Off to the Big School! Will it damper my travels?
I rarely post things on this blog that have nothing to do with travel. I have a family blog that I post my family stuff on, although I am sad to say that I have not been keeping that updated as I have been concentrating on this blog and my city blog. I decided to post these pictures as part of Delicious Baby’s Photo Friday because they are just too terribly cute not to! And then, I started thinking…these pictures and the fact that my oldest is graduating from PreK has nothing AND everything to do with travel. On August 24, Big S will start Kindergarten at the “Big School”. As I plan our trips in the fall, I need to remember that I can’t just jump in the car with my kids at a moment’s notice. A teacher by trade, I hated when kids would get pulled out of class for a ski trip two weeks after Christmas break. I know that it is unavoidable sometimes, but I am going to try to plan around holidays. This means that now, I am traveling with everyone else…it means no more week long trips in the fall or the spring just because we feel like it. I know that there is a happy medium here somewhere, but it will take me awhile to figure it out. For now, I will enjoy our summer road trips (separate trips to Jacksonville, FL and Washington DC and who knows what else!) and try to stall time from passing as much as I can…
on 18 Jun 2009 at 9:59 pm 1.Carolina said …
Ah, the time for traveling off-season has ended. It can’t stop you from traveling, but it can stop you from getting those really cool deals, or going places when it’s not so crowded. The thing about pulling my son out of school, is that he hated to miss it, especially in kindergarten. Too much fun. I don’t pull him out for long trips. I usually do a long weekend here and there, but even that has to be scheduled around school events.
on 19 Jun 2009 at 12:04 am 2.Bridget Smith said …
Congratulations on this wonderful milestone! I must confess that about once a year, we pull my oldest out for a few days of vacation. I always feel guilty about it, but sometimes it is the only time that we can travel as an entire family. Good luck finding your balance. I wish that schools today would officially recognize and support a week or two of “homeschooling’.
on 19 Jun 2009 at 4:07 am 3.Lucia said …
Congratulations! Love the pics…will be fun to compare these to high school grad pics in the future. We are headed to Navarre Beach for our annual family beach week so I will have to check out your Pensacola blog. We usually spend every minute on the beach but occasionally head out for day trips. Let me know if you need any tips/suggestions for Jacksonville.
on 19 Jun 2009 at 6:12 am 4.Amy @ The Q Family said …
He is so cute!! Congratulation on a big milestone. Mr. Z is going to Kindergarten this year as well. I know what you mean about now we have to travel during the high season. But we will manage.
on 19 Jun 2009 at 7:54 am 5.marina k. villatoro said …
Hi, I so understand your concerns. For us it’s even worse. Central America school system is backwards from you guys. So when everone has summer we’re in full swing. We get summer breaks from Novemeber to febraury. Totally doesn’t work for anyone:) I have to constantly take my little one out of school for trips.
Hey, you can look at it this way, now when you travel, there will always be more kid interaction:)
Photo Friday – INBioparque – A Kid’s Dream
on 19 Jun 2009 at 8:38 am 6.wandermom said …
Guilty as charged!
My children have yet to have a school year where they haven’t taken some time out for vacation during term-time. (In my defense, it’s usually a family-related event which, for us, involves at least 4 days of travel since our families mostly live in the UK/Ireland).
The strategy I use is this:
- I talk to the teachers at the beginning of the school year and tell them about any up-coming trips – if I know about them.
- Every time we’ve been out during school term, I’ve worked with the teachers to get and bring school work with us – and been diligent about having the kids get it done
So far, this is working OK. It helps that both of my children in the top 10% in their respective classes so they usually don’t suffer by missing class-time. If this was not the case, I think I’d be more reluctant to take them out of class.
Finally, in terms of budgeting, I bargain-hunt aggressively all year long. And I plan our vacations when I get the school calendar in September. This has been particularly valuable with respect to flight costs.
Hope that helps!
Michelle
p.s. Fabulous photo
on 19 Jun 2009 at 9:12 am 7.jessiev said …
fun!! congrats!
on 19 Jun 2009 at 12:09 pm 8.Cate said …
Wow that red is as bright and beautiful as your son’s smile. Gorgeous pictures. It’s hard when you have to review the things that matter to you. Hope all goes well.
on 20 Jun 2009 at 6:50 am 9.Dominique said …
I don’t have kids, but Tim is going back to finish up a Masters degree this fall. We’ve been used to taking our “big” trips around mid-September in recent years, so that will change for the next couple of years.
Between that and changes in our employment situation, we’ve had to rely on shorter, closer-to-home trips. But we try to get out of town as frequently as possible..and to find different things to do and places to go when we’re rooted to home for some time
on 20 Jun 2009 at 5:33 pm 10.Erin said …
I can be bad about taking the kids out of school, but honestly we get so few opportunities to go anywhere as whole family that you take it where you can get it.
BTW- let me know if you need the dish on Jacksonville. Good website is http://www.jax4kids.com, but I can also tell you a few places that aren’t worth the hype- like the MOSH.
on 20 Jun 2009 at 8:40 pm 11.Mara said …
First off, congratulations on this milestone for you both – and thanks for sharing the pictures (I’m glad you did).
Life does change once they’re in school full time – I’ve definitely felt that. What’s surprised me is that my son loves school so much that he doesn’t want to miss, even with the temptation of a cool trip! But I’d like to reiterate what Wandermom says above – it’s all about communication. We’ve had several occasions (often related to family events) where my son has had to miss a couple of days of school and each time I’ve found that talking to his teacher is the key to doing so successfully.
on 22 Jun 2009 at 10:12 pm 12.Lorraine said …
You’ve touched a chord with this subject! This was my daughter’s first year of kindergarten, and I finally had to come to terms with traveling around the school calendar. We managed a few days off here and there, and basically opted out of our traditional Christmas family holiday last year in order to pull off a big trip over the winter break (south of the equator, of course). Can’t do that every year, but using Thanksgiving and the winter holidays as an excuse to travel, as long as the extended family understands, can sometimes work out.