Please Help Me! - Racine,WI

If you can, I think you should drive him - he is too young to take the bus. My 4 yr old is in preschool but I drop him off and pick him up. Hang in there, it won't be long but in the meantime, you could consider enrolling him in Tae Kwon Do or some other martial arts class to give him confidence and defend himself?
Good luck!

Hello N., I am a mother of two and my oldest is 4 years old and just started preschool. He does not ride the bus but there are kids that do and they only pick up the preschoolers as here they go to a different school. One thing I would suggest if you want/need him to ride the bus is to get to know your bus driver. My father has driven school bus for over 20 years and he knows everyone of his kids by name. I think this makes the kids and the parents much more comfortable. If they are a good bus driver then you should not have to be worried about them standing up or getting picked on when riding the bus!! I hope this helps some!! K.

I am not so sure I would put my kid on a school bus at 4 just yet but I would definitely think about sending him to preshcool (in your own car). My daughter is in preschool and loves it. I don't agree with the post that thinks it is too early to send them to preschool. It is important for kids to learn several things before kindergarden such as social interactions with other kids, learning to start to write letters and their name, awareness of shapes, colors, numbers, etc. My daughter loves preschool and certainly isn't missing any of her "childhood". It's not like they are stressing kids out in preschool. One thing you may want to find out too is if your school district requires any prescreening before kindergarden. My district does and my daughter was recently tested for all kinds of things including hearing and vision. Usually these screenings will let you get an idea if your kid is ready for school. Just a thought. Good luck.

I personally think 4 is too young for school let alone a bus. I know the trend now is get them in early. When actually a few hours of structured play group time to learn sharing and social skills is what they need at that age.

If at all possible I would hold off on the school and the bus. Although we do not belong to the church one of my sons went to the "Little Lamb" preschool at the luthern church on Q street. It was wonderful. Taught all those skills you want them to have before they go to school to learn the text part.

I believe schools have pushed so hard on not leaving a child behind that they have left the childhood behind.

Just my personal opinion but I've seen the results of both ways.

I teach kindergarten in inner-city Minneapolis. My kindergarten students ride the bus with kids in grades K-8. They LOVE to ride the bus. I have never had a problem with a child being picked on by an older child and only rarely have had a problem at all. I think 4 is a little young to ride a bus unless it is a little preschool bus with seatbelts and an aide and if there is someone there to put him on the bus and meet the bus after class. The little ones often forget to stay seated if there aren't seatbelts and that can be dangerous.
Request to ride the bus with him one day to see how it goes - or let him ride and follow the bus in your car. I'd also make sure he knows if someone does bother him (on the bus or somewhere else), he should tell the person to stop and tell a grown up. I don't think a 4 year old should attempt to use martial arts if someone picks on him.

I vote no bus...but I am originally from a small town and never really rode the bus, just heard the horror stories...like jimmy pushed so-n-so in front of the bus...why sit and worry about dear jimmy pushing your child...

now living in the city, I won't send my kids on the bus...my son is excited to take the bus too, but really it is jut too darn bad...

he will have his chances to take the bus at some point, maybe even in preschool, for a field trip or something if they take them.

3 isn't too young for school, considering he will be exactly the right age once August comes around...children need to learn the structure of school early, I think the younger they are the better they benefit from programs such as preschool. They teach play, they also start on other languages...

I just signed my son up for a full time preschool today, and I am super excited to get him started...he is in day care now, and he is getting social interaction...but what he needs is more solid structure and learning to work with groups...however I will be bringing him and picking him up everyday...

I'm one of the people who ride the bus. ;) At this young age, I can honestly say that I have NEVER, EVER seen bullying on our buses and I've ridden on every bus Headstart has. The buses are the small buses. Not a regular school bus. They all have special "carseats" (5 point)for the kids.
The kids love, love the bus. We play songs, we talk about the day, we laugh, we practice being safe on the bus etc. After school many of the kids zonk right out from a busy day of playing and learning.
I was so nervous when my son started Headstart a few years ago. I was petrified of him getting on the bus, being driven around by someone I didn't really know, the fact that he was big enough to ride a bus. I was the one that was a nervous wreck... he LOVED it, absolutely loved it. I just didn't want him to be *that* big yet.
BTW my son is a microman too. ;)

Hi N.-

Is your son starting kindergarten early? Or are you worried about the preschool bus?

My 4-year old just started riding the bus home from preschool a few months ago, and they actually have an adult on the bus, just to keep the kids settled- in their booster seats, calm, et cetera. With the adult on the bus I haven't had to worry about my son being picked on. I'm not sure whether this is the way it works with all preschools or not, but if you're dealing with preschool, it'd be worth asking.

If your son is going to be on the elementary school bus I can understand your worries. We spend so much time taking care of these little guys and then one day we have to just trust the world, or a busload of kids, to be kind to them- it's so hard! Maybe you could talk to him about sitting in the front of the bus, near the driver, so that he'd be near an adult in case there were ever any trouble? Maybe even start the conversation out with asking him how he thinks he would handle it if he didn't like the way other kids around him were handling themselves? His answer might actually turn out to be really good and to make you feel better about how ready he is to ride the bus.

Good luck!!!

M.