Recent study of children joining reception class

[Liveandletlive18]

A recent study by kindred2 of a 1000 teachers resulted in finding a quarter of children today joined reception class when still in nappies. Many children are unable to climb a staircase or sit properly on the floor due to lack of exercise & muscle tone. The children used expressions more common in America such as trash & vacation due to excessive screen time. Teachers stated covid is no longer an excuse. They say a lot of this is due to busy parents working & having less time to interact with children & teach them basic skills. Is this a worrying trend.

Our country should do better at supporting families , one parent should be able to afford to be at home with their children (under 5) if they choose.

the biggest issue with that is it being career suicide.

I've read most of the posts, and don't want to de-rail this interesting thread but would like to hear what an ideal day caring for my DGD age 26 months would look like?

I do my best but welcome your thoughts. Thanks.

My DC watched a lot of tv, especially cartoons, both at home and when with their grandparents, who picked them up from school.
However, they also played outside in the garden, did crafts and painting and read books, and we had dinner around the dining room every day, where we discussed school, current events Etc. The skill of making conversation was a key one in our house!
I and their DDad also read to them both every night, until they wanted to read themselves, and they both had weekend activities that made sure they were always talking to someone new, and getting different viewpoints.
It’s only now they are adults that I have fallen into the doom-scrolling, tv watching trap - but as one DC has returned home after Uni, they are beginning to get me out of those bad habits again!

I’d be interested to see the data on this, including how they chose their teachers, whether they all actually work in reception and the exact questions asked. I filled in a questionnaire by the NEU recently which asked whether I had been kicked/ hit/ bit etc at work in last 12 months. I answered yes to everything, but what the questionnaire never asked was the setting I’m in. I teach in EYFS but children with SEN who are predominantly non-verbal and easily dysregulated, yes I have been bitten and kicked etc but I wouldn’t class it as assault however I am sure my data will be used to make it look like 1 in 4 teachers has been assaulted at work or whatever.

wouldn’t be surprised if for this study this data included children who are in pull-ups overnight for bedwetting and has not accounted for SEN and has then been skewed to look like 1 in 4 children are in nappies. I do outreach in a couple of reception classrooms and nowhere near 25% are in nappies, the only children in nappies are those with SEN who are waiting for a specialist placement. So many special schools are at capacity now and we are seeing much larger numbers of children in mainstream school who need specialist placements, I feel this is more likely to be skewing the data than huge numbers of typically developing children with no SEN wearing nappies in reception.

I worked at a private school and a lot of kids arrived in early years already referred to speech and language therapy. A senior teacher said to me she know it was just an impression, but a lot of those kids had double WFH parents. So those kids are effectively being raised in an office. Lots of “sshhh - Daddy’s/ Mummy’s on a call”. The totality of words they hear will be fewer. And yes, potty training is very time intensive… it would be better, rather than pushing for the optimum, for health visitors to have guidance for parents in that position, eg -

1. Take your free hours when they come up even if it’s inconvenient getting them to/ from nursery
2. Choose TV programmes (e.g. CBeebies) where they will not only hear words, they will see lips move (unlike cartoons)
3. Take annual leave for potty training - just accept it has to be done. Ideally one parent one week, the other the next.

The fact is if both parents are working hybrid, they shouldn’t be juggling it with looking after kids but you can see the temptation - they’re saving an awful lot of money.

You do know, parents that WFH use childcare too?

Name changed for this because it's a little embarrassing and I'll probably catch some heat for admitting it but I agree working too much is probably the issue for some toddlers imagine the kids are driven to day care spend all day there and are then driven home many of these day cares don't even have gardens.
I had my child at 15 and was on benefits until they started school we walked everywhere because no car read loads of charity shop books because too poor to buy an iPad and spent hours every day at the park. Could do everything from a very young age and was very athletic, wins the running race at sports day every year.

I think a lot of these kids are just in day care way too long although I'm not sure what the solution is I acknowledge if everyone did what I did the economy would be screwed.

I really think that the issue isn't too much childcare but not enough

I see so many posters on this site angsting about childcare - especially wraparound - and twisting themselves into pretzels to avoid it. So little Freddie doesn't have to go to after school club, I finish early but sometimes he has to entertain himself play Roblox for 2 hours while I am on a call and then I need to log on and finish up so I am knackered and shove him on his tablet at breakfast time as well. I know people who do this with under 5s for a day or two a week as well

After school club is a great thing for us - my kids mix with children from other year groups, they get fresh air and exercise if they want it or chill out and play board games or Lego if they prefer. And when they come home, we are properly finished with work and pay attention to them

I don't think they're far wrong, my daughter's reception class has 19 kids and I know 4 of them are still in nappies.

Yes it could have made a small difference but the main way children learn is by interacting with their parents.

Sorry can't blame teen mum's for this when this issue has increased in line with the average age of becoming a parent increasing. Maybe having children at 40+ with an increased risk of disabilities should be considered as a possible explanation?

I hate to say it, but I do know people who WFH with pre schoolers. It is impossibly stressful for them and I feel incredibly sorry for them and the kid. I do think that the pandemic taught some people that it is almost possible to do without childcare, and once you start thinking like that, the mad cost of childcare suddenly starts looking like a luxury for some.

they are the ones at home with SAHP

This really needs data to back it up.

In my experience the SAHP vary, just as the work out of the home parents do.

Nurseries vary, as does in home care, and indeed, nannies.

There was nothing like a terry nappy to encourage potty training, no toddler wanted to carry round a heavy, soggy nappy! The Pampers effect is one of the root causes of so many children starting school in nappies, they're relatively comfortable, why bother using the potty! The age for which disposable nappies are available is amazing, when will it spread into secondary schools?

This is exactly my view. If lockdown is to blame then you're basically blaming lazy parents because if you did everything you're supposed to do with a baby to help them develop then they would have developed normally unless there was going to be additional needs anyway.

Well, ideally.

But for those parents not doing a good enough job at that for whatever reason, those little everyday interactions take on more of the slack. And we removed all that, for an extended period.

If you look at the demographics these typically AREN'T the kids going to nursery, they are the ones at home with SAHP but who are parking them in front of the tv
Indeed. See also: middle of the day, parent pushing a buggy with a child watching a screen and/or eating junk food. They don’t do that in nursery.

I happened to come across my kids' childcare reports. It was so intensive about all the activities and learning they did. It wasn't babysitting in any way. It was a lovely environment where my kids learned so much more they ever could have with me if I'd stayed at home.

They are now in their 20s, both in excellent careers after excelling in school.

Well yes, but the blame lies with the parents not doing their job.

I'd say just continuously interacting with her. When making breakfast get her to help you chop the or count out 10 grapes. Take her to playgroups and parks or the library or swimming. Arts and crafts, reading, talking and learning.

Oh come on, you know these big nappy sizes are for disabled children. No year 7 is going to shit into a nappy during double French because they've just got used to being too darn comfortable.

Wow!

I agree with those who say it's not just about the babies themselves having screen time but also parents. I really struggle (especially when I'm tired) to not just sit on the couch with my baby on my lap while scrolling on my phone or laptop instead of engaging.

I actually compare it in my head to smoking parents in the 80s/90s - by then people knew it was bad but it was so addictive that it was hard to stop, and was used as a stress reliever. I always judged those parents because mine didn't smoke - but then, they simply never started, so it was easy for them to say. I have a lot more sympathy now!

I’ve no idea what a proper ideal day is. Mine are teens, but when I wasn’t working our ideal days would be getting out most days.

supermarkets we would write lists and shop for them. They would draw the veg and fruit and look for them.
go out every day, puddle jumping and feeding ducks
wildlife trust and museums do some great organised toddler stuff
a bit of baking and cooking - there’s nearly always a way to let them help.
few crafts or water games when the weathers nice
farm and zoo visits
museum visits
library visits

yes there was plenty of CBeebies (tried to keep YouTube to a minimum as it’s unregulated) when I needed to get stuff done. Just talk to them and interact. I think that’s what most people agree on

Or not having the tools and support to do their job