AIBU (or hypersensitive) about comment in preschool report from nursery

[BottomleyPottsSpots]

DS is 3 (nearly 4), the youngest of 3 children and in full time childcare. I have insecure employment (short term contracts) and part time roles are practically non-existent so there's no avoiding it.

Comment in his report from preschool this term:

"'DS' needs some support in Understanding the world, with spending a lot of time in preschool his experiences outside of the nursery setting are limited and this is reflected in his emerging understanding."

Would you feel a bit guilty about the above comment (implication: he's in nursery too much of the time!)- or am I just being hypersensitive and should get a grip?

I would. It doesn't mean I should or you shouldn't the honest answer is I would.

There's a lot you can do on weekends - supermarket shopping, posting a letter, that kind of thing.

It doesn't mean that I should or you should but.....^

I'd ask the nursery why they offer full time care if they are unable to provide sufficient experiences outside of the school room ? If they identify an area which requires support they should indicate how they intend to provide it - working in partnership with yourself.
I'd be annoyed not guilty.

*preschool room

Thank you What puzzles me a bit is they don't actually know what DS does at weekends.
I feel like I'm going to have to do some kind of performative 'enrichment' whereas we normally just go to the park, go to the supermarket, go for a walk, read books ... I suppose normal family stuff.
To be honest I've always assumed that preschool was far more exciting / interesting than home life to the kids.

I would feel a bit slighted by that tbh. And it doesn't reflect particularly well on them either. They should be providing trips and visitors from the community to the preschool etc that help the children understand the world around them. A lot of children are in full time childcare and their needs should be met. Maybe it is just clumsy wording on the part of the nursery but I don't think yabu to be a bit insulted.

I think I'd ask them to elaborate on the point and try not to be annoyed about it.

I would be, though!

It's true that it should be part of their curriculum.

I agree 100% with WhyHasAllTheRumGone
I would be speaking to nursery about this.

I think before getting too insulted you need to speak to them about what exactly they mean and what experiences they are meaning and what things he is struggling with, with regards to his understanding. Then you can discuss how between you, you can ensure he gets these things.

What Dacre said. Rightly or wrongly, it would make me feel really crappy to read that.

Is "understanding the world" a specific curriculum thing? Like shops and money and stuff? It just sounds from the way they've written it like its a topic title not just a description.

They are making rather a lot of assumptions, which seem to be somewhat unrelated to the scope of the report IMO. I'd be pretty cross if I read that, and I probably would respond.

For what it's worth, both my kids were in full time childcare from 7 months old and I refuse to be guilt tripped for it. They're now 5 and 7 and appear to have no problems "understanding the world".

I would assume though that a big portion of the children are there dull time, so I would be concerned why specifically they were making the comments about my child. Are they struggling more in this sense than other children. I would be concerned and want to discuss it further to find out what exactly they mean.

I don't think you should feel guilty but that probably won't stop you

I think that's really unfair actually, just because a child is in preschool full time does not mean their experiences outside are limited. My DD goes full time but we still do things in the evening and at weekends

Tbh my ds is behind his peers when it comes to things like shops and money and bus tickets etc (he's confused between tickets and money and who gives which to whom). He's also not entirely sure how post works (thinks the postman puts letters in the postbox)

But that's cause we spend our leisure time in the woods or on the beach or hillwalking. He's pretty good with identifying acorns and pine cones and types of shells

Understanding the world is a specific area of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage. It is split into people and communities and the world. Covers things like talks about families, significant events, similarities and differences between people ie what makes him unique. The world covers interest in natural world, how things work and the nature of change.

It's a ridiculous thing for a nursery to write in a report.

I'd be annoyed too.

Undertanding the World is one of the areas of the EYFS which is the curriculum for under 5's. It's basically science and humanities.

As others have commented, this really is not appropriate. The descriptions of steps within 'Understanding the World' are varied and include many things which should be covered in their setting! e.g. understanding growth and change (life cycle of tadpoles/frogs or caterpillars/butterflies easily covered by nursery), showing interest in different occupations and ways of life (visitors to the setting such as firemen, dentists or similar, jigsaws of 'people who help us' etc).
I would not be happy with this comment.

Yes I would be upset.
I'd be having a word about it to, and asking what they are going to do about it. You are paying for care and it's part of the job to offer 'experiences' to the children. And I work in childcare!

Yes as I suspected. It's a curriculum area.

I feel like I'm going to have to do some kind of performative 'enrichment' whereas we normally just go to the park, go to the supermarket, go for a walk, read books ... I suppose normal family stuff.

But surely this is exactly what he should be doing on his weekends. Sounds like you're doing fine to me!

YY - normal family life is EXACTLY what your little one should be doing in order to enrich his understanding of the world.