Mr Tumble at school?

[orangesky1]

My reception child came home today saying they had been watching Mr Tumble at school - a boring and silly man - in his words!

not heard of this one before - had a Quick Look on YouTube now, and it looks completely inane.

it is otherwise a good school, so I am surprised by this. Am I missing something? Is this actually educational?

we are not anti screen time although I have a general feeling the children don’t get enough exercise in school, but that’s a topic for another day. I do think if they are showing videos, they should have some merit - either educational, informative about the world or properly artistic, entertaining or thought provoking.

Not this lowest common denominator drivel, that seems better suited to a 2 year old.

I don’t want to make a complaint but would just be interested in hearing views from those who have watched more than two minutes as maybe I am being unfair.

Mr Tumble is about inclusion for all children, children with disabilities are included in the programme, and he teaches signing for children. It’s about speech and language. It’s absolutely appropriate and educational for 2 or 4 year olds. How much did you watch before deciding it was inane? Also worth remembering you are not the target audience for these programmes.

I couldn’t stand Justin Fletcher, but little kids seem to love him. Could it have been a particular episode that linked to something they were doing that day, eg signing as other posters suggest?

Just avoid his other incarnation, Gigglebiz. That one drove me spare!

Mr Tumble uses Makaton signs. A lot of schools teach some Makaton signs to support spoken communication. This might be why they are watching it. I think it's fairly appropriate and wouldn't warrant a complaint, unless they are generally having too much screen time.

I believe Mr Tumble is designed for children with learning difficulties - not exclusively so, as it is enjoyed by many children and is a CBeebies staple - but it aims to use Makaton and other communication methods to help children with different educational needs. Hope that's helpful!

Your child has never learnt anything from cbeebies then.
Mr Tumble does Makaton signing.

I think they sometimes put things on at snack time and home time. Mr Tumble might not be Planet Earth but it will do no harm.

Mr Tumble is fine and popular. I wouldn't want my child to be watching a lot of TV at school but perhaps it was wet lunch, golden time, or for 10 mins while teacher dealt with something. I would question how it's being used if it seems like a regular thing and the teacher can explain.

I think your son takes after you. Lighten up.

You’ve never heard of Mr Tumble ?? You’re being ridiculous

It could be used to re-enforce any Makaton signs they’ve learned in class. It’s a very popular program that’s being going for years, but maybe beginning to be outgrown by age 5.

This was shown to my child in reception 12 years ago. It's brilliant read the above messages. If they have been showing it in schools for this long they arnt going to change it just for you.

Mr Tumble (the programme is actually called Something Special) is an educational programme that has won awards.
It's the type of programme that would have been classed as "schools programming" if it had existed in the 60s/70s/80s.
A school showing an educational TV programme....how shocking 😱 (sarcastic).

YABVU My kids are way too old for this now but he made beautifully inclusive TV whilst teaching kids Makaton.

😂

The one where he does ballroom dancing in Blackpool with loads of kids in wheelchairs is so so lovely (I’m 39…)

Very educational programme and perfect for children to watch. Can't believe a child you saying your child is calls him a silly man. It's not the right language for a child. Yabu by the way and sounds like it you not your child who has issues.

I'm not sure he did
As the parent of a severely disabled non verbal teen, I always it incredibly patronising.

To be honest the Mr Tumble character is meant to be funny.
He's a clown 🤷

Lighten up!

My son watches all sorts at after school club and sometimes in school hours and Mr Tumble is not inane, he teaches inclusivity and is targeted towards SEN children who use Makaton as well as neurotypical children…..

There are definitely battles to pick in life and this is not one of them.

I’m sorry you found it patronising @x2boys
I have a child with similar needs and I didn’t find it patronising at all. It really helped when she was younger to see there were other kids out like her.

It’s the only thing that holds my 18mo’s attention so I stick it on in the morning when I’m trying to make a cup of tea without said toddler wrecking the joint. My 3yo isn’t particularly interested in it so I can see why your school age child was unimpressed.

Your kid’s already taking his socially and intellectually superior cues from you, so I feel sure there’ll be no lasting impact on his development.

You could be a bit more open-minded of the needs of people different from you.

Have you been watching some of his other programmes by mistake instead of the ones aimed at really small kids? He has several, like Gigglebiz.

That’s good ours use to just put on SpongeBob

Might be worth reading this for a bit of empathy

https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/12/rob-delaney-a-heart-that-works-book-excerpt/672566/

"After my son got a brain tumor, his treatment left him unable to speak. Children’s shows that used the language program Makaton became a source of joy for our family."