How much TV would you expect a child to watch in pre-school?

[dilemma456]

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tbh I would not be happy with any TV at all in pre-school.

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That is too much. I think it depends how long the children are there for as to whether or not any is acceptable. If it's a daycare nursery and they are there eg 8-6 then I think that up to an hour is OK. At that age they won't be having a nap so might be a good way for them to have a rest. If it's a school day eg 9 - 3 then I don't think that they should watch any.

At least 2 hours a day???

At DS's nursery, (the half day one the year before reception class), they'd have TV for 15 minutes or so when they had their milk. I did ask why and was told it was just a chance for them to calm down and actually drink, which i could sort of understand, but then, thought that was a bit rubbish.

In year 2 now, DS gets to watch telly if it's too wet to play outside.

I'm not impressed.

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i would be shocked if they watched ANY tv at all, tbh- aren't there any ofsted guidelines forbidding it? and if there aren't there should be!

i mean- if you want your kids to watch telly you can just keep them at home....

My DSs day nursery used to give them TV after lunch, and that's why he never went for a poo when he needed to. It has taken years to get him out of the habit of holding it.

2 hours a day is waaay too much. I have no problem with some television in a childcare setting, they're long days! The children at DD's nursery are often watching television when I pick her up, but that's the last half-hour of the day, and they'll have been outside, and dancing, painting, making models, all the rest of it all day, I figure the staff need a little break, plus the kids are SLIGHTLY calmer for handing back to parents.

ds is in school nursery and they have tv every now and then maybe once a month.
In the dds day nursery they used to put tv on at 5pm for last half hour while other staff cleaned the nursery for the next day. DDs now in a new nursery which as far as I have seen has no tv at all

None. I rejected a pre-school purely on the grounds it had a TV.

Interestingly, I hear on the grapevine that they've now got rid of it because they were having problems recruiting children.

er none, we have TV at home that's enough!!

None. And certainly not 2 hours as the sessions are only 2 3/4 hours.

None.

What a shocking preschool.

Err none, our pre-school doesn't have a TV thank goodness.
My Dc's rarely watch TV at home so I would not be happy about them going to pre-school to watch it!

I wouldn't expect a child to watch any television at all in pre-school. Pre-school lasts for 2.5 hours a day - children should be organised into activities or playing with each other during that short time,

But the OP isn't really talking about pre-school - she is describing a daycare nursery with a "pre-school" room. Given that the nursery day lasts for up to 10.5 hours a day, and that these are (I presume) 3-4 year olds, a couple of hours of well-chosen TV doesn't sound appalling. Not fantastic - but then, on cold wet days my daughter (3.8) often watches a couple of hours of DVDs all told - Angelina Ballerina, Charlie and Lola, Pingu, National Geographic wildlife films etc.

Have you asked them why the childre watch so much television? The nursery my dd is at does not use televisions at all, and television use was one of the reasons we chose nursery setting over childminding.

none

the only reason I could face ft work was that nursery could do stuff with dd that I wouldn't or couldn't. TV does not come under that heading.

My DD goes to daycare at her school from 8am-6pm roughly, although i generally pick up at 5pm. She spends the day at pre school as shes 3, but they never have the TV on. When i pick her up from the nursery room, and they've had tea and are on quiet time, every other day they have 10 mins of TV which is fireman sam or something. which is fine with me, as DD starts on wind down ready for home.

I'd pull her out too!

I agree with mrsbadger.

What are the staff doing while the children are glued to the box?

I wouldn't send mine to a nursery that had a TV either. Maybe I am lucky though - our pre-school is fantastic and much more fun than mummy apparently

None in ds' nursery (its in a school) they have 15mins once a week when they have libary time after reading the books one of the children can choose which dvd they watch for 15 mins.

I personally do not think children attending pre-schools/nurseries etc should have that much access to a television as I tend to view these places as those which would provide activities and learning opportunities for my DC which I might not be able to do at home for whatever reason be it lack of equipment, work commitments, or just the terrible thought of having paint and playdough thrown around the place.

However, when we enrolled DD at her school nursery earlier this year, I was horrified to notice a television in the corner once she had already started. I questioned DD on whether it was watched and if so, what they were watching and how much. She told me they were watching 'Come Outside' where Aunty Mable is talking about spiders. I also asked the teachers too and was told that they sometimes watch programmes such as these to support themes they are doing within the nursery. I am now less snippy about televisions in nursery but this is provided they are being used to support the learning, rather than because the adults need to keep the children occupied long enough to carry on with other jobs or because they can't think of anything better to do with the children.

in the room my ds is (just under 3 to just under 4) they have it on for 20mins every few days or so. They have a teacher with them + talk through the programme. Look at this, what do you think is going to happen next kind of thing. - I'm perfectly happy with this

Two hours a day is far to much. Even it is in a day ccare setting. I have worked with pre-school children in a day nursery and they sometimes watch Tv for about 15 minutes after lunch while the tables are being cleared. But they will be watching DVD's suitable for pre-school children usually a music one where they can sing along with the songs.
The rest of the day they will haveplenty of opputunity to do a range of activities that will help them with thier development. They will have some free play bit that does not mean running around and throwing toys

I think two hours is too much for a day care setting. On the other hand,10.5 hours of active learning/educational games/crafts etc is probably too much too, so they need to organise some chill time.