What time do your kids start school?

Silver Member Joined: Nov 07 2010 Age: 33 Posts: 784

What time does your kids start school and how do you get them there? Do you take a taxi or you or dh takes them? what do you do when its 8 am in the morning and you have to get 4 kids out?

Silver Member Joined: Nov 07 2010 Age: 33 Posts: 784

Im asking cause by me its 8 10 for the oldest 2 age 8 and 6 and the twins age 3 start at 8 30 and they all finish at 4. Taxi there and back would cost 480 eu or 588 dollars a month so my dh takes them in the morning and ill pick them up and walking home takes 30 min.

we have a carpool.

my dh is not involved AT ALL in carpool logistics, it's just not possible he leaves for work around 6:45 and doesnt come home till about that time in the evening. With that being said my mother RARELY did morning carpool, but did the afternoon carpool. My father usually did the morning carpool but he didnt head to work until after we were off to school.

Since school starts at 8:00 I do have to take my younger kids with me to do carpool so when making carpool arrangements I include them in my count because they need a seat.

so I'm only getting 2 kids out of the house in the morning for 8:00 school but they leave by 7:30. That means they are up by 7:00 and the only things that need to be done are brushing teeth, getting dressed and eating breakfast. Everything else (lunch, snack, backpack, choosing clothes, etc) is done at night to prevent the morning rush.

The mornings that I take carpool my younger ones sometimes come in their PJs if there isnt time to dress them and I dress them when we get back home.

Silver Member Joined: Mar 27 2011 Age: 27 Posts: 789

My oldest is almost 5 and then 3.5 and 2 and a newborn. By 8am we leave the house,DH drops me off at school ( I teach) and then takes the boys to their kinder in a diff school, drops my dd off at creche, and IY"H when I get back to work the baby at the babysitter.
In the morning there is nothing to do besides eat breakfast and pack the bags.

Lunches are made the night before and clothes all laid out ready. There is no time to play in the morning, kids wake up around 7 and my 4 yr old dresses himself, sets the breakfast table and packs the bags for everyone. He also makes his and his brothers bed and folds their p'j's!

Kids eat breakfast at 7.30/7.40 and everyone leaves very happily and calmly at 8.00 am with no stress or much of a rush...

The question implies there is one start time, but obviously each school is different. 8:00 child is bussed, 8:30 walks. It was a happy day for me when I stopped driving carpools!
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7:30. We drive them

Last year my kids went by car service. There was a school bus that we had to pay for, but car service was cheaper. It was cheaper because we only paid per ride, not per month or per child. They changed schools this year and it's in walking distance. Either my 13 or 14 year old takes the 7 and 9 year old. Before my 13 year old became bar mitzva he would take them every morning, but now he goes to shul for minyan, so the 14 year old takes them. The 14 year old is a girl. My dd starts at 7:30, but is usually late because she goes with friends and they come late. They're not that late and they don't learn right away anyway. My other kids start at 7:50, but also don't learn right away. Learning starts at 8:30 and my bar mitzva boys is there by then. The two little ones start at 9 and we walk. If any of the big ones aren't going that day for any reason, I take them by foot. If the little ones want to come with me, they do, but if not the big one is home. I do take the one who sits in the stroller though. He doesn't have a choice Smile

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Executive Member Joined: Nov 16 2006 Posts: 296

Buzz- I am so impressed that your four year old can do all that! Is the 4 year old a girl or boy? My ds is that age and can hardly do anything yet. Obviously we have very different circumstances. Your has three younger siblings and mine just has one younger sibling born recently. However, I am almost shocked at what he or she does to chip in. Do you have to convince him or her to help or is it a privilege so he\she is honored to be the big sibling in charge. Mine although not a babyish personality at all, does nothing, but not much was expected because there was no other children around for so long. Any advice on how to get him to be more helpful\ independent ?

Silver Member Joined: Mar 27 2011 Age: 27 Posts: 789

My 4 yr old is a boy and is mature and very smart for his age. No he isnt bribed and doesnt receive any rewards for helping, no chart systems etc.
I suppose him being the oldest I expect more of him, but he loves to help and does everything super fast too. My 3 yr old is polar opposite to him but also loves to help, although he can't fully dress himself yet so he often doesn't chip in in the mornings. Even my dd who is not even 2 chips in at dinner time to help set the table and she makes a tantrum if one of the boys do a job I asked her to do..

What I would suggest is ask your son what special job he would like to do to help and then make that his set job and praise him for it! He will feel good and then maybe you can ask one more and so on...
I always thank my son for his zrizus and being my big helper and give him a hug and kiss; that for him is special- his face lights up...and he feels so special and goid
B"H my kids love to help and are quite independent. I would never force them to help.. They enjoy it. Its always a fight between them to empty the washhing machine onto the table for me to hang..

DS#1 will have to be there by 8 and he gets bussed (chinuch meyuchad). DS#2 has to be there by 8:00, he gets walked. Daycare for DS#3 opens at 7:00 and he will get walked next year (this year I drop him off).

This year DS#1 had to be there by 8:30 and his hasa'a came at 7:45...which was a bit annoying because we couldn't take DS#2 until DS#1 was picked up...but DS#2's gan is only a 3 minute walk down the hill...
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Dvir Aharon: 10 Tammuz 5772

The older kids start at 8:40 and my husband takes them by car. He teaches in the school so has to be there as well. My younger child started at 9am in another direction so I walked her there. (15/20 minutes walk) Or sometimes caught a bus if it happened to pass. This year all kids will be in the same school so only one drop off! Smile

I wouldn't send kids in a taxi alone, unless I knew the taxi driver.

Gold Member Joined: Jan 20 2009 Posts: 1260

My Dh drives them because I have to go to work. In the summer for camp we have a car pool with a neighbor, they take my son to camp and in exchange we take their daughter (with our daughter to camp) because the boys camp and the girls camp start and end at the same time and we cannot be in two places at once.

One son starts at 8.30; he walks (school is three doors down.)

One starts at 9.00; he's bused and the bus pickup is at 8.41.

And one starts between 9.00 and 9.10 and I either drive him or walk him.

Next year iy"h I'll have one at 8.30 (I think; haven't gotten the schedule yet) and the other two at 9.00 but they will both be bused.

If I took a taxi, I'de be homeless Wink

My dh drives, or we carpool with another parent. Only huge schools can generally afford the bus.

If kids went to different schools, we would have to carpool or pay someone, unless by miracle the schools happened to be close Wink

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"You will have many many children and make successful shidduchim beh", rebbetzin Esther Jungreis
"It's all cultural, disagree respectfully", me

don't schools have flexible start times? My older kids school lets kids be dropped off from 8:20am.

Both DD and DS's schools have droop off during 8:15-8:30. Thankfully we have combination of a carpool and a nanny who gets the kids ready/drop them off. Two schools are currently only 5-10min apart but from next year they'll be further away, more like 20min, so I'm really dreading how I'm going to make the logistics work.