Does Your Kindergarten Child Ride The Bus???

[tinkermom23]

DS9 rode a school bus for 2 days. (actually, I followed the bus the first day) It reminded me about all of the "wonderful" things I learned on the school bus as a kid.

Just last night DH and I were talking about young kids riding a school bus.... Our school is offering all-day preschool for 3 yr. olds and we received a letter stating how convenient it will be since they can ride the school bus!! I could not imagine my 3 yr olds riding a school bus!!!!!!! Our school is K-12 so there would be all ages on the same bus.

I am not trying to talk you out of it, if you feel OK and your child feels OK, give it a whirl.... Actually my father retired and now drives school bus but not the one my son would ride.

 

[hereyago]

When my DD11 was in pre school, the school provided a bus, so at age 4, she was on a bus.
Then her Elementary school, we live within walking distance so we would either walk together or do the drop off line, it's not a big school, just sometimes parents are idiots. You want to get out and hug your kid, then park in the lot and move!LOL.
She will be going into 6th grade and a different school, she will be riding the bus.
Her friend who lives down the street will be attending public school this year and will be going to same school.
I talked to her Mom today and she said her DD11 can only go to the bus stop with my DD. I was like, what if my DD is sick?
The bus stop isn't that far, she is just really protective and almost had a cow when my DD11 started walking to school in 4th grade, she wasn't the only kid going in that direction,just the only one walking from our small street.

 

[skuttle]

Last year for Kindergarten DS rode the bus. He insisted. I didn't have a problem with him riding the bus to school. His bus went straight to his school and made no other stops, so I figured he'd be fine. His school is K-5.

 

[aprilgail2]

The cut off here is late so my daughter was 4 for the first 3 months of kindergarten and she took the bus. The only trouble we ever had was that she was pretty small for her age and getting up and down the bus steps was a bit of a challenge for her. At home we lifted her up but worried about once she got to school but they had poeple at the school to help them on and off so it worked ok!

 

[pooh4evr]

ours did - our school is k-5 and the ride is about 15 min. you gotta let them go sometime.

 

[minkydog]

My kids rode the bus; they love it! It was "proof" that they were Big Kids.

In Christian's situation, he rides a special ed. bus. He started going to school at 3-1/2yo You talk about scared to put him on the bus!! I was almost hysterical. At that time Christian couldn't walk, talk, or defend himself. But the teacher and the bus driver calmed me down. They got a bus monitor to look after him on the way to school. I took a chance for "one day" and it stretched out to a week, then a few weeks, and pretty soon Christian was a bus rider.

 

[RadioNate]

my DS did. He entered kindergarten in Texas. Due to the location of the school and traffic I would have had to leave to drop him off at the same time as the bus (we were the last stop) and then it was at least an hour round trip sitting in traffic to get him there and then back home.

After school pick up was better since it wasn't at the work rush hour.

He also takes the bus here in FL. The bus stop is at the corner across the street.

In both areas the kids were assigned seats by grade levels with the kinders sitting closest to the driver. All his schools have been K-5.

I was worried but we've never had a big bus issue. There has been minor incidents but nothing more than typical kid stuff. For us issues usually arise when DS is seated with a child who can't keep their hands to themselves. DS has some issues and does not respond well to people touching him.

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

At the old school I taught at...NO WAY would I let my child ride a bus to school....regardless of age. The kids were pre-K through 8th grade, and K-8 rode together. We had student suspended from buses every single day, and even issues with weapons being brought to and from school on the bus. I always sent good thoughts with my students as they climbed onto the buses...

At my new school, I wouldn't hesitate to put a child of any age on a bus. The differences are amazing!

 

[laurie31]

Both of mine were very much looking forward to it. For both of them, I drove them to school and let them ride the bus home.

They spent less time away from home that way. I got them to school later than the bus would, and the bus got them home earlier than I could have (parent pick ups had to wait 20 minutes to get the kids, so they got home before I could have done it)

Wow, I do the same thing, for the same reason.

I would let her ride to school on the bus in the morning too, but she'd have to get up an entire HOUR earlier, and it only takes me 15 mins (round trip) to take her, so I drive her myself. Picking her up is a horrific 45 minute affair for me, and doesn't get her home any sooner, so why do I want to put myself through that when there's no benefit for my child?

Our buses are only for the elementary school, (middle and high schools each have their own buses) there are cameras on the bus, and bad behavior on the bus is not tolerated. We've used the bus for 8 years now, and never had a problem.

As far as safety, aside from things like bullying (which, is not an issue here as I just mentioned), kids are actually much safer in a bus than in a car.

Despite a perception by some parents that school bus travel is unsafe, this mode of transport is in fact amongst the safest available to school children. Nevertheless, the largest risk associated with school bus travel is for children being struck by another vehicle while entering or exiting a bus.

http://www.racv.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/Internet/Primary/my+car/car+safety/safety+advice/bus+safety/

The highest risk for a child riding the bus is walking to/from the bus. We don't have bus stops; the bus come to our house. We live on a dead-end street, so there's not much traffic around, so this isn't really an issue for me to worry about with my DD.

 

[KirstenB]

Yes, I walked our older dd down the street and waited with her at the stop. Our school has the kindergarteners wear a lanyard around their neck with a picture of a bus, and the # written on it the first week of school They just put it on at the end of the day, and it helps everyone look out that the kids are getting on the right bus.

Our youngest is a special needs preschooler. She's also ridden her bus since day 1. Try putting an autistic 3 yr old on a bus without crying! But she did great too. The first days were tough, then she was excited to see her friends.

My answer would be different if this were a tough area of town or whatever, but that's not the case.

 

[monorailsilver]

Yes my older two did & my youngest still had a few years before she can too.

Our am bus & pm bus have the whole elementary school on but the mid day drop off for am & pick up for pm K kids just has the K kids on it.

I hate going into school to pick up my kids. I can deal with picking up after am K is over but the end of the day is a zoo. You have to get there 15 min early if you want a close spot, not that there are any far away spots but I like it close to school. And if it is raining, I go earlier.

For Kindy my kids would get home the same time as the bus dropping them off. If I pick up at the end of the day we get home about 1/2 earlier then the bus.

 

[PollyannaMom]

DS has ridden the bus since kindergarten. - There are lots of older kids in our neighborhood, and he watched them go and waited for his turn for years!

Now that I sub, if I am at his school that day, he'll ride with me - but that means we're leaving *after* the regular parent pick-up, so we don't have to deal with the craziness.

Our school has actually sent home notes that they prefer students take the bus when possible. - There is SO much less crossing in front of cars that way.

 

[C.Ann]

My DGD did - but the bus picked her up right in front of the house and dropped her off in front of the house..

This year she will be entering middle school and it's the same scenario..

 

[tink_n_pooh]

I will preface by saying I do not have kids yet but most all of my friends/family do. I did not ride the bus in kindergarten but our school didn't even have busses and we lived directly across the street. All 6 of us in my kindergarten class walked to school, most of us walked to school by ourselves as well.

I did ride the bus from 1-7 grades (we moved to a larger school district), the only time I was ever driven to school was either by friends/boyfriends or starting in 11 grade I drove myself.

Now all of my friends/family with kids... they all ride the bus to and from school everyday

 

[kacaju]

my older two did. They stopped bussing when my youngest went. I hated dealing with driving her every day. I loved the bus

 

[Minnie_me]

I understand your worries, as a teacher and a mother!

Here's my advice: Let your child ride the bus.

Make friends with the bus driver. Go out and introduce yourself and your child to him/her. Tell the driver that you're a nervous new mom, and you'd appreciate it if your child could sit up front so the bus driver could keep an eye on her.

I always made cookies and coffee cakes for our bus driver, and remembered her on special days.

It will be FINE.

 

[LisaNJ25]

No, our school system does not have busing. If they did I still wouldn't let them ride it.

 

[jodifla]

My son started riding the bus as a preschooler. He loves it.


I can see not riding if you lived close enough to walk or there was some specific problem, but millions of kids get on the bus every day without incident.


For myself, I have fun memories of hanging around the bus stop with friends, and riding with friends.

 

[MomofKatie]

When DD was in Kindergarten, she rode the bus home in the afternoon. I drove her to school in the morning.

DD's school started at 7:30am, and she would have needed to be at the bus stop by 6:35 in order to catch the bus. We live almost directly across the street from the school. DD and I can walk there in about 4 minutes, but for some unfathomable reason, our street was at the beginning of the bus route. I felt it was ridiculous to make the kid ride the bus for almost an hour, when we could walk (or I could drive her) in less than 5 mins.

Since she really did want to ride the bus, I let her ride home in the afternoon- she was the first stop, so she was on the bus for about 90 seconds every day.

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

I'm having the same concerns........

DS going into 3rd grade just started riding the bus last year. But his "BFF" rode with him and they sat together a lot. This year, BFF moved away, so it'll be different for DS.

DS#2 is going into Kindergarten and wants to ride the bus.

HOWEVER, our school is K-8. So both DS's would ride to/from school with 8th graders on the same bus. Not sure if I want DS5 learning things/words/actions from an 8th grader. And yes, I'm sure there are wonderful 8th graders out there that would be super sweet to him, and unfortunately I'm sure a 5th grader could teach him just as many bad things/words/actions as an 8th grader could.

I thought about making my DS's sit together on the bus, in the front, hopefully away from the bigger kids. But my mom said "that would be punishment for DS8 to not get to sit w/his friends and to always have to sit w/his brother in the front".

I'm torn too. I'm sure for a few weeks I'll be taking/picking up at least DS#2, we'll see about DS#1.