LOL..My triplets arent school age yet..but my older kids have ridden the buses since Pre-K here. In elementary school, the morning bus ride is they get on Bus A at home...switch to Bus B at a catholic school up the road..then go to school. The same thing for coming home. They ride two busses twice daily. They have never had a problem. Our busses here have bus monitors.

Now my oldest is in middle school, he tranfers between 3 busses in the morning to get to school...and he transfers 4 times going home.

Its insane really. I rode ONE bus to and from school when I was little.
We arent in a big city either..small town living. LOL.


And I feel your pain on the forms..each bus needs a set...I got hand cramps from writing sooo much.

I think your kiddos will be ok....it will give you extra time and its part of them growing up.

~Ashley~
Mommy to the six K's!
Keegan, Kyler, Kenzington and our trio Kaden,Kali and Kobe

Last year I filled out 19 of the same emergency form. Only thing different was the child's name and ONE birthday. This year it will be less. In K the girls rode a different bus home and each driver had to have the cards on the bus. This year, same bus, so 4 less cards. ONLY 15. The school has white and buff. Bus has blue. On my list for today is a trip to office store for cardstock. I may just scan and then fill in names, birthdate, teacher. I wonder what havoc I would create if I returned them ALL in white

As far as the bus issue. We don't transfer. It's only a 5 minute drive in MY car and 15 minutes total on the bus and we are the first stop. We are on the other side of a busy road, so therefore we bus. Having TWO transfers would make me nervous. I DO think we have to give our kids the chance to fly on their own. You'll find that they really do rise to our expectations and they'll completely astonish you with their development and independence this year. But I do have reservations with this situation. I think the ONLY way I would be comfortable with that is if there is a trusted neighborhood kid that is 4th grade or higher who would insure that your kids make the transfer. Or I'd tail the bus for a month until I KNEW my kids had it ingrained in their little heads.

Would your kids be aware enough and reliable enough to look out for each other? Mine didn't tell the bus driver that she was missing one of mine one day. It was just the K going home bus. DD went back to the room to get something. Her seatmate and sister noticed but said nothing. Bus driver didn't know until she dropped them off- assumed she was sick. Teacher called me before the bus got to my house and all was well.

HOw long is the ride? My friend is at the far end of a rural district. Her DD was on the bus for 40 - 45 minutes each way. Lots of country roads, but no transfers. Was on the bus with HS kids too. Not great for a meek, only child, in K.

Is it possible to drive them to/from one of the transfer points? Might keep them from spending their entire day on a bus if the ride is long, still give you a bit more time in your day, and they get the school bus experience too.

What procedures do they have for insuring that a child gets on the correct bus? and what is the plan when there is a problem?

I think you need to be comfortable with the questions above before having them ride the bus. I think at some point you will need to allow them to ride. Understand that if you choose to drive, it's probably best to do it all year, then start fresh next year when everyone is learning the ropes again.

MonsterMom6
10 year old ^b^ b twins @ 30w5d (1 survivor) and
8 year old gggg quads @ 32w0d

OK I have never heard of kids transferring a SCHOOL bus until you mentioned it to me. I will quit complaining. I hated that I have to drive my kids up to one school to meet the bus so they can be bused down to another school. But I didn't have all the paperwork you all talked about. Just on the beginning of the year forms they have a place to mark if they will be walkers/car riders/ or bus riders in the morning and afternoon. That is it. What was on these forms for each bus? What did they need to know other than riding or not riding?

Tasha
Have children afraid of monsters or just looking for a fun kids app? http://www.goawaymonster.com/

My four year olds are riding the bus. It takes them from the 4K program to the local elementary school. Then they get off and get on another bus to come home. With all the bigger kids. Some of the 5th graders are bigger than I am.

It has gone really smoothly so far. Their teacher made little luggage tag things that she put on their backpacks that say exactly where they go and so on. She also puts a sticker on them every day with their name and the transportation details.

With the really little ones, they don't just let them wander off and find the bus on their own. The driver gets out, they all hold hands, and she turns them over to the next driver.

Find out about the transfer process - if it is as closely supervised as ours it will be fine.

BGG born 4/25/05 at 31w1d




New baby girl born 9/19/06

Thought I'd throw this out there. Last week the bus was late. Really really late. I called the Transportation dept, and the lady said "hold on a sec while I pull them up in the system - OK what was the last name? Um, Mrs Swint (the teacher) gave them to Miss Robin (the bus driver) at Riverview Elem at 2:18. They got to Springfield Elem at 2:24. Miss Robin gave them to Miss Sissy (another driver) at 2:26. Looks like they left Springfield at 2:38, so they are on the right bus. Hold on - lemme radio the driver and see where they are. She's not answering - she must be moving. She'll call back when she gets to the next stop."

After that I started noticing, and every day the driver calls in on the radio when my kids get off the bus. I assume that someone on the other end is putting the time they got off the bus in the computer.

One day I was a minute late getting to the bus stop, and the driver was REALLY peeved. (Rightfully so.) She apparently isn't allowed to let them off the bus without me being there to pick them up so I was holding up the whole route.

Anyway, thought that would further reassure you about them not getting lost. Of course, I just posted about an injury on the bus...

BGG born 4/25/05 at 31w1d




New baby girl born 9/19/06