When to tell the teacher?

[poky]

It may be different at the middle and high school levels. Honestly, we live in the best elementary school in the district, which is desperately underfunded and has major big district problems. It would not be a good use of their resources to chase down unexcused absences from our elementary--the parents are highly involved and would be able to defend themselves if the district threatened to report for truancy. The district has much bigger problems to be worrying about...

It's not a matter of "reporting for truancy", it's a matter of "did you send your kid to school, because if you did, he's not here, and we might want to figure out where he is". It makes sense to me that it wouldn't just be assumed that the kid is with their parents, and that most parents would appreciate being informed, just in case.

[HouseofWool]

It's not a matter of "reporting for truancy", it's a matter of "did you send your kid to school, because if you did, he's not here, and we might want to figure out where he is". It makes sense to me that it wouldn't just be assumed that the kid is with their parents, and that most parents would appreciate being informed, just in case.

This. I am always glad that the school calls if I forget to call the kids in. C rides his bike to school, sometimes with friends and sometimes alone, so I count on the school call if he isn't in class as a way to double check that he made it. He has to cross 2 major streets to get to school and it is always a bit nerve-wracking. (Well, aside from the fact that the teacher and a pack of kids met outside my house every morning last spring was nice. I knew they were going to get there safely.)

[DCJenn]

We get an automated call at 10:00 if he's not there. Half the time, even if I've told them in advance!

J

[PrincessFiona]

It's not a matter of "reporting for truancy", it's a matter of "did you send your kid to school, because if you did, he's not here, and we might want to figure out where he is". It makes sense to me that it wouldn't just be assumed that the kid is with their parents, and that most parents would appreciate being informed, just in case.

Yep. On the occasions that I've forgotten to call in, I always get a call. Once the teacher called me personally on my cell phone to make sure he was okay. They want to make sure that if they left home, they also arrived at school and nothing bad happened to them. I have to say that I really appreciate that. It gives me security knowing that they are looking out for my little ones.

[moonlight]

Can I piggyback here?

I've talked with DD's new preschool about how important music education/experiences are for her development. This is way early because I still need to talk to the music teacher, but I found a children's choir class (primarily for home schoolers) 4-6 yr old. If its a good fit the class runs during DD's nap time on Thursday's. What are the chances the school would be cool with me doing this? The class is about 2 miles from the school. FYI the poor thing refuses nap time and basically seems to hate the thought of it. AKA cries in her lunch every day because she knows nap time is next after lunch.