Mealtime is Learning Time at CDC Woods Road and CDC RN Beck If you arrive at the district Child Development Centers at breakfast or lunch time you will not see a cafeteria full of children. Last year during the Count 5 campaign, the school staff learned about the value of having a family style meal in which children play a role in preparing to eat together. Setting The Table While preparing the table for meal time, children practice problem solving and counting. Does everyone have a plate? How many forks do we need? Will there be enough milk to fill every glass? Are enough napkins folded? In our classrooms, the teachers allow children to solve these problems by preparing the table for the meal. Not only do children eat better when they help prepare for the meal, they also learn to include fellow classmates. Having A Place Just like home, every child has a chair at the table that never changes. The repeated pattern of always sitting in the same chair, beside the same person gives a child a sense of order and security. Language is also learned when we build relationships with others at the table. Some children tend to talk less and others talk more. Children learn their place in the world as they interact with others in comfortable settings like the dining table. Trying New Foods As opposed to having your plate filled with a serving of each food as in cafeteria style service, children in our classes choose which foods they would like to eat and how large a serving they prefer. When new foods appear on the menu, children are encouraged individually to taste a sample. Also, young children are more likely to try new foods when they have participated in the preparation of the meal. Serving Others When families prepare to eat, they help each other. In our classrooms we encourage the same behavior. When they can, children help each other by passing and serving food. Often a child will get up to pour more milk or serve themselves more food. In the small classroom setting, teachers can allow children to take as much control as possible for serving themselves and their friends. When help is needed, teachers are only a step away. Cleaning Up After breakfast or lunch, children learn to assist in cleaning up after the meal. At first, children make spills at the table during cleaning up. These are soon forgotten as everyone shares the load of putting the room back in order and getting the dishes ready for the dishwasher. A Lifetime Of Order Children who participate in daily mealtime routines, quickly learn problem solving skills for life. Researchers tell us that repeated activities build the mental skills children will need for the future as they do their school work and later participate in the workforce. Soup Day Recently, the children at the early childhood centers shared their mealtime skills with their parents on Soup Day. Everyone pitched in to prepare, cook and serve the soup for lunch. Smiles, laughter and a shared bowl of soup made each and every class a place for learning and sharing together. Special thanks to those family members who participated with us. The staff of the early childhood centers would also like to thank Chartwells (the district food service vendor) for their special help during the meal preparation and service.
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