January 9, 2010
Physical Fitness is important to young children because if they do not keep moving then they can have a wide variety of health related problems Some of the problems they can have are poor circulation, lack of physical fitness or movement in general can lead to obesity in children of all ages. A sedentary life is not good for anyone but for children a childhood spent sitting can lead to a life of problems in health, their social life, and family surroundings. Children that are overweight can and usually do have poor self esteem and are ostracized by their peers.
Adults can help the children they care for by being a good role model and sharing their excitement for putting movement into the daily routine. If we come in each day and want to play movement games inside or outside with our children then they will want to come up with more games that can be played. The children I know love to run and chase each other and there are games that can be played inside when weather is inclement.
Activities that can be played that will help the preschoolers learn to enjoy physical fitness are for gross motor are Copy Cat- this is a game that has the children coping another child’s or adults movements. The movements can be made up by the children as the game progresses. It is non competitive and is fun and get the children involved in the rule making.
A good activity for fine motor for preschoolers is cutting activities where they can practice holding the scissors, turning the paper, and following lines of various designs. You will start with a straight line and gradually move to harder designs.
The inspirational quote that I feel says to me this is why I chose to work with young children is:” A child miseducated is a child lost by John F. Kennedy and I picked this because it is so true in the fact that we need to teach them appropriately and if we put excitement into our teaching then it will hopefully stay with them for life. This is also another quote that I think is good for me-Instruction ends in the school room, but education ends only with life.: by Frederick W. Robertson and this one is also true because we never stop learning and we also teach someone in some way throughout our lives.
Physical fitness is important to children because it effects their whole body and mind and we as adults need to foster children joy in playing and teach them that sitting and watching television or playing electronic games is not healthy for the mind or body as it can lead to obesity, developmental delays and a host of other problems.
References:
Robertson, C. (n.d.). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
Goodway, J.D. & Robinson, L.E. (2006, March) SKIPing toward an active start: Promoting physical activity in preschoolers. Retrieved on January 9, 2010 from http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200605/GoodwayBTJ.pdf
Inspirational Quotes: retrieved on January 10, 2010 from http://www.inspirational-quotes.info/teacherquotes.html
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Healthy Food & Nutrition
January 2, 2010
The importance of good nutrition and good eating habits in children is a very big topic. To start with when children do not eat right it will affect their development for both the body and learning. It affects their body because they are not getting the right nutrients that a growing child needs and this can lead to a host of health problems that can if not corrected become worse as they age and can even lead to death. By teaching young children basic healthy eating habits we can teach them how to pick the right types of foods as they grow and if we model good eating habits this will reinforce the importance of eating right. The good nutrition and good eating habits go together with physical activity. If we do not help children to do both then they can still have health problems. Everyone should use the food pyramid at home and school to help teach the healthy habits needed for life.
Infants start their lives by having formula or breat milk to get all teh nutrients needed because they are growing so fast and a mothers milk is the best way for them to get everything they need.
Toddlers are changing in different ways so they need a different set of nutrients to keep their bodies going daily. They need more choses and they can also become very picky about what they want, so we as adults need to be able to find ways around them being picky and still get the nutrients into them. If we are good role models and show them that the foods are good then they may be more willing to try the new foods.
Preschoolers are not as picky in most cases, but they can be and many preschoolers would rather have the same foods over and over than try new things so again we need to be creative on how we introduce foods and being the role model is a great way for us to get our children to eat healthy.
Adults should help teach children healthy eating habits because they are the role model for the children in their care (Robertson, 2010). Adults can teach that food is something you eat at certain times of the day and it should be a family style meal both at home and school. Adults should sit with the children and model good eating habits so the children learn at a young age. Adults should also do cooking activities with the children so they learn how to prepare foods that are fun and healthy and this also helps with other areas of knowledge for school. Adults can work together with their children to make a class cookbook with the recipes they use for their cooking projects. There are many books and web sites available to help you find recipes that are child friendly. There are also many professional sites that have a wide variety of resources for teachers and parents to become more knowledgeable so they can better care for young children.
Adults should help teach children healthy eating habits because they are the role model for the children in their care (Robertson, 2010). Adults can teach that food is something you eat at certain times of the day and it should be a family style meal both at home and school. Adults should sit with the children and model good eating habits so the children learn at a young age. Adults should also do cooking activities with the children so they learn how to prepare foods that are fun and healthy and this also helps with other areas of knowledge for school. Adults can work together with their children to make a class cookbook with the recipes they use for their cooking projects. There are many books and web sites available to help you find recipes that are child friendly. There are also many professional sites that have a wide variety of resources for teachers and parents to become more knowledgeable so they can better care for young children.
The first recipe I am using is: Cheesy Bow-Tie Primavera
Ingredients: 8 oz. Dry Bow-Tie Pasta, 2 cups Fresh Broccoli, 2 cups Fresh Cauliflower, 1 cup Milk, 12 oz. Processed Cheese (Velveeta)
Directions: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add dry pasta and cook for 3 minutes over medium heat. Add broccoli and cauliflower into the same pot with the pasta and boil for 6 more minutes. Drain, put milk in the same pot and return to the stove, pour in drained pasta and vegetables and add cheese. Stir constantly until cheese melts. Remove from heat and serve. Makes 4-6 servings.
This recipe is healthy and can be fun for the children to do some of the prep work with their parents. It is nutritious because it has many of the food groups in one dish and it is colorful which is a good visual is for the children.
My second recipe is: Pita Pizzas
Ingredients: 8 whole wheat mini pitas, ¼ cup pizza sauce, 1 cup shredded non-fat mozzarella, 4 medium white mushrooms, sliced, 24 slices turkey pepperoni ( about 1 ½ ozs), cut into strips ( you can also use ham as an alternative to the turkey pepperoni ), 2 Tablespoons black olives, sliced.
Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees, supply each child with 2 mini pitas, allow the children to build their own pizzas with the above ingredients, Place the pita pizzas on a baking sheet and cook for 5 minutes or until cheese is golden and bubbly, let cool a few minutes before serving.
Makes 4 servings
The last recipe is: Tuna Sandwich
Ingredients: 1 12oz can chunk white tuna in water, drained, 1 Tablespoon light mayonnaise, ¼ cup celery, finely diced, ¼ cup red onion, finely diced, 4 green leaf lettuce leaves,8 pieces whole-grain bread, crusts cut off, and toasted, salt and pepper to taste
Directions: In a small bowl, mix together tuna, mayonnaise, celery, and onion, add salt and pepper to taste, spread tuna mixture on top of four pieces of toast, place lettuce on top of tuna, complete sandwich with the other four slices of toasted bread, use a fish shaped cookie cutter to cut the sandwiches into fun shapes.
Makes four sandwiches
For these recipes the nutritional value to me is the fact that they all have healthy ingredients and we have no extra sugar added unless it is already in the ingredient. I have picked recipes that are easy for children to help with and they can do a lot of the steps in the recipes. These are recipes that I would do with my grandchildren and all but one of them is able to help in the kitchen and they do whenever they are over.
The things that will help make cooking with children for parents is to let the start by going shopping with you and then give them easy jobs to do in the beginning and gradually work up to letting them do other things. They can easily tear vegetables, butter bread, mix and stir with supervision. Cooking together is a great way to form a better bond between family members; children are more likely to eat something if they help make it, when letting them help we are teaching them about math, science and many other subjects.
References:
Robertson, C. (n.d.). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
Cheesy Bow-Tie Primavera, Retrieved on January 1, 2010, from http://www.florida-agriculture.com/pubs/pubform/pdf/Kids_Kitchen_Cookbook.pdf
Pita Pizzas Retrieved on January 1, 2010 from www.playhousedisney.com
Tuna Sandwich, Retrieved on January 1, 2010 from www.playhousedisney.com
CPR and Choking Emergencies
December 25, 2009
For this week we are to create two scenarios and since I work with children between the ages of three and five this will be my age range. For the choking emergency I will have a four year old that is having lunch, but talking to his friends while he has food in his mouth. When the child starts first to cough and then he jumped up and ran over and we can see that something is wrong and we then follow the steps we were taught in our first aid class. The first thing we did was to make sure he was choking and that meant that he was not able to talk or anything.The next thing we did was stand behind him and put our arms around his waist, after doing this we placed one hand in a fist and then placed the other hand over the top. Your hands are in postion right above the belly button and you will then proceed to give five upward thrusts into the childs abdomen. You will repeat this until the item is expelled. We called 911 and then proceeded to start the abdominal thrusts to dislodge the item if possible until help arrived. We were able to remove the item and the child was fine, but you need to always make sure you teach the children in your care not to talk and eat at the same time and do not feed them items that are not meant for someone their age. All staff should be trained in CPR and First Aid often so they are up to date on any changes that may occur each year.
Everyone that works with young children should have proper training and attend workshops to understand young children and why they do the things they do.
If we have training and understand why we are training then we may be able to keep the children in our care safe. Some of the other things adults could do to be ready for any emergencies that may occur would be to hold extra trainings at the work site so they can make sure they have all supplies needed for any unforeseeable emergency that may happen.
For the second scenario on CPR and a young child, I have a child that has fallen down on the playground where there are two teachers with fifteen children. The first thing we did was make sure the other children were not close to the first child and that the area had nothing dangerous. This is called assessing the area and you need to do this before going to the person so you do not get hurt too. The next step is to check the person/child to see if they are conscious or not and then you will call for help or have someone do it, but you will always call 9-1-1 and let them care for the child at the end-your job is to try and keep the child alive until trained help arrives. After doing those things you will carry out the ABC’s as they are called, A is for checking the airway, B is for breathing and for this you will give a breath for the child and if no response you do again. You may have to re-open the airway and restart if needed. For C you are doing the circulation and you will repeat these steps until professional help arrives to take over. The steps you would go through for CPR aor a child are: first you will lay the child down flat and open the airway by tilting the head. Second you will check for breathing, if they are not then you will start the rescue breathing and this is done by placing your mouth over their mouth and depending on the age you may need to cover the mouth and nose. You will give two breaths and then relisten for breathing. If still no response then you will start the compressions and you do this by placing the palm of your hand right below the breatbone and you do 30 compressions to every two breaths and you wil continue with another round if no response.
You will also need to have posted in each room the emergency phone numbers so they are available for everyone in the school. Each classroom should also have a complete first aid kit in a locked cabinet.
To be prepared for any emergency it is vital that you go through the proper training yearly so you stay current on how to handle most things that may come up in a setting with children-this could be your home or your job and maybe just anywhere that children may be. As with any emergency everyone should have the training to help if the need is necessary and I understand that even when we have the training we are reluctant to help because sometimes people just do not want someone to help even if it means life or death. With young children we do not have to worry about this in most cases because the parents have to give us written permission to care for their child if something happens and we are required by law to have various forms on file for each child and have emergency contact information for parents and back-up contacts if parents are not available. I have never had to use my training, but I have stayed current in both First aid and CPR for over twenty years and I am now current in the medication training that is required for child care providers and I think everyone that cares for or has young children should have all of the above trainings so they can be prepared for whatever emergency may happen.
References:
Robertson, C. (n.d.). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
CPR Training Steps: www.redcross.org
To be prepared for any emergency it is vital that you go through the proper training yearly so you stay current on how to handle most things that may come up in a setting with children-this could be your home or your job and maybe just anywhere that children may be. As with any emergency everyone should have the training to help if the need is necessary and I understand that even when we have the training we are reluctant to help because sometimes people just do not want someone to help even if it means life or death. With young children we do not have to worry about this in most cases because the parents have to give us written permission to care for their child if something happens and we are required by law to have various forms on file for each child and have emergency contact information for parents and back-up contacts if parents are not available. I have never had to use my training, but I have stayed current in both First aid and CPR for over twenty years and I am now current in the medication training that is required for child care providers and I think everyone that cares for or has young children should have all of the above trainings so they can be prepared for whatever emergency may happen.
References:
Robertson, C. (n.d.). Safety, nutrition, and health in early education (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
CPR Training Steps: www.redcross.org
Emergency Prepardness
December 19, 2009
The two natural or human generated disasters I am going to talk about are winter severe weather and terrorism. For these two disaster scenarios the way we react will be different because of how different they are. One is a natural disaster and the other is human made.
The severe winter weather can come upon you very quickly and you should be prepared as much as possible. With severe weather some of the things you should do in advance are make sure you have a kit of basic supplies together both for your home and car. The things you need are: a supply of water, food, flashlights, radio and batteries, first aid supplies, medications just to name a few. For your car you should have similar items but you also need to make sure your car is weather ready and that means having all your fluids checked and in general making sure it is in good running order. For your school setting when a storm comes up during the day and you end up on a lock down situation, you will need to have all the files and be able to call parents to let them know what you are doing to keep their children safe until they can arrive safely. You should have many of the same items you would have at home at your school and they should be item that have a longer shelve life (granola bars and similar).
To be prepared you should also make sure you have phones that will work during a storm and plenty of blankets and clothes for the children in case power goes out before parents arrive, you should also have first aid supplies, and any documentation you may need to professionally care for your children. In order to keep the children safe we would need to make sure the building is kept in good repair, and make sure that none of the utilities are damaged during the storm. The families could be involved by helping with supplies, we could have a phone tree with the parents, and parents that live in the same neighborhood could work together to care for each other’s children in emergencies.
I live in the Washington, D.C. area and so the terrorism threat is still fresh in our minds even though it’s been eight years. I had worked at the child care center located at the Pentagon, so I am familiar with some of the families that were affected by the attack in 2001. As we all know terrorism is not something you can really foresee, but now that it has happened at home we are more diligent about being prepared and some of the things a school or center can do to get ready are: again have the resources on premises to sustain the children and staff of a period of time in case of a lock-down. In order to assess the risks for your school you should be aware of your surroundings and the people that are in and around the area. If you notice someone new that just seems to be lost or wandering, then you should stay alert and make sure others are aware and maybe lock doors if this is not something you already do( this will prevent a stranger from wandering in). All schools or centers should have posted the Homeland Security Advisory System so everyone knows what the threat level is at all times, (ARC, 2002).
For a center or school the risk of terrorism can be great because the people that harm others are looking for a way to make the biggest statement and by hurting children they know they will get everyone’s attention. Each center/school should have a disaster kit that will contain the school records with family contact information, food, water and medications for children that require them. The home should also have any essential items needed for each member of the family, important papers, mediations needed, extra cloths, blankets or similar and your basic items such as food, and water.
In preparing for any disaster you and your staff should have practice drills so you know what your job is in an emergency. While working in an elementary school we had the occasion to be on lock-down and we also had to practice our shelter in place routine at least twice per year so we were not confused if we needed to use it. Our lock-down came as a result of a very bad thunderstorm that took out power lines and made it so no one was able to drive anywhere. We had to bring out our lanterns and we just kept the children entertained until it subsided enough that the school system released the children to the buses and parents.
The school I worked at when the terrorist attack happened was not in session yet, but we were there to conference with the parents and we had to stay until we could safely get home. The things a school can do to prepare in advance for this is have a plan for emergencies, make sure all staff know their job in the emergency, practice your plan, keep supplies on site at all times, and have a copy of all children’s files with the supplies so you do not have to gather when you will not really have time. Make sure you have a radio with batteries and cell phones for communication. If staff stays diligent about their job and their surroundings then maybe we can prevent something bad from happening again or at the least be more prepared to respond.
References:
Robertson, C. (2010). Safety, Nutrition, and Health in early education (4th Ed.). Belmont, CA; Wadsworth.
Terrorism: Preparing for the unexpected, American Red Cross www.redcross.org
Winter Severe Storms: www.redcross.org
Winter Severe Storms: http://www.fema.gov/hazard/winter
Day Care Facilities Emergency Planning Guide: The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency- www.PEMA.state.pa.us
Safety Practices and Procedures
December 13, 2009
In identifying five situations or safety threats for my age group I came up with the following: choking, falls, cleaning supplies not put away properly, and lack of supervision, broken toys or equipment. Choking is a concern for all age’s even preschoolers because some have not learned that everything does not go in your mouth. The safety policy at my school is that the room is checked for any small toys/items often and when found removed. The routine for dealing with a choking concern is that all staff stays diligent about the safety procedures and then hopefully choking will not be an issue. In the home setting a family can prevent the children from choking by ensuring that they buy toys and all items for children that are age appropriate and even then they should always check for small pieces that may break.
Falls are another big safety concern both in a child care setting and the home. The policy at school is to maintain visual on all children and if a child is climbing a staff should be present to ensure safety. All equipment should be well maintained, age appropriate and if indoors it should also have an open area surrounding to avoid accidents. Children should never climb on furniture either at school or home. To prevent falls at school supervision is key to preventing and then you need to make sure all areas are maintained for the children in care so that falls will not happen. In the home environment again the children should be in adult view at all times and they should be taught safety rules on how and where they are allowed to climb. They should never be allowed to climb on furniture and only use age appropriate equipment.
Another major safety issue I find is the care and storage of cleaning supplies both at home and the school. Even though we have cabinets for the supplies, they do not ever seem to get put away properly. Our policy for keeping the supplies stored is when we are done using them, we are to put back into the cabinet and then lock it. We have designated a staff member to be in charge of making sure the supplies are put away properly. When it comes to the storage at home, the family should make sure all cleaning supplies and anything else that may harm a young child is put out of reach and locked away. The school can help by passing along any information they get to the families in their care.
Lack of supervision is another big safety concern for everyone involved in the care of young children. When the children are not supervised any number of accidents can happen and this is just not acceptable. Our policy is that all children should be visible at all times and the staff should be stationed around the room or playground. If staff does not follow procedures then they can be written up or if a child get hurt then they could be in a lot of trouble both with their job, family and the law. It is very important to follow all policies and report anything that you feel is wrong so your director can take it further if needed. With supervision at home the parents should never leave children alone when they are young. Even when we think they are safe, they may find something they could hurt them and this is why we always watch and listen.
It is the adult’s job to make sure all toys and equipment that is used by children is well cared for and maintained. It is our policy to every morning do a walkthrough of the school to check for any broken toys and also check the playground before it is our turn to use it for anything that has been broken or left that may hurt our children. The way to prevent problems is to stay diligent and never stop paying attention to what’s around you because you never know when a child will find something that you did not find for lack of doing a daily check. When it comes to the home area and toy and equipment safety it is the parent’s job to make sure they do not buy toys that are not for the age of their children and if they have children of different ages they should make sure that all little pieces are put away until all children are of an age that they small pieces are safe for everyone. We as care givers can help the families make the right chooses by helping them to learn how to pick age appropriate toys for the children if they ask for help. Sometimes we need to pass along information to our parent’s about recalls on toys and other items that pertain to young children. I feel it is our job to help our parent’s which in turn will keep our children safe and happy.
There are many more safety and hazardous situations both at the school level and home setting. In general if we as teachers can get the training and then hopefully pass it on to our parent’s by way of adding it to our monthly newsletter or posted on the our parent board so they can read the information if they are interested. I have found that another way to pass on information is when we have conferences and back to school night as it is easy to have a table set up with various types of information.
Robertson, C. (2010). Safety, Nutrition, and Health in early education (4th Ed). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
In identifying five situations or safety threats for my age group I came up with the following: choking, falls, cleaning supplies not put away properly, and lack of supervision, broken toys or equipment. Choking is a concern for all age’s even preschoolers because some have not learned that everything does not go in your mouth. The safety policy at my school is that the room is checked for any small toys/items often and when found removed. The routine for dealing with a choking concern is that all staff stays diligent about the safety procedures and then hopefully choking will not be an issue. In the home setting a family can prevent the children from choking by ensuring that they buy toys and all items for children that are age appropriate and even then they should always check for small pieces that may break.
Falls are another big safety concern both in a child care setting and the home. The policy at school is to maintain visual on all children and if a child is climbing a staff should be present to ensure safety. All equipment should be well maintained, age appropriate and if indoors it should also have an open area surrounding to avoid accidents. Children should never climb on furniture either at school or home. To prevent falls at school supervision is key to preventing and then you need to make sure all areas are maintained for the children in care so that falls will not happen. In the home environment again the children should be in adult view at all times and they should be taught safety rules on how and where they are allowed to climb. They should never be allowed to climb on furniture and only use age appropriate equipment.
Another major safety issue I find is the care and storage of cleaning supplies both at home and the school. Even though we have cabinets for the supplies, they do not ever seem to get put away properly. Our policy for keeping the supplies stored is when we are done using them, we are to put back into the cabinet and then lock it. We have designated a staff member to be in charge of making sure the supplies are put away properly. When it comes to the storage at home, the family should make sure all cleaning supplies and anything else that may harm a young child is put out of reach and locked away. The school can help by passing along any information they get to the families in their care.
Lack of supervision is another big safety concern for everyone involved in the care of young children. When the children are not supervised any number of accidents can happen and this is just not acceptable. Our policy is that all children should be visible at all times and the staff should be stationed around the room or playground. If staff does not follow procedures then they can be written up or if a child get hurt then they could be in a lot of trouble both with their job, family and the law. It is very important to follow all policies and report anything that you feel is wrong so your director can take it further if needed. With supervision at home the parents should never leave children alone when they are young. Even when we think they are safe, they may find something they could hurt them and this is why we always watch and listen.
It is the adult’s job to make sure all toys and equipment that is used by children is well cared for and maintained. It is our policy to every morning do a walkthrough of the school to check for any broken toys and also check the playground before it is our turn to use it for anything that has been broken or left that may hurt our children. The way to prevent problems is to stay diligent and never stop paying attention to what’s around you because you never know when a child will find something that you did not find for lack of doing a daily check. When it comes to the home area and toy and equipment safety it is the parent’s job to make sure they do not buy toys that are not for the age of their children and if they have children of different ages they should make sure that all little pieces are put away until all children are of an age that they small pieces are safe for everyone. We as care givers can help the families make the right chooses by helping them to learn how to pick age appropriate toys for the children if they ask for help. Sometimes we need to pass along information to our parent’s about recalls on toys and other items that pertain to young children. I feel it is our job to help our parent’s which in turn will keep our children safe and happy.
There are many more safety and hazardous situations both at the school level and home setting. In general if we as teachers can get the training and then hopefully pass it on to our parent’s by way of adding it to our monthly newsletter or posted on the our parent board so they can read the information if they are interested. I have found that another way to pass on information is when we have conferences and back to school night as it is easy to have a table set up with various types of information.
Robertson, C. (2010). Safety, Nutrition, and Health in early education (4th Ed). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
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