Congratulations, OP! My son had perfect attendance from kindergarten through his junior year in high school. He had a serious illness (he's fine now) that blew that record to bits, but recovered to finish strong and carry 42 hours of college credit in his pocket when he first stepped on his university's campus. What's the point of being a parent if you can't brag a bit, now and then? ;-)-
I missed only 1 day of school form K through 12. The only reason I missed that one day was because my mom mixed up a day when the family was traveling on holidays when I was in the 6th grade. I never really got sick as a child, but I did catch the flu when I was a Junior in High School and the only reason I didn't stay home was because my basketball coaches threatened to "run the s**t out of me" if I missed practice. When they saw how sick I was, they pretty much quarantined me until 2nd period and sent me home. Back then, if you showed up for 2 periods, you were still considered present even if you left early. I didn't mind going to school, so I didn't really realize I was always present. There was no incentive for Perfect attendance, just a certificate saying you did it. I was a pretty good student, always on the honor roll, honor society, bumper stickers all that crap. I never got called to the Principles office for my scholastic achievements; I did get called in for being present all but 1 day since Kindergarten though. In Middle School they got me out of class to ask me if I realized I had ALMOST perfect attendance. I thought I was going to get some type of scholarship! nope. They just wanted to give me congratulations. that's it. I think one of my worst memories as a child had to do with Perfect attendance. I wasn't the best player on my middle school basketball team, but I was the 3rd best player in the starting lineup. Stats don't lie! When my friends, the 2 best players on the squad, failed off the team, I was pretty excited, because that meant I would be getting the MVP plaque at the end of the year. In the mail, they said I would be getting an award at the year end ceremony, I just knew it was the MVP. I asked my Dad to come to the ceremony because I knew this MVP was mine and he was going to be so proud of me. My Dad knew I was a good student but he didn't know I could play basketball! The time came and they called my name........... for Perfect f**king Attendance. My coach gave the MVP trophy to the kid that was in his math class and also in the starting lineup... Never forgot what my dad asked me in the car, "You brought me to this thing for Perfect Attendance?" TL;DR - Like others have said, Perfect Attendance is a pretty useless accomplishment.
It takes a productive student to be there every day, so kudos on anyone who can do it, I just don't see a quality difference in the kids who are there every day vs. the ones who miss 1 day or 2 days a year or whatever. Showing up just long enough to get "credit" for being there on days when they really can't be, and for all practical purposes aren't, there, and coming to school sick, are two reasons it always seemed a bit weird to me. It's like Brett Favre starting the first play in a game he shouldn't be in, just to keep his "longest starting QB streak" in tact or whatever it was. Bottom line, if you come to school contagiously sick, or just long enough to get credit, you are doing it wrong, in my opinion. Otherwise, more power to ya. I'll clap, but perhaps not as enthusiastically as some.
Last year my daughter had pretty much straight A's and E's in first grade, but she was more excited about getting the perfect attendance award. She got sick the day before the awards ceremony and we kept her home. She cried because she wasn't going to get the award the next day. I think the difference is we give her praise all year for her grades..but she only gets praised once a year for perfect attendance. It still disappoints her when she thinks about it.
My intuition says it's got to be true. I googled for a few minutes but couldn't find anything good. I bet one of those perfect attendance kids, though, would stick at it long enough to find the data. Reminds me of the cultural studies comparing Japanese students to American students. Japan praises effort while we praise success. They did a study in which they gave elementary school students impossibly difficult math questions in a quiz and timed how long before they gave up. The American kids gave up almost immediately. The Japanese kids worked for an hour even though they weren't equipped to answer the questions, and then the testers told them to stop. I think we could use a little more diligence.
So you're saying that attendance promotes work ethic. I can see that. But I still don't see how it's harder to just show up than it is to excel and completely dominate your given task.
shieeehh When I was sick during grades school, I still rolled out of bed and go to school. My parents told me to stay but I said no. I didn't care if the others got sick because of me . The teachers didn't send me home. The only time I ever went home was because of migraines. I would get migraines every other day but I stayed at school anyway. The school sent me home because I couldn't even stand up straight.
Here is one source: http://dc.gov/DC/DC/Publication Fil...ndance-Works-one-pager-middle-high-school.pdf
A government study by an organization solely designed to promote attendance? There are many reasons people do not go to class. I never learned much in class throughout college. My future success was determined by how hard I worked at the material, not how often I went to class. Now--if you are not capable of going to class enough that you will not be docked you don't deserve a degree. There are rewards in the real world for perfect attendance, not in school.
I guess the question is: Why WOULDN'T a child attend school every day, assuming they're not ill? I completely agree with the fact that it teaches solid work ethic. It's completely ridiculous for parents to let their kids miss school for any other reason than illness, or perhaps a family tragedy (serious illness, death).
