The BC Curriculum and extended student absences (more than 1-2 days) due to holidays:
Sometimes families choose to take extended holidays at times other than the holidays designated by our school calendar. These trips can be valuable for our students on many levels – travel is experiential education and that dedicated family time builds the relationships that are the foundation of children’s well-being.
Please consider the following when considering such trips:
The BC curriculum is a skills-based curriculum. It is not based on activities, but on the ability of your child to demonstrate what they know (content), understand and can do. The daily instruction and learning tasks in this curriculum cannot be replicated by a package of written worksheets brought along on a trip. When students are not learning in the context of their classroom with their peers; instruction, experiences, processes and the conversations essential to concept development are missed. It is impossible to replicate that lost time, particularly using seat work. Thus, teachers are not able to provide the work missed to be taken along on a holiday. Teachers are not expected to provide ‘replacement’ work for a child who is not in school. Teachers may suggest online tools and/or topics covered during the absence to assist in your planning for your child, but they will not attempt to provide learning tasks designed to replace their classroom tasks while your child is away on vacation.
Some ideas for these trips: Providing children with the opportunity to record their holiday learning and experiences in a daily journal can be a wonderful activity. Taking along daily reading is important for enjoyment and for continuity with the daily reading they do at home. Playing math games or math activities helps practice numeracy skills. There are also a number of online sites that can support your child with basic reading and numeracy practice while they are away.