Do you just put them on the bus and wave? - Page 2

[momtoalexsarah]

This is a tough one, my oldest starts JK on friday and we went to the school today and one friday I think I will put him on the bus - he really really wants to ride the bus but I'm still a little worried, he won't be 4 untill next week and is still a baby to me - they grow up far to fast

[HarperRose]

Originally Posted by amydawnsmommy

How did it go? What did you do?

It went great! The first day we were able to help them find where they were supposed to be each morning and they have taken care of themselves (in that regard) ever since. The bus driver requires that kinder sits in the front where there are seat belts, so I back him up on that even though I originally told dd and ds to sit together on the bus. ( Iwas unaware of his rules.) They're the 3rd-to-last stop in the morning so also one of the last stops in the afternoon, so their morning ride is about 10 minutes but afternoon is 45 minutes. One thing I like is that they have a very empty bus. It's only K-5 on their bus because that's all their school has.

We walk them to and form the bus stop every morning/afternoon, though. DS insists he'd like to walk home from the stop (apt complex, I could see them from my building if I stand by the parking lot) but I'm not comfortable with that yet.

[LynnS6]

I put him on the bus and waved. There were a ton of kids at the bus stop, and he was pretty excited to go. I decided that if he was not requesting that I go, then he would be OK. He's a very cautious child, and if he had been really worried, he would have let me know. I didn't want to undermine his self-confidence by suggesting he couldn't do it.

And I was talking to a friend briefly on the phone this evening, and mentioned that he'd gone off on the bus, and that I hadn't met him there because he wasn't telling me he needed it. So, he went off all by himself. To which he responded "And I did fine!"

OK, so he didn't give his teacher his lunch money. And he had a MAJOR tantrum when we told him that he had to read for 20 minutes every night as 'homework'. He can read simple things, he just won't read for us. He played "teacher" for me yesterday and "helped" me read a book - showing EXCELLENT decoding strategies (breaking up long words, sounding out and blending), good use of textual and picture cues (he told me "you can use the pictures to help you understand), and a pretty sophisticated understanding of text. So why won't the child read for us? But that's another post...

[1xmom]

When my dd started K, she was excited to ride the bus, and it was hard to put her on and wave. I also work right beside the school so I could drive her to school. Now she is in 2nd grade and I mostly drive her to school b/c of that and those extra 5-10 minutes in the morning are helpful. I am going to try to get her to ride the bus more though.

[bdavis337]

Originally Posted by LynnS6

Do I just walk him to the corner, put him on the bus and wave? He might be able to handle that, but can I???

YEP. : WE live 5 miles from the school, so walking isn't an option, and I can't drive him either (my daycare child's arrival time is too close to the school's start time).

[amydawnsmommy]

Originally Posted by Justthatgirl

It went great! The first day we were able to help them find where they were supposed to be each morning and they have taken care of themselves (in that regard) ever since. The bus driver requires that kinder sits in the front where there are seat belts, so I back him up on that even though I originally told dd and ds to sit together on the bus. ( Iwas unaware of his rules.) They're the 3rd-to-last stop in the morning so also one of the last stops in the afternoon, so their morning ride is about 10 minutes but afternoon is 45 minutes. One thing I like is that they have a very empty bus. It's only K-5 on their bus because that's all their school has.

We walk them to and form the bus stop every morning/afternoon, though. DS insists he'd like to walk home from the stop (apt complex, I could see them from my building if I stand by the parking lot) but I'm not comfortable with that yet.

Good!!! I'm glad it went well and that you know what will be happening!
That's great!!!

I would not let a child younger than 10 walk alone from the bus stop either. They're just too young to totally understand the rules of the road.