Do your kids have access to a tablet at daycare /preschool?

[Pinky]

Do your daycare /preschool aged children have access to a tablet or computer at school? If so how are they supervised? Do they have Internet access?

There was mention of a child at our preschool having access to YouTube so just curious what the norm is.

[Simon]

Ds2's preK had a computer with educational games but no internet. The kids took turns, 2 at a time--1 playing and 1 watching. It was a novelty for some kids but didn't get as much attention as many parents expected.

[jennilynn]

Mine does. My 4 y/o said his pre-k class uses iPads nearly everyday. They play games that I'm assuming are educational. He mentioned a Toy Story themed game the other day. No idea if this is the norm since public school is new territory for us this year. Curious what others say. Oh and I asked him if they share and he said no each kid gets one but I'm sure they are supervised.

[JBaxter]

No he doesnt

[ZeeBaby]

No tablets at our preschool. Kids used a computer 2 at a time. They rotate through different stations and the computer is one if them.

[AnnieW625]

Nope. I would go out of my way to send them to one that did not promote technology use.

eta: my 3 yr. old knows what you tube is because we watch some shorts or cut tv shows like the Wiggles, Pocoyo, and clips from movie trailers on it. We have a you tube ap on our new tv.

eta #2: some how the auto correct on my phone made me sound like I am pro tech at preschool. I am not and we are not a screen free family! Preschool is all about playing imho and not playing with iPads. There is a fair amount if good children's content on You Tube I just want to be the one showing it to my children (runs, hides, and :duck: out of this forum at lightening speed ;))

DD2 did watch a clip of Max Steel because my DCP's son played Max Steel in some of the Disney XD Channel promos this past spring and summer. Other than that no screens at daycare!

[wellyes]

There are computers in DD's kindergarten classroom but no internet access.

Youtube is utterly and completely inappropriate for young children, but there are similar services that are 'censored', maybe the kid was using one of those?

[hillview]

Um no way no how. Montessori school. Youtube would be a flag for me.

[AshleyAnn]

Our preschool has several smart boards which are typically used for ABC mouse and occasionally movie watching. They use them as a group and there's no chance of a child accessing anything inappropriate.

[BunnyBee]

No! Montessori here too, so no screens at all. Internet and YouTube access for preschoolers? No no no.

[BabyBearsMom]

The teacher has one and sometimes uses it to display things for the kids but the kids don't get to play with it or touch it.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Yes. Preloaded with relevant educational apps and parental type controls on. They only have access for a small window each day.

[AngB]

I'm not Montessori but I avoided preschools that use them, even with educational apps and stuff.

That said, before I pulled DS1 out he was going to an inclusive preschool specifically for kids with special needs with a mix of kids who did not. I did see the special ed teacher working off to the side with a child doing stuff on a tablet, but I am assuming that was to work on a specific skill for the child as part of their goals. They definitely didn't have them or use them within the broader class.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Our preschool hosted a tech talk last year and explained why they used it. As I said, they only use it a little/ day but they gave a persuasive talk about it. Plenty of parents were skeptical and anti screen but they also left reassured and understanding the value it added.

eta- my preschool was NAEYC accredited. In 2012 the NAEYC came out with this technology statement:
http://www.naeyc.org/content/technology-and-young-children
Just an FYI for anyone interested.

[123LuckyMom]

No iPads, no computers, no tv, lots of outdoor and indoor play and exploration. I would not want my child in a program that used screens of any kind. We're not a screen free family, but I don't believe in the "educational" claims of anything on a screen, and, in my opinion, school is for learning and interaction, not private time on a screen.

[carolinacool]

There is one desktop computer in the pre-K class at DS' day care. The curriculum is designed to get them ready for K, so I don't have a problem with them having that one shared computer for educational purposes.

[maestramommy]

No. preschool 4s have access to a desktop where they can occasionally play starfall.com as a free activity choice. Tablets don't start until K, and they only have access when the ipad cart comes to their room once in a blue moon. I think starting in 1st they use it a little more to do projects. For example, last year DD1 had an animal project, and she learned how to use wixie and text boxes on the ipad as part of preparing her presentation. A lot of the grunt work had to be done longhand at home though.

[Pinky]

Thanks for all the responses... We are not completely anti-screen but we are definitely anti-unsupervised-screen! We love our daycare and unsupervised internet/screen time is not something that they would approve of. I heard about this yesterday evening and am going to ask them about it on Monday, but I think there must be a misunderstanding. I just wanted to get some opinions to make sure I wasn't over reacting just in case this does happen to be true.

[Pinky]

Our preschool hosted a tech talk last year and explained why they used it. As I said, they only use it a little/ day but they gave a persuasive talk about it. Plenty of parents were skeptical and anti screen but they also left reassured and understanding the value it added.

eta- my preschool was NAEYC accredited. In 2012 the NAEYC came out with this technology statement:
http://www.naeyc.org/content/technology-and-young-children
Just an FYI for anyone interested.

Our school is NAEYC accredited too... Thanks for posting this.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Thanks for all the responses... We are not completely anti-screen but we are definitely anti-unsupervised-screen! We love our daycare and unsupervised internet/screen time is not something that they would approve of. I heard about this yesterday evening and am going to ask them about it on Monday, but I think there must be a misunderstanding. I just wanted to get some opinions to make sure I wasn't over reacting just in case this does happen to be true.

They preloaded some YouTube videos that they projected on the smart board for the whole class. Dances, musical performances...

[citymama]

I would not want any screen time at daycare/preschool.

DD2's preschool doesn't have computers or tablets visible to kids (just in the office). DD1's preschool had a laptop for the teachers in the room for the 4-5 year olds, usually for them to play music on or have in the room while kids napped. On very rare occasions (15th rainy day in a row) the kids would watch kiddie music or classic story clips. At first it kind of annoyed me but it must have happened 5 times in her entire time there, so it wasn't a big deal in the end.

DD1's first grade class had iPads that they used for Math tools. Don't know about her second grade classroom yet.

[Pear]

DD's preschool does 10 minutes of computer time per day. The computer does have Internet access, but there are heavy restrictions. Basically the teacher sets it to the activity of the day and it doesn't leave that activity.

They also do specific practice for exams. It is set up as a game so the kids think it is just another computer game, but they are actually preparing for the kindergarten assessments which in our public school district are given on a pc. Kids need to be able to listen to the computer instructions, do basic navigation, some hunt and peck typing, and work the mouse.

[codex57]

DS has computer lab in K. Don't think they have internet access but they might because the school has a website, the individual classrooms have their own web pages, and lots of links to educational games online. They want our kids to learn how to use the computer. If it's supervised, I don't see what the big deal is.

However, I don't see the point of Youtube really. Plenty of other options for viewing educational vids. No need for youtube and it's possibly questionable home page. When they were at the Montessori preschool, then like the others, no computer access. DD's current preschool is public (at DS's elementary school) and I don't recall seeing a computer in the room.