Numberjacks - child terrified, help!

[bestthingsinlife]

Hi

My little boy (just turned 4) started school this September.

It's transpired over the last 2-3 weeks that they watch number jacks at school, and he's become terrified of being alone at bed time.

He's always been a bad sleeper, and tends to climb into bed with me and DH when we go up to bed (he'll normally go to sleep on his own, in his own bed first).

When I say scared, tonight he was shaking, and had tears by his eyes when he finally drifted off (next to me in bed, comforting him).

I feel so desperately sad for him.. and don't know what to do.

So Mumsnet any words of wisdom? How do we help him be less scared/cope? Do we talk to the school? Something we can do at home? I'm at a loss! There seems to be one character he's most scared of which is the problem blob, and actually I think it may be quite scary for such a little soul!

Help!

Ah your poor boy. Definitely speak to the school and stand firm that you do not want him to watch it again. My 17 year old DD was also terrified as a youngster of this weird programme.

Yes definitely speak to your school.

My DD had a total fear of “Swashbuckle” on CBeebies. I don’t know why. Even when the theme tune started she would scream in terror. 🤷‍♀️

OP is the intention of the phone call to ensure that the teacher no longer shows numberjacks because your child is scared? Do you think over time with exposure and work at hone he'd build his resistance? Or do you think avoidance and withholding from the rest of the class is the way forward?

Christ.... I hated Numberjacks and I've just realised that 'Numbertaker' might be a play on 'Undertaker'...

I much preferred it when my DS got into Odd Squad far more enjoyable and silly than sinister.

Ooo yes the number taker DD is 18 but still remembers being terrified of him (and the spooky spoon!)

My sisters watched numberjacks and I’ve completely forgot how scary it was!. Just googled the spooky spoon and it’s horrible

@rededucator this I'm still not sure of - I was hoping that if I mentioned how traumatised he is (and I'm not even over reacting in that statement - he was physically shaking poor soul), they may switch to numberblocks..

I'm not sure how I feel about building his resistance - he's only just turned 4, and I feel that bit should come later perhaps.

I do sympathise, but my worry is that 'later' often becomes 'never'. I'd prepare an answer to the question about what you want to happen. It's the first thing I ask my pupils parents. If yo come to me with a problem, come with a solution that would make you happy too. Best of luck.

@rededucator thank you for your input.

At this point (he's now woken up screaming) I will be requesting that my DS refrain from partaking in the numberjacks watching, and suggesting another approach to mathematics may be more appropriate for this age.

I can't think of any logical reasoning whereby I should allow my little boy to be traumatised, but rest assured I'm sure he'll 'toughen up' soon enough

You're welcome. I'd word it as 'more appropriate for him' rather than 'his age' because as far as you know the rest of his classmates are comfortable with the input. Best of luck.

@rededucator I'll take that onboard - thank you!

There is a monster check app available if that’s any help. It’s quite sweet.

OP don’t worry he’s only 4 and children this age are often scared of things. No need to toughen him up yet! My DD was scared of films, especially Disney films, for quite a few years. She would just run out of the room crying. It was tricky when they showed films in class but she would sit and read or colour instead. It was frustrating as we couldn’t join in when friends were going to the cinema to watch Tangled etc. However we tried not to make a big deal out of it, and she grew out of it.
Now 13 she loves Harry Potter, Hunger Games, superhero films, and basically anything with some fighting / villains / explosions in it 🙄 😂
So I think resilience can definitely come later.
Accept they are genuinely scared, don’t minimise their feelings as to them they are very real, but also don’t make it a defining feature of them as a person, and you can’t expect everyone else to change to accommodate them e.g. I would say ‘DD doesn’t like watching films yet, she gets a bit overwhelmed, is it ok if she brings a book / I collect her a bit early?’
Good luck OP

Dd1 is 15. She STILL goes on about the Number Taker. She and three friends rewatched an episode last year, they finally 'felt ready'

They couldn't believe how scary they still thought it was for young children. They subsequently made spooky spoons and took them out at Halloween.

The Numbertaker guy is in Game of Thrones, that's evidence enough for me!

16 & 14 year old Dds here both remember Numberjacks. They were terrified of both Spooky Spoon and the Numbertaker, and still talk about it with friends!

DS now 11 used to love numberjacks but was definitely scared of a few episodes. So weird. It doesn't even teach maths really from what I remember?? Why are they showing it in schools anyway?

DS ( now 16) was terrified of it too. We just didn’t watch it, although he couldn’t tell me which character scared him the most. We went on a play date to his friend’s house one day and his friend had made all the numbers and spent hours colouring them in ready to play with. DS managed to get the front door unbolted and legged it out of the house muttering “No no no, oh no!” while his friend and his Mum looked on, mystified. Had to put the numbers in the garage in the end or he wouldn’t come back into the house,

I found it very annoying and my kids din't get anything from it. I think children see a lot worse though I don't see this as scary. But if your child is scared talk to the school. I think there are better ways of learning maths.

Terrifying programme. Bits of it are fun and educational but the Number Taker is petrifying. All my children have been scared of him - rightly so, in my opinion. I highly doubt your ds is the only one in his class.

I wrote a letter for my son - a fake one pretending to be from CBeebies cutting and pasting the logo and some BBC address and write about how they could confirm the number taker was called Bob (or whatever) and was a maths teacher in a costume and was a really nice man just pretending It worked!

My ds was scared so much by the number taker. Now at 7, he still has trouble going to sleep, because of it

My boys are now year 10 and year 9 but I can remember how terrified they were of the fucking number catcher.

Ridiculously terrifying programme for young kids imho.

Oh bless. Could you suggest El Nombre, as an alternative? Classic stuff!