The RIPTA website does a decent job of tracking the buses by route. It's not fully real-time tho, and it's prone to issues from time to time. That's what I use along with the WAVE app. I'd recommend being at the stop 5-10 mins before the bus.

You should have no issues with your daughter riding free at all. If a driver does give you trouble tho, record their badge # and the bus route/time.