Calvin had a good first day of school today. I drove him down to school this morning so that I could do some paperwork. We left pretty early in case of traffic but made great time. School is about 25 minutes from our house. He was excited to be there and happily went with his case manager to start the day!
After school he said he did math, spelling, reading, etc. etc. He said he has a binder that he carries around and he can get stars in each class when he is on task the whole time. He is not sure yet what the stars can help him earn.
He is very enthusiastic and seems to feel really good about his school situation so far. I'm sure eventually the super fun will wear off but hopefully by then he will have settled into a good routine.
Calvin will be riding the bus to/from school. Our home school district provides transportation. It can take up to 10 days to get the bus route worked out. I decided that rather than drive both ways for 2 weeks I'd have him piggyback onto another stop already in place. He rode the bus home from school and I picked him up at a bus stop about 10 minutes from home. I had planned on having to do this for the first week or two of school but was pleasantly surprised to get a call from the transportation department today saying that the route is ready for tomorrow!
The HUGE down side to the transportation provided is that Calvin will spend 1:35 minutes on the bus EACH WAY. That is such a long time. Calvin gets picked up at our house at 6:55. He arrives at school at around 8:20. Unlike regular school, the kids sit on the bus until school starts as there is no playground. So at 8:30 when the bell rings, the kids start getting off the bus and head to class. In the afternoon, Calvin gets on the bus at 2:30 when school ends and arrives home around 4pm. (Tuesday school gets out at 1pm and he will get home at 2:35).
I have a lot of worries about Calvin being on the bus for such a long time. The main worry is that he will get bored and get into trouble. I am hoping he will use his bus ride home to do homework or sleep. I think for the first week or two it will all be so new to Calvin that it will be interesting and exciting for him.
The reason the bus ride is so long is because Calvin is the first stop in the morning and the last stop in the afternoon. We live pretty close to the district bus yard so it makes sense that we are first/last. There are 10 kids who ride the bus and each one of them is picked up at their own home. It takes a lot of time to make those stops and then move onto the freeway to school. Buses aren't allowed to drive in the carpool lane so they experience more morning traffic than I do.
I was quite surprised that they'd have the bus route so packed and make the kids be on the bus so long. The transportation lady who makes the bus routes said that they have ordered more buses which were supposed to be here in January but never came. They hope to shorten the routes but can't until they get more buses. Once regular school gets out for the summer, they will re-do routes when they have more buses and then by fall new buses should have arrived so that the route will never be this crowded. (insert major frustration at the way government run stuff is so inefficient and ridiculous)
On the plus side, since Calvin is an early riser, I actually think it'll be nice to get up and get ready and then have him out the door first thing in the morning. Usually he is up around 6 and is ready to go by 7. It won't be hard for him to be ready at that time and he will probably have some positive momentum carrying him out the door!
I hope the kids on the bus are nice and he enjoys being with them.
BTW, there is an aide on the bus to help with any problems that may arise.
Not quite as bad as yours, but my girls' bus comes 55 minutes before school starts! The school is less than 5 minutes away. I have been driving them this year....we will see about next!
ReplyDeleteI am glad that the first day went well. Hope the week continues that way!