What do you do for the first day of school (not asking specifically about traditions, special memories, etc). What I mean is do YOU take your child to school on the first day, meet him/her there and let them ride the bus or do they go to daycare/before/after school care from the first day?
The reason I ask is that we live out in the country so the bus stops AT OUR HOUSE....so I think my daughter should ride the bus on the first day of Kindergarten so she and all the other kids will be nervous/excited together (she will be riding with some former preschool friends on there). If I take her, then her 2nd day of school will be her first day on the bus, catch my drift?
I plan on putting her on the bus then meeting the bus at school. She's okay with this - just wondered what the norm is?
Also wanted to add we will be letting her pick out her breakfast that day and making sure to take pictures in front of the house and a tree in our front yard to commenmorate the special day!!
Thanks for all your insight!! I have not heard anything about Orientation but if she does have it, you bet I will take her so she gets acclimated!! As far as why I want to follow her / go in with her, this is a brand new school for her (she was in preschool in a different school) and I realize they have teachers there to assist the kids, but I cannot send my baby girl off in a bus without knowing she made it to the classroom okay!! I know, overprotective mom here!! My mother (former teacher) did this with my sister for kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade I believe. She did say that most schools she's taught in are okay with you walking the kids in, but they do not want you to linger. I want to get a pic of she and her teacher, too!
Gosh...now that I'm really truly thinking about it - I am pretty sure I'll be a mess that first day when I leave the school! I know she will have fun, I know she will be okay, I know she will be taken care of, but she's my first baby and thinking of her being in a school all day without mom or dad to care for her makes me sad. UGH...how is it that I feel happy and sad at the same time?!
I would put her on the bus then meet her at school too. That way you're there to walk her to her classroom and help her get settled.
I think your plan is a great one!
M
Yes, by all means, put her on the bus the first day!! That way, she'll learn the routine, etc., immediately.
For mine, I followed the bus to school but my kids didn't know it. I just wanted to make sure they looked ok getting off the bus; i.e., not crying!!! They never knew I was sitting in the parking lot watching.
Also, what helped with us since we also live out in the country, is we did a complete dry run the day before. The whole thing! Got up, got dressed, had breakfast and even drove to school so they knew exactly what to expect.
Hopefully, you will have the opportunity to show her what classroom she'll be going to and have met the teacher (and bus driver) by the time the first day rolls around.
Good luck!!!
Your plan sounds perfect!
At our school, they make special provisions the first day for the kindergarteners, so they actually WANT them on that bus the first day. They go over stuff to make sure they're comfortable, explain the rules and how it all works, give them special name tags so that their teachers can find them, etc.
We (all paretns) go to school with them the first day of K, for about the first hour, just to get them settled and comfortable. So, it's kinda funny - we all put our kids on the bus, then rush to school to greet them off the bus. But it's a fun first trip for the kids knowing mom will be there.
I'm in the same boat, and I think we are doing the same thing. Our son doesn't get bus service to our house (cause we live 2 blocks from school), so he will be getting on the bus in the mornings with a friend of ours and her two girls (one who will be in kindergarten with him), but after school he will be going to a babysitter - so he will have to remember he doesn't follow the girls off at their bus stop. He will start the new babysitter that week, so he will have a chance to meet the other kids that go there and to his school. I'm a nervous wreck thinking about all of this. Now, we meet with his teacher in a few weeks, so I will see what they want from the parents - do they want us there to help them get settled or not, but I will definately be there to watch him go into school and to watch him get on the bus after school at least.
I don't think I'd let my child ride a bus to school, but that's me. I take my kids to school every morning. My youngest daughter will be starting Kindergarten in the fall and I will take her, park, walk her into the school, and make sure she's feeling OK about me leaving her. She's quite independent so I know she will be fine, but I will escort her inside for the first week or so. Then, I'll drop her off curb-side with her sister, who will be in the third grade, and let her make her own way to her classroom.
Ugh... this question made me sad. :( My baby's starting Kindergarten!!! Cry...
My son rode the bus the 1st day. He was really excited about it, and so were all the other kids on the bus. We don't 'do' a whole lot for the first day, it's exciting enough on it's own (at least in K when we started last fall).
UPDATE: Just as a thought - on the 1st day of school, the school expects that the kindergarten students will not know where to go. So they usually have special helpers to make sure K students get from the bus to their classroom. If you drive your child the first day of school, she might miss out on this help. And then when you do send her on the bus for the first time, the help might be gone, and she might not know what to do. So you could be doing her a disservice by driving her on the first day.
My son's school SPECIFICALLY told us at kindergarten orientation that kids should get to and from school on the first day HOWEVER they will get to and from school for the rest of the year. Bus drivers do some first day orientation stuff as well, and you don't want to miss it, plus the teachers are learning which bus each kid arrives on and kids are learning how to get from their bus to the classroom.
If parents wanted to take pics at the school they actually advised us to put the kid on the bus, then drive and meet the bus if you need pictures on campus, just as you plan.
I just took lots of pics at orientation and then sent him on the bus and picked him up from after care. He had a great first day.
Hello, I know we worry, but she'll be fine. My son was excited and ready to go on the bus. I hugged him and let him go on the first day. Trust me, it'll be better for both of you. Can I ask, why are you planning on meeting her?
Just curious. I would let her go and when she arrives teacher's will figure it out. If you meet her, she's going to expect you to be there all the time. And yes, you're right place her on the first day. It'll be done and over with.
As far as pictures and to let the anxiety go, I took him to the school before and let him look thru the windows and took pictures in front of the doors.
It was so cute! Good luck, take a breath, she'll be fine.
Here they want your child to ride the bus if you plan to use the transportation. Parents are highly discouraged from following them into school - it just adds to the madness and chaos. The school is prepared for all the fresh kindergarteners coming in. There are extra eyes and hands to get them all where they have to be. It's similar to leaving them at daycare - if you sit there and stand around and make a huge production of it, it takes your child longer to adjust and just prolongs all the anxiety. I'm all for the band aid approach.
My son is going to a school that does not provide transportation, so I have no choice but to drive him. However, had he been going to public school, you bet he'd be riding the bus! He is so disappointed he's not going to get to ride one! (And I'm disappointed I have to drive him!) I'm also pretty sure I'd just send him off and see him when he gets home...why would you meet her at school? It seems like it would make the first day that much crazier (for the kids and teachers) having a million parents buzzing around. In any case, good luck!
Your idea sounds great! I'd just add that if they have an open house day before school starts take a walk from where the bus drops them at school to her specific room. Once you are dropped off by the bus, it will be lots of kids and she may feel confused.
Yep, stick with your plan.. Let him ride the bus with everyone else. He will her all of the rules and immediately meet someone, because they sit at least 2 to a seat.
Then you can meet him there and walk with the kids to the classes. He will again learn how this works.. In kinder they are escorted to classrooms from the bus.
Then in the afternoon, if he is going to after school, let her go.
I always asked our daughter, what do you want to take for lunch this week. That way I made sure she was going to eat it. Yes, I sent notes.. or maybe a small treat every once in a while.
We always took the first day of school pictures by the same tree in the front yard. She was always wearing or holding her backpack.
She and the tree grew together..
