Watching TV at Nursery

[kmini]

We've recently moved our DS to a new nursery. The old nursery was by no means perfect, but we were always happy with their approach to learning/developmental goals etc.

There are some lovely aspects to the new nursery, but there are a few things that are worrying us. They don't seem to have a strong focus on learning outcomes (despite being a Ofsted outstanding nursery). They also have ages 2.5 through to almost 5 year olds in the same rooms, which is a recent development. we feel this makes the rooms more chaotic and we are questioning how they really assess/focus on learning needs.

Given the above, we already having reservations. Recently, we noticed that they seem to watch tv regularly. I suppose my main question is....is tv normal in other nurseries? There was never any tv at our previous nursery.

Any opinions very welcome.

I've never known a good nursery to use tv. In my opinion it's just lazy. Childcarers are trained to educate and occupy children, there are so many things that they can be doing. I say this as a previous nursery nurse and Nanny.

Is it because school term has now finished, and they've moved from "Preschool" to "holiday club" mode?

He's been going there just over a month now and we've noticed the tv/films two weeks ago. It's possible that it's to do with holidays I suppose.

Ours have a big screen and they use it alongside other activities. For example the other week they were learning about the emergency service so they did drawings, role plays, dressing up and watched some age appropriate videos about ambulances and police officers.

As long as they're not just sticking milkshake or cbeebies on and saying there you go kids have at it, i think its fine.

Our nursery has the same age groupings. We are moving dd for this reason. She's now 3.6 and has been in the pre school room for a year. She's lovely stay another year if we didn't move her.

The TV is tricky as you probably don't get an overview of the whole day. I didn't mind it with my dd as they often integrated it so they felt the film - frozen etc - was special. It was rare they watched a while film though, more like a few nursery rhyme videos or extracts from Stick Man.

Sorry. She would stay in that room if she stayed. So she would stay there until 4.7. All children 2y5 to school age in one room. I don't think they do differentiate enough and so we're moving dd.

It depends what they are watching a short 15 minute educational series is ok in my opinion but cartoons for an hour not so much , are they using the tv to keep children occupied while they clean up and set up new activities

We know they watched Trolls one day and my D'S was watching Peppa when DH walked in the other day. Suspect Dispicable Me too, given Ds sudden interest in minions. I'm not against TV, he watching CBeebies as I write rather ironically! I just feel it's not appropriate for a nursery.

Seems like the 2.5/3 -5 yrs is more common than I thought. Our previous nursery , they would move them up rooms with their peers every 6-9 months. This seemed like a good approach to me.

I'm a nursery worker. I've worked in all sorts of systems. I do not like children mixed from 2.5 to school age.
Firstly, toys with fiddly bits that really occupy the minds of 4 year olds (Lego/Hama beads/peg boards/etc) tend to have "Not suitable for children under 36 months" on them. If you make sure everything is safe for the under 3 year olds, it ends up being unchallenging/boring for the 4 year olds.
Secondly, a child aged 4 would be happy building elaborate models out of wooden bricks or Duplo on the floor. A child of 2 and a half is very much into knocking down any elaborate models they see. 4 year olds would often see a much younger child as an annoying thing that spoils their games.
Thirdly and more generally, throughout the room a 2.5 year old has trouble using equipment "nicely". Puzzle 'nobbles' get bitten off, books get walked on, a tableful of Lego gets carefully pushed onto the floor so the child can listen to the tinkle of it hitting the floor. They just can't handle the same responsibilities as a 4 year old.
A child of 2 and a half is so different from a child of 4 and a half I've found it just doesn't work to mix them. It can still be a struggle when a 3 year old enters the older room. My ideal nursery would have a 2.5 to 3.5 room, followed by 3.5 to school.

Thank you Tiggyd. I really appreciate your thoughts.

I wouldn't be happy with DD watching tv at nursery.

I would talk to them about the use of tv...how long what and why. I would also ask how they monitor safety for younger children with regards to what is mentioned above....on a different point young children learn a lot from being around older ones it increases their language and encourages then to try more challenging things....just like in a family unit.....but the quality of what they get does have to be much more highly supervised both in terms of safety and the actual learning.

It may well be they have done this to accommodate staff holidays rather than employ agency staff and its temporary but only you can decide if your happy with that. personally I think if done well it can be beneficial but its hard in a large group setting.

I worked in a nursery that was lovely. I then moved to another nursery to work and realised they had a tv. I hate it. I hate iPads, TVs etc
I now work in an outdoor nursery. It is beautiful and really is the best thing I have done!
You have that doubt. Look at other nurseries! If you want the best (it sounds like you do) then have a visit of some other nurseries and see what else there is!

My DD's nursery move them into the 'pre-school' room just before they turn 3. However they then split them up for a chunk of the day so the younger ones do one activity and the older ones (that are starting school in Sept) do something slightly different. But they eat together and have time for free play etc.

They watch the occasional Peppa Pig or numberblocks. I really don't mind-the nursery is open 7.45-6 so it's a long day for some of them, needing 15 minutes down time at the end of the day with their milk and snack is totally understandable.

Bit late to the thread but I am a nursery nurse and we do have a television and DVD player. It rarely gets used other than on a Friday afternoon when we allow the children 10-15 minutes tv time as a treat. Other than that we occasionally use it for a couple of educational dvds we have which relate to our theme of the month, these are only a few minutes long though.

My DDs Nursery allow TV in 15 minute blocks after mealtimes so that the children who are slower eaters can eat and the ones who have finished are occupied in one place, it's usually educational things like Numberblocks.

She's 2.2 and in the 2-3 room. They move to the preschool room just before their 3rd birthday but they're split into 2 groups, 3-3.5 and then tehn 3.5-school age. They all eat together though.

My daughter is 2 & they have the tv on for the last hour as parents are in and out picking kids up. I look at it like does she have the telly on at home with me for an hour in any given day (yes probably). Do we watch films (yes). There are also bricks, dolls, toys etc out. I pay £45 a day - she has breakfast, lunch and tea there and loves the place. I've got no complaints whatsoever. It's all about balance.

Also the rooms are 6m-2yr, 2yr-3yr then 3-school age. End of day they all get thrown in together which they seem to love.

Might be worth seeing if things change in September before you make a decision. A lot of nurseries I know do relax a bit over school holidays as the numbers change and you don't have the funded children in etc. Ours has mixed ages during holidays if numbers are low and staff are on holiday.

Usually it has 0-2, 2-3.5, 3-5 age group rooms. No TV though in term time except education clips on computer linked with an activity or learning goal.

With the exception of the tv, everything you describe sounds normal to me. There isn't a heavy 'learning' focus in nursery/preschool. They are so little yet and while they will help them start to recognise colours, letters, numbers, do counting games and mark making/letter writing, writing their name eventually, it really is more about play (as it should be) and social skills, personal care, etc.. That's what they are supposed to be doing at that age. Even in reception, while there is more of a focus on learning, it's still very much about free play, exploration, social and personal skills. As long as they can get along with others, share, take turns, and generally manage using the toilet/handwashing on their own by the time they reach school, then that's great. It's ideal if they can write their name, but even that isn't necessary and there is more focus on handwriting in reception and Year 1.

As for the kids of the same age all in one class, that's more of a Montessori approach and just depends on the nursery, but our nursery has all the kids together (9 months to 5 years) and it's lovely. The under 2s do have some time on their own when it's too busy or for nap/quiet times, but otherwise, they are always together and it's been wonderful for my daughter. She's been there since 9 months and is off to school next week. It's great for them to learn to help the younger ones and I think her language skills were much improved by talking with the older ones.

The tv thing I think is a big red flag for me. At our nursery, they do occasionally watch videos on a tablet, but they are very specific and for a purpose, like a YouTube video on a topic one of the kids asked about or if they want to sing a certain song and no one knows the words. Recently, they watched a Mr. Maker video about a specific art project and then they all sat down and did it. It's not like they are sat in front of the tv watching Peppa Pig mindlessly and there is always an adult supervising it. I wouldn't be happy about that honestly, because I could do that much myself at home and carry on working in the other room. I feel like that isn't what I pay for and there's no reason they shouldn't have enough staff on hand to do something more interactive.