Leila's field trip on the bus

WARNING: great big proud mama moment! Yesterday was the PreK trip to the Apple Cider Mill. The Montessori has 2-5 year olds, Universal has 4 year olds. It's a private school. They wanted all the PreK kids to go -- until I showed them my CPST card & explained the liability associated with the 2 & 3 year olds since they refused to let me volunteer to help install seats correctly & couldn't even be bothered with asking the parents to provide seats *UGH* Soooo, just Universal kids got to go. I know, I suck according to the Montessori teachers & parents, but oh well (how much would I suck if I didn't care & their kids ended up in the trauma unit, eh?) Anyway I had shown Leila a PowerPoint I have on bus safety & we reviewed a couple school bus safety websites. We practiced role playing how she would sit on the bus & I explained that the seats make it so she doesn't need her Husky or booster 'cuz ya know she was really adamant about my installing them, LOL.... Wwweeeeellllllllllllllllllll, when I picked her up she ran out to me waving her apple in the air yelling "Mama, Mama" & then in front of her teacher & class proceeded to tell me how she made sure to buckle even though they said not to worry about it because WE (she & I) knew better Then she told me all about how she was holding her best friends' buckles trying to get them in safe when the driver stopped & they fell off their seats *GASP* Of course she was safe, but went on & on about how she told them "ooooooh, SEE, ya gotta buckle!" Yep, uhuh, I've trained her well.

awww hehehe go get 'em leila

(good training mama )

That's awesome.

Did the bus just have lapbelts? Hayley went on a field trip today too, and rode in just a lapbelt. I was NOT happy about it. I would have much rather her rode the big bus without a seatbelt, than the little bus with just a lapbelt.

Smart girl!

You are braver than me, I refuse to let Hannah ride a school bus for a feild trip and she is 6.5 years old. LOL

Rachel

I don't even know if there are any field trips planned for my first grader.

He went on two last year, one was about 45 minutes from here, the other about 25. He rides the bus to and from school, so I was okay. Except for the first one where I freaked out, because it was so long. lol.

There are no belts on the buses that I know of. Except the first seat, usually. (The one behind the bus driver).

Dumb questions for the OP.

1. You didn't spring the liability thing on them THIS morning, right? lol

2. What's a universal kid?

3. How do you keep from not rolling your eyes at those two questions? lol

Glad it went well.

No, I didn't wait until this morning, LOL -- but of course they took their sweet time figuring out what to do.... I don't give a rat's youknowwhat about other's oppinions of me at the school anyway since today is her last day here & Monday she starts at her 1/2 siblings' school in another city -- where they welcomed the US Dept. of Trans. Prek through 3rd grade Booster Guide Activity Kit for incorporating into the curriculum

Unfortunately, I never got a straight answer before the morning of the trip as to what kind of belts -- bus garage never returned my calls & I just don't know my way around here enough to find it myself & stop in, LOL.... Turns out it was just a lap belt, but my CPST/Is taught me that until about 6 years old that is safe while after about 6 years old the school bus design itself without belts is safe (of course before 4 carseats are necessary).

I debated on it for as long as I could & only handed in the permission slip when they made a safe decision for liability reasons -- the why behind safer practice isn't always as important as the what sometimes, I guess, right? I decided to go ahead & let her participate because 1. this is her last week 2. school buses are just so much less likely to crash than passenger vehicles 3. I had confidence in her buckling up

There are 2 types of PreKs here: Montessori & Universal. Universal is a "Magnet" program which I can only explain as a resource so that those who make too much for Head Start can still have a 1/2 day free preschool experience. It's very much Teach centered as opposed to Montessori's Child centered approach & instead of focusing specifically on interpersonal + thinking skills, it's focus is on the literal abilities of Reading + Writing. Leila's ready for the academics & I couldn't afford the Montessori so she was a "Universal kid", but IMO all kids need the interpersonal/thinking focus! At her new school that starts on Monday they do a nice blend of Montessori & Universal for FREE & parents are encouraged to join the kids for breakfast/lunch/recess each day.