Creche issues

Nemecis

Hello,

I wanted to ask here to get some opinions.
My 25m toddler is in a creche and it's been 1-2 months now that they have a tablet in and occupy the kids.
I don't know for how long and what hours and under what circumstances this is happening, but when my toddler returns home asks for our tablet, which he was fed up with and never wanted to use it anymore, and is constantly looking for children's songs.Meaningless to say that we disappear the tablet, cause we were talking to him and would even look at us, not even blink his eyes!
Also the other day that we went to pick him up, they were 4-5 kids were totally absorbed into this tablet.

Are tablets allowed in creches ? I'm really concerned about this since kids are not "allowed" to watch television until 3 years of age.

Moonbeam

I can not believe they are using a tablet to entertain toddlers.
I would be super unimpressed and would probably move creches but that is me!!
I would also go talk to the creche manager and see why they are using tablets with such small kids.

Nemecis

Can I file a complaint to an organization that supervises the creches ?

Moonbeam

Nemecis wrote: »

Can I file a complaint to an organization that supervises the creches ?

Yes you can .
This link should help you - http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/education/pre_school_education_and_childcare/health_safety_and_welfare_of_preschool_childcare_services.html

pwurple

Nemecis wrote: »

Can I file a complaint to an organization that supervises the creches ?

Shouldn't you discuss it with them first rather than going straight for the complaint?

fima

You should certainly discuss it with them first. It's very strange and not something I have ever seen in different crèches on placement as a student. Do they implement Aistear? (The early childhood curriculum framework)
They may be mistakenly interpretating the theme of communicating within Aistear where one of the aims is that children should be able to use "books and ICT for fun" ... I believe that some places are using this almost as an excuse to plonk children in front of dvds/tablets.

Anyway yes I would definitely speak to them first! You can't go jumping in making a complaint without giving them the chance to respond or rectify first.

Nemecis

fima wrote: »

You should certainly discuss it with them first. It's very strange and not something I have ever seen in different crèches on placement as a student. Do they implement Aistear? (The early childhood curriculum framework)
They may be mistakenly interpretating the theme of communicating within Aistear where one of the aims is that children should be able to use "books and ICT for fun" ... I believe that some places are using this almost as an excuse to plonk children in front of dvds/tablets.

Anyway yes I would definitely speak to them first! You can't go jumping in making a complaint without giving them the chance to respond or rectify first.

Yes they implement Aistear and to be honest I have no idea what this means... ! What are the purposes and such ? I would definitely speak to them about the tablet.

fima

Nemecis wrote: »

Yes they implement Aistear and to be honest I have no idea what this means... ! What are the purposes and such ? I would definitely speak to them about the tablet.

It's literally just the curriculum, focused on learning through play with 4 main themes of communicating, exploring and thinking, well-being and identity and belonging. Within each theme there's a huge amount of breakdown and different learning goals for children from 0-6. That's it, I was just thinking maybe they are taking one tiny bit of it and over using it to excuse their reliance on tablets. Which is shocking btw, why on earth would you be paying someone to care for the child for them to be sat in front of a tablet which is far from your child's best interests.

Nemecis

fima wrote: »

Which is shocking btw, why on earth would you be paying someone to care for the child for them to be sat in front of a tablet which is far from your child's best interests.

Exactly my point... I left toddler here this morning and didn't see the tablet. The next time will definitely ask explanations.

And sometimes I think maybe I'm the only crazy mum in there ? ...I bring food with him every day cause I dont want him to eat pasta and bread, cause he has allergies. So the other day they told me that he only ate a bite and they gave me his bowl empty ! I was so angry. I asked them not to throw the food away and they respected that. But don't other parents care for their kids ...?!

ThisRegard

Tell them he has allergies and what they are and they can amend his menu for it. Other parents probably do so which is why you don't see them brining in food every day. That's how I work it with my son, I occasionally bring in some food items for them to keep but otherwise they cook for him.

Nemecis

ThisRegard wrote: »

Tell them he has allergies and what they are and they can amend his menu for it. Other parents probably do so which is why you don't see them brining in food every day. That's how I work it with my son, I occasionally bring in some food items for them to keep but otherwise they cook for him.

I told them about the allergies and they told to bring his own food. So they don't have a menu for him. Instead I pay in full, no discounts for food and ring my own food every day...

sareer

Nemecis wrote: »

Exactly my point... I left toddler here this morning and didn't see the tablet. The next time will definitely ask explanations.

And sometimes I think maybe I'm the only crazy mum in there ? ...I bring food with him every day cause I dont want him to eat pasta and bread, cause he has allergies. So the other day they told me that he only ate a bite and they gave me his bowl empty ! I was so angry. I asked them not to throw the food away and they respected that. But don't other parents care for their kids ...?!

Why do you say or assume other parents don't care about their children? If your son has an allergy and you are trying to find a workable solution with the current creche - how does that relate to other children and their parents?

Also, I am not surprised they threw away the food. I guess they presumed you would not want to reheat food he has potentially played with, drooled into or otherwise handled. Fair play that you told them if that is what you prefer them to do but I don't agree with your outrage.

Moonbeam

Nemecis wrote: »

Exactly my point... I left toddler here this morning and didn't see the tablet. The next time will definitely ask explanations.

And sometimes I think maybe I'm the only crazy mum in there ? ...I bring food with him every day cause I dont want him to eat pasta and bread, cause he has allergies. So the other day they told me that he only ate a bite and they gave me his bowl empty ! I was so angry. I asked them not to throw the food away and they respected that. But don't other parents care for their kids ...?!

I am not sure what you mean by "But don't other parents care for their kids ...?" .


You sound really unhappy with the creche so why not look in to other childcare arrangements?

neris

Nemecis wrote: »

Exactly my point... I left toddler here this morning and didn't see the tablet. The next time will definitely ask explanations.

And sometimes I think maybe I'm the only crazy mum in there ? ...I bring food with him every day cause I dont want him to eat pasta and bread, cause he has allergies. So the other day they told me that he only ate a bite and they gave me his bowl empty ! I was so angry. I asked them not to throw the food away and they respected that. But don't other parents care for their kids ...?!

thats a very sweeping statement of other parents. as someone whos involved in creches Ive never seen a parent not care about their child but some parents are very relaxed about their children and accept that they fall, get cuts, have little fights with friends and then you have the other end of the spectrum with the over the top over protecting parent who thinks their child should never fall and be wrapped in cotton wall.

Also in relation to the food a good size creche will provide more meals for kids over a day then your average restaurant. Having a person trying to prepare food for a creche and then a number of extra meals on the side is both time consuming and nearly impossible. Most creches will try alter the menus to a point. On the throwing away of food the kitchens come under the same regulations as anywhere else serving food so food cant be stored to be reheated. if they had an inspection and your childs food was in the fridge that would go down against them and the inspectors wouldnt give a flying F** that the parent asked for the food to be kept.

Keane2baMused

For health and safety reasons they would have to throw out uneaten food after a certain period.

It's not on if they are on tablets all day but don't jump to conclusions. It may only be for very short periods. Also it's not recommended children watch tv before the age of 2, there's no rule however.

Nemecis

You are all right about the comment I made about "other parents". I was unhappy at the times so I decided to speak for the food and the tablet.

They didn't explained why the food was thrown away and of course I explained that if it was on the floor or for other obvious reasons, I wouldn't expect them to put it back. I just want to see how much he is eating and they did put it back. Also for the tablet thing, has nothing to do with Aistear. They have it for music during the day and at the end for about 30-45 they allow them to watch kids videos on it.