Does Your Kindergarten Child Ride The Bus???

[Blueeyes101817]

i am a kindergarten teacher and I would say about half of my class (last year) rode the bus. We had 5th grade buddies that walked each child to their bus to make sure they got in the right line. They all seemed to love the bus!

 

[smatterchu]

Of all the places to find a discussion on this, lol....good to hear from my DIS-ers on the subject! I had just Googled this question to get some insight...

My twin boys are starting Kindergarten this fall, and I have been all over the map with this. A year ago, I never even considered it. The boys have been dreaming of riding the bus for years, but I was still going to do "car rider" and pick-up/drop-off at school...

Then....we went to the Kindy open house the other night and listened to the Principal and Assistant talk about the set-up and how they really encouraged all families on the bus routes to consider letting their kids right the bus, etc... Considering they were talking to a room full of Kindy parents, I started thinking about it more carefully...

The Kindy bus riders are given a bracelet to wear the first week of school - to help make sure they get on the right bus. I'm not sure what the other provisions are, but I figure they will be most vigilant with the kids this first week. So -- as a previous poster said - I can always switch to car-rider, but I will start with bus....v/s going the other way around...

As a kid there was a total stigma on taking the bus. It only ran to certain parts of town, and you just "didn't take the bus" if you could help it....no way... Here in our town, most kids take the bus -- and the buses go to all communities. We live in a gated community, and the bus for our elementary school only comes to our neighborhood -- so it's a tiny route with a limited amount of kids. It's only the Elem kids, and hopefully things will go smoothly....

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts on this. I'd love to hear from any parents whose kids have already started for the year... How did the first few days go?

We have "early release" on Wednesday, so to throw another wrench into things, we have to remember to pick them up an hour earlier (from wherever) on Wednesday.... I'm so terrified that I'm going to screw this up and wind up having two little boys stuck at a bus stop or something -- eeek!!

 

[ICF]

depends on the day, but I've never had 2nd thoughts about sending my kids on the school bus while in Elementary school

 

[Mom2Nick]

Here where I live in NJ most everybody rides the bus. I did as a 5 year old as did all 3 of my kids. The school discourages drop offs and doesn't make it easy for the parents that do drop off and pick up. You must park, get out of the car, walk into the school and sign in/sign out your child.

Nobody ever got lost, nobody ever got on the wrong bus. It's just not something that is a big deal in this area.

 

[belle&sebastiansmom]

OP here. I've loved reading everyone's responses.

I bit the bullet and let my 5 year old ride the bus last week. I knew that it was my fear that was holding her back. And after seeing a fender bender in the school drop off line, seeing a kid and teacher nearly get hit, and having to wait 30 minutes in the morning and nearly 50 minutes in the afternoon, I thought maybe bus riding wouldn't be so bad! In just the two days of driving her my gas guzzling SUV used a little more than a quarter tank of gas. I knew I couldn't afford to drive her everyday!

She has loved riding the bus. She's one of the last stops for pick up before school and is one of the first stops for drop off after school. So (thankfully) she's not on it very long. The only kids on the bus at her time are K-4th graders.

I'm proud that I did not project my hang ups on her, and proud that I didn't get in my car and follow the bus the first day!

 

[live4christp1]

My first grade DD is riding the bus for the first time this year. However I should add that she has a big brother in the 7th grade on the same bus.

 

[DisLaw]

Yes, my kids at Kindergarten age ride (rode) the bus.

I find it safe and reliable transportation. And my tax dollars pay for it, may as well use it!

I agree , especially about the tax dollars part! Plus the safety issue especially in the winter is very true. When the weather is bad, the school really prefers that the kids ride the bus to keep cars off the road and that the kids are safer in a big heavy bus.

Also, I would just keep in mind that if you start the whole driving to school thing it can be very hard to get the kids to ride the bus when you need to. I have seen this many times with friends who kids now make a big fuss about riding the bus because they were always driven when they were younger.

For me, my kids always take the bus and they really like it! They sit with their friends and play their DS games, talk and just seem to have fun. Plus the little ones feel so grown up.

I should add that we live in a rather small district and the kids are for the most part very good. No issues with weapons (YIKES!) or anything like that. Some occaisional minor bullying issues but nothing that made them afraid of the bus.

Good luck!

 

[tiggspring]

MY 10 and 7 year olds did and my 5 year old will this year.I feel it is an inportant step to building their life away from me. Plus kids love the bus. That being said our school system had one bus driver that let kids go wild hanging out windows etc to the point they were pulled over by police!! YIKES!! I would have noticed an out of control bus and pulled my kids. Our drivers have been too strict if anything. So if you don't trust the driver to keep caos down take her. Otherwise swallow your fear ( we all have it) and let her be the big girl she needs to be.

 

[ozarkmom]

Yes all three of mine did. When my youngest was in kindergarten I kept telling him I would drive him the first day (like I had done for with my other two). He said no. We had attended open house and met his teacher etc. He was looking forward to getting on that big yellow school bus. The first day rolls around and I he explains to me that he has waited his WHOLE life to ride the bus!!

 

[patsfan101]

Both of my kids rode the bus to kindergarten. They were walked to the bus stop by either my husband or me and also met at the bus stop by one of us and walked home. A parent was with them at the bus stop until 4th grade. All of the neighborhood parents ahd each other's cell phone numbers and we would call each other if we were going to be late for the bus. The buses are k-5 here, just like the school, but the kindergarteners had the first few rows of the bus to themselves.

My kids had a very long ride home on the bus so I would try to pick them up at school one or two days per week. The school my kids went to had a difficult "pick up" procedure, but it was worth it to spend that bit of time with them getting donuts on a Friday afternoon.

 

[Liberty Belle]

My first grader rides the bus. I'm not sure exactly what your worries are, but here each child wears a tag with their bus number on it, so they can't get on the wrong bus. Also, every bus here has a bus monitor to make sure all rules are being followed. My son's not had any problems so far.

 

[3boymthr]

All my kids did/will ride the bus (school starts in 2 wks). My kids like taking the bus and since I have to find parking, spend ten minutes walking to the school wait in line to sign them out, then get back to the car, then drive home, they can be home sooner if they take the bus.

We have only ever once had a problem and that was the fault of a substitute bus driver and his teacher - The teacher was supposed to send him to the afterschool program and the busdriver then let my then 5 yo off the bus when no one was home - she thought the neighbors grandson was his brother . Anyway, it turned out fine, he didn't even realize there was a problem. Other than that we have always had great success with the bus.

 

[J3nn78]

My oldest is looking forward to the bus next year. He does not need to ride it because I teach at the same school he will go to. But, I will let him ride it a few days a week.

At our school, the kinder kids are put on the buses by their teachers 5 minutes before the rest of the school is let out. We have 15 buses- need to be sure they get on the right one.

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

Wait until they reach high school, they won't be liking the bus then!

I am going to be a Junior and I just HATE the bus. I get to drive to school this year, finally, but I have to ride the bus twice a week because my mom has to work those two days and use the 2nd car while my dad takes the other.
Elementary- buses are great
Middle- eh..
High School- HATE THEM.

 

[flying_babyb]

Our kindergarderns have lamated tags with a color. all our busses also display that color in the front window so its just a matter of matching color (red kid goes on the red bus). It works really well, Our teahcers also walk all k and pre k kids to the bus 5 minutes early

 

[fun4me]

My kindergartener is riding the bus to school. He loves it! I was really nervous to put him on the bus because I still see him as my baby. Everyday he comes home with a sticker on his shirt w/ his full name and bus number. I was prepared to drive him to school if he didn't like it--but I love walking him to the bus stop. It is so much easier and saves gas!

My other two boys love to ride the bus too. They all ride different buses since I have one in MS and one in HS. I hated riding the bus when I was in school. LOL

 

[powellrj]

My oldest use to stand at the door and cry every morning that the bus forgot him, so he was so excited when he finally got to ride the school bus! By the time he was in high school he was finding anyway he could NOT to ride it.

Our school does a good job about helping the younger kids on the bus.

 

[shortbun]

I'm a bus driver. Make sure your kindergarteners(and any child who does not know this info) have name, address and phone numbers and bus stop location on their backpacks. I have asked kids for their names and they've answered things like ' Pookey'. Then I ask for their mother's name, "Mommy." Seriously, identify your children. When they are nervous, if there IS a problem, the info needs to be there.

Also, find out what the school does to get them to the correct bus. If there is simply an announcement made over the loudspeaker-"Everyone on route 2 come to their bus." don't let them ride the bus. If they are tagged with their correct route # and escorted to the bus for at least the first week, feel much more comfortable allowing them to ride.
Children get on the wrong buses in the afternoon or miss their bus due to socialization or teacher error and everyone freaks out. It is perhaps a good idea to be present for each process so you know how to help your child.

For what it's worth, my child rarely rode the bus. We preferred to take him into school, socialize in the hall with other parents and help to create a school community in this way. Also kept him from spending lots of time on a school bus in stead of with us.

Good luck everyone. Please make sure your children have LOADS of identification. They will NEVER get lost that way.

 

[tiggspring]

OK lets take a vote. Which is scarier your kindergartner taking the bus or your teen taking the car? Hollywoodhaha congrats on the upgrade! I loved driving to School.