to be narked by 30 minutes tv time at nursery?

[HippityHoppityWho]

My son starts nursery at 1pm twice a week for 5 hours. When he arrives the lights are usually off and the children are sitting and watching tv via the projector. I've been told this usually goes on for half an hour, and is so the children who have been there all day can have a chill time.

I understand that, but I'm not keen either on my son walking into nursery all excited to then sit down and watch Peppa Pig or whatever they've put on. Why can't they just let the kids chill that want to without the TV so that the others can free play with the lights on?

AIBU to be annoyed by this?

Lol this used to annoy me. Now I don’t care. My kids love nursery. They’re happy so I’m happy.

I imagine the staff are trying to tidy up after lunch, get the afternoon activities ready, get some of the children down for a nap, change nappies or do other tasks that take them away from the main group. Meaning that the main group really need to be sat quietly so they are easier to supervise.
If the lights are down, maybe it creates a different atmosphere so the children can tell the difference between play time and quiet time.

What? I’d be really pissed off if my kid was watching tv at nursery! Half an hour of tv isn’t a big deal but given they are meant to be an educational facility (which you pay through the nose for) I don’t think it’s on personally.

TV is MY thing. Nursery should be doing messy play and crafting!!

Yes, I’d be bothered with this too. They should have something place for the children who come after lunch.
YANBU

Is it daycare nursery or nursery school?

If it's nursery school then yanbu. If daycare then yabu, my guess is that 1pm is a pretty unusual time for daycare drop off and most children are there all day and need the downtime. Many children (including mine) won't rest if there are activities going on as they'll want to join in. Also as a pp said the staff need the time to settle napping children etc.

Can you drop him 30 min later?

They haven't started school yet, so anything educational needs to be fun, and/or based on play.
YABVVVVVVVVU

mine all went to daycare and tv was never on. I would have been annoyed if it was tbh. All the children took a nap/rest after lunch - had to lie down and sleep or look through a book quietly - for an hour.

1 pm is a hard time for dropoff though. The rhythm of the day might be beginning to wind down from after lunch on - walk/ playground/back to clear up etc.

In fairness I will say that I agreed with a friend who said she would hate the tv to be on in the daycare because then she would feel guilty about turning it on for 30mins to make dinner.

In the nicest possible way, you need to get a grip. It's 30 minutes a day of TV, not crack cocaine.

I would be pissed off at this too. My toddler watches plenty of tv as it is. Luckily neither of the nurseries I’ve used does this.

How old is he OP? This is nursery not reception?

I agree that 1pm is basically during lunch hour, and an awkward time for staffing i imagine. Half an hour in a bit of peace and quiet before the afternoon session launches is probably quite a nice way to merge the sessions.

Most f those very young children will have already been in nursery for 5-6 hours before your child arrives. They are having 30 minutes downtime with a cartoon before doing another 4-5 hours. It's not to much to ask they have a little down time is it ? The nursery need to balance the needs of every child not just yours.

I can’t get worked up about it tbh, it’s half an hour of chill time.

Can you take him in half an hour later if it bothers you?

My nursery does this too. But it's after I pick my children up thankfully. I wouldn't be happy to pay for my children to sit and watch TV. I'd rather then charge a dinner time fee or something to hire someone to do all that cleaning etc.

... Then send your precious baby somewhere else where screens are not present....

YABU.
The dc are not going to be full on playing and doing educational activities the entire time they are there. Nursery is a very stimulating place compared to home and it's probably quite tricky getting some of the dc to be calm and quiet but they all need a bit of down time. 30 minutes TV in a darkened room sounds ideal.

I would be pissed off at this too. My toddler watches plenty of tv as it is

Hilarious.

Blimey. Talk about making things difficult for yourself 😕

Nurseries shouldn’t be having tv time I would report to ofsted. The only time the nursery I worked at had tv time was a special treat at Xmas to watch a Xmas movie etc.

As a nanny I let my charge watch tv but I wouldn’t expect her to be having it at nursery.

Why's it OK as a nanny and not at nursery?

It's 30 mins. Yabu.

SuburbanRhonda why is it hilarious? I don’t mind tv at all in moderation. I do mind paying a lot of money for my child to watch tv when they’ll watch it when they come home anyway because they’ll be really tired.

Just as an aside - do people realise that the TV sometimes goes on for wet play in primary years? Is that OK because we aren't paying privately?

Reporting to ofsted would give the staff there a giggle at least

laiste yes that’s fine. School isn’t a service in the same way as a nursery and I can see the children need a break from formal learning.

Also I do plenty of things at home while looking after my children which I wouldn’t want a nursery to do (like being on MN!). It’s a different environment.