OT: Help me Transition my 4 yo to the bus

[SalandJeff]

My dd is 4 (and kind of young for her age). She currently goes to preschool 3 mornings per week, then to daycare in the afternoon. I drive her to preschool in the morning. The bus takes her from preschool to daycare. The other two days, she is in daycare all day.

She does not like preschool (I think she finds it hard...more structure than she likes). She loves daycare.

She is going to start going to preschool 5 days a week and taking the bus from home rather than me driving her. She will not be happy about the 5 days, but I know she is just going to sob about the bus. She gets truly distraught. Help! What can I do or say to make it easier on us both.

 

[thepeach80]

Can you just take her? I don't know what to tell you, sorry. What kind of bus is it? A normal size bus? I get concerned about safety when I hear about 4yos on buses. Maybe take her on your city's public transportation?

 

[SalandJeff]

I can't take her because I have to be at work. Also, the teacher and I think it will be good for her to get there every day with the other kids...more structure for her. For the preschool kids, they use the small school buses with seat belts.

 

[SilverMickey]

My son started taking the bus for pre-school... He hated everything about pre-school.

We actually went on our own little field trip to check out the busses with him. This helped alot. We purchased a booster seat of his own that he got to ride in. (It matched the one in our own van.)

I got him a beanie baby that was his bus mate. (a red elephant) He got to have it out to play with on the bus everyday. He stored it away during school then back out it came for the next ride. I had a few matching ones so if it got lost another one was right there.

Rewards! A sticker from the busdriver/ special game time with mom or dad... for successful bus trips!

The turning point is when we went to the dollar store and bought the bus driver a present of a matchbox size school bus. Hew was so proud to give her a present.

Good Luck!

 

[MSSANDRA]

This is SO sad. A child should not hate preschool. it should be a fun, happy place where they learn to love school. In reality a good day care should have all the same principles of a preschool. Is there a special reason she goes to both? If she already hates school, I can too see that putting her on the bus to go there would be very stressful. If you have decided that this plan is best for your child, I would try to start slowly. Try having her ride one morning and you take her the next maybe. Silver Mickey has some great ideas too!!

 

[SalandJeff]

I got him a beanie baby that was his bus mate. (a red elephant) He got to have it out to play with on the bus everyday. He stored it away during school then back out it came for the next ride. I had a few matching ones so if it got lost another one was right there.

Rewards! A sticker from the busdriver/ special game time with mom or dad... for successful bus trips!

The turning point is when we went to the dollar store and bought the bus driver a present of a matchbox size school bus. Hew was so proud to give her a present.

Good Luck!

Thanks! These are great suggestions. I really like the beanie baby idea. Also, since she does ride already from preschool to daycare, I am praying she will have the same driver. I think she would really like to give her a present.

This is SO sad. A child should not hate preschool. it should be a fun, happy place where they learn to love school. In reality a good day care should have all the same principles of a preschool. Is there a special reason she goes to both?

DD has been in daycare for 2+ years while dh and I are at work. She started preschool in our public school system in September, but it is only 1/2 days, so she goes to daycare for the rest of the time we are at work. She loves daycare and they do have a preschool program that she is in....but it is not at structured or formal as the public school. This is part of the reason that she does not like it. The structure and having to finish things are hard for her. She has improved considerably since the beginning of the school year and is not as opposed to going as she was at first. She has some problems separating from me and I think the bus is going to be hard. I'm going to try the suggestions above. Thanks to all for the feedback.