why did i ever worry about my 5 and a half years old taking the bus?

this morning she suggested that i stay at home as the other boy getting on the bus is on his own HIM!!!!!!
well i still thought i ought to walk with her to the bus stop at the end of the road(which fair enought i can see from the window!!!!!!!!)

well they do grow too fast!!!!!!!!!
and....the yellow bus are very useful indeed !
vee

Yeah, my kid actually made it all the way home on Monday...for the first time this year

Last Wednesday...her first day this year, I had to pick her up from school as there was a mix up with "bus buddies" and she and her friend never got on the first bus

Friday, her second day, she got on that bus OK, but her second bus from the high school had left by the time she got there, so I had to pick her up from there instead...where she was entertaining all the staff in the office bless her.

Last year I would have been freaking as she would have been a 3 year old JK student on her very first days at school, but she grown up so much since then.

I wish I hadn't told my 4yr old about the bus. His stop is a long way from our house, and by the time we're at the stop, it's 2/3rds of the way to school - we may as well keep walking! And yet he's first to be picked up and last to be dropped off, it takes half an hour each way.

It's so completely pointless, yet he's desperate to do it. I blame that Timothy Goes to School cartoon on TVO kids First time alone is coming home this afternoon, hope he makes it!

P.S. Do your kids have bus buddies? If so, do they take them from the bus to their designated area/classroom in the morning? Apparently this is only an afternoon duty at our school, so I'm loathe to let him take the bus in the morning. I can see him wandering off to the nearby supermarket in search of toys or something if no-one delivers him to the right place Oh and his buddy doesn't ride the same bus, just plonks him on the correct one. We hope.

Only half an hour? I wish. My kid is on the bus for an hour.

Dont worry Biiink, at first its exciting and they cant wait. I suspect that by the end of the year he will be bored silly and happy to walk.


Our morning bus is way too early to think about getting (6:45 to get her there for 8!!!), so I take her in as I work in town anyway. As far as i can tell from the few times Ive been on time, kids wait in the yard for the teacher to gather them there, so no, the bus buddie thing does not apply in the morning, but there are plenty of adults hanging around to direct students appropriately.

In the afternooon our bus buddie gets her from class to her first bus, if the buddies not there her teacher takes her, and then at the high school there is a dedicated adult whos job is to see her (and other younger kids making the transfer) onto the Bus home. It worked flawlessly last year, just a few teeting troubles this year that seem to have been ironed out. Im not sure thinking abou it that we ever got confirmation from the transportation agency of which busses she was on this year, but then we never heard anything from the school either, so maybe we assumed it was all taken care of automaticaly when it wasnt?

She now has Karate after school on the Wednesday, and we nearly had the opposite problem....her teacher had her nearly on the bus yesterday when he remembered that she didnt need it that day

Try not to worry about it, they have been doing this for years, and they havent lost too many kids

I do hear rumours though that there is a large free range holding pen for kids who didnt get of the bus at their home cos there was no adult there to meet them though (Its in northern Manitoba somewhere I hear)

Morning all

Wonderful to hear all your experiences about the yellow buses.

We are very lucky in Canmore. My daughter and son get picked up from outside our door, and as they are they furthest away from the school, they are picked up first (at7:30 for an 8:30 start).They attend school in Banff and they love the bus.

My eight year old son got the last Harry Potter book from the school library on the first day and decided that he will read it on the bus. He loves the bus and they both saw a hear of deer the other monring crossing the road.

The buses are very organised and the trip only take and hour each way. Our son'd teacher takes all children to the bus every afternoon so no chance of them being left behind.

One thing did stick out in my mind was that their bus driver said that both my children were very polite and always said "thank you" getting off the bus - should hope that they remember their manners.

A wonderful (and free) service.

I know, I know, but if you could see the distance, you'd laugh. We could throw a cricket ball from the bus stop to the school gate. Well, you could, I can only do crappy underarm obviously

An hour is long. I can imagine mine weeing out the window in desperation if he had to sit somewhere that long. Does yours enjoy it? Are there neighbouring kids who take the same route?

I hope so. I think we'll walk in the mornings and bus in the afternoon to give him his fix, although the bumph said "the bus is not a taxi service" which I took to mean I shouldn't pick and choose when he rides, but hey ho.

I also didn't hear anything from the bus company. The neighbours use it (but not often -better to just keep walking) so I assumed we'd be entitled. Didn't hear anything, so thought perhaps not after all because he's only 2 or 3 days a week. Then when I picked him on day 1 (Tues) I had to wrangle him out of his bus buddy's grip and stop him from getting on a bus. He was furious so I said "okay, get the bus", but realised I didn't know where the stop was or what time it arrived, so he couldn't and had to come home kicking and screaming with me! Managed to find out details for today though, so he can have his first ride. And not to the undelivered kids compound we hope

She enjoys the first half of it as there is a kid her age going that far who she likes, its all bigger highschool kids (probably smoking at the back) once you get to our place, so that bits boring.

Round here when you register with the school you have to fill out forms for the transportation board too so they can figure out routes and all that. We are lucky that we live on a main bus throughfair, so she gets dropped at the door. If we were further off the beaten track she would have a pickup point to have to get too. THese are the guidelines for how far they can walk... My wife insists she walked miles and miles to the pickup, but then I used to think I walked miles to school too until I mapped it on google earth at next to nothing!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>To School>>>> To Bus Stop
Jr. Kindergarten to Grade 6 _______1.6 km________ .8 km
Grade 7 & 8____________________3.2 km ________.8 km
Grade 9 to 12 __________________3.2 km ________1.6 km

I think the distances in BC are longer, as far as i can remember we have to be 4.6 kilometers or more for the bus (grades 10 - 12) and we are just outside that area but he could get on as a courtesy rider we just need to check with the school.
But here's the thing, at 15 years old he has no intention of walking to the bus stop or getting on the bus and would rather crawl there. I guess they do get to an age where it doesn't seem so attractive but i don't know why.
We take him at present and it is a very easy drive, less than 10 mins and no traffic so way better than the UK school run.

My daughter (she's a teenager) was mortified to learn that her pick up time had been moved from 7:40am last year to 7:15am this year. School starts at 8:25 and we're only five mins drive away...lol

Luckily for her, two days before school started they changed it back again after sorting their routes. It's nice that she gets collected/dropped at the end of the driveway because she can let herself in if no-one is home.

She hates the bus though - it has middle school kids on it this year and they're always arguing causing the driver to stop and 'discipline' them....lol Not a happy bunny.