As a parent, you are always juggling your child’s schedule and work schedule to find the best way to get through the day.
You can never predict what is going to happen on any given day.
Sometimes it will be a regular school day and then you’ll get that dreaded call from school about having to come pick your child up for whatever reason.
It could be illness, a doctor’s appointment, or just a teacher deciding she would rather be home with her own kids than care for yours. You have two options when your child needs to be home from school: 1) Stay home with them 2) Send them back with a note. I’ve been in both of these situations before, so I’m here to tell you which one is right for you and your family.
The first option is to give them a doctor’s note that says you do not want to keep them home, but they must have full rest. This will give your child the best chance at recovering and getting back in time for their test or exam.
The second option is to keep them home from school, even if it means missing their test or exam. If you do keep your child home then it is important that they stay off their feet as much as possible. Though if you are going to send your child to school with a doctor’s note, you can simply write “full rest” on the note and that should be sufficient.
There are some kids who will only be able to get better if they are kept at home until they are completely healthy again. For example, kids who have migraines may need complete bed rest until their migraine has passed. These kids can miss days of school, but if all you give them is a doctor’s note that says “full rest” then sometimes the teacher won’t allow them to skip class for the rest period that is needed.
This is why it is important to know what kind of kid you have and how they learn best. Some kids need more structure
I have good news and bad news. The good news is that you can keep your child home from school for a doctor’s appointment, or just because they are sick. However, you will need to provide documentation from the doctor and/or school.
The bad news is that if your child does not attend school for five days in a row, your local school board will assume your child has been “homed” and will contact you directly to discuss next steps. Unfortunately, this means that if your child is sick for several days in a row, you may be required to keep them out of school for longer than usual before being able to request that they be allowed to return.
I am sure that you can see how frustrating this can be when dealing with a sick child. But there are ways around it. If your child is absent due to illness, but the absences total less than five days (or whatever your school board requires), you can use a doctor’s note to back up the reason for the absence(s).
Your doctor’s note should include:
* The date(s) of absence;
* The reason for absence (doctor’s visit or sickness); and
* A statement that the
I’m so grateful for the blog post. It was a huge help in a stressful time. I printed it off and gave it to my husband to read, as he has to deal with this more often than I do.
I really appreciate you sharing your experiences. I’m sure they will be helpful to other parents of children with chronic illness.
The best part of your article is that it doesn’t tell us what we “should do.” You don’t tell us we should just accept it and make our kids get up and go to school no matter how sick they are, or that we should just stay home with them all day and never send them back when they have doctor’s notes. Instead, you helped us see that we have options and that our options are different from others’ options, and you helped us think about our options carefully instead of just accepting what everyone else does.
If you are just looking for a doctor’s note, I’m your gal. I have been writing them for over ten years now and have the process down to a science.
I write doctor’s notes for students who have missed school due to illness and/or injuries. I can also write notes for teacher conferences, dentist appointments, medical appointments, eye exams, and any other reason you may need a note!
First, if you’re feeling particularly frustrated, don’t pick up the phone and scream at your child’s teachers. They have a tough job. They’re working with kids all day long. Most of these teachers are juggling a lot of kids in their classroom, and they have no control over the number of kids they are required to teach. They are literally paid to take on this job, so it’s not like they are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. A lot of teachers around here will simply give your child work to complete at home if you call them and ask for one.
It’s not that your child’s teachers want to punish your child. It’s just that there might be more than one hundred other students in their classroom and the way that the school is laid out makes it difficult for them to spend any extra time with your child during their planning period or after school hours. If you really feel like you need to talk to someone from the school about something that happened, there is usually a main office number on the back of every student’s planner or report card.
If you want to go out of town for a few days, ask a friend if they would be willing to take your child(ren) with them. Then leave your child with them and enjoy your vacation.