Childminders & television

[lechatnoir]

I'm registering as a CM and trying to decide what to do about tv usage during the week so my own DC don't feel sidelined but parents (particularly of younger ones) are reassured their child isn't plonked in front of the TV all day!! As either a parent or CM would you find the following rules acceptable:

1. No tv during meals, before homework or in place of play
2. Age appropriate to youngest child present
3. If allowed, always restricted to: max 20min after lunch / max 40 mins before or after tea
4. occasionally full length film after school or during holidays - parents to be notified

Anything else to consider or any thoughts on your child watching television at their childminder's?
LCN

My DM is a CM and she works out of her dining room where there is no tv. She has a tv in the living room but that is for my DDad and DSis etc so her mindees dont go in there.

Very very occasionall if she only has one mindee (she sometimes has one girl aged 10 on her own) theyll both go in and watch Harry Potter movie or similar.

Otherwise no tv avaliable for mindees. And Ive never once heard them ask for it.

If I didn't have my own children I probably wouldn't bother with it either but usual after school routine is get home have a snack & do homework play for an hour then if we're eating a bit later they'll watch a bit of TV whilst I prepare it or eat first and then watch TV afterwards & days my youngest isan't at pre-school, if we've had a busy morning we might have lunch then chill on the sofa with stories or a bit of Cbeebies - do you think either of these scaenios are OK for minded children or is TV a real 'no-no'?
We only have a TV in the lounge too so no chance or having it on at mealtimes

I would say TV in general is a big no-no, as when im at home with DD I may well put the tv on, but then, if she was around other kids, I would see no reason for her to need the TV as she would just play with / alongside them.

Having known my DMum as a No TV CM, I would want a no TV CM for my own but that's not to say everyone would think that.

I rarely have the TV on, but my mindees have enjoyed watching a bit of the Olympics.

I'd be really happy with those rules tbh esp. if you have little ones coming back from school knackered!

yes TV for stuff like Lympics, Autumnwatch (check schedule for timings) a DVD afternoon perhaps in the hols but as a rule, no TV

My own DC have grown up with the no tv rule, accept it quite happily

NB there was some research that came out from I think Australia recently showing that tv is actively bad for the undertwos; do a bit of digging; you could make No Tv one of your USPs

here; not Australia but USA

As a CM my TV is permanently 'broken'. The main room I childmind in doesn't have one but there's one in the living room. The kids never ask for it and I rarely feel the need for it myself. My own kids understand that the TV isn't on when I'm childminding. I must add though that I only look after preschoolers at the moment - and not for long hours. I might have a different take on things if I had older kids or children for long hours in bad weather!

Your rules sound fine though, very clear.

Hi I think your rule is perfectly acceptable and fair. I think there is a big divide in opinion regarding to watch or not to watch.

I think (like you said) if it doesn't replace play and is used sparingly, I don't see what harm it can do.

It will be hard to successfully accommodate the needs of different parents as far as TV goes.. So as long as the parents are fully aware of your policy, you should have no problems.

Niamh

If I chose to use a CM it would mean that I would trust her to look after my DC... if I trust her to look after my DC I would trust her to do what she thought was right - with regard to TV or anything else. If I used a CM it would be to get a home-from-home setting, not Ofsteds idea of 'excellent'.

I think you are overthinking it to be honest. My mindees watch tv as and when - there are no set rules. It depends on the weather, the number of children, what they have been doing etc. But generally they prefer to be doing other things - especially when there are lots of children around to play with.

I don't have a set of rules for parents - basically my usage varies depending on the children's ages, if there's something on relevant to what we've been doing or a specific interest (like the Olympics, or a nature programme, or an episode of Peppa Pig) - if a parent chooses you, they're already happy you're going to care for their child appropriately and not just plonk them in front of the telly

I wouldn't have a set policy. Just reassure them the tele's not on all day.

Agree with HSMM, don't put times in policy as this will be really hard to keep to - my own dc are totally obsessed with Olympics at the moment but watch in short bursts depending what's happening. Some parents are happy to let their dc chill out at cm in front of tv if they've had a particularly busy day at nursery or school - others say no to tv completely. I don't ever let mindees sit for ages in front of tv but sometimes it's a good way of getting them all to settle down for a few minutes and it can be educational. I find it's much easier to go with the flow as a childminder so the fewer rules set out the better. Even try asking the dc to write their own house rules and include in that rules about watching tv - how they'll agree what to watch, that they won't put on anything that isn't age appropriate for them all etc

I don't have a set policy. Sometimes I use it to calm everyone down a bit if the play is getting a bit frenetic, sometimes I use it for a particular programme which fits with the childrens' interests. I don't let them watch more than one episode of a programme or for longer than about half an hour max but it does have its uses and is appropriate occasionally. I would normally write in the daily diaries if the children have watched anything on TV along with the other activities they have been doing.

I had v fixed ideas as a new mum about how much [zero] tv was appropriate and so on and so forth. When looking for childcare it came up a number of times and we were persuaded that provided a child isn't plonked down in front of the tv there is merit in watching something with your child in an interactive way and not isolating them from their peers.
Provided it is clear how much and what is being watched, I wouldn't have a huge issue with it in moderation. The diary is a good idea.
As a parent, I find it difficult to deal with the whining when it gets switched off though - not sure that with multiple kids it's not just easier to keep it off more often than not.
Re your own DC's - they are not going to want to watch Peppa Pig if they are not of that age anyway so I suspect it will become a non-issue or you will have to allow them to watch occasional programmes in another room to have a happy medium. Maybe a Freeview recorder (cheap as chips and so handy) would be a solution so they can have an hour of tv before bedtime if their own preferences aired on tv hours earlier ?

I seldom put the TV on, but agree that a fixed hours policy would be a bit OTT. I'd hope the families I work with would give me some credit for using common sense about what to let their children watch and for how long if the situation arose.

I did have one family who were very clear that they wanted no TV, no cake, no sweets etc and funnily enough that was the one child who knew every TV character and theme tune, every flavour of crisps and snacks, sweets and junk food just from a brief glimpse of advertising on a hoarding or passing truck (and would then pester accordingly) and would also of course tell me exactly what she watched/ate at home.