AmerLisa

Honestly! Where in the heck do you live? Hopefully I'll never cross that area in my lifetime! I dropped my child off at her classroom - heaven help the person that stops me.

AmerLisa

Its hot outside - problem solved!

Lycanthrop

Suggest you volunteer with the teacher to assist with class events and anything else they might offer the parents, in order to meet others. It'll be a good way to get really used to the school system too.......

jjmb

Why is your child starting kindergarten tomorrow? I thought all US school were on break by now. Is he having to do summer school?

As Lycnthrop, offer to help out at the school, they are always looking for parent assistants. This might allay any fears you have about him going to school. The way you are reacting will be making him feel nervous and then it becomes a vicious circle.

Accept that things are different and get on with it. After all you would have similar problems if you were moving from the English system to the Scottish system but there you wouldn't have a forum to voice your concerns.

goldcrown

It is year round schooling here. He didn't have much of a break coming from England to here, unfortunately. But he'll have a good bit of time off soon.

I have offered what I can to his teacher. I have two children at home (3 and 16 months) so if I were to volunteer for traffic warden, library help, field trips, play time supervision, classroom assistance, etc, I would need to find childcare for my kids and at the prices here, that's not possible right now.

We gave all the school supplies requested to my son's teacher, as well as some other items she said she needed on her 'wish list'. I've offered to help with her communication to parents.

goldcrown

North Carolina.

We received another note in the bookbag today, to support the previous note about dropping off one's child and collecting him/her: 'Do not get out of your car. We are all in a hurry and have places to go after school. Do not get out of your car and walk your child to the door or to your car at then end of the school day.'

Lots of daycare vans at the school, for children who need to go to after school care. And school buses, for the children not returning home in a car.

jumping doris

If we join the pick up line at school we can't leave our cars because it would cause a jam but there is a separate area to park if you want to go into school.
Having said that most children, even kindergarteners go on the bus.

britvic

Last year I put up a thread about school buses, was worried about letting my Son go on it, but this lot on here soon put my mind at rest and I gave it a try, I'm happy to say my Son love's going to & from on the Bus.

jumping doris

My youngest loves the bus. The drivers who take the very young children are lovely.They never let them off the bus if there isn't someone there for them.

britvic

Last year's Bus driver was a bloody old cow, she never even bothered saying good morning to the little one's she got nothing off me or any other mother's at the bus stop at the end of term. We've had a new one these past few day's and he's a lovely old boy They will not even let them off the bus even though they know you are the Child's Mum, you must show the school ID pick up pas.

Ben

We have been in two different school districts in two different states and I have never seen that type of pick up and drop off for any grade under 5th. Here (and where we were in NJ) if your child wasn't on the allocated bus, the only way you could pick your child up was directly from the class teacher. Now, if your child normally goes on the bus but you choose to collect him/her directly from school, you have to send in a note and have to sign a special clipboard on arriving at the school to show that you have collected your child. This is so the bus driver does not expect your child on his bus.

All the children in K to 2nd grade have name tags attached to their backpacks/book bag. And when the bus driver comes to drop them off at home a parent/carer has to be there to collect them. Otherwise the bus driver keeps your child and will take them back to the depot.

Here, parents are highly discouraged in collecting their children by car. all kids that live more than 1/4 mile from school (up to high school age) are permitted to use the bus so there is no reason for cars to be at school collecting children unless in an emergency or doctors appointment.

We really like it and it is a lot safer than many schools in the UK especially for the younger kids.

Sally

You can't get out in the pickup lane of course, you have to park up somewhere else to walk.

It does seem an odd time of the year to start.

NC Penguin

Enough about your misgivings about American school but what does your son think of kindergarten? What's his first impressions?

lapin_windstar

Or consider New York, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia...in other words, any densely populated city that wasn't built around the car.

If you drive hundreds of miles every week and use drive-thru banks, coffee shops and pharmacies, why would the school by any different? This is the sort of stuff that happens in the suburbs (and encourages sprawl, pollution...), isn't it?

Manc

if your car is registered and insured and it is legal to park on the highway
do so and the school can go bollocks in my opinion.