Summer vacation is coming to an end, and so is the season of family travel...or is it? Summer is a great time to rent a beach house, take a road trip, or fly the family to someplace exotic. The generally agreeable weather and the kids not having to miss school are the one-two punch that have made this time of year peak travel season. Unfortunately, peak season equals higher prices.
Rent that beach house in September and you may enjoy a lower cost along with a quieter, less crowded stretch of sand. And if your life won't be complete unless you take the kids to Disney World, consider yourself warned. I found Orlando in July to be oppressively hot. I realized very quickly that immersing myself in refreshingly cool water at the beach, water park, or hotel pool was not an available option at that time of year. If I had taken the kids out of school, we could have walked for miles through the expansive Disney parks in the cool comfort of October. How much more enjoyable it might have been to avoid standing in long lines in the blazing hot sun by traveling when school was in session. In my family, that never happened because when my children were young, I was a school employee. It wasn't a matter of taking them out of classes for a week. That vacation time was not available to me. So as I waved good-bye, I envied those who had that flexibility and chose to use it...to a point.
Finances and weather are only a couple of reasons I've noticed why parents choose to grant their children a vacation from school. There are many other reasons. Are they valid or frivolous? And who's to say? Parents? Teachers? School administrators? And is it really a treat for the children if, when they return, they are met with heaps of make-up work and a raised eyebrow due to the choice that was made for them? So my question is: When, if ever, is it a good idea for a child to miss school for the purpose of a family vacation?
One of my co-workers was just talking about this the other day! She takes her boys on vacation in early September and her logic is that prices are cheaper, the weather is a bit cooler and not much new material is covered that early in the school year anyway.
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