For Providers Providing Care In Their Homes, How Much TV Do You Allow During The Day?

[e.j.]

I don't generally turn the tv on during day care hours. It depends on the kids I have enrolled, though. I will let older kids who have outgrown their naps watch educational tv once the younger kids fall asleep.

[Blackcat31]

I don't know if I agree with this either- Tons of educational programing out there. I think balance is key- I don't use TV much at all, to the point of it not being an everyday thing.

There are NO guidelines as to what is considered "educational" or not in the TV and movie industry. A TV show that has 50 minutes of aggressive, violence can be labeled as "educational" as long as 10 minutes of the show has some form of academics in it. :confused:

I also feel that TV (even educational) takes time away from how kids under 5 REALLY learn.

Just like other forms of television, educational television forces your child to sit passively rather than play outside, interact with family members, engage in trial and error, or experiment with how to play with toys. If your child is watching lots of television each day, it doesn't matter if this television is "educational" or not- it's taking away from normal activities

This Is Not How Children Learn:
We send kids to school at six or seven for a reason- that's when they're ready for it. Very young children learn through direct engagement, through trial and error, and through being exposed to a wide variety of environments and skills. They do not learn by sitting and being taught.

The Importance of Social Skills and Personality Development:
Television, even educational television, is one sided. The television talks and your child listens. Children develop their talents and their personalities through interactions with others, and through watching real interactions, not via television tutorials or watching interactions on tv. Children who are exposed to too much television from an early age tend to be less socially adept, less empathetic, and less primed to learn from their environment.

http://voices.yahoo.com/why-not-let-child-watch-educational-6263236.html?cat=25

I also think having the TV on in the background all day is FAR more detrimental than just watching it. There have been studies that show that kids who had the TV on all day as background noise suffer from ADD/ADHD more than children who did not have background TV.

I am NOT anti-TV...I watch a ton myself....but I do feel that what TV the daycare children do watch should be up to the parents and done on their time. I personally just don't feel as though it should be part of their daycare day.

[Angelsj]

I don't disagree with you at all. However, I need that hour for my own sanity. Since I don't push naps and take non nappers, I just need an hour for a cup of coffee and a break. I know, as providers we really are not supposed to admit WE need a minute here and there, but I admit it...proudly! ::

[Blackcat31]

I don't disagree with you at all. However, I need that hour for my own sanity. Since I don't push naps and take non nappers, I just need an hour for a cup of coffee and a break. I know, as providers we really are not supposed to admit WE need a minute here and there, but I admit it...proudly! ::

...yeah, but you also don't work within a set time frame of hours. You offer care ANYtime someone needs it correct?

[Sunchimes]

We don't have tv in the daycare room and don't have cable or netflix. So it has never become part of our day. However, we do have screen time. Oldest dcg just turned 3. While baby has his morning nap, we do our "school work" then she can watch youtube or play educational games either on the laptop or on my tablet. I switch up depending on our day.

I don't see any problem with a few cartoons, but I am crazy about Little Einsteins and Doc McStuffins. Honestly, she has learned so much from that. We were playing the other day, and she wanted to go faster, so she ran around saying "Allegro, allegro." She asked for money the other day and I told her she had to tell me what she was going to buy first. She said she was buying a violin, a piano, a trumpet, and a clarinet. I can promise I had no idea what those things were when I was 3.

That said, the 19 month old has never had screen time here, more than a few minutes all together in the 1 1/2 years I've had him. He is in Early Intervention and his sensory/speech therapist asked that he have no screen time of any type until he was 2, for the reasons Blackcat mentioned. It didn't seem to hurt his sister at all (she got some screen time here but lots and lots at home-she was fluent with the ipad before she was 2). She is really, really smart. But, she's a different kid. I think it doesn't bother some, it is detrimental to others, and you don't know which is which until it's too late.

Dcg has become interested in movies and princesses, so I'll probably do some of those this winter if I can find any cheap ones. Or maybe I'll download some on my Nexus tablet for her.

[caregiver]

I just love the ipad or tablets to use as a teaching tool. Most of the app's have where the child has to touch the right answer, if they are right it will tell them good job, if not it will tell them wrong answer, try again I am finding that they actually respond better to these apps then if I work with them on learning the same things or sitting down and reading a story to them. The ipad seems to make it more fun for them to learn and seems to keep their attention longer. It seems to be more of a challenge for them to learn. My daycare parents have now said that they think they will one to use at home and have said that it is really a nice thing to have to teach the kids.
They don't even want to watch t.v even if I would let them. The ipad or tablet is more fun for them to work with. So if some of you have a tablet or ipad, just maybe give it a try sometime and see how your daycare kids react to it.

[Angelsj]

...yeah, but you also don't work within a set time frame of hours. You offer care ANYtime someone needs it correct?

Yes, I do. I do limit things to make it work for me. In other words, I don't have parents who pick up at 11pm AND parents dropping at 4:30 am at the same time, but essentially, yes, I take kids most hours of the day, including overnighters when needed.

[Sunchimes]

My daycare girl has been using my tablet for almost a year now, since right after she turned 2. I have a couple of suggestions. I bought something called Iballz for my tablet. They are sort of like ping pong balls that fit over the corner of the tablet (Ipad, Ipad mini, and Nexus 7, maybe others). www.iballz.net If the tablet is dropped, the balls keep the tablet screen from hitting the floor. The only real hazard is if it landed on a toy or something in the center of the screen, or maybe if someone kneeled on it.. In my house, I have very strict rules (only use it sitting, no carrying it or walking with it). After almost a year, I haven't had a bit of trouble. But, just in case, I have a Square Trade Warranty with drop protection. Didn't cost much, and it is very good protection. I had to use it once for my laptop. I took it to a local shop, got it fixed, and they reimbursed me promptly. This way, I don't have to worry.

My dcg can do anything with a touch screen, but she can't master a mouse. We've worked and worked, but she just doesn't seem to be able to control the mouse enough to do anything. She loves abcmouse.com, but she has to point to what she wants and I do the mouse. Otherwise she gets too frustrated. I wish they had an android version.

[mamac]

well my tv is on all day. Do they sit and watch it---nope. I have it on right now on pbs and dcg is playing barbies in another room. I think its a noise factor with kids because my own kids will have it on and not watch it. Is tv bad, nope if its appropriate. We don't watch spongebob or thomas the train (he's so depressing) or anything else that I find dumb. You know what kills me, are parents who don't want thier kids watching tv at daycare but yet the minute they go home they are glued to the tv (I've had kids tell me all sorts of shows they watch, things that I would never allow my own children to watch at a young age)

I'm guessing the reason they don't want their kids to watch tv during daycare is so they don't have to feel as guilty for letting them watch when they get home. I bet a lot of these parents are the ones who want to leave their kids at "the babysitter" so they can "get things done" without their kids around. The tv at home is their second babysitter.

[Lyss]

I used to let the kids watch 15 to 20 mins when I made lunch but I don't anymore. I wish I had some great research based reason but in reality I just hate kids programing

On a side note years ago there was a family that pulled from a center I was working at because the prek class had a "movie day" and watched a sesame street movie (follow that bird). They felt sesame street promoted gay marriage (Bert and Ernie), hoarding (Oscar), aggression (again Oscar), and obesity (Cookie monster) and that the center was promoting those values by showing it. Personally I think thats reading a bit much into it but to each their own I guess.

[MotherNature]

We don't watch it daily, but about 3 days a week for half an hour- an hour a day when I'm getting meals ready usually..

[kitykids3]

I don't have a tv downstairs in my daycare. On occasion, maybe once every 2-4 weeks, I'll let them watch a half hour educational show on my laptop. In the winter it might be once a week. I think that most of them get more than enough tv at home. If they want to chill, they don't need tv. They can sit with a book.

[harperluu]

I am not anti-tv, but the children in my care rarely watch TV here. For the 1/2 hr in the morning before breakfast as children are arriving they can choose books or another quiet activity like drawing or puzzles at the table. I make regular trips to the library so there is always lots of new materials. I try to choose books that I know will interest each particular child with lots of non-fiction thrown in.

We go outside right before lunch prep, and I find the kids need some down time when we come in. I have bins of manipulatives they can work on at the table, or choose books. Our school district requires 20 min of reading a day starting in pre-k so this gets them ready for that expectation.

I have a dcg that's 4.5 that started here in June. Her mom commented on how tired she was at the end of the day once she started coming to me. She mentioned that her previous provider frequently had the tv on and she thinks this arrangement of no tv is wearing dcg out. Haha!

Although I understand when providers use tv as part of their program, I know these kids go home and often watch tv. I'm just trying to promote good relationships with books and encourage the kids to find something else to do during times when they need downtime.

[jenn]

I will admit that one day when I was not feeling well, the TV was on all day. I didn't force them to sit and watch it, they could play with toys or watch. I had called all the parents and told them that I was not feeling well, but they could still bring their child if they wanted. They knew that it was going to be a relaxed, movie watching, play day. Sometimes you just have to do what you can manage.

[wonderfullisa]

We save the occasional kid movie for 'off' days. Sometimes it's the children who are off, sometimes it's me. We never watch traditional TV. I have an antenna hooked up, but only for the Olympics.

Usually a couple of times a week, I put the tv on youtube and go to the channel KidsTV123. I love his music. We dance along to Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, practice the motions to The Itsy Bitsy Spider (although it's the Incy Wincy Spider, because he's British, ).

Curious.. I think it was BlackCat who mentioned background TV being detrimental. Does anyone know if this applies to background music? I usually have Pandora on in the background.