**This post has been sponsored by First Student to bring you this experience. All opinions are 100% our own!**
Each and every school day, you get your little ones ready to head off to school, fill their bellies with a healthy breakfast, and make sure their homework is complete. You’ve reminded them to be kind to their friends, pay attention in class, and not to trade out their lunch! Good work, Mom. But if your sweet kiddos travel to school on that big yellow school bus, did you also make sure to remind them to thank their bus driver, follow the school bus rules, and keep their school stuff in their backpack?? First Student, a national school bus transportation company that operates in the Dallas area, wants you to keep these tips top of mind for your kids all year long.
During this National School Bus Safety Week, here are some tips from your school bus driver to make sure your kiddos get to school safely:
- Especially for new riders, be sure to stay at the bus stop until the bus arrives. After school, greet your child with a snack and a hug!
- Get to the bus 5-10 minutes early each morning. You don’t want your little to miss her bus and then have your whole morning derailed because you have to take your child to school.
- Get to know your bus driver. KNOW who is driving your child to school every day. They want to make sure your child arrives safely as much as you!
- Communicate with your bus driver. If someone else will be meeting your child at the bus stop at the end of the school day, let your driver know. The sweet bus driver I met with shared that she worries all night when she doesn’t have all the information about who is picking up the kiddos from her bus. Your driver wants to be sure your kid is with the appropriate guardian.
- Learn about safety procedures. First Student’s Child Check-Mate system is the process they have installed on their buses. This ensures the bus driver checks their bus for sleepy or hiding students before they depart the bus. Once the driver checks all of the seats, he presses a button at the back of the bus to signal the bus is clear of stragglers. If the driver does not signal the bus is clear…the bus will remind him *loudly* to take care of this very important task!
- Take a wide angle when walking in front of the bus. When children walk close to the front of the exterior of a bus, it is difficult for the driver to see them. All of First Student’s new buses are also fitted with a “stop arm” which forces children to take a wide angle around the bus, positioning them well in front of the bus for the driver to see her passengers.
The state of Texas put in place new security measures for all buses built after 2017. Did you know all new buses must have 3-point harnesses built in? - Remind your child to have all their items in their backpack when the bus arrives or when they get to their bus stop at the end of the day. Little hands need to be free to hold the handrails to enter and exit the bus.
- Always, always, always stop when you approach a bus with its STOP sign out. You never know when a child might be running to catch their bus.
- Say THANK YOU to your bus driver! Many drivers are up at 4:00am getting ready to transport kiddos to school. Some days, a simple raise of the coffee cup may be all it takes to share your appreciation with your driver.
**Bonus Tip** This is an important one to remember for the summer: for your new school bus riders, get together with other neighborhood kids and families for a school bus orientation! This will help your kiddos know what to expect during the first week of school and many school bus companies are happy to arrange the visit for your little ones!
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