school bus safety | Imamother

SingALong

Thu, Sep 03 2009, 1:52 am

my DD is starting to go on a school bus for the first time ever and I am really nervous. I work long hours and my babysitter will bring her to the bus stop and pick her up but I don't feel secure about it.

I want to teach my dd a lot about bus safety and since I won't always be around. even though she's with my babysitter, I still want her to know things on her own. I researched online various bus safety rules (ie. dont wear long clothes that can get caught, dont run after a bus if late, etc) but I haven't found anything that was really geared to educate kids on bus safety and its importance. specifically for those age 5-6 that still dont read.

I wanted to know if any mothers out there had a good method/ way of teaching bus safety to their kids besides for just telling them rules/concepts verbally but to really get the ideas across with pictures / icons, stories, songs, etc. if anyone has ideas to share I would love to hear!

PAMOM

Fri, Sep 04 2009, 12:41 pm

This is a great question (and not just because I had it when my daughter started riding the bus)! I don't know any cute ideas but I do have a few suggestions, based on my experiences. If you can, introduce yourself to the bus driver during the first week (first day, if you can). You want the driver to see your child as YOUR child. The biggest problems on buses have to do with other kids misbehaving--running around on bus, hitting/picking on some kids, etc. (Relax--it's not as bad as it seems.) You want to make sure the driver keeps on eye out (unless there's a bus chaperone) and you want to make sure your child tells you if there's a problem. You should tell your child to stay in her seat and listen to the driver. She shouldn't use sharp objects (pencils too) on the bus because someone cold get hurt if the bus stops suddenly. Tell her what she CAN do--sleep, talk to friends sitting nearby, sing quietly, read. The other big thing is to make sure your sitter doesn't let her run after the bus or cross in front of it. Cars don't always obey the bus's signals so your sitter should hold her hand until she's safely on the sidewalk/bus.

Oh--and if it's allowed, you might want to send a snack for the bus. My daughter was always hungry so I sent a ziplock bag with fruit and a napkin.

It'll be fine--you have someone there to put her on and make sure she gets off. Those are the big things.

SingALong

Fri, Sep 04 2009, 4:34 pm

thanks for the suggestions. I already discussed bus safety issues with her but I feel kids this age need more than just telling them they need to be shown, or read to in a book. (I havent found a good book for this). problem is that the first day of school I have to be at work early, I cant change that, and I wont be there when she comes home the first 2 days. the snack is a good idea, especially since she isnt so great about eating breakfast.
I am worried about bullying since I remember it so well as a kid. I really hope everything will be ok.