“Nutrition in the Early Childhood Curriculum-A Principal’s Viewpoint”

 

by Sue Jungers, Principal, Mount Carmel Academy, Chicago, Illinois

 

Good eating habits are learned in a family setting.  Children often model the behavior of parents and family members when it comes to choosing foods.  If Dad doesn’t like beets, more than likely Junior won’t eat them either and Mom probably won’t bother to serve them.  If junk food is available or consumed by the adults in the household, children will follow the habits of the grown-ups.

 

Advertising is, of course, a major culprit in convincing kids that sugar and fat are good for them.  They watch endless numbers of commercials during children’s programming and come away believing that whatever is good for all their animated cartoon friends is also good for them.  The difficulty comes when Mom and the kids are at the grocery store and healthy decisions need to be made.

 

In recent years, families have become more aware of what foods to avoid and what foods are good for us.  Women’s magazines bombard us with the latest in research about cholesterol, cancer and calories.  Frozen yogurt has replaced ice cream in many households and low-fat everything is being offered everywhere.  Where does that leave the kids?

 

Educators have long been aware that nutrition needs to be taught in school.  Some  have been doing it for a long time by inserting a unit into a science lesson or having the gym teacher talk about health.  But isn’t it time we began to look at this issue as important and build a strong program, particularly in the primary grades?  Habits are formed early and pre-kindergarten/kindergarten is not too soon to begin to educate children about nutrition.

 

The integrated approach

 

At Mount Carmel Academy on Chicago’s North Side, teachers are using a whole language approach to reading and writing while the math and science curriculum is thoroughly hands-on.  Nutrition education is easily built into the curriculum because it readily adapts to an integrated approach.

 

Teachers have been creating units for several years that use a single food which is then expanded to incorporate reading, writing, math, science, art, literature, and the abstract elements of planning, problem-solving, sharing, and experiencing.

 

In the fall, the apple has produced wonderful and exciting learning experiences.  A trip to the orchard to pick apples leads to sorting, counting, sharing. Back at school, students write about their experience, read stories about Johnny Appleseed, write their own stories, cut the apple for scientific study, and are involved in a cooking activity that lends itself to measurement and other mathematical operations.  On year, the pre-kindergarten made applesauce by putting pre-cut slices into a food grinder and turning the crank. The first graders made apple crisp by placing pre-cut apple slices into pans and measuring the butter and brown sugar before it was baked.

 

Second-grade students actually peeled their apples and made the pie crust for their apple pies.  Step-by-step activities included the importance of hand washing and use of rubber gloves, how to read a recipe, measurement, and, of course, sharing the finished product.

 

The walls of the primary floor were filled with artwork depicting apple orchards, kids picking apples, and other events surrounding the field trip.  Teacher also used Math Their Way and the apple project was tallied, charted, and graphed in every way possible.  A search of the library produced many books about apples and science lessons abounded.

 

There are many resources available to teachers and schools in the area of nutrition.  A wealth of information comes from local and state Dairy Councils, usually free of charge.  State with a abundance of particular foods usually have information and materials they readily share with schools.  Florida (citrus fruits), Wisconsin (dairy products), and Georgia (peaches and peanuts) are three of the many states that come to mind.

 

One of the most interesting resources that has recently appeared is from Food Groupie, Inc.  This company has produced a charming set of characters, each representing one of the new USDA five food groups; a peanut, a slice of bread, an orange, a carton of milk, and a stalk of broccoli that every kid would love to take home.  The Food Groupie characters are 12 inches tall and are made of plush material.  This program has all the elements that a teach needs to teach nutrition to young children. A series of three, five-minute videos introduces the Food Groupie characters.  The Teacher’s Guide is loaded with numerous activities that engage children and set the tone for a year-long program of nutrition awareness.

 

At Mount Carmel, teachers used the videos to introduce their theme for this year, which included a trip to the grocery store.  The Food Groupie Program comes complete with a storybook and audiocassette tape about what a Food Groupie is and supplies teachers with a poster, stickers, a mobile for the classroom, and parent letters that explain the program.  This thorough and delightful program saved teachers a lot of preparation time and enabled them to spend more time building the concepts into the curriculum.

 

The grocery store project proved to be an experience not to be missed.  The kindergarten took a tour of the entire facility and watched the butchers cut and wrap meat, the produce staff clean the fruits and vegetables, and observed the many deliveries of food to the store.  The first grade made lists of foods that each Food Groupie represented and the second grade took play money and were allowed to “shop” for a food from each category.  The store then allowed them to go through the check out, pay for their items, and receive change.  It was a wonderful math experience for the second grade.

 

As a follow-up, students reproduced the food pyramid as a huge mural.  Beside the pyramid, a collage was created by placing empty cartons, labels, and packaging from the food categories on the pyramid.

 

There are many good opportunities at school to model good eating habits.  Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten snacks and classroom birthday parties are times when schools should provided guidelines for parents who provide food for the children.  Most school lunch programs follow government guidelines regarding the type of food that should be served.  Principals need to be knowledgeable and current about nutrition in order to set the stage for a successful, healthful environment.

 

Nutrition education can be built into the curriculum all year, it need not be strictly a one-unit presentation.  Children need to make healthy choices all the time and school is a good place to learn at an early age that good nutrition is a lifetime choice.

 

For more information on the Food Groupie Program, contact Food Groupie, Inc, P. O. Box 907, Mt. Prospect, IL 60056; 847-545-8200.  For information on the other food materials mentioned in this article, contact the Florida Department of Citrus in Lakeland, FL; the Georgia Peanut Commission in Tifton, GA; and the Dairy Council of Wisconsin in Westmont, IL.

 

Early Childhood News Magazine, November/December 1999