pam&Rich]

One key note was brought up.....Try to print all of the pages out before you leave if any work will need to be turned in. Otherwise you will have to find a business center onsite to print. Or lug the printer. This could become time consuming (ie. a royal PAIN) based on personal experience to run to the resort's business center.
Pace the projects, keep them ontrack and have fun. This would be a great opportunity to throw the teachers a curve ball by your scholars turning in a short paper about their experiences while in the 'land of the mouse'. There are too many historical and technical subjects they could write about.

[gingles]

Wow, 7th graders have laptops?

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by gingles

Wow, 7th graders have laptops?

Maybe not the child but a lot of their parents do. I wonder what the teacher would expect if the family didn't have a laptop.

[nanu57v]

No, I've heard of schools giving laptops to kids instead of textbooks. That way they can read their textbooks electronically, complete and submit papers electronically, etc. No paper is used at all. One of our middle school classes were a pilot.

[nanu57v]

Here is an article about a paperless school in my state. They still use textbooks, but don't print stuff out or use worksheets. Top News - Pennsylvania school goes 'paperless'—fells costs, not trees

[delmarjohn]

internet access is free for DVC...and I don't know as of yet if thr resorts have it free or not yet,but it is available ....bring it and you will have it if you need it