I am a bit of an academic. I skipped third grade, I was in advanced classes, I took grade eight and nine French in one year, and I was a peer tutor for algebra in grade twelve. Algebra! (Nerd alert.) My report card only ever had A (or A+) marks. I went on to become a Chartered Accountant, and I think that education is an important part of growing up into being an adult.
That all said, I have no problem taking my kids out of school to go skiing.
We bought a cabin at our local ski hill this past summer and have spent many weekends up there, even before the snow fell. There is hiking, and fishing, and running, and mountain biking. Now that there is snow, there is sledding, and snow shoeing, and skiing. We love it all.
My husband is the Children's & Families pastor at our church (a post about being a pastor's wife will wait for another day), which means that he works on Sundays. In order to get some good time at the cabin, we've taken the kids out of school on a few Fridays. He did book one Sunday off, and we took the kids out of school on the Monday.
When we decide on taking the kids out of school, I email our kids' teachers a week before to let them know. I ask them to send along any homework, and to have my kids work ahead if need be.
(My kids are in second, fourth, and sixth grade.)
The general response from the teachers and coaches is along the lines of HAVE SO MUCH FUN! ENJOY THE HILL!
One teacher is not so keen on it, which is odd, because the child in her class is exceeding in all subject areas. If my child were struggling, I would not take them out of class. But they are not struggling, and are exceeding. In that situation, spending a day on the hill with your family trumps a day in the classroom. I never had that growing up, and I think my kids are going to be better off for it.
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