Dressing Themselves
Most of our parents at the school dress their children. Only a few students have the opportunity to dress themselves. One time I asked one of the parents, “Why do you insist on your child dressing themselves up everyday?” They responded by saying that the child should have a sense of responsibility and creativity. I agree with this. This gives the child a sense of independence and will allow them to be more comfortable and confident of themselves.
When discussing with the children on what they are wearing I’ve noticed a lot of directive language. The goal is to allow the child to decide on his or her own. Terms that should be used more when talking about clothing is. Colorful, vibrant, fuzzy, the types of fabric, what else they are used for. This will help allow the children to know when and where they should this article of clothing. For example, when talking about wearing a jacket using terms like puffy and warm. This should hint to the child that a jacket isn’t meant for the summer.
Healthy Eating
I would describe myself as a healthy eater. My approach to nutrition is to maintain a balance of healthy foods and junk foods. I would teach children how to stay focused and not let them easily persuade themselves to snack on junk foods. I would teach them about different alternatives to maintain a healthy diet. I would also implement a healthy verses unhealthy foods lesson plan. In the lesson, I would talk about the positive and negative effects of heathy and unhealthy foods. The objective would be to have students be able to differentiate between these 2 different types and explain the pros and cons of healthy and unhealthy eating. I would engage my students by doing activities that relate to this topic, such as making a poster together where each student has a chance to come up to the poster and glue on a picture on the side of the poster that is labeled as healthy and a second picture that identifies as an unhealthy food. The goal is to have students want to choose positive healthy choices and healthy actions that influence the functions of the body.
I would describe mealtime in my classrooms as lively. I also sit with the class during mealtimes and engage in conversations. I also try to incorporate healthy eating talk when conversation with them and talk about the food on their plate during lunch and the benefits of it. For example, if we were having milk that day, I would typically say something like “Yum we have milk today! Milk is so good for my bones so I can become strong!” I also encourage students to try different foods or a food that they might not have liked before, again. at the beginning of mealtimes, I like to have a bite of each of one thing together as a class. I would say something like “Lets try our corn together friends, 1, 2, 3.” They love this because they are not alone trying something that they might not like. Lastly, I remind them that its okay not to like something or finish everything off of their plates but I also tell them to try it first before deciding.
Starting a blog has taught me so many great things. I will use what I have learned for my future endeavors in becoming a Kindergarten teacher!