First ever RV trip – Vegas, Grand Canyon, Antelope, Zion, Yosemite and San Francisco

[Redw28]

Hi Dave,

I'm looking forward to when my boys are a bit older and we don't have to a) pay for them and b) go in expensive school holiday periods. Then there'll be no stopping us!

I think you're right, whilst we enjoyed the last week, we didn't need it and probably won't do that again.

Pete

[DonnaR57]

Speaking from the viewpoint of ONE educator, travel like you just did can be extremely educational. If one of my students is pulled out of class for a week or two, with a truly enlightening trip in mind, I usually hand them a packet of work to do, a composition book to keep a journal, and recommend that they read every night for 20 minutes. I've had students pulled out to go to D.C., to go up to Alaska, and to go to Europe. Those kinds of trips, I would fully support the parents/students who get to go. Usually I ask, jokingly, if they have room for me in their suitcase.

The ones I have to raise my eyebrows about are those that are just being pulled out of school to go to the theme parks, or to Grandma's house. This is especially true if they are already behind everyone else. That happened last year, one of my lowest academic students was pulled out for a week to go to Disneyland, which is an hour and a half away, and Knotts Berry Farm.

We have a system in California, that perhaps your home system has: independent study. If a student is going to miss 5 days or more for travel or surgery, and knows about it ahead of time, the parent applies for independent study. The teacher pulls together some work that will be what the student will miss, and gives it to the parent/child to be done while they are on vacation. I always give mine a small work packet, but my big things are the reading and the writing. Writing can be done by keeping a journal (which I give back as a souvenir as their trip after I've looked at it) and reading at night. This constitutes an excused absence in the State of California; I don't know about other states or countries.


Donna

[Redw28]

Hi Donna,

It really was educational for all of us, history, geography, geology, politics and local custom and practice which we noted changed as we moved from state to state.

Unfortunately, we aren't quite as enlightened over here. If we take them out of school, we will get fined by the local authority, unless we have the Head Teacher's written permission and in our experience, that permission is never given.

The work packet and journal is a great idea and increases the fun element of education. I've thoroughly enjoyed writing this and if they added the other more educational things we have learnt, it would be a really good document.

Pete