Kindergarden School Bus Travel: 5 Tips To Keep Your Child Safe and Happy
Can you believe your son or daughter is heading to kindergarten? You probably have a ton of mixed emotions about the whole “kindergarten” issue, but now your child is going to ride the bus too? You’re a mom or dad who needs a few tips to help your kindergartner have a smooth transition (and to maybe help you with the transition as well).
1. Tour the bus
Most people have great memories of their bus riding adventures as kids. Well, the first stop in making sure your child has great memories is to take a tour. If your school has kindergarten roundup, then a bus might be available for you to check out. If not, I would suggest calling the transportation department to see if you can get a one on one tour. You might even be able to ride the bus with your child on a “tour.”
2. Take it easy
I think a lot of negativity about the bus comes from parents themselves. Bad experiences from your childhood do not need pushed on your kids. Instead, take a moment and channel those experiences into something positive. You know what to look out for in the best interest of your child, thanks to your experiences. Just take the whole bus riding thing a little easier on the emotions, and everything will be fine.
3. Talk to the bus driver
Getting more involved in your child’s life is one way to ease anxiety. I know bus drivers do not have a lot of time to chat, but at least have a small chat with them. It’s also smart to see what plan the bus driver has for protecting kindergartners. I mean, let’s face it; these kindergartners are a lot smaller than the rest of the gang. A lot of schools have protocol put in place to help protect kindergartners while riding the bus. For example: kindergartners ride up front.
4. Head to the bus stop
There are a lot of bus stops these days, instead of the bus picking your child up at your house. If you can work it out, stay with your child the entire time and watch them get on the bus and off the bus. You will want this peace of mind in knowing your child is headed to school without any interventions. Do a few trial runs to make sure you can get to the bus stop on time and without any delay. I should mention that you should prepare for some bus delays, at least during the first few days of school.
5. Have your child ask questions
It’s great when parents and children have open communication. Make it easy for your child to come and talk to you, when there’s a problem. You want your child to tell you if something went wrong and you can work together to fix the problem. So many families aren’t involved in this aspect of school, but it’s so important. Talk to your child and KNOW what’s going on in their lives.
Take a deep breath, mom and dad. Your “baby” is growing up. This is one of their biggest responsibilities in life right now. While it may not see a big deal to you, it’s a turning point in their lives. Stick to these tips and you should have no problems when your kindergartner rides the bus this fall.
These are such great tips! Bus riding is scary for kids and moms! These tips will help everyone get through this new experience.
These are all great tips. I think also its important for parents to (if possible) wait at the bus stop with kids the first few days- just in case the bus is late, like you said.
Those are good tips to get them comfortable.. It doesnt matter the age, i always talk to the bus driver to make sure they know who i am.
I think meeting the bus driver is a great tip. They spend an hour with your kids each day, they might notice things you don’t.
Great tips! These could be good even for non-Kindergartners who are riding the bus for the first time.
Those are some great tips. I will hold on to this when my daughter goes to kindergarten in a few years.
All great ideas and tips for both mom and child. I know i was a wreck when my son first started taking the city bus alone. He handled it much better than I did.
Great tips! I stand with my kids every morning at the bus stop and often talk to our bus driver!
When I was in school we always had Bus drills the first week of school. all the way until high school. I thought this was a useful tool as it showed kids of all ages how to properly ride the bus.
Great tips for nervous Mommies like me 🙂
our school system makes the kindergarteners sit in the front rows which is super helpful for the scared little ones.
Great tips to bear in mind as I move closer to preparing for my little one to start school.
I don’t have children, but these are great and very true tips. I remember my mom always talking to my bus drivers when I was little, and I felt so comfortable with them!
These are great tips my son wants to ride the “real” bus so bad but I am just totally against it. I like taking him to school or getting the daycare van to take him because of my close relationship with the owner. I just can’t get to know the bus driver personally and that limits my wanting to my kid on the a school bus. I think most people think I am totally crazy but I can’t help it.
I still don’t know how I feel about kids taking the bus. I know some kids who have to ride it for 45 mins before school and I see them waiting outside so early. Their parents are home and really should do a private carpool. Kindergarten in wayyy too early to send a kid alone to school, in my opinion.
I have to admit the days of having to make sure my kids are o.k. on a short bus ride are long over. I have teens that still take the bus but its just rote now… Thank goodness.
It’s important to be friendly and know the background of the bus driver. The bus driver would be the guardians of the children while in transit.
My son is getting ready for his first bus ride! These tips are great
These are all good tips. My second oldest was delivered to the wrong school on his first day of Kindergarten. No one even knew, but my good friend’s daughter happened to go to the school he was at, and she happened to see him, and she was smart enough to take him to the principal’s office. He’s 21 now, and I’ve still never recovered. 😉 Really, it was scary. I’m sure the bus is fine for most people (my MIL tells me I’m silly to not have my son ride it now who is 6), but I haven’t put a kiddo on one since.
great tips! as all mommy does i was terrified putting my daughter in a schoolbus haha but then after couple of days riding the schoolbus she managed to get the work done and brave it all
I remember when we moved to the US my son had to go to school riding a school bus. It was scary at first but the Bus Driver and the Bus Monitor assured me that it was safe. My son rode the school bus like a pro.
Bus safety is so important. What a great and informative post. Thanks for sharing.
When my son needed to take the bus to school the first time I was nervous. I wish I had these tips to help. I’ll def use with the new school ad busing service.
My kids are not in school yet. I will say though, it creeps me out a bit that there were never seat belts on school buses when I was a kid. Has that been changed?
As much as the parents miss their child, the child would miss the parents too when they’re at school especially if it’s for the first time. This is why many kindergarten schools here allow the presence of parents outside the classroom in the first week of schooling so they can adapt slowly.
These are great tips! My son loved the bus. He was scared at first but he got use to it and was happy!!!!
This post has great ideas! I’ll have to bookmark this post for future reference!
Seems strange to me to put children that young on the bus, but then I’m sure my son would be fine at 5 doing it, as he’d have older cousins on the same bus.