@oldfort, I would argue that your kids were both incredibly lucky. (Or maybe unlucky, given the opportunities for learning they lost.)
@oldfort Most colleges have Wed-Friday off for Thanksgiving week so if I am correct missing “Thanksgiving week” woudl mean at most missing classes Monday and Tuesday which is at most one session of each class. Many students start to leave on that Tuesday. IMO there is a big difference between missing the two days prior to the school scheduled Thanksgiving vacation and missing an entire week (5 days of classes meaning TR classes would be missed twice and MWF classes would be missed three times) in October which is often when midterm exams occur.
@oldfort thanksgiving week is different. Professors expect students to be missing for those two days. I’m sure it depends, but all of my professors have either cancelled class those days or done something where there wasn’t work to make up. Never had an assignment due on those days either.
^You’re lucky. I had a prof who had a non-makeup-able exam on the day before Thanksgiving and many assignment s due that Mon-Tue. Plus presentations.
My experience hasn’t been like guinea’s. Many of my professors used to make assignments due those weeks and no, you couldn’t miss them. You could usually turn them in early though if you wanted.
Look, OP, it’s your money and your education so do what you want. Don’t expect professors to accommodate a planned vacation in the middle of the year though. Personally, I wouldn’t.
My experience was also that tests were given or papers due Thanksgiving week on Mon and Tuesday. I can’t remember but I think classes stopped at 12:30 on Wednesday and professors often cancelled those. One year my dad had emergency triple bypass the week before Thanksgiving. I wanted to go home the weekend to go see him - well to the hospital that was 3 hours away but a slightly different direction than my home which was 3.5 hours away. I didn’t really want to go back and forth that much since I had to take greyhound some of the way.
I had one professor on a Tuesday class that said he didn’t care if my father was in the hospital. I still needed to take the test Tuesday or take a zero even when I offered to take it Friday. I was upset when I went to my work study afterward. My job was connected to the dean of education’s office. My supervisor knew I was upset and before I knew it the Dead of Education contacted the Dean of Arts and Sciences and told them I was not making it up that they knew me enough to know my father was really in the hospital etc. The next day I was told I could take the test on Friday. The other professors were understanding.
I don’t have exams or anything due the class session before Thanksgiving, but I do tend to cover material that isn’t in the textbook or that will be dealt with any other day, and that certainly will be on the next exam…
I know many profs with philosophies similar to @dfbdfb. Some universities don’t take it well when profs cancel classes without good reason and may hold it against them when it comes time for annual merit increases. So they teach even though they might prefer additional time off to visit families as well. It’s their job and they do it.
Something like the case of the hospitalized parent, some documentation may be asked for (you wouldn’t believe how many grandparents pass away during finals) but any prof who wouldn’t excuse a student for that is just a jerk.
For the record I am not advocating missing the two days before Thanksgiving (I did not and my kids did not). I was just noting that it was two days of class missed and not a full week.
I think taking a trip during school time is not acceptable. Adults just don’t leave work for a personal reason unless there is a death in the family and leave. Additionally, while you are polite to ask faculty what is on their class schedules, you must understand that there is a bit more flexibility in timing class content and activities. Faculty are not obliged or even willing to send you off with two weeks preparation. On the few times a student has left for two weeks of classes, I never got anything back and the expectation that you would work on classes for a personal visit is fanciful. Are you aware that midterms and important assignments are scheduled for October.
The whole feel of a class seems to change in early November. Go over a break instead. I don’t think missing two weeks class is a good tradeoff even for seeing someone special.