And yes, if she misses more than 10 days she is disenrolled. This would be 5 days plus 1 sick day from before, meaning she only has 4 days left. I just don't get it - it seems clear to me.

Yeah, it only takes one flu to eat up those four days.

And yes, if she misses more than 10 days

Yikes, that would be my answer right there. Also, we never were allowed to take time off from school unless it was for being sick or something, I don't know, like a funeral, I guess. It just wouldn't have occurred to my parents to do that, I don't think. I don't have kids, so I don't know what I would've done, though I imagine the same as my parents.

Except it more than 10 days=disenrollment, then, no just for that reason alone, frankly.

I never got out of school for anything short of chicken pox. School is a lot more intensive now than when I was a kid, at least that's the impression I get. Hard to believe missing a few days is not a big deal.

ION, I may buy all my relatives this useful little item for Christmas. And myself.

When I was in high school, parents would pull their kids out for vacation, but a lot of the teachers would send work with them, and there was no bullshit on the expectation that it would be done and turned in complete on their first day back. (I don't think it was a commensurate amount of work as if they had been in class all week, but it wasn't just a token, either.)

In elementary school, it wasn't ever something that came up. Since I don't have kids, I don't even know how much work gets covered in one week of elementary school -- would it be so much that Ellie would fall behind, like Emmett with math?

(So -- I don't really have an answer to your question; just more questions.)

As an example: Ellie is in first grade. Every night she has a math work sheet and she reviews her spelling words. Then we read a story (4x a week) and she writes three sentences about the story. Then, because she is having a hard time in reading, we read from her reading book - usually a story that she is reading in class. That's just her homework.

Apparently, it is against district policy to give out homework in advance. So, she would not only be a week behind when she got home, but she would have an entire week of work, plus homework, to catch up on. I suspect her teacher would be lax with much of the work, but that's about 35 hours of education that she's missing out on. eta: that is my roundabout way of saying yes, I think she really would fall behind.

She missed a week last year to go visit Joe while he was home from Iraq. I thought that was worth it. But there is nothing special with this trip - Joe's dad's birthday is around that week.

Unfortunately, Joe sent an email to Ellie's teacher asking if she could miss a week. I have no idea what he said because he didn't send me that part, but the teacher responded with "family is important" and offering to help Ellie catch up when she got back. I know she meant well, but I'm a little disappointed in her answer (although I know Joe well enough to imagine what sort of email he sent in the first place).

His insistence that Ellie go on this trip really caught me off guard because missing so much school when there is no special reason just seems so wrong to me. I wasn't sure if I was letting my emotions get in the way of making a fair decision.

We took time off for vacations like that.

but 20 years to find a doctor who thinks it is rational to test thyroid function by testing thyroid function.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. I thought the standard test for thyroid function is to test TSH. Often when you test the thyroid directly you get results in the normal range when in fact TSH is working way too hard to keep the thyroid functioning.

Andi will explain it more fully, but she has had a string of doctors who have dismissed her attempts to get them to actually diagnose her.

I am not a violent man, but I wouldn't mind slugging them all. At least twice, each.

Apparently, it is against district policy to give out homework in advance.

This is pretty standard in most schools now. It is a policy aimed at discouraging families to take their kids out who think doing homework replaces the experience of being in the classroom. Sigh.

I know she meant well, but I'm a little disappointed in her answer (although I know Joe well enough to imagine what sort of email he sent in the first place).

Yeah, don’t be too hard on the teacher. Ultimately there’s not really a lot that a teacher can say in a situation like that.

His insistence that Ellie go on this trip really caught me off guard because missing so much school when there is no special reason just seems so wrong to me

Me too, but I admit I’m very biased.

I work in a district where I have students who take off 2-4 weeks to visit family in other countries. I can't tell you how many kids won't be at school for the whole month of January. Which is, of course, the end of 1st semester and the beginning of 2nd. It's a pain in the ass. Parents will request homework but there are 3 problems with it:

1) I can't always have a plan for 4 weeks away. Stuff happens. Things change. Also? They typically ask for the work the day before they leave. Really? You want me to get my lessons planned for the next month, make all the necessary copies, and write out specific instructions because you won't be there to hear the oral ones? In just an hour during my plan time? Ummmmm....really?

2) Most of the work for my class is done IN CLASS. It's a performance-based class. It's not like there's a test you can take later. You need need to be in class to rehearse with your partner(s) and to perform with them.

3) I don't have a text. The lessons are in class and hands-on. You're not there? You will NEVER be able to make it up and you will miss out and you will be lost. There's no getting around it.

As a teacher, I hate it when kids miss class.

I thought the standard test for thyroid function is to test TSH. Often when you test the thyroid directly you get results in the normal range when in fact TSH is working way too hard to keep the thyroid functioning.

Yes, the TSH has long been the routine test. Mine generally runs high, but within the clinical range. The problem with checking out what the pituitary gland thinks the thyroid gland is doing without actually checking out what the thyroid is actually, in fact, doing is... well... how do you know if the pituitary gland in question knows what the hell it is about. Some pituitary glands, mine for example, let their associated thyroid glands get by with slacking off. Latest round of testing (after taking a month's worth of T3 replacement hormone rather than synthroid) has my TSH smack in the middle of the normal range, while T3 and T4 are right on the lower border of their ranges. In the relatively short time I've been taking the new med, there have been some observable changes in my metabolic processes (not observable weight loss, but other stuff). To contrast, the low(ish) dose of synthroid some doctors in the past were willing to prescribe for me based on the high(ish) TSH numbers, well, I pretty much felt no difference at all. Well, I do have the suspicion that my fingernails flaked apart slightly less, enabling me to grow them out to lengths of 1 mm past the quick.

I wonder if my eyelashes will grow back.