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My son is in 6th grade and already missed 2 weeks earlier this year thanks to H1N1/pneumonia.
Well he was cranky all weekend and had some cold symptoms. Today (Happy Monday) he woke up with a borderline fever of 99.7/99.9. I am choosing to keep him home today because he's coughing and has a runny nose.
Last year he was only sick 1 day the whole school year but this year...well, like I said...
It's so hard to decide when they are like this should you send them or not. Do you guys have this problem? My husband said I should have sent him but it's not his problem (I am home all day and I am the caregiver).
I have trouble with those borderline days. I think a fever is defined as 100 or above, but how accurate are those ear thermometers? With the addition of the cough, I think I'd keep him home.
Gypsy, I agree you did the right thing. It is better to keep him home and let his immune system recover. All our kids would be healthier if everyone kept their children home for 24 hours after fever has gone.
To the poster that keeps talking about going to court....school districts have a protocol to follow when a student is absent; excused or unexcused. Where I live we get a letter after 10 absences. Standard procedure. I have a child that has missed many more than that school days in a school year. The school and school nurse are informed. Never has anyone said anything about going to court or wanted proof. And, I would never worry about that over my childs health anyway.
Legal proceedings occur when a school district suspects truancy, not illness.
I agree with this and I would think/hope that if illness is the cause of the absences, the school and parents would be talking about temporary home schooling or some other option before going to court.
I agree... also, bringing your child with a cold to the doctor is just exposing the child to all of the other germies in the waiting room. There's really no reason for that. Imagine if every parent brought their kid with a sniffle, cough, or elevated temperature to the doctor... the doc would never have time to see his SICK patients!
True! Children shouldn't be missing school for allergies or colds so it's all irrelevant!
I agree with this and I would think/hope that if illness is the cause of the absences, the school and parents would be talking about temporary home schooling or some other option before going to court.
Some school districts have concurrent homebound instruction available for students who miss a lot of sporatic days.
Unfortunately, many school districts only offer homebound instruciton for a long period of consecutive days missed.
Do you have a reading comprehension problem? I have not once said that a parent shouldnt' worry about a sick child! .
I wasn't referring to you worrying about your sick child nor did I say you said anything about that. I was giving my opinion about myself and my child.
Sorry, what was that you asked about reading comprehension????
I wasn't referring to you worrying about your sick child nor did I say you said anything about that. I was giving my opinion about myself and my child.
Sorry, what was that you asked about reading comprehension????
You should re-read what you originally posted. You devoted an ENTIRE paragraph directed towards me specifically.
And the my sentence you bolded above didn't have anything to do with ME so I'm not sure why you're referring to me in your explanation.
Hopes, I think you made your point now, several times. Thankfully most school districts aren't as strict about absences as yours is, especially in the younger grades. Yours is unusually strict. As already mentioned, it's mostly children skipping a lot of school/with poor grades that would get into trouble. And I would imagine that if a school was concerned about a child's frequent absences, they'd mention it to the parents early on, rather than waiting until the end of the year or "25 missed days" as you stated. Going to court is costly and time-consuming, and I can't imagine a school wanting to go that route if they can help it. And wouldn't schools give you some warning about your child's excessive days missed? Our high school sends periodic letters home listing the total number of excused and unexcused days missed each marking period, so parents are kept updated. Our school handbooks state the number of acceptable excused absences, so there is no mystery.
Well, what I am saying is my son being home doesn't affect my husband's sleep (he works nights). When I worked, my husband had to get up when I went to my job and 'be the caregiver.' Normally my husband sleeps till @10 am. My son was up sick at 5:30. If I had to go to work, then he'd be affected.
Of course he has a say in things but I am not going to wake him up for HIS permission to keep the child home. Hope you understand NOW.
The school can do whatever they want, they are not combative and understand kids get sick. He catches these things FROM school.
I am with you, because of my husbands long work hours sick kids fall into my realm of responsibility (SAHM) so I make the decisions as to whether or not they are sick enough to stay home. Works well for us and it is just on less thing he has to worry about in his very busy day.
In regards to the number of days missed, in the 3 states we have lived in the issue comes with unexcused absences not when the parent calls their child in for an illness. With the widespread of H1N1 I would imagine this year more than any other there will be alot of leeway in regards to sick days.
We got an appointment today and the nurse practitioner said it was most likely a cold with fever. We didn't want to mess around with this H1N1 and so on going around. She said to monitor his condition and if he gets worse, bring him back.
Thanks for all the replies. It's a tough call for all us parents...so anyhow, thanks again for the comments.
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I have not once said that a parent shouldnt' worry about a sick child! .
Thankfully most school districts aren't as strict about absences as yours is, especially in the younger grades. Yours is unusually strict. As already mentioned, it's mostly children skipping a lot of school/with poor grades that would get into trouble. And I would imagine that if a school was concerned about a child's frequent absences, they'd mention it to the parents early on, rather than waiting until the end of the year or "25 missed days" as you stated. Going to court is costly and time-consuming, and I can't imagine a school wanting to go that route if they can help it. And wouldn't schools give you some warning about your child's excessive days missed? Our high school sends periodic letters home listing the total number of excused and unexcused days missed each marking period, so parents are kept updated. Our school handbooks state the number of acceptable excused absences, so there is no mystery.
