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If you homeschool, are birthdays family off days, or light work days, or you pretty much ignore the fact there is a birthday that day, go on with the day as usual, and celebrate it in the weekend?

 

And, what I am possibly even more interested in, if your child was/is institutionally schooled, did/do you take them out for birthdays - or it is just like another school day, you send them and celebrate the birthday after school? (I am not even sure that all schools would authorize an absence due to a birthday, LOL, but I am still curious.)

 

Just curious. Thanks in advance for your replies. :D

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We have only ever homeschooled and we just carry on. We will acknowledge the birthday and maybe have a special dinner, but that is about it for a school day. We have big birthday parties for the kids, but that would be on the weekend.

 

It never occurred to me to take a day off from school for something like a birthday. I never took the day off from work on my birthday.

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DD was considerate enough to be born on Thanksgiving, so we're either out of town, traveling, or have relatives visiting on her actual birthday, which takes school out of the equation :).

 

As far as the school question, DD was only in school for K, and was very, very annoyed that she WOULDN'T be in school for her birthday, because the birthday child got to be line leader, wear a paper crown, and bring cookies to share. Even though they let her do that the last school day before Thanksgiving break, it wasn't her BIRTHDAY-and she was very vocal about that. I had a summer birthday, so also never got to do the school thing, but remember that birthdays were something the teachers made a big deal of when the kids were younger, and that friends made a big deal about (decorating lockers, bringing treats for their friend at lunch and so on) in high school.

Edited by dmmetler
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and no, we didn't take off my oldest son's birthday when he was in regular school. He wouldn't have wanted to take off his birthday - it's fun to be the birthday kid! Even when he was in high school, I think there was a certain amount of attention and love showered on the birthday kid, so he probably would have not skipped even if I had presented that option.

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We take off an entire week around his birthday. :D I usually schedule that to be our first break (6 weeks on, 1 week off) of the year. He shares a birthday with my mother, who is one of his best friends. So when we didn't live close we'd try to travel to see them, hence the week off.

 

He was in private school for prek and K, we did not take off birthdays, but they would have cupcakes to celebrate on his birthday.

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We do school daily year round except on birthdays/holidays. On birthdays the birthday child gets taken out for a special breakfast or lunch by me and to Barnes and noble to pick out a book. This is a major treat. My oldest was born on Halloween so special stuff HAS to get done during the day. We just decided to follow with the others.

 

Wanted to add that everyone gets the birthday off but that my oldest is the only one old enough for school.

Edited by reign
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My son's birthday falls in July so school is out of session. Were it in session he would attend school that day.

 

As it is his birthday presents invariably include some very cool home education materials like math books (and last year MCT) so we usually at least take a sneak-peak at the materials in addition to what-ever else we have planned for that day in terms of a celebration.

 

Bill

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We either have a lighter day or we take the day off.

 

My oldest has a summer birthday so when he was in school, his birthday fell during summer break. My middle one has a winter birthday and we took him out of school for the day.

 

DD was born on Jan. 1 so she would get the day off no matter what. :D

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My son's birthday falls in July so school is out of session. Were it in session he would attend school that day.

 

As it is his birthday presents invariably include some very cool home education materials like math books (and last year MCT) so we usually at least take a sneak-peak at the materials in addition to what-ever else we have planned for that day in terms of a celebration.

 

Bill

 

Yes, we give homeschool materials as gifts for birthday and Christmas too. The oldest has even asked for a textbook at times. They don't seem to know it's really school work.

Denise

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We take the dc's birthday WEEKS off, or at least 2-3 full days off and the others are light days to catch up.

 

Ds and caboose dd's birthdays are a few days either side of Thanksgiving, so the time would probably be taken off anyway. Dd's birthday is in the spring, so we take that week rather than the traditional Feb. or April break the schools do.

 

We typically travel to visit grandparents for their birthdays, so they would lose a day or two going and coming (Fri. and Mon.), so I may as well plan to have that time off.

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All birthdays are holidays here. We often take the week of the birthday off. (easy since ds's bday is in February when we need a break anyway, dd is the week of 4th of July and mine is right around Memorial Day) We usually take off August and start the new year the week after my Labor Day baby's bday.

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My son is in a public K class. His classroom doesn't do anything for b-days. Their school handbook says a birthday child can bring a manufacturer packaged snack with an ingredient list to be sent home with each classmate. We choose not to do that.

 

For next year if he is there, I might go have lunch with him in the cafeteria. Parents are always welcome to do that, but I can't see that I would do it more than once or twice.

 

ETA: the school only excuses absences due to illness or other reason approved by the principal. My son will miss some days due to family travel and those will be unexcused. If there is an "excessive" amount of unexcused, the family can be referred to a truancy officer.

Edited by Acorn
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If you homeschool, are birthdays family off days, or light work days, or you pretty much ignore the fact there is a birthday that day, go on with the day as usual, and celebrate it in the weekend?

 

And, what I am possibly even more interested in, if your child was/is institutionally schooled, did/do you take them out for birthdays - or it is just like another school day, you send them and celebrate the birthday after school? (I am not even sure that all schools would authorize an absence due to a birthday, LOL, but I am still curious.)

 

Just curious. Thanks in advance for your replies. :D

 

No school on birthdays here. Thankfully, most are during the summer. I hate my school schedule being interrupted. However, activities are *not* canceled on a birthday: band, church, etc. Although I do offer to send cupcakes. :001_smile:

 

ETA: No school for anyone on the birthday. It's a family day off.

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Birthdays are special family days here and we do take off school. We wake up to bday presents and then spend the day doing something fun together. This year we spent the day at the public pool ( more like a water slide park), went caving for another, and went to a fish hatchery (well we go lost!)/picnic, and we'll go up by the ski resort for hot chocolate and to go sledding for or NOV son's bday. Gifts are there but mininal any time of the year, it's all about quality time for us!

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Full family holiday for everyone on a birthday round here. We always go on a "birthday adventure"....some sort of fun, out of the norm thing. Some year's it's a bigger adventure than others. DH actually takes a day off of work, sometimes 2, depending on what the birthday adventure is and when the birthday falls.

 

Only oldest DS has ever attended school, only K4 and K5 in a private school....and his birthday is July 4th....so not an issue for us and school.

Edited by Samiam
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Kids attend outside classes as scheduled, if those happen to fall on a birthday *but* we generally take the day off from school as a family (as far as is feasible) and make a family day of it. I just write those days off into the calendar ahead of time.

 

:iagree:

This is what we do. Outside classes as normal, but no one does school work for e on their birthday. DH doesn't work on his either. His company makes it a holiday for the employee, so it is all fair. My birthday is in the summer, so I am automatically off work too :D

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Full family holiday for everyone on a birthday round here. We always go on a "birthday adventure"....some sort of fun, out of the norm thing. Some year's it's a bigger adventure than others.

 

Only oldest DS has ever attended school, only K4 and K5 in a private school....and his birthday is July 4th....so not an issue for us and school

 

That's what we call it, too. :001_smile:

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If you homeschool, are birthdays family off days, or light work days, or you pretty much ignore the fact there is a birthday that day, go on with the day as usual, and celebrate it in the weekend?

 

And, what I am possibly even more interested in, if your child was/is institutionally schooled, did/do you take them out for birthdays - or it is just like another school day, you send them and celebrate the birthday after school? (I am not even sure that all schools would authorize an absence due to a birthday, LOL, but I am still curious.)

 

Just curious. Thanks in advance for your replies. :D

 

Institutionally schooled :001_smile:. We send cupcakes for the entire class. So yes, they still go to school and come home and do homework. Birthdays are celebrated on weekends around here.

Edited by Roadrunner
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We have only ever homeschooled and we just carry on. We will acknowledge the birthday and maybe have a special dinner, but that is about it for a school day. We have big birthday parties for the kids, but that would be on the weekend.

 

It never occurred to me to take a day off from school for something like a birthday. I never took the day off from work on my birthday.

 

:iagree:

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We have only ever homeschooled and we just carry on. We will acknowledge the birthday and maybe have a special dinner, but that is about it for a school day. We have big birthday parties for the kids, but that would be on the weekend.

 

It never occurred to me to take a day off from school for something like a birthday. I never took the day off from work on my birthday.

 

It's not a new idea. Remember how Almanzo got the day off of public school on his birthday in Farmer Boy? :001_smile:

 

Long, long ago, a little boy named Almanzo Wilder lived on a farm in the New York countryside with his father, his mother, his big brother, Royal, and his big sisters, Eliza Jane and Alice. One special day is Almanzo's birthday. He gets to stay home from school, and even better, Father gives him a yoke for his calves, Star and Bright, and a beautiful hand-sled. Almanzo spends the morning learning how to break the calves, and then he spends the afternoon flying down the hill in his brand-new sled.
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If you homeschool, are birthdays family off days, or light work days, or you pretty much ignore the fact there is a birthday that day, go on with the day as usual, and celebrate it in the weekend?

 

And, what I am possibly even more interested in, if your child was/is institutionally schooled, did/do you take them out for birthdays - or it is just like another school day, you send them and celebrate the birthday after school? (I am not even sure that all schools would authorize an absence due to a birthday, LOL, but I am still curious.)

 

Just curious. Thanks in advance for your replies. :D

 

We make a big deal about birthdays. DH and I generally don't work on the kids' birthdays (or our own if we can help it). We don't do school on birthdays. And if a child's birthday is on a weekend, we take either Friday or Monday off from school.

 

When the boys were in PS, we gave them the option to miss school that day and we would do something special instead (like go to the zoo, the childrens' museum, etc.).

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Each of the kids' birthdays is a no-school day. If it falls on a weekend, they get to choose whether we take Friday or Monday off.

 

And of course teacher's birthday is a day off, too! Birthday holidays are one of the things that makes homeschooling fun!

 

We would also take the principal's (Dad's) b-day off, but his falls in July when we're off anyway.

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