Hello Mama's :)
My son is in preschool and his last field trip of the school year is fast approaching. I was unable to attend his first field trip as I had just had my daughter a few days prior. I was so sad to not be able to be there for his first ever field trip and his first ever ride on a school bus :( His second field trip was at a small pizza place right close to the school and due to the size of the place, no parents were invited to attend. This time, though, I am signed up to chaperone! Yay! However being that he is my first child in school, I haven't got a clue as to what chaperoning entails. I feel a little silly asking, but how does this work? Will I be assigned a certain number of children? Or...? I don't even know what to ask exactly. Any insight you all have based on your own personal experiences would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks for your time!
K. :)
My daughter is finishing up her first year of preschool also. I have chaperoned every field trip. Every field trip except for one was just following my own daughter around. For one of them it was at a museum so they put 1 child with a parent if their parent did not show up. So I watched over my daughter and a classmate.
Have fun!
When I went on field trips with my daughter I was basically just another set of eyes. I was not assigned a group of kids or anything like. We had a BLAST, and it was not stressful like I first feared it would be.
I chaperoned for a field trip to the zoo when my son was in the first grade. It was a lot of fun! It was the whole first grade so there was a lot of children. If I remember correctly, everyone was divided up in groups of about ten children and there was 2 to 3 parents picked to watch each group to make sure everyone stayed together. About half way through our day, we stopped and had our sack lunches. It was a great day! I'm sure your day will be as well :) Have fun!
It is entirely up to the teacher. I have been on tons of field trips for various teachers for various grade levels preK-5th grade. Sometimes the teacher has handed me a list of 4-5 kids that I am "in charge" of, but most of the time it was just one swarm of kids and a handful of adults all there together with absolutely nothing that I had to actually do. Even when I was assigned a small group of kids, we all still stayed together as a swarm and I just had to keep a head count of my group to make sure everyone was accounted for before moving on to a different location (like on and off of the bus)
Relax and enjoy the trip. Pay attention to how the kids interact with eachother (especially when the teacher isn't looking!) so you can get an idea of what your child deals with on a daily basis, like which kids are mean/bossy and which kids are best friends, etc
Dear K.,
I've chaperoned about a million school field trips. It's really a lot of fun!
Show up excited to get on with it!
The teacher will tell you what you need to know. Usually, they give you a group of children and you just keep track of them, keep count of them and go with the flow.
I usually got the unruly kids because I wasn't timid about keeping them from running off or doing things they weren't supposed to be doing.
If they take lunches, you just want to make sure everyone has their lunchboxes, nobody forgets their jacket. Stuff like that. You might have little kids that want to hold your hand or sit by you. (My daughter didn't really like that part at first, but she got over it).
Just have a great time! I'm sure your son will be very proud to have you there!
Best wishes!
K.,
Field trips are something you and your son will remember for ever. Relax and enjoy it. The teachers are very experienced and will guide you. They will let you know what your responsibilities are. Most times, you have to keep your eyes and ears open and be vigilant. Enjoy!!!!!
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You will just basically be there to help if needed and...another plus! You will get in free! LOL
Do whatever the teacher tells you, be sweet to all the children and adults, hang with your son as much as you can, and have fun! This is a piece of cake! Keeping the children safe and in your sight is the most important thing.
Be sure to take photos so you can send them to the teacher. She will really appreciate it..
I am like Shane.. They always had me with students that needed a little more attention or would place me on the bus with the newest parents, LOL.. SO I could fill them in on everything..
They usually assign you your children and 2 or 3 others. The teacher should take a few minutes to explain what she needs you to do.
A lot depends on where your going. Basically you're there for safety patrol and all those things you do as a mommy like making sure nothing gets left behind, explain things to the kids, and answering their questions. I usually brought along a backpack with items I needed, like a water bottle, my cell phone, and I brought things like wet ones and hand gel. I also brought along a camera and tried to take a few pictures.
Have fun.
Please, don't feel silly asking. This teacher has her own ways of conducting a field trip, and asking is a sign of good judgement. I bet she would appreciate it!
Also, ask before bringing hand sanitizer or a camera (both positive ideas ususally) as there may be children who are allergic or who cannot have their pictures taken. And if it's ok to bring hand sanitizer, be careful with it, as it's mostly alcohol, and children have been known to drink it, if given the little bottle. Toxic!
