Posted by
crj
18 yrs ago
We live in Beijing.
My son is 2 years, 2 months old.
He goes to a local kindy, where although the school is opem 8:30 - 5:30, he only goes 9-11.
They sometimes have field trips.
Tomorrow they are going to the zoo...
The trip is 8:30 - 11:30, they go on a schoolbus (I doubt it has seatbelts, but as we have discussed this on previous threads, I don't want to discuss it here), the teachers supervise them, they are very attentive teachers.
It means he will get home after 12 (his nap is usually 12-2).
I'm just not sure... how much does a kid of 2 get from this? I took him to the aquarium yesterday in the afternoon, and even with the 1:1 attention I am not sure what he gets out of it, although I assume something and he seemed to enjoy it - I did!
Anyway, I would like some of your opinions - those of you that either teach young kids or have young kids in school...
do your schools have field trips for this age?
what do you think about 2-3 year olds taking field trips?
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Ours is 2 years old. Last year, when he was just attending 3 mornings a week, they had a school trip to the central fire station and a picnic afterwards. Hubby went along and both had a great time.
Since Jan, he's been attending 3 full days a week - a couple of weeks back there was a school trip to the science centre with water play and all. He was unaccompanied this time as we both couldn't make it and they don't expect kids attending full day with parents to accompany them (as they assume parents are working) - he had one teacher attending to him and he had a blast, although the teacher admitted to me that it was hard work one on one with my super active little guy.
The school buses they took had seat belts based on the photos sent to me and my son was strapped in. Obviously not as secure as a child seat as he's quite small but at least the effort was there.
If security and safety is not an issue, I feel that it's nice to have such school trips.
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"The school buses they took had seat belts based on the photos sent to me and my son was strapped in. Obviously not as secure as a child seat as he's quite small but at least the effort was there."
Yes and no. A bus has much more mass than a car so its behavior is very different in a crash. Heavy objects have more inertia, so they stop more slowly for a given force (crash). This means crash impacts tend to be much milder in buses than in cars.
Car seats are always the best, but given the physics I would feel confident sending my daughters in a minibus with belts (or a big bus with no belts), where I would not send them in a car without a car seat.
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crj
18 yrs ago
Thanks Cara and WM - you were two of the parents I really wanted to hear from :)
We decided to send him (he went to another trip before), I guess sometimes I am overprotective due to the language barrier I have with the school.... I understand they are going to the zoo, but can't ask details!!
Thanks, you have made me feel much more comfortable about this.
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I understand your anxiety...is there a chance for you to go along to see what happens during school trips?
For my son's school, they encourage a caregiver (parent or helper or grandparent) to go along for school trips when possible. Compared to my friend's kid, he attends a school that bans parents from going along during school trips because the school reckons the parents makes the trip more difficult.
Like I said, if it's a will he enjoy it or not decision, then i say go for it because even though they're 2 and might get tired, it's a good experience. But if you are concerned about safety and security, talk to the teachers and ask to go along if possible to set your mind at ease.
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Kim11
18 yrs ago
I was just scanning this thread and although you have already decided to send him I thought I would put in my two bits anyway. With my son who is now three, I found the zoo to be much more interesting for him since you can usually see something and you know what it is compared with the aquarium which he only started to like recently becuause some fish are a bit more difficult to distinguish. ANyway, hope he has a good time.
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crj
18 yrs ago
ExpatGuy - thanks, that was actualy what we thought too, interesting...
Kim - well now our son keeps talking about the fish (and the diver that was in the tank!)
Here is the irony.... we showed up at the school... with the hopes that maybe I could go... but then found out:
1. I couldn't go
2. they changed the time, so they wouldn't return until 3pm!
So... we didn't send him in the end, as that is much too long of a day
But, we will continue to send him on school trips that take place in the morning.
Thanks agian for all your input!!
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