To think a childminder shouldn't have kids watching films on the telly?

[5footMama]

A childminder in my village says she "sometimes" has a movie afternoon with her charges (age 10m-3yrs) and it's made me doubt whether to send DD (14m)

Is it just me, or should a childminder not be using the TV like that???
I mean, I'm not anti telly and if they were watching a bit of a program about penguins or something because they're learning about penguins,then cool. Bit to just put them in front of the telly for 2hrs when it supposed to be looking after them seems a bit crap. They wouldn't do this in a nursery or anything.

Such a shame this turned into a childminder bashing thread by people who didn't realise we are held to the same rules and curriculum as nurseries.
Such a shame at a time when childminders are inviting children into their home so key workers can go to work. We are putting ourselves at risk as can't work with PPe or social distancing. We are trying to home educate our own children whilst changing 3 nappies and cooking for and educating these mindees.
We have an enhanced cleaning routine and sometimes the TV has to give us time to clean the toys the mindees have played with. Sometimes the TV allows us to sit down for a few minutes when we have been painting and building towers and cleaning all morning. We don't get a break from the mindees. We need to eat at some point. Ideally with the mindees but when they need support to feed themselves it's not possible to prepare our lunch sometimes let alone eat it.
Yes we are paid to look after these children but at £3.50 per child (x3 so £10.50) if we are lucky to be full (don't forget we can't charge parents who are isolating etc) once you take off the cost of heating and electricity and resources and snacks etc we are working at well below NMW.

Please don't bash childminders.

Kids used to love movie afternoon, tickets, snacks, seat numbers etc. They could choose the film from a choice of 2

This is so sweet 😍

When ds1 started primary school, his teacher had a pile of cushions on a rug for when the DC got tired and needed a nap. Children need downtime. I'd you complain about this, you aren't helping your child.

Some of you really do expect a nanny type service at childminder prices. Before you piss off your CM too much by making unreasonable demands, keep in mind that good childcare is hard to come by in many places and she might have a waiting list and you could cause yourself more hassle than this is worth. You cannot expect her to do exactly what you might do or what you would ask for if you were employing a nanny - a CM isn't a cheaper version, it's a different proposition.
Things that you need to worry about are safety - does she always use the car seat, hold their hands by the road etc? Does she feed them well? Are they happy? Does she engage with them and treat them like family?

Currently on mat leave and with him 24:7 😱 looking forward to getting him back in nursery 2x p/w for both our sakes! He does watch a bit of tv most (not all) days but usually 15-20mins max when I need a shower or to feed the baby quietly somewhere else. Tbh I hadn’t read many other replies at time of commenting and I’m quite surprised as I don’t consider myself a particularly conscientious mother! My brother is a teacher and he laughs about the days he just sticks on a film and gets paid for it. And his students are secondary aged, not 3 and under!

@Bonkerz Please don't state your particular household and payment situation is the same for all childminders over the country.

I pay more than £3.50 per hour for my CM and she doesn't have any 5-18 year olds to educate, whether they are hers or other people's . She also charges parents who are isolating as the child is off sick.

What I am impressed with my CM is that she can find things to do to educate and entertain my child plus the others she minds when every outside activity e.g. soft play, groups, going to the supermarket are either shut or don't allow children in.

[quote RedMarauder]@Bonkerz Please don't state your particular household and payment situation is the same for all childminders over the country.

I pay more than £3.50 per hour for my CM and she doesn't have any 5-18 year olds to educate, whether they are hers or other people's . She also charges parents who are isolating as the child is off sick.

What I am impressed with my CM is that she can find things to do to educate and entertain my child plus the others she minds when every outside activity e.g. soft play, groups, going to the supermarket are either shut or don't allow children in.[/quote]
I'm not saying it's the same for others but those are my situation and I'm sure many others too.
I'm asking people to be kind and not make assumptions

The going rate for childminders here is £4-5 an hour, but this is normally reduced for all day/all week. Mine charges £40 a day to look after my child from 7.30am until 5pm. She currently has her own two primary children and three under 5s four days a week. If she wants to put two films on a day I couldn't care less.

[quote OhCaptain]@Belladonna12 you're reaching a bit there! It's phrased movie afternoon. That doesn't mean the kids will all be strapped down in the dark and made to watch two hour movies!

The Gruffalo for example is one hour long. The Gruffalo's Child and Room On The Broom around 30 minutes if memory serves.

It could be an option. It could be occasional. It could be that Fridays (for example) are the days that she allows a movie to be on in the background.

The over-dramatic carry on around this is ridiculous![/quote]
I agree it could be fine but based on my experience it sometimes isn't. As I said, DCs after-school club used to use "movie afternoons" as a way to ignore the children and put their feet up. They would turn the lights off and tell them not to speak. It was for the benefit of the staff not the children mostly didn't want to do that . I therefore would be wary of any childminder who specifically said that they had "movie afternoons" rather than just saying that children can choose to watch television sometimes at the end of the day if they want to.

I am a childminder working ten hours a day with eyfs aged children of critical workers. The libraries are closed, the groups are closed, we can’t have a day out on the train. We can’t get the bus to town. We can’t have lunch at the cafe or go to soft play. We can’t meet up with other childminders for support. We are dealing with fraught exhausted parents and children who know something isn’t right and are scared of the germs. I work so hard and plan so many indoor and outdoor activities but if the children want an hour of CBeebies and snuggles on the sofa they can have it.

@PeggyBundy
Thank you for doing a very important job fwiw I entirely agree

They have film afternoons at school occasionally too. My kids went to a pre school with an Ofsted outstanding grade, they had half an hour of tv every day whilst the staff cleaned up after lunch. It's not like they're performing a satanic ritual, your child won't fail at life because they've watched a bit of telly now and again

I work in a school. Watching 5 minute educative programmes is part of learning.
Also in years 1- 6, I have watched whole movies with children to solidify understanding in a story book that has been used previously for literacy. Obviously the book gets longer the older they are. However, if some children are not interested they are allowed to do something else quietly.

you are not alone. This drives me crazy. particularly, when they then lecture about screen times etc. I used to take my twins to nursery for half days through a special needs program. They would arrive at 9 and by 10 they were sat in front of the TV for 2 hours. they would then get collected at 12. It was ridiculous as they were going for additional support. I could understand maybe last 1/2 hour of the day but not in the morning.

They also do this at school more and more. Again, they lecture parents on screen time then sit them in front of the TV every chance they can.

@jwpetal who are they? Your child’s nursery?! I’ve never lectured or been lectured on screen time and I’ve worked with children and families for over 20 years in various roles. I’ve seen guidance so we can make an informed choices. I would really struggle if my child’s childcare setting made judgements or criticism on how much screen time they should have when they’re in my care. I hope you challenged this approach

thenovice you say childminders dont get paid much, but where I live, childminders are earning between £75 and £90 PER child, so if they had 3 children on the books, that's between £225 and £270 per day, not including any after schools which make up more income. When I was a childminder 5 years ago, I was charging £70.

Just wanting to clear up that childminding can be a very well paid job.

Movie afternoon sounds like heaven to me. Especially at the end of the week.
If they've been active and out and about all week; surly one lazy afternoon won't hurt? 🤷‍♀️

@Belladonna12 do you really think a CM can force an under 5 to watch TV for 5 minutes let alone an hour if the child doesn't want to?

thenovice just to add, childminders are not just minders, as explained many times on this board, they are professionals who undergo the same level of training as nurseries and follow the EYFS. They are regulated by Ofsted to ensure they do what is required.

[quote RedMarauder]@Belladonna12 do you really think a CM can force an under 5 to watch TV for 5 minutes let alone an hour if the child doesn't want to?[/quote]
The after-school club my DC went to seem to manage it (some of the children were at the pre-school nursery). They can't really do anything else if they can't leave the room. the lights are off and they are told to be quiet every time they speak.

Wrt pay, yes a CM with 3 children can earn a decent amount. But each parent is only paying about £4 - £5 per hour. That's not enough to be dictating how the CM structures their day.

A bit of telly from time to time is fine. But not every day. (I once did not continue to hire a nanny who, within 20 minutes of walking through the door on her first day, had plopped my DS in front of the telly.)

Not known a young child’s movie to go for 2hr. Usually 1hr10-1hr20ish. Younger ones won’t sit through it all anyway.

I remember when mine were young and in rare instances of really vile weather, either pounding rain and hurricane style wind or temperature above 40degC in the shade for many days in a row we would receive a permission note for a movie afternoon. It’s not all the time or even often let alone regularly, so given the staff had put up with a centre full of kids trapped indoors for 5 days straight I was only to happy to sign whenever I got it. There was always ‘that parent’ though who was keen to be a pain in the arse and claimed they would all self-combust if shown tele. God I felt sorry for the staff, and the kids.

They would however put on music every day for a sing and dance movement session. This led to them bugging us to put it on when they were at home. I think when my youngest went through it was the Wiggles. Fuck me, I would have rather they sat them down and put the Texas Chainsaw Massacre on the tele than most of those kids songs.

Why shouldn't they?

If a child is with their childminder say from 8am - 6pm, why shouldn't they have some time to relax in front of the TV?

Childminders are so often uncalled. These are people who are looking after your most loved. If they have toddlers needing to nap, perhaps this is the time they allow the older non-napping children to have some "wind down" time to relax, keep the place quieter to allow sleeping babies the time to rest.

You can't honestly want your child who attends a childminding setting to be active the whole time?

Perhaps you need to send your child to a nursery. Childminders are a "home from home" setting.

Occasional movie afternoon -lovely. In lockdown, I’d be mire relaxed about it, ita wed bit limiting.