It makes you wonder too, what else these little people are losing out on over the course of a whole day spent seperated from their primary attachment figures. I don't think we need more affordable childcare. I think families need more support to be able to keep their children at home.
I have seen the same thing happen and wrote about it in my book! A little excerpt:
"Back when my daughter was a toddler, a group of nursery children were brought on an outing to the playground where we had spent the morning. Some of the older children were allowed to get out of their pushchairs and play, but the younger children were left sitting strapped in, unable to participate or move their bodies. I watched as one of the adults picked up a girl from her pushchair, put her into the swing, pushed her a couple of times, snapped a photograph — I assume to upload to the girl’s learning journal — and then strapped her back into the pram and went back to chatting with her colleague, before repeating the same process with another child. The CRC clearly states that children have a right to play, and I imagine that these children’s parents may feel that this right had been enjoyed on the basis of these deceptive photos."
That’s appalling! Poor children. It’s interesting, in light of the push for increased regulation of home educators, to see that it’s possible to have massive regulation and even photographic ‘proof’, that still doesn’t ensure the care it’s intending to guarantee.
Next time would it be worth taking a video and sending it to a newspaper? This needs to be aired I think to put a spot light on the results of inadequate government funding.
We had 2 short (very part-time) but incredibly different experiences with nurseries. The first a slightly frantic accredited Montessori setting, and the second had a free flow with "home cooked meals" (apparently oven chips and fish fingers count - it was all beige). Due to the additional needs of my child and my insistence I think I got a lot more time on the floor in both, as well as differing drop off and pick up times, which meant the days were already or still in full swing. The first had a team of staff who had undergone additional training and come from diverse backgrounds, both culturally and in terms of exploring their own interests within early years, they could provide a detailed description of day my child was having (most of the time), but they were clearly working at capacity and i worried how long any of them could keep it up. The latter had one deeply interested member of staff who had personal experience of children with additional needs and so long as she was on duty there was little issue (though it became apparent the space was one), but very rarely could another member of staff tell me anything substantial about the day or what could have triggered a difficult moment and these would sit heavy with my child until (thankfully) they could verbalise some part of the event. These two settings were a dream compared to a couple of others we visited, where the kids sat watching one of the girls showing something on an iPad, not seeming the least bit curious about us visiting or asking any questions (it was the 3-5 group!!! I don't think there's a minute that goes by without being asked a long list of questions by our now 4.5yr old!!). The funny thing was, when we arrived in this part of the city we now live in, this last nursery was the most recommended local one by other parents!!! I couldn't comprehend it ..was it the slightly more flexible hours? The sensory room? (which was locked up most of the time - they also picked up on my kids difference pretty quickly and started making passive excuses for how they wouldn't be able to accommodate and using very negative remarks about having to watch out for this or that!). We were lucky to be able to home educate and we're on that trajectory but we had/have no extra support in terms of childcare from family members and I have to eventually be ok with putting any of my own projects on a potentially long back burner. Being that we're out and about we often see the local kids, again like so many of you have said, strapped in, ignored, staff on their phones occasionally taking a photo that makes it look as if the kids are having access to a range of activities, and barely there for more than 5 minutes. I've had these kids come up to join us when I've been reading aloud in a library, or to come and draw with us, or just kicking off a conversation with us. As an adult with a child in the playground I feel can acknowledge eye contact or respond to an often less or non-verbal little one who's in a bit of a jam and hope that connection is something they can take with them on their day.
There's such trust in these settings by parents who understandably, have to speed through or even skip settling in, and leave at the door wailing just so they can keep their jobs, and provide enough. We were lucky to even have a choice, and therefore also allow ourselves to be aware of these situations.
I have seen similar attitudes when at the park with my toddler, mainly with large childminding groups. 3 or 4 childminders with a large group of small children that they took no interest in but sat on the benches and stared at their phones. I had to pick up one small boy who had a heavy cold and was miserable and crying after falling off the end of a slide- he seemed to have been laying on the floor and crying for a while before I realised no one else was rushing to pick him up and comfort him, because a man, unrelated to him, came and asked me if I could pick him up, as he didn’t feel comfortable doing so. I scooped him up and took him over to the benches of childminders and asked if he belonged to them. Nonchalant replies that he did. I felt so angry and heartbroken for him (and his unknowing mum), but had to rush back to my toddler before she got into any difficulties herself. A year on I still think about how I could have responded better in that scenario.
this is so terrible, so sad, and exactly why my husband and i work so hard to keep our children out. we aren't perfect parents by any means but goodness, at least we love them like no other
I’ve been meaning to write a post sharing our experiences with childcare - which have both been very positive! But there does seem to be a huge difference in care between all day ‘nursery’ settings and other options. I wouldn’t send my children to a nursery, but they have gotten on very well at a carefully selected preschool (my eldest) and childminder (the twins). In my experience, the smaller the setting the better for the child.
It makes you wonder too, what else these little people are losing out on over the course of a whole day spent seperated from their primary attachment figures. I don't think we need more affordable childcare. I think families need more support to be able to keep their children at home.
I have seen the same thing happen and wrote about it in my book! A little excerpt:
"Back when my daughter was a toddler, a group of nursery children were brought on an outing to the playground where we had spent the morning. Some of the older children were allowed to get out of their pushchairs and play, but the younger children were left sitting strapped in, unable to participate or move their bodies. I watched as one of the adults picked up a girl from her pushchair, put her into the swing, pushed her a couple of times, snapped a photograph — I assume to upload to the girl’s learning journal — and then strapped her back into the pram and went back to chatting with her colleague, before repeating the same process with another child. The CRC clearly states that children have a right to play, and I imagine that these children’s parents may feel that this right had been enjoyed on the basis of these deceptive photos."
So very sad and frustrating xx
That’s appalling! Poor children. It’s interesting, in light of the push for increased regulation of home educators, to see that it’s possible to have massive regulation and even photographic ‘proof’, that still doesn’t ensure the care it’s intending to guarantee.
Next time would it be worth taking a video and sending it to a newspaper? This needs to be aired I think to put a spot light on the results of inadequate government funding.
How terribly sad, Catherine.
I know, isn’t it? Those poor children.
That's heartbreaking! And no doubt not that unusual...
Yes, sadly I suspect not unusual at all.
Such a shocking post.
We had 2 short (very part-time) but incredibly different experiences with nurseries. The first a slightly frantic accredited Montessori setting, and the second had a free flow with "home cooked meals" (apparently oven chips and fish fingers count - it was all beige). Due to the additional needs of my child and my insistence I think I got a lot more time on the floor in both, as well as differing drop off and pick up times, which meant the days were already or still in full swing. The first had a team of staff who had undergone additional training and come from diverse backgrounds, both culturally and in terms of exploring their own interests within early years, they could provide a detailed description of day my child was having (most of the time), but they were clearly working at capacity and i worried how long any of them could keep it up. The latter had one deeply interested member of staff who had personal experience of children with additional needs and so long as she was on duty there was little issue (though it became apparent the space was one), but very rarely could another member of staff tell me anything substantial about the day or what could have triggered a difficult moment and these would sit heavy with my child until (thankfully) they could verbalise some part of the event. These two settings were a dream compared to a couple of others we visited, where the kids sat watching one of the girls showing something on an iPad, not seeming the least bit curious about us visiting or asking any questions (it was the 3-5 group!!! I don't think there's a minute that goes by without being asked a long list of questions by our now 4.5yr old!!). The funny thing was, when we arrived in this part of the city we now live in, this last nursery was the most recommended local one by other parents!!! I couldn't comprehend it ..was it the slightly more flexible hours? The sensory room? (which was locked up most of the time - they also picked up on my kids difference pretty quickly and started making passive excuses for how they wouldn't be able to accommodate and using very negative remarks about having to watch out for this or that!). We were lucky to be able to home educate and we're on that trajectory but we had/have no extra support in terms of childcare from family members and I have to eventually be ok with putting any of my own projects on a potentially long back burner. Being that we're out and about we often see the local kids, again like so many of you have said, strapped in, ignored, staff on their phones occasionally taking a photo that makes it look as if the kids are having access to a range of activities, and barely there for more than 5 minutes. I've had these kids come up to join us when I've been reading aloud in a library, or to come and draw with us, or just kicking off a conversation with us. As an adult with a child in the playground I feel can acknowledge eye contact or respond to an often less or non-verbal little one who's in a bit of a jam and hope that connection is something they can take with them on their day.
There's such trust in these settings by parents who understandably, have to speed through or even skip settling in, and leave at the door wailing just so they can keep their jobs, and provide enough. We were lucky to even have a choice, and therefore also allow ourselves to be aware of these situations.
That's appalling. Both that it's happening and that parents are being deceived about it.
I have seen similar attitudes when at the park with my toddler, mainly with large childminding groups. 3 or 4 childminders with a large group of small children that they took no interest in but sat on the benches and stared at their phones. I had to pick up one small boy who had a heavy cold and was miserable and crying after falling off the end of a slide- he seemed to have been laying on the floor and crying for a while before I realised no one else was rushing to pick him up and comfort him, because a man, unrelated to him, came and asked me if I could pick him up, as he didn’t feel comfortable doing so. I scooped him up and took him over to the benches of childminders and asked if he belonged to them. Nonchalant replies that he did. I felt so angry and heartbroken for him (and his unknowing mum), but had to rush back to my toddler before she got into any difficulties herself. A year on I still think about how I could have responded better in that scenario.
How awful 😢 - not to mention deceptive.
this is so terrible, so sad, and exactly why my husband and i work so hard to keep our children out. we aren't perfect parents by any means but goodness, at least we love them like no other
I’ve been meaning to write a post sharing our experiences with childcare - which have both been very positive! But there does seem to be a huge difference in care between all day ‘nursery’ settings and other options. I wouldn’t send my children to a nursery, but they have gotten on very well at a carefully selected preschool (my eldest) and childminder (the twins). In my experience, the smaller the setting the better for the child.