Tweet
What’s the protocol for getting kids on the school bus, but still having infants or toddlers to care for inside? My daycare sits at an intersection & the bus stops on long the side street. The school age children must cross the street to board the bus though. Should I stand on the front deck watching to children outside with toddlers looking on from the widow? Any suggestions?
-
-
Welcome to the forum!
Your status has been upgraded so you can post without moderation
As far as the bus stop goes, I would stand on the step and visually watch the children as they get on the bus instead of ever leaving toddlers and/or infants alone inside or having to dress them and drag them all outside.
I would think that school age children are old enough to walk across the street at the nod of the bus driver and get on without having to have an adult actually walk them across and to the bus. -
Are you licensed? What does your state require?Comment
-
Not escorting children on and off the bus yourself makes me very nervous. There are a number of things that can go wrong and it is hard to trust that a child will know the right thing to do.
My rule is if they need to cross the street, I cross with them. K-2 I stand at the bus stop and wait with them until they are safely on the bus. Grads 3 and up I supervise with the windows open from the front window. I always go to the bus stop in the afternoons and wait for the bus, then help the children cross the road.
As I mentionned in a previous post yesterday, our bus ran over a 6 yo girl when I was 11. It was tragic. She was to cross in front of the bus and go to the sitter's house. Sitter didn't come to the bus stop because she was getting off with a few other classmates...DCG dropped her lunchbag under the bus and was just at the wrong spot so the bus driver could not see her. It took her a minute to pick it up as she had to crawl under the bus a little. Then just as the bus started going she ran in front...needless to say what happened next.
She survived but was left paralyzed...
As a daycare provider I could not live with myself after something like that.
I don't want to scare you but I think it is important to remember that children don't always think before they act and you cannot always trust motorists or the bus driver to be thinking for them.
It is worth the extra 5-6 min. it takes to bring the little ones out for some fresh air in a stroller or wagon.Comment
-
I no longer offer school aged daycare because of this headache. I live where we have aggressive winters and to dress babies so I can walk someone to the bus for a few dollars a day isn't worth it.Comment
Comment