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If/When my daughters come up to sick to go to school, it is the general rule in our house that you MUST stay in bed, except for potty and meals. I don't think this is excessive. I can assure you if my daughters decide they are too sick for school, they are sick. There are no errands, meals out, friends over.....Unless you have to go to the doctor. Stay in bed and REST. Sleep. If you are sick, you need sleep. If you don't need sleep...then you can go to school.
Having said that the lady who informed me that I was mean is currently in trouble because HER son has skipped school so many times already this year that the counsellor from the school came to her house. They have suggested she home school him (I Know this is not a good answer) because she can't get him to go to school. He is 8. But.. I don't have THAT problem. Maybe I am mean, but there is alot of things my children don't EVEN TRY...like refusing to go to school.
Same rules apply in my household! If you are too sick to go to school, you stay in bed. I always had perfect attendance and rarely got sick... but even when I did, if I was not dying my parents sent me to school.
I do not send my kids to school if they get sick because I do not want to get everybody else sick. But when they stay home... they are really sick!
If they miss on a Friday, no weekend activities, either. I'm such a terrible person...
ooohhh....that's rough!
I always have a hard time cancelling all the weekend stuff if they're sick on Friday - we tend to look at things on a case-by-case basis. But generally mine are troopers about going to school unless they're REALLY sick. For the first time ever, my older son had perfect attendance last year until May - then he went down two days before the class play he was leading in and the teacher was in a panic! But he recovered just in time.
When I was a kid and stayed home sick my mom actually made us do housework so I went to school even when I was really sick!! I don't want staying home sick to be a punishment but my kids don't take advantage either. They have each had 2 or fewer sick days each year.
So, if my kids are sick enough to stay home, they are really sick. If they just aren't feeling well they usually go to school anyway just as most of us go to work even if we don't feel well, but we aren't sick enough to stay home. They get the same latitude at home sick on a school day as they do any other day they are sick. No, they don't go out or have friends over but if they want to lay on the couch and watch TV instead of lay in bed and stare at the ceiling that is fine with me. It's what I do when I am sick.
We also allow the kids to take one day off from school as long as they aren't missing a test or have a project due. Basically, it isn't to be use to avoid school, but just if they are feeling overwhelmed or need to take a day for 'mental health' as FarNorthDallas described.
Does your school policy have a provision for 'mental health' days?
Our school does not and honestly, I don't care. I'm the parent and set the rules for my kids which includes one day per school year to take off for whatever reason you want, as long as it isn't to avoid turning in work or to miss a test you are not ready for, etc.
Our teachers have several vacation days to use during the school year and our kids have one day each as well. Seems reasonable to me.
I am going to ask DD if she wants to take her day off and go to Biltmore house to see the Christmas lights this year. Of course it is her choice, she may want to do something else or just stay at home and do nothing on her vacation day. With her school work load, jobs and volunteering outside of school she doesn't get many days to just do nothing.
I agree as well, not mean My parents did the same, although, we were allowed to watch tv.
We were not allowed to go to any evening activities either that day.
No, I don't make my son stay in bed when he is home "sick" from school. Sometimes he just needs a mental health day, sometimes he feels like getting up even though he has a fever or whatever. I don't care what he does, play video games or watch TV, or sit in the sun outside. I don't always stay in bed when I am home from work. I guess I don't understand the reasoning of making a kid stay in bed just because he is home from school. What's the point of that? I guess I don't get the purpose.
The purpose is to make stayING home "sick" when they actually aren't, really, really boring, so they don't get into the habit of playing hookie. It is hard to tell when your child is sick or not, sometimes. And I understand a mental health day here and there, but at the same time, the kids are going to have to learn how to deal with anxiety, work-overload, missing deadlines, etc.
I like NJYank's (? sorry, I think I got your name wrong) idea of one vacation day a year, once they get older. Sometimes things do get overwhelming and you need to take a breather...
My oldest is in kindergarten, but it is an issue I have been thinking about recently. Thanks to everyone for some great ideas!
The purpose is to make stayING home "sick" when they actually aren't, really, really boring, so they don't get into the habit of playing hookie. It is hard to tell when your child is sick or not, sometimes. And I understand a mental health day here and there, but at the same time, the kids are going to have to learn how to deal with anxiety, work-overload, missing deadlines, etc.
I like NJYank's (? sorry, I think I got your name wrong) idea of one vacation day a year, once they get older. Sometimes things do get overwhelming and you need to take a breather...
My oldest is in kindergarten, but it is an issue I have been thinking about recently. Thanks to everyone for some great ideas!
Our local high school gives each student two mental health days a year. They cannot be used together & the student has to request 24hrs in advance with parent signature.
I think at the high school level it is reasonable & enables the student to have some freedom, say, & "choice" while at the same time not letting them have TOO much
I remember parents who would take their children out of school a week or two earlier during Christmas or Easter breaks & request for me to prepare all their work ahead of time. That was always an interesting time.....
But sometimes kids do need a break & need the security/comfort that home provides for them.
I think if used properly, most kids don't take advantage of it. But there are always exceptions even with the best kid
Pretending to be sick..well, I think we've all done it or at least TRIED...and parents just step in with their intuition & knock all the fun out of it I am not a fan of promoting pretending to be sick but see no harm in letting a child stay home maybe once a year.
parents determine who is too sick to go to school and who is not and what to do about it.
its not negotiated. we are their parents. its not a popularity contest.
dodging stuff we should face is learned at an early age.
I was accused of being mean once (well more than once, but one occasion comes to mind)
My son was "sick" at school one day and they called me to pick him up. Fine, he didn't seem that sick, when we got home though.
Three days later, he was "sick" again, and they called me to pick him up. I picked him up, and within a half hour he was jumping around.
I brought his little a$$ back to school, and politely told the office staff that he was feeling better and would be able to make it through the day after all.
Now, that's mean! LOL!
He's now in second grade and hasn't come home sick again.
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Of course it is her choice, she may want to do something else or just stay at home and do nothing on her vacation day. With her school work load, jobs and volunteering outside of school she doesn't get many days to just do nothing.
My parents did the same, although, we were allowed to watch tv.
