School bus blues :(

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School bus blues :(

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DVOM

Tue, Jan 09 2018, 9:52 pm

My 9-year-old son really hates the school bus. I don't blame him. It's a long day for a little guy, and he's on the bus for over an hour. This particular child needs a lot of downtimes, time to read, draw, daydream after a day of school. By the time he gets off the bus, he's an exhausted mess. Once a week my schedule allows me to pick him up, but most days he just needs to muddle through it.

We've been talking about ways to make the bus ride easier. An extra snack to eat on the bus helps, but his bus driver has gotten strict about not eating on the bus. We had the idea of taking 'bus books' to school to read on the bus. My little guy thinks this will really help pass the long boring bus ride.

Problem is, Mr. 9 inhales books. He's a really fast, advanced reader. I don't want to take the chance of letting him take and possibly lose or damage library books, but I also can't possibly buy enough books to send with him each day.

Where can I get cheap or free books? Our library has a used book shelf, but it's really picked over and we hardly ever find anything good there. Anyone have any other good ideas for helping pass the time on the long bus ride?

Notsobusy

Tue, Jan 09 2018, 10:54 pm

I don't know if this is feasible for you, but when my son had a very long bus ride I did a carpool with other boys in the not so immediate neighborhood. Some of them lived about 5 minutes from me, but it was worth it. I only had to drive once a week and he came home sane instead of crazed from sitting on the bus after a very long day.

Does he enjoy crossword puzzles, sudokus, word finds, anything like that? You can buy him puzzle books in the dollar store.

Iymnok

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 3:40 am

Have you looked at thrift stores or flea markets? Some have books too.

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 6:00 am

How is he socially? Would he want to make more friends on the bus?
BTW, library books are cheap or free. If he loses one, you pay the price for that book, still not as expensive as buying all the books he reads. You don't even have to take this personally, because kids lose stuff all the time, books included. So, just keep in mind that you're ready to pay the (smaller) price.

happyone

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 6:08 am

Garage sales ?

saw50st8

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 6:59 am

Would you consider a kindle? You can borrow books from the library and he can read on that.

DVOM

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 11:01 am

thanks for the replies everyone!

The bus situation is on my mind a lot today, not sure why. You know sometimes smallish problems get stuck in your brain and you start to worry them to death?

tf wrote:

How is he socially? Would he want to make more friends on the bus?
BTW, library books are cheap or free. If he loses one, you pay the price for that book, still not as expensive as buying all the books he reads. You don't even have to take this personally because kids lose stuff all the time, books included. So, just keep in mind that you're ready to pay the (smaller) price.

Thank God, my son does well socially. He also does have some friends on the bus. Last year, when the bus ride was a manageable 20-30 minutes he was fine with the bus. This year its 50-70 minutes, and it's just too long for him. He's also the type of kid who needs recovery time after lots of socializing. He leaves the house at 7:30, gets home between 5 and 5:30. Its a really long day. I think he's just... done in.

You are totally right about the library books. I just have an aversion to losing or damaging library books. But I think I'm going to let him start choosing a library book to take with each day.

DVOM

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 11:02 am

Hey notsobusy!

Notsobusy wrote:

I actually did try to set up a carpool, with no luck.

I love the idea of puzzle type books! Thanks

yOungM0mmy

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 5:32 pm

My kids have over an hour journey every day, they have taken an mp3 player with earphones, books - from home, the library, comics they can read over and over, and the school has a library they can borrow books from, but I can't buy books at the rate they read so they have to reread. They've also taken colouring books and colours, puzzle books, and little plastic containers with some Lego or another little toy.

keym

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 5:49 pm

I agree with the book puzzles. Sudoku, word searches, crossword puzzles. Hangman or dot games to play with a friend. Quiet card games like war, top trump, oiber chacham. One of my kids does his homework on the bus so he was able to totally decompress at home.
Handheld electronic games. I found an old brick game with tetris and the snakegame for 9.99 on Amazon.

thunderstorm

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 6:10 pm

I remember as a kid we used to check out each other's collections and trade and swap throughout the long bus ride. Girls traded: stickers, stationary , erasers etc. Boys have collections too: stamps, keychains, rocks etc.
maybe he can start a new collection and reserve the viewing and trading for the bus ride.
He can also play the Rush hour game and Tricky Fingers game , in addition to all the other ideas. Crossword puzzles etc. or card games with another kid on the bus

amother

Mistyrose

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 6:14 pm

Don’t books make him nauseous while riding?

mommy3b2c

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 6:15 pm

How about you borrow a bunch of books from me and when you’re done you return them?

If one gets lost, it’s lost. Don’t worry about it.

I probably have 100-150 books for that age.

thunderstorm

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 6:18 pm

amother wrote:

Don’t books make him nauseous while riding?

not everyone Is sensitive to motion while reading. Though I am, lots of people relax very well while reading.

Notsobusy

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 7:54 pm

Hey to you too!

Does he enjoy kids magazines? Maybe someone you know can give you their old Binah bunches, Aims, Circles etc. Or look in the Freebay in Masa Umatan, I've seen magazines there many times. I actually have a box of old Olomeinus I can loan you. I can promise nobody will ever notice if he loses some of them.

Some kids love the Zmans, those have a lot of information and my kids who love to read really enjoy them. I borrow them from a relative who keeps theirs, but maybe you can find someone who won't mind lending/giving their old ones.

DVOM

Thu, Jan 11 2018, 11:13 am

mommy3b2c wrote:

How about you borrow a bunch of books from me and when you’re done you return them?

If one gets lost, it’s lost. Don’t worry about it.

I probably have 100-150 books for that age.

Thanks honey! I might take you up on it the next time I come visit LOL

DVOM

Thu, Jan 11 2018, 11:38 am

Notsobusy wrote:

Weirdly, he is not into magazines. He loves ranger rick, and the lego club mag, and kids national geographic, but doesn't go for the Jewish magazines.

DrMom

Thu, Jan 11 2018, 11:44 am

An hour each way is a long commute.

If I were commuting that far for work every day, I'd be on the lookout for another job.

Is there a school closer by that would be a suitable alternative?

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