First Day of School (Fairfax: home, schools, bus)

[azb]

We have a brand new kindergarden student who begins school next Tuesday in a Fairfax County School and have a question about the rules of the first day: do we follow the normal rountine (putting our little guy on the bus) or are we permitted to take him into the building for the first day?

[Skatergirl]

Originally Posted by azb

We have a brand new kindergarden student who begins school next Tuesday in a Fairfax County School and have a question about the rules of the first day: do we follow the normal rountine (putting our little guy on the bus) or are we permitted to take him into the building for the first day?

Absolutely take your child to school and walk him to his classroom on the first day. Any chance you can take him on a regular basis as a daily bus ride for such a little one can potentially be dicey.

[michgc]

You can do either (although I believe some schools encourage you to use the bus since parking and carpool lanes are often crowded). Personally, I had my daughter ride the bus her first day of kindergarten. I figured she should get used to it from the beginning. I almost never drive or walk her there. My second daughter is starting kindergarten on Tuesday and will be taking the bus on the first day of school, too.

I don't know how a daily bus ride would be dicey for a little one. On our school bus, the kindergarteners sit in the first few rows, with the older kids sitting in the middle and the back. The kindergarteners will get a tag at school to show which bus they need to catch for the ride home and it will be pinned to their shirt.

For many kids, the bus ride is the most fun part of the day! If you want to drive her the first day, then do so. But I wouldn't do it after that. Why not take advantage of the free transportation without clogging up the roads and the car lane at school?

[mdcrim]

Our school (in Loudoun) has the kindergarten teachers waiting out front to collect their kids off the bus. They wear name tags with their bus number and teacher name on them. I think they discourage the parents walking the kids into the classroom. Our kindergarteners also sit at the front of the bus.

[Yankeesfan]

Originally Posted by michgc

I don't know how a daily bus ride would be dicey for a little one. On our school bus, the kindergarteners sit in the first few rows, with the older kids sitting in the middle and the back. The kindergarteners will get a tag at school to show which bus they need to catch for the ride home and it will be pinned to their shirt.

For many kids, the bus ride is the most fun part of the day! If you want to drive her the first day, then do so. But I wouldn't do it after that. Why not take advantage of the free transportation without clogging up the roads and the car lane at school?

Absolutely! Best post of the day for this forum .

[Nancy in Nokomis]

Yes, you can take her in yourself the first day or the rest of the week if you want to.

[ceomom703]

For his first day in K, hubby and I took him to the bus stop and drove to the school to walk him in. He was nervous that he wouldn't be able to find his room. Seeing us when the bus arrived alleviated all his fears and he was fine after that.

[movingtodcfromseattle]

Originally Posted by ceomom703

For his first day in K, hubby and I took him to the bus stop and drove to the school to walk him in. He was nervous that he wouldn't be able to find his room. Seeing us when the bus arrived alleviated all his fears and he was fine after that.

As a K teacher (and parent of a new kinder) I recommend this! My husband will be putting our kinder on the bus and meeting her at school to walk her in. Not to mention taking a couple of pictures. The patrols at my school are also VERY good about walking the kinders to their classroom. School support staff also meet the bus and help the younger students get to class. The goal of the first day is to get my kinders to the classroom and back home safely and w/out tears!!!

[crilen]

You should be able to walk your child to their classroom, speak with the teacher briefly, say goodbye to your child, then leave. My daughter started kindergarten, and my husband and myself took pictures, and met some of the other parents. There was also an open house, about a week before school started.

Crilen

[AG1024]

My daughter is also starting Kindergarten tomorrow. At her orientation the principal strongly encouraged putting the children on the bus. As the other posts said, the Kindergartners sit in the front of the bus (and our school at least) will be putting colored tape on their backpacks in addition to the name tags to identify them as Kinder students to the driver and school staff. The reasoning she used, which I completely agree with, is that it is extremely important for the kids to feel safe with all the process involved with going to school. If the parents are outwardly worried about the bus, you may make the child more nervous than they need to be! Personally, my daughter is excited about riding the bus and quite honestly, I'm excited about not fighting traffic to and from the school tomorrow morning!