Daycare field trip of 20 three year olds to the National Zoo?

[Anonymous]

Our daycare center announced a field trip for the preschool room to the National Zoo for late June. Our child has been in the room since January; this is the first field trip they will be going on since we started there in the infant room. This will be a trip of up to twenty kids who are mainly 3 years old - they typically range from old 2s to young 4s in the room - who span from being not potty trained to nearly self sufficient on the potty, with most somewhere in between (the teachers send them to the toilet on a 30 min timer in the room on a daily basis). The center has two buses, and my guess is that none of these kids has ever been on the center's buses. The zoo is a 40 min ride one way, and the trip is planned for 9:30am-1:30pm, eating lunches brought from home while there.

I asked the room's lead teacher today how logistics work to take twenty kids in that age group on such a trip. Her answer was "lots of volunteers", that they will take everything with them regarding dealing with potty accidents, and that she would prefer kids to be in pull ups in case of accidents. She also admitted that she has never done a field trip like this before and that it was the center director's idea. The lead teacher has been in charge of that room since we started there in 2019.

Is it just me, or does this sound like a really bad idea?

[Anonymous]

Just take that day off and skip it.

[Anonymous]

At that age I usually took off work and volunteered to go on school/daycare trips. I'd definitely do it for this outing.

[Anonymous]

I mean, it doesn’t sound fun, but I don’t think anything bad will happen as long as they have enough volunteers.

[Anonymous]

Either volunteer so you can chaperone your own kid or just keep your kid home that day if you are concerned. The trip sounds great to me.

[Anonymous]

They will be fine. They are going to the Zoo not a parking garage.

Go with them or keep kid home

[Anonymous]

Ha! My kid's PK3 class went on a field trip to one of those huge fall fests out in the country. I thought that it was insane to do this. I had all the same questions that you have. I volunteered and went as a chaperone so that my child would survive, and it was all fine. They had enough volunteers that each adult was responsible for 3-4 kids, and they let me be responsible for just mine, because he was a runner.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand ambitious daycare field trips. Our DC daycare took the 3yo and older to the Baltimore Aquarium. It's just too far, and to exhausting. Go to the park maybe.

Anyway, OP I usually chose to chaperone, sometimes driving separately to avoid the bus ride going past my house. But your kid won't care if you both skip it.

[Anonymous]

DH and I each volunteered for a few of the larger-scale daycare trips (Disney on Ice, seeing “Frozen II” in the theater), and skipped a few by staying home that day when it seemed like it would be a real big hassle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our daycare center announced a field trip for the preschool room to the National Zoo for late June. Our child has been in the room since January; this is the first field trip they will be going on since we started there in the infant room. This will be a trip of up to twenty kids who are mainly 3 years old - they typically range from old 2s to young 4s in the room - who span from being not potty trained to nearly self sufficient on the potty, with most somewhere in between (the teachers send them to the toilet on a 30 min timer in the room on a daily basis). The center has two buses, and my guess is that none of these kids has ever been on the center's buses. The zoo is a 40 min ride one way, and the trip is planned for 9:30am-1:30pm, eating lunches brought from home while there.

I asked the room's lead teacher today how logistics work to take twenty kids in that age group on such a trip. Her answer was "lots of volunteers", that they will take everything with them regarding dealing with potty accidents, and that she would prefer kids to be in pull ups in case of accidents. She also admitted that she has never done a field trip like this before and that it was the center director's idea. The lead teacher has been in charge of that room since we started there in 2019.

Is it just me, or does this sound like a really bad idea?

My day care also took preschoolers on a trip to the zoo in the 90 degree heat.

I volunteered to drive my son and his friend to ensure their survival. Everything went fine but we took lots of breaks and sat under the shade to keep cool.

Looking back, it seems a bit too ambitious for a preschool class.

[Anonymous]

We did it in our preschool but were able to walk and only stayed an hour
I chaperoned and brought extra snacks. Kids are used to walking around the neighborhood in groups!

[Anonymous]

I chaperoned my kid’s PK3 class to the zoo via Metro.

It was one of the most exhausting experiences of my life.

[Anonymous]

Agree - volunteer to chaperone. And to make your life easier, team up with another parent. That way you have 6-8 kids between the two of you, which will allow you to tag team on bathroom trips, slow walkers, fast walkers, and generally have more eyes on the kids.

[Anonymous]

Not worth it.

I question how experienced the daycare director is, this is more a hassle to everyone involved than it is beneficial. I would take the day off and skip the field trip, or go as a volunteer but drive myself and my kid.

[Anonymous]

Wow, that’s a large classroom. Montessori? Otherwise they aren’t following licensing group sizes (if they’re in DC that is).