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.

Curious as to why you think that is any of your business whatsoever?

I still have a Sure Start flannel in the airing cupboard that was given to ds in a gift bag . He's 24 now. What a fantastic scheme that was but as you say,not used by the people it was intended for.

Yes, to me it’s appalling to see such tiny children - some look as if they’re barely even 2 - in buggies and glued to a phone.

OTOH one thing I liked about Peppa Pig when Gdcs were fans, was that at least she doesn’t have an American accent!

What a bizarre comment. You know absolutely nothing about their family dynamics. What’s the difference between an American accent and a YouTube American accent?

One of my kids spoke with an American accent for a time, from watching Dora the explorer.
It turned out as a teen she had an aptitude for languages and accents, according to her teachers who are native speakers. She's very good at picking things up by ear, including languages and accents but also has an excellent audio memory.

Getting to the main point. These were COVID kids who had a range of experiences during COVID, or after when playgroups and library rhyme times were slow to start back.
We lost our 'village' for a time and the internet, zoom etc was a poor replacement for us all.
Hopefully that sense of perspective and social expectation will come back.

Well yeah, someone is taking care of these children while the parents work and childcare settings do play a massive part in toilet training, table manners and keeping children physically active etc.

Not sure what these people think parents should do? Not work and lose their homes and let their children starve?

Maybe her Dad is American or she goes to an American school. Not sure that’s a good measure.

I currently teach in Nursery and Reception in the same 2 form entry school. It is a very socially deprived area. Most mums dont work and have limited English.
Of the 100+ children I teach, 5 are in nappies. Four have EHCPs and ASD with very high needs. The remaining child is currently under treatment for severe impactation so needs to wear pull ups for her own dignity. A couple of the children do speak with American accents because theyve learned English by watching TV at home. They also speak at least one other language and communicate well with their parents.
I have no idea who these 1000 teachers were, but in my experience theres not a crisis!!!

Oh don’t you know on mumsnet it’s a mortal sin to have not married a man who earns £250k a year so that you can be a SAHM devoted to your DC.

It is a question. On a forum we are allowed to ask questions. This person has strong opinions and assumptions on working parents and nursery. I assume she and the generations before her claim benefits and churn out babies to stay on UC with no requirements to look for work and therefore can be a SAHM. That is why I asked the question!

Obviously, this could be untrue, hence why I was curious.

As for the American accent thing, listen to many German people who have bettered their English partly by watching American TV - they speak English with an American accent. TBH I much prefer the English with a German accent, but the bottom line is that we pick accents up when we hear them. That in itself isn't a bad thing. Too much screen time is a separate issue!

Our school Nursery class has 3 adults to 30 children.

This year (unlike any other) at least one of the adults is permanently changing children / mopping up accidents, and thus the amount of small group learning, story reading, singing, gardening is massively reduced.

I agreed with the article/you until this They say a lot of this is due to busy parents working & having less time to interact with children & teach them basic skills

Children at nursery are learning skills and have less screen time. DP and I work full time and our 1 1/2 year old has my accent. I spend lots of time interacting with her and teaching her. She has the skills that lots of Reception children lack because learns at home and at nursery. It's the lazy parents that shove an iPad or phone in front of their toddler and don't teach their children anything. Nothing to do with job status.

The children used expressions more common in America such as trash & vacation due to excessive screen time.

It's just as likely that their parents watch loads of US boxsets and the kids have picked up their usage.

I don't think something like that should be picked up in the same post as someone not being able to climb the stairs.

To me it just shows that we need Surestart back badly and early interventions like this.

i am not sure it is lazy parenting, just expectations of working parents

otoh surely the dc go to nursery if parent/s are working?
agree, need sure start,
nursery to up its game.

Yes I remember the German teenagers on exchange at my school in the 1990s speaking English with a US accent.

Many working parents I know have had their dc in nursery for 12 hour days, 4-5 days/ week since 12 months. They would rather leave the nursery to teach the lo what they can and muddle through. They then spend the time they actually have with their dc doing whatever to be popular, whether that's giving in to putting TV on for lo or just generally not doing any hands on parenting or teaching life skills. They're all too focused on booking extravagant holidays that they'd rather use their annual leave for those than taking a week off to potty train their own child. It's very sad really.

What do you think it expected of working parents that shouldn't be?

A lot of parents aren’t working and have a lot of time to interact with their children, teach them basic skills. Like potty training. They’re lazy and feckless, so they’re not doing it. Sitting the kids in front of iphones and iPads then sending them to school. Poor teachers. Nursery staff take all responsibility now do they? What responsibility do parents have, in your world (apart from working..)?

We worked, our children started school potty trained.

Covid is and never was an excuse. What does lockdown have to do with being able to climb the stairs? Bloody bonkers. If you’re a lazy parent in lockdown you’re a lazy parent full stop

I was surprised with the amount of TV DD watches in school actually. She now likes Peppa Pig and several other shows that she's never seen with us! At least they won't pick up the dreaded Americanisms from there, although they do watch bluey so I'll be sure to report back on any Australian twang...

Obviously I don't know the full history of all the kids but I don't think lack of activity is an issue for most of her class, and the ones I know of are able to use the toilet.

Obviously this seems to be an issue, but don't paint all reception-aged kids and their parents with the same brush.

Ummm not sure many nurseries run that long…..12 hours a day is a slight exaggeration.

My daughter went to nursery full time from 10 months. She was a lockdown child. She is exceptionally bright. Was mobile early on. We go to extra curricular classes we spend time outside. We spend time with family and friends and their young children.

what exactly is it as a full time working parent that I have expected from child care???

I think this is unfair.
Lockdown did make a lot of people's lives much harder, even if it didn't affect you.