Did your preschooler ride the bus?

[smashncakes]

Nope. The pre-k program that DD is in requires parents to drop-off and pick-up, bus service is not available. The headstart program here in town uses a smaller bus from the local transit companyto bus their kids (they require as part of their program that the kids ride the bus because its "an important developmental milestone" )--this is NOT the bus company that serves the local schools, but a small-town transit service, the seats aren't even set up like traditional school bus seats, they're kinda like bucket seats sat next to each other...there is no bus monitor, no harnesses, and no seatbelts so you can install seats. The few times I've seen it go past our house, it was total chaos...I could see kids standing in seats, arms & heads out of windows, etc...pretty much ridiculous.

That said--my son was in kindergarten last year, I drove him both to & from school for the first 1/3 of the year, he started riding the bus home from school about November with me still driving him TO school, and around March I started letting him ride to & from school...I based this off of his maturity-level, whether he was capable of sitting still, following rules, etc. DD has another year of pre-k right now but unless she makes some BIG strides in booster-training at home, she likely won't be riding the bus to school at all during her K year because she just doesn't sit still well enough. Statistically buses are quite safe, but just like carseats & booster seats, they rely on proper use.

I would install a carseat on your bus if you can, but find out if they will buckle him in (and if they truly do know how to do it properly, particularly if different people will be buckling him up throughout the day), if you will have to come on the bus & buckle him in, or if he has to be able to do it himself. If he has to do it himself, do they wait to move until he has buckled it, or do they just leave as soon as he sits down & they rely on him to buckle up as they're moving? Is help available if he needs it? Also find out if you're using a carseat if it has to be installed/removed daily, or if it can stay on the bus--if it can stay on the bus, see what their cleaning schedule is like...will they be uninstalling his seat when they clean, then re-installing it? If so, do they know how to properly install it? Will his seat be left alone & you will have to uninstall & reinstall when you need to clean it, and they'll just clean around it? Do they know not to use any type of harsh chemicals on the seat if they're wiping it down?

[an_aurora]

Originally Posted by smashncakes (they require as part of their program that the kids ride the bus because its "an important developmental milestone" )--

Oh HEEEEEECK no! My kids go to a charter school with no bus option and that is A-OK with me! I wouldn't let them ride the bus even if they had the option. I rode the bus for years and was exposed to all sorts of stuff I don't wish for my kids (fights, bullying, penises, etc). Buses are my squick thing. I just can't do it.

[MiaAnjuli]

Originally Posted by smashncakes Nope. The pre-k program that DD is in requires parents to drop-off and pick-up, bus service is not available. The headstart program here in town uses a smaller bus from the local transit companyto bus their kids (they require as part of their program that the kids ride the bus because its "an important developmental milestone" )--this is NOT the bus company that serves the local schools, but a small-town transit service, the seats aren't even set up like traditional school bus seats, they're kinda like bucket seats sat next to each other...there is no bus monitor, no harnesses, and no seatbelts so you can install seats. The few times I've seen it go past our house, it was total chaos...I could see kids standing in seats, arms & heads out of windows, etc...pretty much ridiculous. That said--my son was in kindergarten last year, I drove him both to & from school for the first 1/3 of the year, he started riding the bus home from school about November with me still driving him TO school, and around March I started letting him ride to & from school...I based this off of his maturity-level, whether he was capable of sitting still, following rules, etc. DD has another year of pre-k right now but unless she makes some BIG strides in booster-training at home, she likely won't be riding the bus to school at all during her K year because she just doesn't sit still well enough. Statistically buses are quite safe, but just like carseats & booster seats, they rely on proper use. I would install a carseat on your bus if you can, but find out if they will buckle him in (and if they truly do know how to do it properly, particularly if different people will be buckling him up throughout the day), if you will have to come on the bus & buckle him in, or if he has to be able to do it himself. If he has to do it himself, do they wait to move until he has buckled it, or do they just leave as soon as he sits down & they rely on him to buckle up as they're moving? Is help available if he needs it? Also find out if you're using a carseat if it has to be installed/removed daily, or if it can stay on the bus--if it can stay on the bus, see what their cleaning schedule is like...will they be uninstalling his seat when they clean, then re-installing it? If so, do they know how to properly install it? Will his seat be left alone & you will have to uninstall & reinstall when you need to clean it, and they'll just clean around it? Do they know not to use any type of harsh chemicals on the seat if they're wiping it down?

Those are all great questions. Thank you.

[MiaAnjuli]

Originally Posted by an_aurora Oh HEEEEEECK no! My kids go to a charter school with no bus option and that is A-OK with me! I wouldn't let them ride the bus even if they had the option. I rode the bus for years and was exposed to all sorts of stuff I don't wish for my kids (fights, bullying, penises, etc). Buses are my squick thing. I just can't do it.

If I could get away from using the bus, I would. But until we PCS this is our only option. And if it wasn't for speech therapy I probably wouldn't send him to preschool yet. But I don't want him to have a hard time because of his language skills.

[an_aurora]

Originally Posted by MiaAnjuli If I could get away from using the bus, I would. But until we PCS this is our only option. And if it wasn't for speech therapy I probably wouldn't send him to preschool yet. But I don't want him to have a hard time because of his language skills.

Oh I know, sorry that was in the response to the required bus thing. I know that my experience on the bus wasn't a normal one, and most are fine, but I wouldn't want to be required to use the bus.

[pcjs]

Originally Posted by MiaAnjuli If I could get away from using the bus, I would. But until we PCS this is our only option. And if it wasn't for speech therapy I probably wouldn't send him to preschool yet. But I don't want him to have a hard time because of his language skills.

I'd send him to preschool but Tricare does pay for speech. I got my son approved no problem but finding a provider was very hard and she'd only do 30 minutes so it wasn't worth it even though we were approved for way more. Now we are doing a speech preschool but it is private pay.

I'd buy a cheap car seat and FF him - he'd get teased RF though I am a huge fan of RF. I wouldn't trust the bus company's anyway.

[an_aurora]

Yeah I would FF.

[luvsviola]

My son takes the bus to preschool. They have appropriate harnesses on his bus.

[Nerissa]

Preschool here doesn't start till kids are 4. Yes DS1 rode the bus all last year. He goes to daycare and the ony way to get to preschool was the bus. there were 3 other preschool age kids and they were all in the afternoon session. DCP walked the kids to the bus right after lunch time and her older kids (jr high and high school) rode the bus home with all the younger kids.

[MiaAnjuli]

Originally Posted by pcjs I'd send him to preschool but Tricare does pay for speech. I got my son approved no problem but finding a provider was very hard and she'd only do 30 minutes so it wasn't worth it even though we were approved for way more. Now we are doing a speech preschool but it is private pay. I'd buy a cheap car seat and FF him - he'd get teased RF though I am a huge fan of RF. I wouldn't trust the bus company's anyway.

Yes, it's nice Tricare covers it. We had the option last year to do an hour once a week, which isn't a ton, but is better than nothing. Or preschool. We choose preschool. But because they were terrible at getting the bus schedule done, and we got orders that ended up getting cancelled towards the end of the school year. He never went. So we are going to try again this year.

I was leaning towards FF, but honestly I don't take him getting teased at age 3 1/2 for rear facing into account. Or anything that has to do with safety for that matter. But we have a seat that I can use already. We'd just have to switch around the ones we have now. But I was planning to do that anyways.