Who says summer vacation has to stay limited to summer? A growing number of American families think it can be any time of year, even during the school year—with educational benefits.
Parents are taking their children out of school to travel during cheaper, less crowded times of year, and many say what their kids learn along the way balances out their missed classroom time.
Travel booking platform Omio commissioned Atomik Research, part of 4media group, to conduct a survey among American families. Among 1,000 parents with children ages 5 to 18, 667% had already taken a child out of school for vacation. An additional 24% said they would consider it, according to Omio.
In light of this trend, debate persists, citing anecdotes and research alike, as to the merits of spending class time on vacation as another kind of education.
For Some Families, the World Becomes the Classroom
Student Vacations During the School Year
by
u/i_have_G_A_S in
Teachers
While exploring the topic, USA Today focused on Sarah Mann, mother to three children, who are currently 12, 14, and 16 years old. Mann has taken her kids out of school for major trips for the past four years, according to USA Today. Their travels have included Portugal, Machu Picchu, the Amazon, and a month-long trip through Europe.
Mann tries to make each trip educational. Her children learn about a destination’s history and culture beforehand. Once there, they embark on museum visits and explore the outdoors. At the same time, Mann’s children also keep up with reading, sometimes even finishing some projects early. USA Today also reports that they arrange to take tests they would have missed while out.
Researchers are already on the case. Penn State researchers So Young Park, Bing Pan and Jee Bin Ahn examined nationally representative data for a 2020 study published in the Annals of Tourism Research. They found that children who took at least one family trip in kindergarten or third grade scored about 1% higher, on average, on third-grade reading and math tests.
Missing School Still Means Missing Something
Attendance research points in the other direction. The U.S. Department of Education defines chronic absenteeism as missing at least 10% of the school year—about 18 days, in general—for any reason, and says frequent absences are associated with poorer academic outcomes.
Even a shorter vacation can create work that is difficult to reproduce later. Educator Hezekiah Herrera told Good Housekeeping. “I design my lesson plans to include collaborative activities, discussions, and hands-on exploration.”
That does not mean a few days away will harm every child. Education experts interviewed by Good Housekeeping said the impact can depend on the student’s age, grades, learning needs, ability to catch up, and how much school they have already missed—as well as what else is going on in the classroom, such as projects and exams.
For many parents, money is also part of that calculation. Christina DeSomma told USA Today that traveling during school breaks can add $4,000 or even $5,000 to the cost of a family trip. So the choice is not always between the same vacation in June or October. Sometimes it is between traveling during the school year or not taking that dream family trip at all.