Am I supposed to follow the bus on the first day of school?

[Anonymous]

This is a pathetic thing to do. Really sad.

[Anonymous]

I've never heard of following the bus and walking the child in; I also think being there to take pics when the child gets off the bus at school is excessive! Guess I was a bad mom -- I stood there at the bus stop and waved as the bus drove away. All the hovering seems very helicopter-y to me, and if the child is the least bit nervous about this new experience, seeing mom again at the school might upset him/her. Why not let the kid be a 'big kid' and do it on their own? Most schools have staff or volunteers there to greet the children as they step off, anyway!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm embarrassed to say I did this with my first. I knew I shouldn't, so I followed from far away. I parked real far away too. I just wanted to watch (no intention of approaching the school)

Here's the reason, and the reason for the paranoia: It was not explained by the school WHAT HAPPENS when the bus arrives. What happens is a teacher is right there when the bus pulls up, the kids get off in a very orderly fashion and, in a line, they walk into the school.

Would that have been that hard to describe to parents??
But nothing was said, so I thought maybe the kids all go running off the bus in different directions. And who knows, they lose a kid or two.

I know ridiculous.

Thanks for sharing this. I'm glad you now recognize it is ridiculous, but I think schools should listen to parents like this. I think because schools know how all their systems work, they don't realize that some parents--who aren't aware of the systems--get panicky about what seems like silly things.
I speak as a former PTA president who had to do the "Boo Hoo Breakfast" at our school on the first day. I was amazed at some of the questions parents asked (while trying to hold back tears).
I'm sure there are some helicopter parents that will never be satisfied with anything but actually seeing it with their own eyes, but I know that buses and lunch time where HUGE concerns for the K parents. If the school included just a little more info in the letters they send out at the end of summer, explaining how these things work, they'd probably save themselves a lot of aggravation.

To be clear, I think it a perfect world parents would have enough sense to recognize that these schools have been dealing with many kids for many years and they know what they are doing. However, we know the reality is that for many parents this is one of the most anxious periods in their life as parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm embarrassed to say I did this with my first. I knew I shouldn't, so I followed from far away. I parked real far away too. I just wanted to watch (no intention of approaching the school)

Here's the reason, and the reason for the paranoia: It was not explained by the school WHAT HAPPENS when the bus arrives. What happens is a teacher is right there when the bus pulls up, the kids get off in a very orderly fashion and, in a line, they walk into the school.

Would that have been that hard to describe to parents??
But nothing was said, so I thought maybe the kids all go running off the bus in different directions. And who knows, they lose a kid or two.

I know ridiculous.

Thanks for sharing this. I'm glad you now recognize it is ridiculous, but I think schools should listen to parents like this. I think because schools know how all their systems work, they don't realize that some parents--who aren't aware of the systems--get panicky about what seems like silly things.
I speak as a former PTA president who had to do the "Boo Hoo Breakfast" at our school on the first day. I was amazed at some of the questions parents asked (while trying to hold back tears).
I'm sure there are some helicopter parents that will never be satisfied with anything but actually seeing it with their own eyes, but I know that buses and lunch time where HUGE concerns for the K parents. If the school included just a little more info in the letters they send out at the end of summer, explaining how these things work, they'd probably save themselves a lot of aggravation.

To be clear, I think it a perfect world parents would have enough sense to recognize that these schools have been dealing with many kids for many years and they know what they are doing. However, we know the reality is that for many parents this is one of the most anxious periods in their life as parents.

OP here - absolutely, PP. I am so displeased at the LACK of information that has been sent home regarding Kindergarten. The ONLY information I've received so far is the bus stop/time assignment, and the teacher name. That's it. I have no idea if I'm supposed to send a snack, a water bottle, supplies. I (obviously!) have no idea what happens once my child gets off the bus at school, etc. For those of us who haven't been to elementary school since we were in elementary school ourselves, a little more information ahead of time sure would be helpful. I just don't want to screw up!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've never heard of following the bus and walking the child in; I also think being there to take pics when the child gets off the bus at school is excessive! Guess I was a bad mom -- I stood there at the bus stop and waved as the bus drove away. All the hovering seems very helicopter-y to me, and if the child is the least bit nervous about this new experience, seeing mom again at the school might upset him/her. Why not let the kid be a 'big kid' and do it on their own? Most schools have staff or volunteers there to greet the children as they step off, anyway!

I never heard of it until I read about it on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP here - absolutely, PP. I am so displeased at the LACK of information that has been sent home regarding Kindergarten. The ONLY information I've received so far is the bus stop/time assignment, and the teacher name. That's it. I have no idea if I'm supposed to send a snack, a water bottle, supplies. I (obviously!) have no idea what happens once my child gets off the bus at school, etc. For those of us who haven't been to elementary school since we were in elementary school ourselves, a little more information ahead of time sure would be helpful. I just don't want to screw up!

You won't screw up. Really, you won't. If you're supposed to send a snack/water bottle/supplies, and you haven't been informed beforehand, then you'll be informed once school starts. Your child will not flunk out of kindergarten for lack of a snack/water bottle/supplies!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP here - absolutely, PP. I am so displeased at the LACK of information that has been sent home regarding Kindergarten. The ONLY information I've received so far is the bus stop/time assignment, and the teacher name. That's it. I have no idea if I'm supposed to send a snack, a water bottle, supplies. I (obviously!) have no idea what happens once my child gets off the bus at school, etc. For those of us who haven't been to elementary school since we were in elementary school ourselves, a little more information ahead of time sure would be helpful. I just don't want to screw up!

You won't screw up. Really, you won't. If you're supposed to send a snack/water bottle/supplies, and you haven't been informed beforehand, then you'll be informed once school starts. Your child will not flunk out of kindergarten for lack of a snack/water bottle/supplies!

Agreed. Your child will be fine. I am wondering why your school did not offer a Kindergarten orientation. We had one for the parents in the Spring, and one for the future Kindergartners.

[Anonymous]

I did not. Our school has plenty of staff out making sure kids know where to go. Your school doesn't want lost kids, either!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a thing at our elementary school

We all did it. Totally a think at our elementary school.

I'm glad I did it for K. You only do it that once.

[Anonymous]

Wanted to add: Our school bus had TWO stops at TWO different schools, a K-2 school and a 3-5 school. So there was a lot of worry about your 4- or 5-year-old knowing which stop to get off at.

There was also a lot of pandemonium at the school the first day, with 6 kindergarten classes, and my son had a severe language delay at the time. So I'm glad I went.

[Anonymous]

And here's something I learned: sometimes the teacher will pin (safety pin) a note on your child. What bugs me is all the "institutional knowledge" that is assumed, like first day of school traditions. And don't get me started on acronyms

[Anonymous]

There was also a lot of pandemonium at the school the first day

See this is why I wouldn't want parents showing up at school. More chaos. Really, you HAVE to meet the bus at school?
More bodies. Adults with their own agenda, trying to get the best photo shot of their kid. A few parents start this and
it becomes a tradition. Parents then feel it's only their child who doesn't have a parent there - the even reasonable parent
start doing these things despite their better judgement. As always I blame the school if they don't rein-in this type of behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Wanted to add: Our school bus had TWO stops at TWO different schools, a K-2 school and a 3-5 school. So there was a lot of worry about your 4- or 5-year-old knowing which stop to get off at.

There was also a lot of pandemonium at the school the first day, with 6 kindergarten classes, and my son had a severe language delay at the time. So I'm glad I went.

We had this situation, too. No bus driver is going to let a 5-year-old off at the school that starts in 3rd grade.

[Anonymous]

I followed the bus with both my kids! It was like a big party at the school, with all the parents snapping pictures (there were a handful of kindergartners whose parents were not there). I'm sure my kids would have been fine, but I was happy to catch a glimpse of my kids at school with their new teacher and classmates. On day 2 I sent them on the bus and went my merry way to work.

[Anonymous]

I don't get the worry, truly. Even if your child doesn't know where to go upon arriving, what would happen? They would figure it out! It's not like he'd wander off. Give your kids done credit even if you don't know the exact scenario when bud gets there.