It's true that Kavi's in pre-school -- three days a week in the summer, and five days a week once school starts. But pre-school is more flexible; I often let her sleep in late and take her at 9 instead of 8. And sometimes I even pick her up early too. I can easily take her out if grandma's visiting (as she is right now), or if we just want to go to the zoo with my little girl (which we might do today).
And I admit, I'm a little anxious about putting her on the schoolbus that first time, even though the bus stop is two doors down from our house. She'll have to be waiting at the stop for pick-up at 7:26, which means head out at 7:20, breakfast at 7, getting up at 6:45 at the very latest, and oh, she is not going to like that. And then a half hour ride on the bus, which somehow only covers the eight blocks to school, but I guess stopping every block or two is slow. I'm sure she'll cope, and will probably quickly make friends and grow to like the bus ride -- I remember liking it, hanging out with my friends. She'll be home by 3:30 -- that's not so long. I have to remember to make sure that either Kev or I has a teaching schedule next fall that lets us be home by then.
Maybe kindergarten won't be so different, a year from now. But I think it will.
I don’t want to be a downer, but kindergarten was really hard for us!
I had the opposite perspective going in – I thought it would be no big deal since my son had been in all-day daycare 4 days a week since he was a baby & because he was academically way ahead of the kindergarten curriculum.
I was so wrong.
It was a very difficult transition, for all of the reasons you’ve identified (except getting up early because he almost always does that). I think you’re right to be concerned & to prepare early. We visited his school twice before school started (and would have gone more if he had felt like he needed to), which was really good. Met his teacher, showed him around, got him comfortable with the building.
One compromise we made is that we drop him at school in the morning instead of taking the bus. 8 blocks seems like a really short distance for 30 minutes – maybe consider walking her to school or driving her in the winter?
My son takes the bus home in the afternoon & I meet him at the stop. He gets a snack & quiet time while I finish up my workday (I work at home). That part has worked really well (aside from 1 or 2 days with a late bus).
We were very unprepared for how tired & cranky he was the 2nd week of school. I think there’s a honeymoon period in the first week & then in the 2nd week reality sets in! He missed all the free time he had in daycare/preschool and I think he was bored at first. At least at our urban public school, there was a lot of level-setting the first month or two for students who had never attended any kind of preschool or who might have English as a 2nd language. I know it was necessary, but for a kid who was already reading way above his grade, being taught the letters of the alphabet was…problematic.
All this to say, it did get better & he loved his teacher, made new friends, and had a lot of great experiences. Best of luck!
The public schools where I grew up did not have kindergarten at all. I was really amazed when I moved elsewhere to learn how ubiquitous it is.
Is there a reason why you want her to take the bus when you live eight blocks from the school?
Well, it seems sort of silly to drive her if she’s okay on the bus. Waste of resources, waste of time, etc. We’ll see how she does.
Just a heads up for next fall, and every fall thereafter as far as I can tell… 🙂 My normally chipper and pleasant boy is always a cranky beast for the first week of school. He loves it, but I think the excitement and newness are so exhausting, every year!, that it takes him awhile to adjust. And until he does… Whooee!
Seems like a waste of *her* time to be on the bus for a half-hour when she could walk it/drive it with you in a third of the time. Plus she wouldn’t have to wake up as early, which would give you all a little more room in the morning.
My daughter was pooped after starting kindergarten — they were short full days, but still full.
Well, as I said in the original post, I remember really enjoying my bus rides, which were quite a bit longer. They were a great time to hang out and socialize with friends. We’ll see how she takes to it.
But I may have misled you with the 8 blocks — it’s 8 long blocks, and would take at least half an hour for us to walk it. And with all the hassle of getting in and out of the car, sure, it’d take fifteen minutes to drive there, but then another fifteen minutes for me to drive back — a good half-hour round-trip, with Anand sitting with me the whole time in his carseat, which doesn’t seem like a great use of his day either. No, unless she truly hates the bus, it’s clearly the best solution all around, and I’m very glad we have the option.