Activities interfering w/school ~ rant

I just have to vent a little, not a lot, but a little.

My daughter takes Irish Step dancing and it's great, she loves it, it's fun
for her, etc. Well, for some reason all of her scheduled performances are
during the school day! I just got the schedule for Feb and March and there
are 6 on the list and of those only 1 is in the evening, her recital. On St.
Patrick's day, its an all day affair at 4 different local schools. I have NO
idea how this is going to fly with her teacher or her school, but they must
have some kind of heads up, I would guess - I just don't know what to think
of it!

Of course I'm going to let her miss school, at least for the one on St
Patricks day but the others I dont think I'll allow her to miss school for.
2 are for a Senior Citizens group, and the other is like that too, for some
singles club thing. I know it's good for the community but....what would you
do if it was your child?

Kari
mom to Kaylie (8) Noah (4) and Xander (4 mos)

"Kari" wrote in message
...
I just have to vent a little, not a lot, but a little.

My daughter takes Irish Step dancing and it's great, she loves it, it's
fun
for her, etc. Well, for some reason all of her scheduled performances are
during the school day! I just got the schedule for Feb and March and there
are 6 on the list and of those only 1 is in the evening, her recital. On
St.
Patrick's day, its an all day affair at 4 different local schools. I have
NO
idea how this is going to fly with her teacher or her school, but they
must
have some kind of heads up, I would guess - I just don't know what to
think
of it!

Of course I'm going to let her miss school, at least for the one on St
Patricks day but the others I dont think I'll allow her to miss school
for.
2 are for a Senior Citizens group, and the other is like that too, for
some
singles club thing. I know it's good for the community but....what would
you
do if it was your child?



You didn't say if the group is comprised mainly of school aged children.
Have you approached the leader[s] to discuss your concerns about the effect
of scheduling most of their performances during school hours? Perhaps they
could at least take school hours issues into consideration for the next
round of performances, particularly if several of the parents let them know
that their children will not be attending performances scheduled during
school hours. Have you contacted any of the other parents to see if they
have concerns and how they might have already started addressing them? Have
you sought to organize the parents who also agree with you to ensure
leadership understands that this is a significant concern with a significant
number of the membership? And, if leadership is unresponsive and there is a
reasonable number of parents who are concerned, can you start a new group
with those children at the core and obtain a leader who is more
understanding of this area of concern?

-Aula

"Kari" wrote in message
...
I just have to vent a little, not a lot, but a little.

My daughter takes Irish Step dancing and it's great, she loves it, it's
fun
for her, etc. Well, for some reason all of her scheduled performances are
during the school day! I just got the schedule for Feb and March and there
are 6 on the list and of those only 1 is in the evening, her recital. On
St.
Patrick's day, its an all day affair at 4 different local schools. I have
NO
idea how this is going to fly with her teacher or her school, but they
must
have some kind of heads up, I would guess - I just don't know what to
think
of it!

Of course I'm going to let her miss school, at least for the one on St
Patricks day but the others I dont think I'll allow her to miss school
for.
2 are for a Senior Citizens group, and the other is like that too, for
some
singles club thing. I know it's good for the community but....what would
you
do if it was your child?

This is similar to the competition dance, children's theatre groups, and
ballet schools. Some of them do tons of community events, others
don't. Some dance teachers/directors are better at making sure they
aren't missing school. Others feel their art is more important, and
missing a bit of school is okay, as academics won't help these
children reach their goals as much as additional stage time. Pick
your performing arts group to match your child. If they are going
to be a professional Irish dancer/music video dancer/actor/ballerina
then perhaps missing lots of school to perform will enhance their
life. If they are just dancing for fun I'd find a group that limits the
missed school to one or two days a year or less. If they are doing
so well in school that missing many days makes no difference, or
their teachers are happy to help them make it up, then taking the
extra days may be just fine. I know high school athletes/band
members/choral groups etc often miss quite a bit of school, but
the teachers seem to be behind it, and are happy to work around
it. My high school daughter is in Orlando right now for the
"Nationals" with her high school dance team. This is the first
year they made it to Nationals, and the whole school is behind
them.

Kari wrote:

I just have to vent a little, not a lot, but a little.

My daughter takes Irish Step dancing and it's great, she loves it, it's fun
for her, etc. Well, for some reason all of her scheduled performances are
during the school day! I just got the schedule for Feb and March and there
are 6 on the list and of those only 1 is in the evening, her recital. On St.
Patrick's day, its an all day affair at 4 different local schools. I have NO
idea how this is going to fly with her teacher or her school, but they must
have some kind of heads up, I would guess - I just don't know what to think
of it!

Of course I'm going to let her miss school, at least for the one on St
Patricks day but the others I dont think I'll allow her to miss school for.
2 are for a Senior Citizens group, and the other is like that too, for some
singles club thing. I know it's good for the community but....what would you
do if it was your child?


I'd be having a little talk with the coach. By this
age (unfortunately) it's too hard on them to miss a lot of
school. Plus, with some schools you'll get into trouble
for having too many absences, where five absences in too
short a time could already be enough to cause problems.
I think it's quite unreasonable to expect kids to miss
that much school for an extracurricular like this.

Best wishes,
Ericka

"Kari" wrote in message
...
I just have to vent a little, not a lot, but a little.

My daughter takes Irish Step dancing and it's great, she loves it, it's
fun
for her, etc. Well, for some reason all of her scheduled performances are
during the school day! I just got the schedule for Feb and March and there
are 6 on the list and of those only 1 is in the evening, her recital. On
St.
Patrick's day, its an all day affair at 4 different local schools. I have
NO
idea how this is going to fly with her teacher or her school, but they
must
have some kind of heads up, I would guess - I just don't know what to
think
of it!

Of course I'm going to let her miss school, at least for the one on St
Patricks day but the others I dont think I'll allow her to miss school
for.
2 are for a Senior Citizens group, and the other is like that too, for
some
singles club thing. I know it's good for the community but....what would
you
do if it was your child?

I would also talk with the teacher/coach on this one. Something
like the all-day school thing sounds as if it is school-sponsored,
and perhaps curricular-related, so I can see that. OTOH, I can't
think of a single reason why the Senior or singles group could
not be entertained by the kids after school is out.

It's possible that the teacher/coach just doesn't have much
backbone when scheduling such things. Instead of taking
what is given to her, the *groups being entertained* should
take what is given to them, i.e. "We would be happen to
perform for your group at any time, but if it's during the
week, it should be after 3:00 pm. Otherwise, we will not
be able to visit you this year." Or something like that.


P. Tierney

In article ,
"Kari" wrote:

I just have to vent a little, not a lot, but a little.

My daughter takes Irish Step dancing and it's great, she loves it, it's fun
for her, etc. Well, for some reason all of her scheduled performances are
during the school day! I just got the schedule for Feb and March and there
are 6 on the list and of those only 1 is in the evening, her recital. On St.
Patrick's day, its an all day affair at 4 different local schools. I have NO
idea how this is going to fly with her teacher or her school, but they must
have some kind of heads up, I would guess - I just don't know what to think
of it!

Of course I'm going to let her miss school, at least for the one on St
Patricks day but the others I dont think I'll allow her to miss school for.
2 are for a Senior Citizens group, and the other is like that too, for some
singles club thing. I know it's good for the community but....what would you
do if it was your child?

Kari
mom to Kaylie (8) Noah (4) and Xander (4 mos)



My first inclination was to say I'd let her miss school, at least if
she's doing well.

However, 5 days in two months seems excessive! If it's like this
throughout the year, that's an awful lot of school to miss -- I'd
probably talk to the coach, and to her teacher.

meh
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

Kari wrote in message
Of course I'm going to let her miss school, at least for the one on St
Patricks day but the others I dont think I'll allow her to miss school
for.
2 are for a Senior Citizens group, and the other is like that too, for
some
singles club thing. I know it's good for the community but....what would
you do if it was your child?

I wouldn't let them miss school that's for sure. There would be too much
homework to make up and I don't think it is a good idea to give the kids
that Irish dancing is more important than her education.

Fwiw, my oldest daughter has a friend and her sister that are in Irish step
dancing and I can assure you that the practices are not during the school
day. They are at night.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)
I'm Just a Raggedy Ann in a Barbie Doll World...

In article , Kari says...

I just have to vent a little, not a lot, but a little.

My daughter takes Irish Step dancing and it's great, she loves it, it's fun
for her, etc. Well, for some reason all of her scheduled performances are
during the school day! I just got the schedule for Feb and March and there
are 6 on the list and of those only 1 is in the evening, her recital. On St.
Patrick's day, its an all day affair at 4 different local schools. I have NO
idea how this is going to fly with her teacher or her school, but they must
have some kind of heads up, I would guess - I just don't know what to think
of it!

Of course I'm going to let her miss school, at least for the one on St
Patricks day but the others I dont think I'll allow her to miss school for.
2 are for a Senior Citizens group, and the other is like that too, for some
singles club thing. I know it's good for the community but....what would you
do if it was your child?

Kari
mom to Kaylie (8) Noah (4) and Xander (4 mos)




I'd talk to the organizers of the Irish dancing, of course, and make it clear
that your daughter can't make the daytime schedules.

How do other parents feel about it? (Or is she in a class with adults?) Are
the other members going to a different school such that things are scheduled
according to that school's schedule? I guess I'm amazed that there isn't some
explanation for the daytime gigs if this is an activity for school-aged kids.

Banty

Kari wrote:

I just have to vent a little, not a lot, but a little.

My daughter takes Irish Step dancing and it's great, she loves it, it's fun
for her, etc. Well, for some reason all of her scheduled performances are
during the school day! I just got the schedule for Feb and March and there
are 6 on the list and of those only 1 is in the evening, her recital. On St.
Patrick's day, its an all day affair at 4 different local schools. I have NO
idea how this is going to fly with her teacher or her school, but they must
have some kind of heads up, I would guess - I just don't know what to think
of it!

Of course I'm going to let her miss school, at least for the one on St
Patricks day but the others I dont think I'll allow her to miss school for.
2 are for a Senior Citizens group, and the other is like that too, for some
singles club thing. I know it's good for the community but....what would you
do if it was your child?

Kari
mom to Kaylie (8) Noah (4) and Xander (4 mos)


I would talk to the coach or whoever set up these dates. It's
unacceptable to schedule children performances during school hours. Even
though DD goes to a Montessori school where these types of absences can
easily (?) turned into learning experiences I wouldn't let her skip
school more than one or two performances (I would pick the senior
centers).

Jeanne

Kari wrote:


Of course I'm going to let her miss school, at least for the one on St
Patricks day but the others I dont think I'll allow her to miss school for.
2 are for a Senior Citizens group, and the other is like that too, for some
singles club thing. I know it's good for the community but....what would you
do if it was your child?

Kari
mom to Kaylie (8) Noah (4) and Xander (4 mos)



I'd be pretty ticked that they would plan something like
that without any input from the parents. Seems pretty
presumptuous to me.

I'm the kind of parent who doesn't pull kids out (oldest
daughter has missed one non-sick day in 6 years of school),
so whether my child would attend at all would depend on how
much she wanted to do it. She certainly would go to more
than the St. Pat's event.

Lesley