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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Not to want my DD to watch TV at nursery?

70 replies

drivinmecrazy · 14/01/2009 10:33

DD2 came home from nursery yesterday and as usual i asked her what they had done. She told me they watched Mr Tumble on the TV. I am not happy. I don't pay for her to go and watch TV. have spoken to another mother at a different nursery and she says they watch Tv at her nursery and have for several years. DD not back at nursery til Friday, so will bring it up with them then.

OP posts:

CrackopentheBaileys · 14/01/2009 11:34

cheesesarnie I would have been really cross if she was feeding him stuff like that against my wishes. The dvd thing is pretty bad too, the occasional treat if fine but that takes the piss!
On the other hand, I used to take care of two brothers aged 1 and 2. I asked their Mum how she felt about them watching tv and she said no more than once a week and that they NEVER watch at home.
Well, a couple of weeks later we sat down to watch something and they sang the jingles to ALL the adverts!

Ebb · 14/01/2009 11:34

Nurseries rarely pay extra for staff to do paper work though. I used to work 8-5 or 9-6 and nursery was open 8-6. We had to get in early to set up or we'd have to do it with the children arriving whilst only having 'skeleton' staffing. It was quite common for one parent to pick up late so we'd all have to stay if on a late shift - unpaid of course. It was 1997 when I left nursery work to go into nannying but even back then the daily reports, weekly development reports, observations, activity planning etc took up a lot of time and we all ended up doing it in our own time. I was probably working 4hrs a week unpaid and only earning £8000 a year when I left. I dread to think how much paperwork nursery staff have to do now with all the rules and regulations! Anyway sorry rant over!

Original poster

drivinmecrazy · 14/01/2009 11:34

I thought I had picked a no TV nursery. DD1 was there for three years, DD2 been there for 18 months and first time they have watched TV. Very suprised it seems quite a common thing.

OP posts:

cheesesarnie · 14/01/2009 11:36

CrackopentheBaileys- i was.

CrackopentheBaileys · 14/01/2009 11:38

Panacotta, playing games on a computer teaches so many skills!
IT awareness is so important to have in todays day and age.
And the games on pc's are usually educational too.... numbers, letter, shapes etc etc
I think it would be very sad if they didn't get a go on the computer!

Pannacotta · 14/01/2009 11:42

Crackopen we will have to agree to disagree, IMO 3 year old kids can live very happily without using a computer.
I have seen the games they do on it and I don't like them, nor do I like the fact that they will sti glued to it for ages even though there are many other, more imaginative ways to spend their time there.
OP I woudl talk to the nursery and tell them your feelings about the TV issue...

ForeverOptimistic · 14/01/2009 11:43

Both the Montessori and the nursery class at local state school (outstanding ofsted) used TV. At both nurseries the children would watch TV after lunch whilst waiting for parents to arrive. It is a good method of calming them down and keeping them all in one place, if they are engaged in an activity they are less likely to want to go home when their parents arrive. I think this practice is used by most nurseries and I can't see the problem myself.

Pinkjenny · 14/01/2009 11:44

Agree ForeverOptimistic - my dd is at a Montessori and they do watch TV, but I'm in danger of repeating myself now.

stealthsquiggle · 14/01/2009 11:53

DS's nursery made a big deal out of the fact that they never watched TV . DD's nursery does, occasionally, but I don't have a problem with it, mainly because they don't just 'park' the children in front of the TV (like I do at home ) - they 'actively' watch it - the carers sit with them, they talk about what they are watching, join in with Boogie Beebies, etc.

megandtyler · 14/01/2009 12:08

my 4yo dd has been using a computer since she was 2.she'd sit with me and play on the cbeebies ebsite and when she was 3 she could type her on name and navigate around the website by herself.she used a computer at playschool and uses one at school now.shes a dab hand on the wii and now has a ds lite.she has computer time at home when she wants it it has really helped with her reading.i know i'll get flamed for this but shes a happy girl and gets a good balance of ibdoor and outdoor activities.

mm22bys · 14/01/2009 12:18

I doubt she watches TV all day, every day. Every thing in moderation.

I am quite happy for DS1 to watch the odd movie or educational TV show at school.

Which is exactly what Mr Tumble is, it is educational, and your DD may even learn something.

YABU.

carrotsandpeasifyouplease · 14/01/2009 12:39

YANBU, this is one of the reasons I took my ds from a trial period with a childminder to a nursery, twice I picked him up to find him in a chair watching teh tv. Quite simply I don't pay people to look after him to then put him in front of a tv, irrelevant of whether tv is good or bad.
If I want to plonk him in front of the tv to do some of my own paperwork thats my own perogative.

rempy · 14/01/2009 12:41

With Mrs Badger on this.

YANBU.

But I also chose the no TV nursery of the two on the short list.

And DD doesn't watch at home either. So my expectations are not different at home.

NorkyButNice · 14/01/2009 12:44

DS watches Mr Tumble at nursery for 20 minutes once a week too. In the 40 hours he's there a week I don't think that's too bad going - the amount of other stuff they find for him to do in the other 39 hours, 40 minutes more than makes up for it!

PadDad · 14/01/2009 13:00

Mr Tumble wasn't ON TV yesterday.

He can't have been, because DD and I saw him eating at Yo Sushi in Westfield shopping mall in London.

Sans clown-outfit.

StepfordKnife · 14/01/2009 13:04

Frankly, if it is only the occasional programme and around half an hour or less per day, I wouldn't sweat it...

islandofsodor · 14/01/2009 13:09

YABU

My ds's nursery often used CBeebies programmes like Come Outiside that linked into themes.

Mr Tumble (Something Special) is a FANTASTIC programme that teaches sign language and gives positive images of SN children.

VinegarTits · 14/01/2009 13:13

rempy can i ask you why your dd is not allowed to watch any TV? genuine question.

loflo · 14/01/2009 13:45

Ds's nursery use tv outwith the structured session times. AM one starts at 9am so for the kids who are dropped off at 8am tv is an option. To be honest most of the kids are too busy eating toast or chatting to each other to bother with it. I have no issues with it being used in this was but if it was during session time (9am-11.30) think I might feel differently.

Mimia · 14/01/2009 18:59

I would actually be very happy for my DD to watch an episode of something special at nursery, I think it is a great programme and DD loves it and has watched it regularly at home. The other day we got into a lift and there was an older boy in the lift who had SN and I was chatting to his mum and the boy signed something to DD, who smiled and signed back a couple of random signs she knows from Something Special. I'm very proud that she tried her best to communicate and wasn't staring open mouthed at him. So I would see it as highly appropriate in terms of teaching about different kinds of people, friendships and communication.

If they had been watching any old tat that that would be different.

iwantitnow · 14/01/2009 19:40

I wouldnt' want a nursery to put on the TV on - the reason I've started sending DD to pre-school is too much CBEEBIES as I'm having a dreadful pregnancy. They do have a computer but have a limit of 5mins per child.

You can introduce themes etc... without the aid of television. Paperwork and cleaning can be done during or after the day - I really don't see that as an excuse.

nannyL · 14/01/2009 19:43

YABU
every nursary and childcare setting i have ever come across allows the children to watch a bit of telly...
as do schools, colleges and even universitys!

lottiejenkins · 14/01/2009 19:58

YABU.
Speaking as the mother of a profoundly deaf sign language using son im delighted that children are allowed to watch Something Special. The more children who are able to learn to communicate using sign language the better!

lottiejenkins · 14/01/2009 19:59

I loved your thread Mimia, my son loves it when other children can sign back to him and he likes nothing better than teaching other children new signs too!!

bodiddly · 14/01/2009 20:01

my ds' nursery puts the tv on at sleep time for the older children that no longer have naps. They are short on space and it is one way of them keeping them quieter so that the others can rest .. it also gives the older ones a chill out time if they don't sleep.

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