DC at nursery put in front of a laptop watching Peppa Pig, AIBU?

And people wonder why there is a staffing crisis in childcare.

You think nursery staff don't do unpaid work outside of their working hours?

Many times I have had to take the planning folder home (and yes, we have to plan activities for every single day so we can observetye children's developmental milestones). Many times I have had to use my own money to buy more resources for the children so they could do fun activities. I can't count the number of times I have had to miss appointments because a parent was running late and I had to stay behind with their child until they finally arrived way after closing time.

I have bent over backwards for the last 20 years, jumping through hoops to keep parents happy, often at a detriment to my own mental and physical wellbeing. For minimum wage and 4 paltry weeks off a year.

What exactly should I be "grateful" for?

I'm not suggesting a daily blow by blow account of every minute thing, but an overview of what they do and how much. If you are trying to keep TV watching to a certain amount of time per day then you need to know how much they have had at nursery. And it should be TV not laptops or smart phones or any other "device". Similarly if the child has had ample sleep during the day they may not need/want to sleep at their usual time at home.

I don't understand all the talk about staff having to organise activities during "nap time". I thought there would be a timetable the same as in school. If the day is structured and the kids know what to expect on Tuesday morning or Thursday afternoon they get into a routine and then when they do go to primary school is isn't such a shock to the system. The routine would also make it easier for the staff to do all the other things that they do. They should be grateful they work in a nursery and not in a school as all the teachers I have known had to do prep and marking at home, outside school hours and in their own time.

Well said. Agree.

I don't need to "think", I know, I've been a nursery worker for almost 20 years. And to be honest, the main difference, ironically, between then and now is that back then, I did not have to spend half my time stuck on a tablet taking daily pictures and updating apps, constantly updating parents on what's going on. I told them at the end of the day how their child got on and discussed their progress, but now every single thing needs to be logged onto an app x 15+ children. It eats into a lot of time.

Right, and what massively detrimental effects is an episode or two of Peppa going to have on a young brain? ‘My child could have been a doctor or a lawyer, but instead they’re bossy, argumentative and use not even subtle personal insults whilst everyone around them grits their teeth - they’ll only ever get as far as middle management now!’.

I worked in nurseries for years. What do you think they did before tablets and phones were invented? As a professional I'm sure you must know the detrimental effects of screens on young brains.

Thank you, I really appreciate that. I really wish people who think we are being "lazy" could spend just one day in the room with us to see that despite what they think, childcare is actually a really demanding and stressful job.

Unfortunately, after almost 20 years in the early years sector, I am leaving it for good. It's a shame because I love the children I care for dearly, but the stresses of the job, and the ridiculous demands put on us, as evidenced nicely in this thread, mean it is simply not worth all this bullshit for minimum wage.

Many good and experienced childcare workers are realising their worth and are sadly leaving in droves.

You read it here first………………………………

PFB Alert

OK, have the people who keep saying "just let them read books" ever worked for 10 hours a day in a room of 1-2 year olds?? They are not interested in books for long enough for the staff to do all the necessary things I listed in my other posts.

@CantSeeTheDifference By the way, you sound great and I have utter respect for you and all nursery workers

@CantSeeTheDifference

I'd love parents to work in a nursery themselves for a couple of days to see how noisy and demanding it is, and how very lucky they are that people do the jobs! I've worked in preschools with shorter hours and two colleagues left to work in day nurseries and simply couldn't hack it. It's exhausting!

As for planning - yes that is very time consuming, the activities don't happen by themselves and they have to be planned and done every.single.day, in a very long day.

Of course the parents know we use screens. I am not in the habit of being dishonest to parents. I tell them what their children have been up to, they don't care about a bit of screen time, they have even seen them watching a bit of coco melon or a sensory video when they pick them up. It's such a small part of the day, I do plenty of stimulating activities for the other 9 hours of the day with the children.

Honestly, some of the expectations parents have of us are simply unrealistic.

I do understand that screens are not ideal, but what would parents rather have, a little bit of screen time during naps, or no observations to be done, no app updated, no toys or room cleaned? No activities planned? No artwork displays put up? No progress plans written up?

Also, sleep time is when the staff have their lunch, so the room is not actually fully staffed while the children sleep, which means there's maybe only 2 staff on the floor trying to get all these things done. Should staff just not have lunch?

We really do try our best to make all parents happy, but we don't have magical powers that enable us to grow extra arms or clone ourselves.

I agree. They could have given the DC a picture book or even have read to them! Sounds like laziness to me.

@ButterCrackers I do know a bit about children and books actually.
I was a volunteer reader at a primary school for several years.

Why?

I really couldn't care less if my children watched a bit of TV at nursery. Why do people make a big issue of petty things, I really don't understand at all.

I would find it so bizarre if my child's nursery worker started explaining all of this to do with screen time.

SOME / even a few toddlers are content with a pile of books to look through themselves for a while, without adult support which is why nurseries will have reading corners to access throughout the day. But not all toddlers and maybe not many of the awake children and then what? Someone already mentioned bored toddlers.

Whereas something which is rarely done in the day - a screen and Peppa Pig - will grab their attention and be a treat and feed into their imaginative skills and storytelling. Then babies can sleep, staff can complete jobs and the awake toddlers have a break in their busy and stimulating day

I hope you explain your use of screens to the parents. What do you think is an ok level of screen use? What childcare guidelines do you follow? I assume that there must be advice on screens in nursery/childcare settings?

Thank you @CantSeeTheDifference. It's so good when an actual nursery worker posts and gives insight into the reality of a day in childcare.

Not in my experience- kids love looking at books from being a baby. Toddlers as well can be occupied for ages looking at books, turning a page, familiarity of what’s next builds learning skills, calmness and thoughtfulness. You obviously have no idea of what books mean to a child.

Can I ask, please, and I mean this genuinely?

For those who don't want the children watching screens during sleep time, would you prefer me to update the app for 15 children, upload the pictures, do the obs, clean the toys, clean the room, do the dishes, plan the activities, etc, when all the children are awake and not gettingmy full attention? Leaving my stressed-out colleagues a staff memebrr down? There is no other time to do these things that need doing. Unless you would like the staff to stay past their hours to update the app, or take the planning folder home and not be paid for it? Not clean up the mess from lunch?

As PP said, books and jigsaws are always available for them to play with and only hold their attention for a very short time. Do you know what happens when toddlers get bored? They make a lot of noise, waking up the other children.

It's not about giving the adults a break, it's about making it possible for the adults to complete the necessary tasks that are an essential part of your children's early years education. Who do you think plans all the stimulating activities that your children enjoy? Who do you think makes sure the toys are all cleaned? It's done by the hard-working staff who are paid minimum wage.

Despite what some parents think, we don't have a magic wand that we can wave to make all these things happen. At the end of the day, nursery staff are human beings, we're doing our best, and we can't magic extra staff or more time out of thin air.

@crostini I agree. It's not great.

@Needmorelego yes exactly, and that's a problem, it shouldn't be that way.