[mbaker1277]

We currently plan on arriving November 16th and departing November23rd-the day before thanksgiving. So how bad are the crowds? We usually go during the slower months, but our daughters school schedule will only permit us to go at this time. We are considering going in January and taking her out of school for a few days. Any help?

[Dana]

Welcome to Disney Central. Here's my honest opinion. Go in January and take her out of school. You can minimize her time missed by leaving on a thursday and coming hom on a Tuesday or so. Thanksgiving isn't as bad as Easter, but the crowds can be pretty tough from what I understand. I have been to WDW twice now in January and can tell first-hand that it's awesome. Almost every atraction is walk on or at worse, a ten minute wait. The weather is great...cool, but not freezing. Time spent with family is just as important as education, so take her out of school and have some fun.

[Dopey]

Welcome to DC
I can tell you that we had the exact same dates last November and the very last day of our trip, Tuesday, was awful. All the days before were really great. No big crowds, but by Tuesday it was unbearable.

[mbaker1277]

Thanks for the advice! She will be out of school for 2 days(a thursday and friday) at the end of January, so we will probably cancel November and take her out about 2 or three days, since she is only in second grade. Thanks again!

[Dana]

Originally Posted by mbaker1277

Thanks for the advice! She will be out of school for 2 days(a thursday and friday) at the end of January, so we will probably cancel November and take her out about 2 or three days, since she is only in second grade. Thanks again!

Perfect idea, but avoid President's weekend like the plague if that is the dates she is off. Everyone else like to go that weekend too because their kid's get a break. Honestly, in second grade, there isn't much she can't make up or get back into. I take my DD out of school every year and we make out just fine. She is heading into 6th grade this year and we are going again, but I picked a week where she will only miss 3 days (one being half day for HAlloween) of school out of the 8 days total we will be there. I am hoping that other catholic school parents don't get the same idea...lol Just tell her teacher exactly when you are going and maybe see if she can predo the work or take it with her.

[Dopey]

I always take my kids out of school for the week. The teachers are more than helpful with make up work.
Last year the make up work was a whole book (which they had put together for 5th grade) filled with spaces for stories that happend while on vacation, spaces for trip reports, drawings, photos, etc. And after they were turned in to school, the kids got to take them home to keep. What a great memory maker that was.

[BESUNNYSIDEUP]

Mine just started this year (K) and I was scared to take him out for anything. They had work they did everyday and homework to pass in at the end of each week. He got sick for 3 days in a row once and we ended up doing homework for as much at 2-1/2 hours each night. When he is caught up he still has around 45 min of homework every night. Now for the summer we still have to do some each night to have all his "Summer break homework" done by the start of school. I will have to say for his first year in school it has put a bad taste in my mouth and making me rethink homeschooling - only if I didn't have to work. I can't imagine what it would be like to be in the second grade and miss a whole week.

[Dopey]

Originally Posted by BESUNNYSIDEUP

Mine just started this year (K) and I was scared to take him out for anything. They had work they did everyday and homework to pass in at the end of each week. He got sick for 3 days in a row once and we ended up doing homework for as much at 2-1/2 hours each night. When he is caught up he still has around 45 min of homework every night. Now for the summer we still have to do some each night to have all his "Summer break homework" done by the start of school. I will have to say for his first year in school it has put a bad taste in my mouth and making me rethink homeschooling - only if I didn't have to work. I can't imagine what it would be like to be in the second grade and miss a whole week.

Holy buckets, besunnysideup, That's an awful lot for any kid in elementary school, much less in Kindergarten. How can they want to go to school with so much serious stuff on their plates that early in their lives? You do know, that you have as many days to deliver make up work as your little one was sick or out of school.

[mbaker1277]

She wouldn't be missing a whole week of school, just 3 days. They are out of school the 4 other days. Yes, she has a lot of homework but she goes to a private school that encourages family time and vacations. I would never consider taking her out if I thought she would fall behind or have a hard time making up for missed work. I would much rather make up work than fight with crowds. I think we might seriously change to the end of January.

[Dana]

Originally Posted by BESUNNYSIDEUP

Mine just started this year (K) and I was scared to take him out for anything. They had work they did everyday and homework to pass in at the end of each week. He got sick for 3 days in a row once and we ended up doing homework for as much at 2-1/2 hours each night. When he is caught up he still has around 45 min of homework every night. Now for the summer we still have to do some each night to have all his "Summer break homework" done by the start of school. I will have to say for his first year in school it has put a bad taste in my mouth and making me rethink homeschooling - only if I didn't have to work. I can't imagine what it would be like to be in the second grade and miss a whole week.

My lord! That would put a bad taste in my mouth too. My DD who goes to a private school has about 2 hours of homework a night only because she procrastinates and takes forever cause she complains more than she does the work..lol I can't imagine her having that much homework and she just completed 5th grade. It sounds like that school is tough...really tough. I didn't have that much work in high school. Your poor DS spends all his time on school work and no time being a kid and having fun. Those teachers are putting way to much pressure on those kids at to young of an age. Sorry you have to deal with that. I know only to well that when your child has homework, so do you. Someone has to sit wtih them and help them do all this. Does that school think that homework is the only family time you need? That is such a shame for your DS.