My son the first day he started taking his metadate on his ride home he pulled the fire alarm....
I have a 4 yr. old ds and this is the first year he has ever ridden a bus. Unfortunatly he did not do good. The sitting down is real hard for him. I am very lucky for that his bus driver is very patient but it is a safety rule that the kids have to stay seated at all times. He does sit in the first behind her which helps and her daughter which in the 7th grade sits with him. I put together a "fun box" for the bus driver to keep on the bus. It has flash cards, go fish, and a tablet. I also put some of the crayola fingerpaint that only shows up on special paper in there. I stock the bus driver up with suckers and stickers for her to give him when he has been good on the bus. I let her give them to him so he will know it is her that he has to mind! So far it has been working but he is still young so we do have bad days too!! I hope this helped.Well, diagnosis starts for many people with a trip to the pediatrician. Regardless of what the ped says, I'd make an appointment with a reputable mental health facility and specifically mention adhd testing and they can point you to the right person. You could ask about a neuropsych, who can do extensive testing but costs major dollars. Most importantly, go to the library and search "adhd", then read, read, read. Educating yourself is so important.
As for the bus, maybe having a seat assigned right behind the driver would help? Or assigned to sit with the same person every day? The book idea is very good, as my son sometimes still takes a book on the bus and zones everything else out. Headphones might work too, since he couldn't hear other people's conversations then. Good luck!
Has the driver put him in front of the bus to sit? This way he can verbally tell him to sit back down again gently while driving and maybe you can set up a reward system for every few days of good bus behavior he can have a special treat something to grab his attention. He can be given like after 3 warnings and he still does not listen then no treat so he has room for impulses, if he is only given 2-3 reminders then reward him and if he does better really reward. It is worth a try. I have been driving my child lately and going to work late (my supervisor is awsome) she hates the bus for she has no one to talk to and that can be your answer too. Maybe that is why he is interupting he wants to be included. Good luckObviously, you have spoken to him about the bus rules by now, that goes w/o saying...right? does he have a handheld game that he could take on the bus to play? Or does he like the search for the picture books like the "Where's Waldo" style...I think I saw some variations on those at the Dollar General the other day, that may keep his attention. Are there older children on the bus at the same time as your son? Maybe the driver could sit a responsible 4th or 5th grader with him to converse with him and also to keep him seated? My son is older now (10) and he takes his MP3 player and a word search book to do on the bus. Maybe some comic books would help...
Does your school have bus harnesses? When my son was younger, he rode the bus to the elementary for developmental preschool, and they used a harness to keep him seated..it was the only way..the harnesses are kind of like an 'H' shape, with d rings to clip into a piece that wraps around the back of the bus seat. This harness zips onto the child (I have seen others that buckle on also) and then you clip the d rings into the other piece,and the child cannot get out of the seat until someone unclips them. obviously he could probably unclip it himself at this age, but that could be where the older child would come in handy to keep him occupied and somewhat obediant.
You might also want to check out the marble system at the top of this board. It is a positive reinforcement system that has done wonders with solving behavior issues with many of us here.
Hope some of this helps...BTW. I also do home daycare!
Welcome to the board
Help! I am brand new to this board, and my son is 6 yrs old. I have always had problems with him staying seated and still but he has been to two different pediatricians and they say he is spirited or animated. Now he is in 1st grade and he has been in the same school for preschool until now and with the same bus driver. The bus driver says that he can't stay seated, he is into everyone's conversation and he is just totally off the wall. Today she said that he is the worst that he has ever been. I talked to his teacher and she said that he is fine in school, he does his work and is doing 80 percent of all tasks. She thinks it is just unstructured time. I am at my wits end and just don't know what to do. I run a home day care and it is not possible for me to drive him. Just a few minutes ago I had to yell at him 3 times because he was jumping on the couch, I finally smacked his butt and he stopped but was still fidgeting. Any suggestions of getting him diagnosed and of how to get him to stay seated on the bus would be greatly appreciated.