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 ffs what an overreaction.

Let him watch half an hour less at home if you are that bothered.

My youngest is 13 and they did it at his nursery 😀

Seems like a bad time- children shouldn't be arriving and straight away be having screen time.

At our nursery it's 8-6 for full days with half day children arriving or leaving at 1.

@zzzzz the nursery DD went to also took school children after school (DD included when older) sometimes they need downtime after a day in school.
Also I’d like to see a group of children of different ages all tired and ready to go home sitting still for half an hour whilst someone reads a story. All great in theory.

@zzzzz I just felt that it was a massive overreaction. You were implying that watching 30 mins of TV was at the detriment of fostering good reading habits.

It is possible to create an excellent educational environment which includes some screen time.

I'm guessing at home you don't have as many children as the nursery so cleaning , sweeping, nappies etc is probably not as big a job?

He watches it at home, he doesn't need it at nursery too well there you are, an extra half hour of reading, writing and arithmetic at home instead of telly.
We read a lot at home so nursery don't need to do that, I'd prefer him to learn mandarin.

Waterrat the bbc first transmitted programmes in 1936, production of programmes started several yeas before so tv has been around for much longer than 50 years. Before this children where sat to listen to the radio for down time, the tv if it's time.

@zzzzz I absolutely agree. Reading to children does foster a love of books and reading. We aren't talking an either/or situation here. We're a huge lover of books and reading in our house but we all also enjoy watching a bit of TV.

Yes of course it is possible to create an excellent educational environment without screen time but the key here is balance . My son's nursery does allow screen time and in the main it isn't to allow staff down time but, in the main, it's linked to the EYFS curriculum. We are told what they watch and are encouraged to it with them at home.

Oh my goodness no- I don't work in a nursery. I couldn't cope with the parents! I do teach on early years and childhood studies degrees though and understand how trainee teachers and early years practitioners are encouraged to use technology innovatively in the curriculum. And that includes creating down time and calm sections of the day.

Each to their own though but you'll be hard pressed to find a childcare provider that doesn't incorporate screen time at some point in the day

Yanbu - our nursery don't use TV. They use grouptime for talking, stories & singing and have free play while tea & lunch are being tidied up. Lots of the children in the room don't nap so they play quietly while some do have a sleep.

I agree with the poster who said it suggests the staffing isn't right if there is a need for tv. in my experience chill out time for children is time outdoors or sensory play.

report to ofsted

Bloody hilarious

Unclench unclench

@zzzzz if you read my post correctly you'd see I said in the main it is used to enhance the EYFS curriculum not only as downtime. Most settings will use variety .

For example, I know my DS was shown a video on the lifecycle of a frog. It was engaging and educational. They then went out and collected frogspawn and are watching it in real life. He quotes that video back to me daily as he learnt something new.
However, last night when I collected him they were watching 3 little pigs on the smart board as that's their story of the week and staff said it was chill time as they'd been outside all afternoon and we're all shattered. You couldn't get them to concentrate on a book. ( The night before they were reading when I collected him)

It's about balance and variety - and understanding that screens aren't always the devil!

But it's 30 mins!!! Not all day. In the OP's case it's 30 mins out of 5 hours. In full time children it's 30 mins out of potentially 8 hours plus.

How much of an issue is that really?

That study also suggests that poverty and having lots of siblings can have a negative effect.
I think it's about appropriateness - it isn't appropriate for an out door playground or swimming pool bit used in extreme moderation can work well in a childcare setting.

I didn't actively choose the childcare setting because it allowed TV . I looked at the overall values and ethos. I looked at the ofsted report and spoke to other parents. The fact they allow TV is a total non issue for me. But if that's a big issue for you then you obviously factor that into your decision making.

I'm not sure why zzzzz is getting such a hard time. I don't see anything unreasonable about not wanting this. Though it's equally fine to be ok with it.

In my experience, it's definitely not the norm for nursery to have screen time every day. It's not necessary for either the children or the staff (there are lots of different ways of having downtime). And some parents feel more strongly about its role than others.

If zzzzz would prefer no screen time for her child and there are nurserys out there that will accommodate, what's the problem? Equally, if others are happy with it then fine, I agree that 30 minutes isn't much.

Our nursery does this sometimes on a Friday to have a good clean, they were amused the other week when all the children came rushing out to tell their parents they had watched tv.

None of them mentioned the cakes they had made, that they had spent most of the day in the garden and done a bug hunt etc!

I think that's the difference between a nursery and a pre school, some of the children (and staff) are here for such a long time the children need some down time and the staff need to clean.

We turned down a nursery we went to view as, when we went to view it, the TV was being turned on because it was rainy so the kids couldn't go out. No puzzles, books, songs, dressing up etc. was offered, just "we'll put you the telly on".

I would not be impressed with this; I pay them to do a range of activties with my DC. DC can watch TV at home if we wanted them to and the nursery could have found other activities, like singing etc. to do with the children sat in a group as staff sorted and set out activites around them.

And that's absolutely your perogative @zzzzz I just find it slightly ridiculous that people get het up over 30mins! All day or instead of other activities i completely understand and I'd be annoyed at that but come on...it's 30 mins!

Maybe I'm just too laid back as it didn't even occur to me to have an issue with this.