Kids watching TV/movies at school

[bartleby]

My daughter started full-day K this year at a small private school. Their current theme is farm-related stuff, and the teacher has been reading Charlotte's Web to them. According to my daughter, they are not finished with the book, but on Friday they watched the animated Charlotte's Web movie (from 1973). She said she really liked it. For some reason though, it bugs me a little. Not so much the content, but that it seems kind of unnecessary to the curriculum (I mean, I realize it's fun, but that's about it). Also, it is the first actual movie my kid has ever seen (over 90 minutes long!). Maybe it's silly of me to be annoyed over it, but I wish I'd known ahead of time that they were going to watch it. Not that I would have prevented her from seeing it or anything.

Do your kids watch movies at school? If so, how often? Does the teacher let you know beforehand? Does it ever bother you?

Really, I am not enraged over this. Just slightly annoyed. School's been in session 4 weeks, and I know they've also watched some sort of Anansi the Spider thing on TV too. I just didn't expect movies in kindergarten, I guess.

Oh, heck. *I* wanted to watch her first real movie with her. That's part of what bugs me. Oh well. The cow's out of the barn now. Or whatever that expression is.

[ChetMC]

I understand.

Our kids have free access to TV at the grandparents' houses. The more TV they watched at the grandparents', the more we cut-back on occasional videos and movies at home. We did the same thing with treats like cookies and juice. After awhile, it started to annoy me that in order to keep the total volume in check we couldn't indulge in anything at home. We moved though, so the problem went away.

One thing I do when the kids see a movie that goes with a novel is to talk about how the movie is different than the book. Learning to compare and contrast things is a valuable skill. As well, it usually helps to draw attention to the fact that you learn more about the characters and the story from the book.

Our oldest is in school. She's in grade 1. We've never been given advance notice about watching stuff at school.

I remember my first few movies in a real theatre. Way more than the first movies and videos I saw at home or at school. First trip to the theatre will still be a special outing for your DD.

[bartleby]

Thanks for your reply. You are right about the compare/contrast skill. In fact, since then the teacher sent out a note about what's happening in the classroom and did say that they will be seeing movies of books they are reading for just that purpose. So I guess I can get behind that aspect of it.

That's true too that her first movie in a theater will be more significant. I'm hoping her school doesn't do that as a field trip any time soon. I'm still waiting for the perfect movie to take her to myself.

[emmaegbert]

they watch occasional movies at my DS's kindergarten class. I think they are short though, like 15-20 minutes. One is called something like "tumble stories" and I know they've watched some "magic school bus". They definitely do not tell us ahead of time, but they don't watch full-length movies either! They are "educational" and tied directly to the curriculum. We are TV free at home and I just decided to let go about it. Actually it helps to take a little of the allure of the idea of movies off I think. 

[Vancouver Mommy]

My dd also started full day K. this year. Her teacher shows part of a movie every single day and it infuriates me. Nothing related to school or what they are learning - mostly run of the mill hollywood kids movies (Monsters Inc.) etc. I spoke to the teacher about it and she said it's ten or fifteen minutes a day. My dd claims it's half a movie. I don't know who is closer to the truth. I have no idea why she has to use TV or what to do about it, but it drives me crazy. To add to my anger, she's been showing Christmas movies lately - ones we were really looking forward to watching for the first time as a family.

[Bad Mama Jama]

Originally Posted by Vancouver Mommy 

My dd also started full day K. this year. Her teacher shows part of a movie every single day and it infuriates me. Nothing related to school or what they are learning - mostly run of the mill hollywood kids movies (Monsters Inc.) etc. I spoke to the teacher about it and she said it's ten or fifteen minutes a day. My dd claims it's half a movie. I don't know who is closer to the truth. I have no idea why she has to use TV or what to do about it, but it drives me crazy. To add to my anger, she's been showing Christmas movies lately - ones we were really looking forward to watching for the first time as a family.

I would talk with the teacher and see why is this an integral part of the curriculum for her and if the rationale is bogus.  i would call her on it.  to me, and i may be wrong as i have been wrong before, it seems like she is using this as a time waster.  if she can't give you the response that you need, you should move on and speak with an administrator.

[Vancouver Mommy]

Originally Posted by Bad Mama Jama 

Originally Posted by Vancouver Mommy 

My dd also started full day K. this year. Her teacher shows part of a movie every single day and it infuriates me. Nothing related to school or what they are learning - mostly run of the mill hollywood kids movies (Monsters Inc.) etc. I spoke to the teacher about it and she said it's ten or fifteen minutes a day. My dd claims it's half a movie. I don't know who is closer to the truth. I have no idea why she has to use TV or what to do about it, but it drives me crazy. To add to my anger, she's been showing Christmas movies lately - ones we were really looking forward to watching for the first time as a family.

I would talk with the teacher and see why is this an integral part of the curriculum for her and if the rationale is bogus.  i would call her on it.  to me, and i may be wrong as i have been wrong before, it seems like she is using this as a time waster.  if she can't give you the response that you need, you should move on and speak with an administrator.

Yeah, DH and I are really wracking our brains trying to figure out how to deal with this. I know we could go over her head to the principal or the school board if we wanted to, but I feel quite strongly about not wanting to damage her relationship with my child, which at the moment is excellent. It is also a very small school (about 70 kids), and I don't want to be identified as "that parent" so soon in the game.  When I spoke to the teacher she seemed genuinely surprised that I would have a problem with the TV in the classroom. The vast majority of the class is ESL, at least one is on the autism spectrum and two have absolutely no English whatsoever, and she has no full-time teachers aide, so I understand that she has her hands full. But she also has a 45 minute prep block in the morning and several blocks throughout the week where additional support is provided for the little ones who are still learning English. She said that in a full day program kids need "down time". I can't imagine what would be wrong with, oh, I don't know, an actual nap? or some books, or afternoon recess? The other problem is that my dd is exceptionally emotionally sensitive and most movies scare her. It took several tries before we could watch Mary Poppins all the way through. The first step has been asking that she provide an alternative activity for those who don't want to watch or find the movie too scary. But unless I see some action I might just start picking DD up at 2pm, when "video time" begins. I was never in favour of full day K. to begin with.