FEATURE Training for the Tra


By Stephane Babcock THE IMPORTANCE OF


PREPARING HEAD START AND PRE-K CHILDREN FORTHE CHANGES


IN AND AROUNDTHE SCHOOL BUS


Whether a child has gone through a


Head Start program or not, he or she has used some sort of passenger restraint since birth. Although lap-shoulder belts are mandated for all buses that are em- ployed by the federal pre-kindergarten program, every child has been strapped into a car seat or made to use a booster seat at some point (if not every time) in the family car. So what do you do when a youngster steps into your bus on the way to their first day of kindergarten and freezes when they notice there are no seat belts on the school bus?


54 School Transportation News Magazine October 2010 Oct10_STN.indb 54 9/14/10 12:18 PM


PREPARING FORTHE INEVITABLE As many parents or educators know, the


best way to help children transition into a new environment, like elementary school, for example, is to prepare them for every- thing that they will experience. For some school transporters, this involves prepar- ing them for the first ride on their new school bus. Towards the end of the sum- mer, many parents begin receiving letters inviting them to kindergarten orientation, or to “tea” in some districts. Te meeting provides parents and their sometimes ap- prehensive children a peak into what will


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