Field trips for 3 year olds

Hi Ladies, I am back. I know I had have many questions. We have alot going on lately. OK my kids are doing so well at school. They love it, even my daughter does. They have been asking to go to school everyday. So i signed up field trips in summer. I didnt think much. I totally trust the school. And i know my kids could have so much fun. They will go on field trips tue and thu. They will visit parks, water parks, museums, libraries, movies, farms, bowling, magic castle. Now they stay home TT. And I just have a huge project. I need to focus on work more. So its another reason to send them out..

But after all the crazy horrible kidnapped news and couple amber alerts that i received on my phone, I am kinda worried about my kids safety. I am not sure what kinda school buses the kids will be on. Is it safe for them to travel around on school bus (even just about 30 mins). Is there any chance any kid will get lost (or kidnapped, I know I am crazy to think this)? they will have to wear school field trip t-shirts. Would you be OK to let them go on field trips at 3? I am not worried about they get tired and fussy or out of control. My kids are very active. and they love parks, farms,.. all that. We are always out and have fun all summer. I am sure they will have so much fun though. I am just so worried that the teacher will lose someone. Have you ever sent your kid(s)? If yes, what was your experience? I am 50% want to cancel the trips. But i know my kids will be so disappointed. However, I am scared they will get lost or kidnapped. Please give me your opinions or tell me your experiences. I always feel good after listening to you all. Thank you so much! have a great nite ladies

 

Mine were going on little field trips (the zoo, the park, the playground, a play, a museum etc.) with their daycare as early as two often using public transport downtown and we were always happy for them to go.

But, and this is a big but, the daycare's staffing ratios were excellent - they would never have more than 2 or 3 children per adult on a field trip. The daycare also had good rules about always holding hands or holding on to the stroller (they sometimes took younger children in a double stroller), staying with the group and wearing uniform bright vests over their t-shirts or jackets - and I know they occasionally ended an outing if even one kid would not stick to the rules. I knew that mine were good at following rules like this, traffic safety rules, looking out for one another etc.

So, for me, it would depend on staffing ratios, safety of transportation, the school's rules for these outings as well as your confidence in the teachers to follow through on the rules and your children's ability to really follow these rules.

 

I have to agree with June, it would depend on the staffing ratio of teacher to kids (or teacher/parent volunteers to kids). I would not be comfortable with, let's say 1 teacher to 20 3 year olds on a class trip. But if you are talking 3-4 adults to 4-5 3 year olds, I would be okay with it. Not that I wouldn't be a little nervous, because I always would be, but I would feel better with that.

 

The ratio is big with me as well.

As a SAHM, I see lots of day cares come to things like story times. What I would suggest is maybe not sending them for the first trip and you casually going to observe the level of care they would receive. It's not that they'd get taken, it's more of an issue of inattention for me. I see many places than don't have a good ratio or the adults are on their phones /not paying attention to the kids who are not paying attention and distracting the group.

 

Same as everyone else, it depends on the ratio of adults to kids. It would make me nervous either way though, especially the bus part.

 

I just called the school. I was told that usually they have 30-40 kids (3-5 yr olds) every summer. But usually less than 40 kids. And they always have 10-12 teachers on field trips. And field trips are always 2-3 hours/day. They have to have their nap/down time after field trips, 1230-230. They haven't had any issue with losing any kid before. And usually there are about 20 3 yr olds go to field trips every summer.

I totally trust the school. It's a private school for preschool to 8 grades. And I have talked to many parents. And they are always talk so highly about the teachers, school and how much their kids learn,..

About teacher personal cell phones, my kids have been at 2 schools. And the teachers are not allowed to bring cell phones into the class rooms. It's very strict at our school. There is one internal phone in each class for internal uses only. Usually when I call to check on my kids. I can't talk to their teacher. The office manager will call and talk to the teachers and delivers the messages back to me.

Go i decided just let them go. Plus, lol I am buying 2 child GPS trackers. I will make sure they will have them all the time. (Will sew those in their clothes lol). So I will know where they are at and how fast their bus goes,..

If you have any good advices, pleas give me .

Thank you ladies!

 

About the school bus, I was told its the state law that they don't have seat belts on. However, they won't go far though. Usually 30 mins or less.

 

It sounds like they do have a good ratio for the field trips. Our school buses do not have seat belts either. I'm glad you asked and I hope the children have fun on the field trips!

 

WHA?!?!?! A GPS tracker? Do they really make those! I was just talking to my husband this week (in light of the kidnapping news in our city) about putting GPS implants in our kids!!!! I totally would if they made them!

 

Yes, u can buy GPS trackers to track your kids lol. U can google it. So many kinds. Some require monthly fee. Some don't. However, it's kinda new. So you won't find many reviews. But u can google for tech reviews and comparisons.

I bought 2 for my kids. The problem is those are not small enough. And I don't trust them to keep them in their pockets. So I will sew the pockets lol.

I understand how freaked out u are. I feel the same way. Too many psychos out there.

 

If you trust the school's judgement, then I think it is fine. Have they done this before? I would be worried if they haven't done it before. I would also want to know what challenges have come up in the past and how they have remedied the problems.

 

We didn't do this before. But I trusted the school. They went on their first trip last Thursday. They had so much fun. And it was way better than I expected. Plus, I had all day to myself. I really enjoyed the break lol. They have trips every Thursday. We are all happy. We are all looking forward to the next trip. Thanks!