Kindergarten field trip to amusement park?

[deborah_r]

My son will be in the program the after-school program provides during spring break next week. On one day the teacher told me they are going to Knotts Berry Farm. I've never been, but it seems to be a rather large amusement park with big roller coasters and stuff.

I've never let him go on a field trip without DH or I in attendance. I don't really need to send him that day because I actually have that day off (wasn't planning to send him, but he seems excited about all the special events they have every day next week). I don't really feel comfortable trusting these "teachers" (they are not really teachers, they just handle the after school program) to keep track of a group of Kindergarteners at a big place like that. I'm actually stunned that they would even try it.

Am I overprotective? Would you send a Kindergartener on a field trip like that?

ETA: Just wanted to add that I know I could maybe volunteer to go with them as an extra adult chaperone, but the weird thing was that they didn't seem to be eagerly seeking parents to come along. My only experience with this is preschool, and they strongly encouraged parents to try to come along if they could. I'd probably have to pay for myself to get in. But really, I'm mostly curious to know if you moms would be OK with this kind of trip for your 5-6 year old.

[KrisM]

How many kids and how many adults?

When DS1's class did a walk around town trip last year, I was really worried. There were 18 kids and 4 adults and they were crossing streets, etc. to look for signs of Fall.

Anyhow, I volunteered to be an adult with the group (2 teachers and 2 volunteers) and it was so much better than I ever would have imagined! They used the strap with the rings on it and all the kids held a ring. And adult at each end of the strap. It worked really well.

That said, I wouldn't be thrilled with the amusement park idea at all. I don't see it as a necessary thing for a group to go to. I would probably skip it and tell my kid that we'd go as a family later.

[Melaine]

Am I overprotective? Would you send a Kindergartener on a field trip like that?


No, and no.

[octmom]

I've never been to KBF, but I would not be comfortable with a trip like that. I would go along as a chaperone if I thought DS really wanted to do it with his friends and it wasn't really inconvenient for me.

[Jen841]

... have they done this b4 and was it successful.

I am over protective. J went on a variety of trips last summer and had a BLAST! I firmly trust the two teachers that did the field trips which gave me the confidence I was missing. Those field trips made his summer so special last year and he is excited to go back to camp this year. I see it as I made a safe investment that paid off. Not many kids are so excited to go to camp this summer at their old daycare.

[Twin Mom]

My DC went to camp where they went to pre-k last summer and they loved it. They want to go back again this year too so we'll probably send them for a few weeks.

[Corie]

I would not be comfortable with this field trip unless I went along as
a parent chaperone.

[egoldber]

I think that is a very odd choice for K.

Our school has to have an tie in to the curriculum for each field trip, so it is always to a nature center, local park with historical significance, Mount Vernon, etc. Older kids (4th and up) often go into DC to the museums there, but they don't take the younger ones.

ETA: Oops I just realize that this is a camp trip. Still, I would not be comfortable with a trip like this at K age. Maybe grades 2+.

[buttergirl12]

DS1 is in K and I won't allow him to go on a field trip to go see a ballett. There is limited room for chaperones and DH seen first hand how some parents just chat and do not watch the kids when he went to chaperone the pumpkin patch field trip. I'm not ready to trust people I do not know to watch out for my 5 year old in a big city theater. Fortunately he is not into Cinderella so he is not to upset about it. There is no way I would send him to a big amusement park without me or DH going along.

[Gena]

What is their plan for activities there? Is it just going to be the kids and "teachers" wondering around the park, or are they doing one of the structured Adventures in Education tours (see link)?

http://www.knotts.com/group/sales/education/AIESPT.pdf

[Ceepa]

I would only let DC go if I went, too.

[deborah_r]

What is their plan for activities there? Is it just going to be the kids and "teachers" wondering around the park, or are they doing one of the structured Adventures in Education tours (see link)?

http://www.knotts.com/group/sales/education/AIESPT.pdf


Maybe that is their plan. That would make more sense. They are not super-forthcoming with information, I only found out the planned activities because I asked. The sign up for this happened while I was out of state with DS2, so DH handled it and I think he may have misplaced some info. Or maybe they did not give the info out, I don't know. I just asked what hours the camp was going to be, and she told me "oh, we're going here on Monday, and there on Tuesday, blah blah" and I was surprised. I thought they were just staying around the school.

[lilycat88]

Depends on the plan. DD is 4 1/2 and starting at age 3 her preschool takes the kids on 2 field trips a month year around. Sometimes they are to larger places like the zoo or museum BUT they only go to certain exhibits or activities. The Children's Museum in Indianapolis is big but on the trip a couple of weeks ago they only went to a Lego exhibit and a dinosaur exhibit. When they go to the zoo, they only go to areas corresponding to what they are "studying" at the time. When they were studying African animals, they went to the exhibit where there were lions, tigers, elephants, zebras, etc.

Check to see what the plan is and the adult/child ratio. It it wasn't a free for all, I'd probably be ok with it. Otherwise, I'd go as a chaperone.

[JustMe]

I agree that I would want to know more about what they were going to do there and not make assumptions either way.

That said, I would go as long as you have the day off. I'm sure it will be fun for your dc, you will be there to monitor safety, and will probably get a lot of useful info about how the staff works/any possible safety issues that you would want to know for the future.

I find that elementary school /afterschool programs are sometimes less welcoming/just don't expect or include parents when compared with preschools. I find that schools/afterschool programs see the kids in their care as "older" than I do. (hope that makes sense). I wouldn't let this bother me and would go, unless they outright told me I couldn't. In that case, I would not let dc go either.

[lovin2shop]

My DS has been on lots of fieldtrips at this point because the summer camp that he has done for the last 2 summers had weekly trips. I was very uncomfortable with it at first, but I'm fine with it now. My DH and I have chaperoned on a lot of trips and from what we have seen, the younger kids were always really well attended to. However, the older kids were left much more to their own devices as the teachers were more focused on the safety of the younger kids. It actually made me feel better about getting my DS comfortable in these situations on his own because I feel like as he gets older, he will be more prepared and responsible without as much supervision. For a very large park like this one, I would maybe still want to attend with him, but I do let him do quite a few fieldtrips on his own both at school and camp now.

[anamika]

I think I'm mostly bothered that they seem reluctant to give information. Do they not have it yet?
In DD's old preschool, one of her teachers was her babysitter also so I got to know her well. I absolutely trusted her and would have sent her with that school on a trip.
Her current preschool - not so much. I was the mean mom who refused to let DD go to visit the bakery because I was worried about nuts. I did tell them they were welcome to go without DD and I would make other arrangements for the day.

[infomama]

No, and no.
:yeahthat:

[hellokitty]

I would freak out if my kindergartener went to an amusement park w/o me. He is one of those kids who just wanders off and doesn't pay attn to the rest of the group.

[maestramommy]

Our family has been to Knotts twice with the girls. While it's not as polished as Disney, it is very family friendly, and not as overrun with older/rougher kids like Magic Mountain. If the class is mostly the same age, they'll probably spend a bulk of their time in Camp Snoopy, which is mostly gentler rides.

As for sending an almost 6 yo on a field trip, I agree it would depend on how many kids and how many adults. I would probably want to go myself, even if I had to pay for a ticket.

[kransden]

I would go along. A trip to lots of things, say the zoo, would be fine, but an amusement park - I wouldn't feel comfortable. It is too easy for things to happen.

[ett]

I would freak out if my kindergartener went to an amusement park w/o me. He is one of those kids who just wanders off and doesn't pay attn to the rest of the group.

:yeahthat: DS1 is the same way so there is no way I would let him go to an amusement park without me. Even if he wasn't like that, I would be hesitant due to the lack of information that has been given.

[jayali]

I would not be comfortable with this trip. I can't believe the preschool would take on this responsibility.

Nope, definitely not.

[deborah_r]

jayali, I just want to mention, I may not have been clear enough - this is not preschool. He is in public school elementary. He is in "aftercare" daily after school ends. During the Spring Break next week, the aftercare program offers kind of a camp from 8-2 each day (if I had vacation time I would just take the week off with him, but I do not have any because I visited my sick mother last month).

So my confusion about the situation was this: they are offering this camp because parents need to work. If we need to work, we obviously would rather not take off a day to go on a trip with the kids. So apparently they expect at least some of the parents of Kindergarteners to be comfortable sending our little ones along without a parent. Since I'm not comfortable with that, I was wondering if I am being overprotective. This is also a pretty long bus ride away. There is a great children's museum right in our town they could go to, among other places, so I am confused why they would choose this venue. I would not be nervous about them taking him to a smaller venue like that.

I will either go with him or we'll just do our own thing that day, since I already have that day off through my company's holiday schedule (my company is a charter school and have a mini-spring break April 9-10). But I was just feeling some confusion about the discrepancy between where I am coming from and where they are coming from. I think they do see the kids as being older than I see them, as someone mentioned. Like, I think I would be labeled the paranoid parent if I even asked what the adult-to-child ratio would be (this would not stop me from asking, mind you - I just haven't had the chance to talk to someone without a bunch of kids around when I pick up DS).

[egoldber]

I am OK with the idea of a K kid going on field trips without me. But unless that is a very structured trip, I would not be OK with a big amusement park. During summer camp at our local JCC, Sarah went on field trips at age 5, but they were to small venues: a local theater for a puppet show, a (small, suburban) nature center with a little trail, etc. They don't start taking the elementary kids to places like amusement parks until they are in 3rd grade.

[jayali]

It is nice of them to offer this option for working parents (I am a working mom so I totally get that sometimes you don't have a choice), however, given that as an only option I would not be comfortable sending a kindergartener on this type of a field trip. I am surprised that they are doing this without some other kind of an alternative for the younger children whose parents are like me, completely overprotective!

[Pennylane]

I would not let me dc go unless I was also there.

Ann

[deborah_r]

I am OK with the idea of a K kid going on field trips without me. But unless that is a very structured trip, I would not be OK with a big amusement park. During summer camp at our local JCC, Sarah went on field trips at age 5, but they were to small venues: a local theater for a puppet show, a (small, suburban) nature center with a little trail, etc. They don't start taking the elementary kids to places like amusement parks until they are in 3rd grade.

Exactly. They mentioned they are going roller skating one day, and that is fine with me. Though at first I wasn't sure if they had a bus and I was freaking out about whether they would let us send our car seat along.

[WatchingThemGrow]

I'd ask to see the info sheet again since your DH had it and might have lost it. Does DH know where it is? The 1st grade program on the education link looks like an interesting transportation theme - somewhere I'd like to take K students to. The thing about Children's Musuems IME is that most of the kids have been to them over and over and and aren't too excited.

If they're just going to ride and be wild (which is kinda what I've witnessed at afterschool programs - as opposed to in my classroom), I'd understand the reservation. If you can swing going and there ARE spaces (3 chaps, including teachers, per "class" max), I'd probably go, just so you can enjoy the afternoon with your DC and meet some of the friends, etc. Likely, he'll be spending a lot of time with the same afterschool kids in the future years, right?

[TwinFoxes]

I've been to KBF many times (I grew up in SoCal) the last time was 5 years ago when my DH and I moved back to LA. I was shocked at how badly run it has become. Lots of teenagers jumping line, skanky guys walking around without shirts to show of their ink, just really not all that nice. DH had no desire to return. It's no Disneyland. That being said, I wouldn't send a kid that young to Disneyland either. It would be so easy for a kid to get lost. And even if they don't get lost, amusement parks are pretty overwhelming at that age, what if he gets tired, or scared, and there aren't that many chaperones to comfort him. I'm not one of those people who's overprotective, but I think you're right to be concerned.