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My granddaughter rode the bus to kindergarten in a suburban area. Her parents got her a cell phone with restrictions on in&outgoing calls (allowed by school if she kept it in her backpack) just in case she got lost/left behind, etc. She was fine and enjoyed it.
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Belle, your granddaughter is alot more responsible than my kids. I wouldn't trust either of mine this year w/ a cell unless it was encased in stone or something. lol Mine are going into 3rd (boy) & 1st (girl) . My friend's daughter has had a cell for emergencies like that since she was in 1st grade, I think??? Which reminds me, her younger girl will be in 1st grade this year. Though, they got accepted into a different school this year, so, she is driving them.
An added benefit is that my number is programmed into her phone and she can call me to tell me things w/o having her parents involved! Not during school obviously.
An added benefit is that my number is programmed into her phone and she can call me to tell me things w/o having her parents involved! Not during school obviously.
It's me, I knew that. I guess it's only $10 more a person for a cell though. lol Think I'll give a year for us to get used to the 2nd kid eating school lunches cost, then MAYBE my son will be responsible enough for a cell. He lost the DS we got him for Christmas last year, &, it had Mario in it. sigh
I haven't read replies of others, but my son looooved getting on a school bus. I started him at the age of 5 and he just loved the feeling of independence he had when he would give me a hug and jump on a bus by himself. I always felt safe letting him ride the bus, he learned how to walk to the classroom all by himself.
The only reason my kids wanted to start school was so they could ride the big yellow bus. My third child started K last year and he went on the bus but was very disappointed that they had to stop and pick up other kids. He was the first stop and for some reason thought that big ol bus was just for him.
The first week I put him on the bus and then drove to school to watch to make sure he got to where he needed to be. K was only half a day and the ride home was only K students so I wasn't worried about that. This coming year will be all day and I will probably do the same thing for the first week.
My daughter started riding the bus to preschool when she was barely four. The school district offers this because her preschool is a pickup point for elementary kids who ride the bus. Her route included a bus change at the high school. I had some reservations at first, but we have never had a problem with her riding the bus at all.
I should point out that we are in a small school district in a very rural area. Our neighbor is the driver who picks her up at home, and her grandma drove her bus from the high school to preschool (now to the elementary school). We know most of the kids who she rides with and their parents, and older students and staff always look our for the little kids.
I would probably feel different if I lived in a city or was new to the community, but based on our experience I have no problems with little ones riding the bus.
My son start kindergarten in August. He just turned 5 years old in May.
When I was 5 and in Kindergarten, I had to walk to school, alone, 1.5 miles (I had shoes and there were no hills, though). It was lovely, but a bus would have been amazing--I actually do remember all this, despite being several decades ago. And the world is actually a safer place now than then...so put your kid on the bus!!!
I am just going to tell you how I handled this last year (DD is starting 1st grade this year). I had a lot of people telling me to start the school year how I planned on it continuing. Luckily for me DD is actually very mature for her age so I didn't worry as much. It may be because she has been in day care since 6 weeks old. I don't know. I was planning on taking her to day care and having them drop her off with their bus and pick her up since that is how it would be for the rest of the year. I found out that the norm here is for parents to drop off Kindergardeners at their classroom on the first day. I toook the morning off of work and drove her in and took her to her classroom. I loved it. Even though I had dropped her off at day care every day, I still cried as I was walking away from her classroom. After that, I dropped her off at day care like normal.
Maybe you can find out from the school whether it is the norm for kids to be taken to their classroom on their first day. If it was me, I would do that and then have him ride the bus on day 2 while they are still going over procedures for bus riding. After that, I would feel more comfortable making the choice on bus riding or car riding.
That is just me though. I know I felt more comfortable dropping DD into new situations when they were new to everyone and not just her. That way you know that the teacher/bus driver/TAs/etc are all really looking after the kids and are expecting the kids to feel a bit out of water. They are much more aware of confusion and nervousness at the beginning of the school year. After a few weeks, they get a bit more relaxed because the students know where they are going and they don't feel the need to be hyper-vigilant at that point.
When I was 5 and in Kindergarten, I had to walk to school, alone, 1.5 miles (I had shoes and there were no hills, though). It was lovely, but a bus would have been amazing--I actually do remember all this, despite being several decades ago. And the world is actually a safer place now than then...so put your kid on the bus!!!
Im not sure I agree with you about that. To let my son walk 1.5 miles by himself. . . But I seriously considering putting him on the bus now.
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I guess it's only $10 more a person for a cell though. lol Think I'll give a year for us to get used to the 2nd kid eating school lunches cost, then MAYBE my son will be responsible enough for a cell. He lost the DS we got him for Christmas last year, &, it had Mario in it. sigh
