Full length-movie shown at “Reggio Montessori”

I picked up my 17 month old from his Reggio/Montessori Daycare yesterday and asked how his day was, as he recently just started there and the transition and drop offs have been difficult.

I was told he had had a good day and they watched a movie. I was shocked. I’m an elementary school teacher and well-versed in the pedagogy behind Montessori and Reggio methods. Our older son also attends a different Reggio-Inspired Montessori (and it’s amazing - we moved, though, so the drive is far and we wanted to have a spot closer to home).

Upon asking for more details, I was told he sat quietly for the movie, which was “Luck.” I was unfamiliar with it, so I asked if it was a Disney movie, I was told, “whatever was on Amazon Prime.” She proceeded to try and tell me the plot, and then said, “but honestly I’m not too sure, I wasn’t really watching it as I was doing paperwork.”

I was in disbelief for many reasons… we are paying a significant amount of money for this “programming” and care for our infant in an infant/toddler room. We are by no means a screen-free family, but, the only time he might watch TV is as a family in the evenings/weekends for no more than an hour a day, total, as we also have a 4 year old. We specifically chose to send our sons to Montessori-based programs, not a home daycare where screens are readily available.

I would bring this up with the director/owner directly, but she is literally never around. I haven’t seen her since we toured the place almost 2 years ago, because she took a term teaching job recently.

There are other instances we’ve not been impressed with from this facility since our first “intro” visit with our son a month ago, but I’m just needing some validation that this is unacceptable for this stage in child development and type of program.