When You Allow Your Child Home From School For Reasons Other Than Being Sick, What Do You Say?

Question

I was just wondering what other parents do.

For situations when you allow your child not to go to school for reasons other than being ill; such as a family function or a vacation, do you say your child is sick regardless or do you tell them the truth as to why your child is not in school?

Answer 1

I always tell the truth as to why they are away.

They rarely miss school anyway, so when they do, I find they are worthy of the day off, whether sick or not!

Answer 2

I tell them the truth, get the school work that he can do so that he doesn't fall behind, and see what he has to do when he gets back to catch up.  In my area, if a child has 5 unexcused days off of school (this includes school field trips, funerals, vacations, etc.  Almost everything but sick), they fail.  So anything to keep that from happening is worth the little extra effort.

Answer 3

I struggled with this too. I think any time we "lie" or tell something untrue we are teaching our kids that it is ok to lie if the ends justify the means!

in elementary school I just told them.  My husband worked the 3 to ll shift 6 days a week so when the kids were home they didnt see him. On occasion when he got a personal day we took it and did things as a family.  I told the school the influence of a father never ends...they will forget algebra but they will never forget their relatioinship with dad. In elementary they dotn usually hold it against the students.  

IN Junior high and high its different.  They have unexcused and excused absents.  If you are unex. you are not allowed to make up your work (unfair and affects your grades)  They also will send you nasty letters if your child misses more than ten days per school year.

I used "mental health day" and it worked for a long time.   Then I had to start writing "she did not feel well" to get an excuse.  The only thing I could do was tell her "I dont feel well today, so we are taking a mental health day and doing something family" then write on the note jjust the bare necessitie...She didnt feel well.

hope that helps

good luck.  

Answer 4

Since I  expect my children to tell the truth, I tell the truth.  If I feel it's a good reason for them to stay home from school, then there is no reason to lie.

Answer 5

I tell them that we are taking a family day.....plain and simple. I get really tired of public schools dictating whether I can take my child out for personal reasons. I understand that a lot of time out can be disruptive of the learning process but a day here and there (especially w/family) shouldn't be a big deal.

Answer 6

i pretty much always lie to protect my kids,,lol

like my 9yr old hates the 5 day swimming lessons every year in school,, he cried his eyes out, so to get him out of it i wrote a note saying he couldnt do it cos he gets eczema,, it worked!,,lol

i usually only let them off school if sick, but 4 reasons like that i will lie, oops xxxxxxxxx

Answer 7

You tell the truth but don't expect the school to look kindly on taking a vacation when school is in session.  It's pretty irresponsible to do that anyway.  One day every now and then is acceptable.

Answer 8

I always tell them the truth. Sometimes a family function or vacation IS more important than school. We're a military family and have to take opportunities to be together when we can. I personally feel like my kids can make up their work (which I make them do and they get good grades) But it's a little hard to take family time if one of the members is in another country. Thankfully for us though the schools my kids have attended make allowances in their attendance policies for these situations.

Answer 9

I tell them the truth and they don't have any problems with it.

Answer 10

I tell the truth. Otherwise I forget what I said and it comes back to bite me.

My eldest missed school Friday, because we needed to travel down South to a friends house and weren't returning that night. So I told the school the truth, they were fine about it.

Answer 11

my mom would just say that i want feeling good or something like that. my sons not that old yet so im not sure what i would say

Answer 12

Well you should tell the truth that shows kids how to tell the truth. But i was never taken out for anything than being sick.  Vacations were done during our vacation and family functions we just weren't allowed to go  

Answer 13

well some times i do i would rather for  him tell me the truth then wonder around cutting school  if he doesn't want to go to school the only thing he has to do  is tell me   and give me a good reason  

btw{ don't let him go over board }

Answer 14

When I was a kid, I think my mom usually told the truth. Cause she'd never let me miss school if it wasn't for a really good reason like a funeral or doctor's appointment. There was the time she let me have the day off because we were putting our dog to sleep, but even then she told the teacher the truth. My parents never planned vacations during the school year. My daughter's only 11 months, so we haven't gotten there yet! But I think i'd tell the truth as well.

Answer 15

Well let me start off by saying that in the 10 years my kids have been in school, there was only 1 day I kept them from school when they weren't sick, or when weather was a concern and the school didn't cancel and thought they they should have (in those cases I told them I didn't want them walking in an ice storm, I don't drive and the school understood...on two of those occasions the school ended up closing early).  

If my kids want to stay home, they have to be sick with fever or obviously not faking.  I faked a lot when I was a kid, I know how to be convincing and all the tricks so that doesn't fly with me, lol.

The 1 day they didn't go to school it was because my husband and I decided to take them to the city and go to a bunch of museums (Science & Technology Museum, Aviation Museum and the Museum of Civilization).  I told the school the truth and the secretary thought it was cool, even said they'd probably learn more with me that day, than sitting in the classroom.  We made sure not to go on a Monday because that's the day the whole school gets all their assignments for the week, and we didn't go on a Friday, the day when the whole school writes tests and hands in reports/projects.

We wouldn't plan a vacation during school and family functions only happen in the summer when school isn't an issue.  Except for a 90th birthday that was 8 hours away.  But we drove there the morning of the party, and home the next day.  It's really important to me they don't miss school.  

Dentist & Dr's appointments are scheduled for after school or early in the morning...then they go to school a little late.  My son had a root canal and was in school 2 hours later (his choice).

Answer 16

my mum always used the sick card or the 'family emergency'

Answer 17

Just say do to family situation dont teach your child to white lie.

Answer 18

I don't allow my kids to stay home unless they are sick. I have 4 kids so if I were to allow them to take a day off it would be obvious I was lying if I said they were all sick. It wouldn't really be fair for me to let one stay home and not the rest and I really don't see the need for them to have days off for no reason, they get enough days off during the year.

We went to Disney in 06 and that was the only time I've ever allowed them to miss school when not sick. They missed 4 days because it was a holiday weekend. I wrote a note to the school letting them know we were going to Disney on vacation. I normally wouldn't plan a vacation during the school days but it ws one of those "the whole family" is going and they all wanted to go off peek.  

Answer 19

I would say, I am happy you are wise enough to see the wickedness of the public schools. I will now homeschool you as I should have from the beginning.