I Am Moving, I Am Learning!

Preschoolers like to move! And as parents, we want to see our children develop and learn in a way that is fun and beneficial. Here are 5 reasons why physical fitness is important for your child:

-          It helps to prevent childhood obesity

-          It gives children the opportunity to explore and use their imagination

-          It is helping children to develop their fine and gross motor skills (1999, Family Time).

-          Movement helps their blood to flow better and promotes better brain cell growth

-          Getting our children active means that the parents will be active too! Parents need to be active for all the same reasons.

Children who do not engage daily physical activities tend to develop a sedentary lifestyle. These children have slower reflexes and underdeveloped gross and fine motor skills. As a result, some children may become obese and suffer from the ridicule of their peers. This will in turn result in a lowered self esteem in the child and possibly cause the child to withdraw into themselves.

Working together with your child to find some fun and worthwhile activities can be a challenge for some parent, but don’t give up! There are many easy activities to do.

Taking a walk with your child in the woods or around the neighborhood can turn into a treasure hunt or nature walk as you identify different bugs, birds or plants.

You could also use bean bags and simply practice tossing them through a hula hoop or into a trash bin. This will also help promote the child’s fine motor skills as they grasp the bean bag with their fingers and toss them into the air.

One of my favorite sayings is, “Children are like little mirrors. They will reflect back to you what they see in you”. As long as we are setting a good example of physical fitness, they will mirror that back and become active themselves.

The Head Start website has great resources, evidence and testimonials about how the “I Am Moving, I Am Learning” curriculum is helping children and adults alike to get moving and learning in the classrooms, homes and in the community. I would recommend this to everyone.

2011, I Am Moving I Am Learning, http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/ecdh/Health/Nutrition/Nutrition%20Program%20Staff/IMIL/IamMovingIam.htm

Nutrition & Development

In the infant age group, it is important for these children to get good nutrition because during these months the child is still developing rapidly. Brain stem and nerve endings are still forming; teeth and bones are still solidifying and forming; also, the infant will learn that through being held while bottle feeding or spoon fed by a trusted adult that meal times are important opportunities for interaction and energy for their body.

In the toddler age group, the child is learning what different foods are available and what their taste and texture is like. The child is learning its likes and dislikes from the foods that are prepared for him and will make life long connections to what it will chose later on at this stage. A toddler can learn that taking small amounts and tasting good nutritious foods can result in many new and favorite foods being available to them.

In the preschool group, children will learn what proper portions are and learn to dish them up for themselves. The habits formed here and choices they make will likely be life long. Teachers and parents can teach what foods are healthy and how they help their bodies to grow(pg. 215, Robertson,2010)

Adults should actively help children develop healthy eating habits because adults are the best role models and teachers the child will have. Adults have the responsibility to teach good nutrition to the child and enable them to understand the good and bad about the foods they will eat. The adult can point out what foods help our bodies to grow strong and healthy and what foods will inhibit this.

Adults can teach through eating interactions at the table with their child. They can cook with their child nutritious and fun foods and explain the benefits of them. They could also show and explain the food pyramid to their child and help them to make it a part of their everyday food selections.

Peanut butter Celery Sticks: This is nutritious because it provides a food that most children love and it is packed full of protein. It pairs it with a water rich vegetable that is easy to prepare and fun to eat.

Pizza Wheels: This recipe offers plenty of nutritious ingredients and opportunities for counting, color recognition and shape recognition.

Ingredients:

-          Whole wheat English muffins

-          Pizza sauce

-          Shredded mozzarella cheese

-          Your choice: sausage, pepperoni, chicken, ground turkey, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, olives, etc.

Fruit Salad: This is a fun, nutritious and colorful recipe that gets kids excited to prepare and eat. All ingredients should be fresh and children can help with the prep as well as identifying the fruits, how they are good for them and what color and shape they are.

Ingredients:

-          Sliced apples

-          Sliced bananas

-          Sliced grapes

-          Sliced strawberries

-          Shredded coconut

-          Sugar free cool whip

A CPR/First Aid Scenario

A child in my preschool class is playing and running around on the playground when all of the sudden he collapses onto the ground. I run to the child, get down on my knees and ask the child if he is ok. He does not respond. I tap him on his foot and ask him if he is ok. He still has no response. I check to see if his chest is rising and falling and lower my cheek to feel if any breathe is coming from his nose or mouth. None is. I ask the other teacher to call 911 on the school cell phone she has in her pocket that we always take outdoors with us and she leads the other children to a different area to play. I then begin the CPR procedures. Chest compressions and breathes, always checking to see if he begins to breathe on his own. He does not. I continue to perform CPR until I no longer can and the other teacher takes over. Then paramedics arrive and relieve us.

A child in the toddler room is choking on a grape he was eating for lunch and is not able to take in full breathes. I check their mouth to see if the grape is easily taken. It is not. I then place the child head down on my knee and pound their back 3 times to try to loosen the grape. I then turn the child on their side to check and see if the grape has become dislodged. It has and the child is now breathing well.

Advance planning is always the best policy in preventing and handling emergency situations. I would be proactive to train all staff before they started work in CPR/First Aid. These trainings would prepare them to handle these situations, should they arise. I would also review these steps every quarter to insure that they are fresh in our minds. I would also do a daily and weekly check of the building to be sure that any possible choking hazards were eliminated.

I know that in my classroom we have a box on the wall by our back door that has a list of our children and all their emergency contact information. There is also a first aid kit that is portable and is inventoried weekly. We also have our emergency evacuation route, CPR/Choking hazards procedures posted there. There is also a flash light there in case of a power outage.

Emergency Preparedness

Two specific dangers in the area where my Head Start program is located are flooding and power outages. Our program is located right by a very large river that frequently floods and also has many wind storms, thus looses power periodically. Some of the dangers posed by these issues are contacting the parents in a quick manner and them being able to come and retrieve their children quickly. Our building is on high enough ground that the water has never reached it in the past, but getting on or off the reservation where it is located has proven difficult in major flooding.

Our staff should always be prepared to deal with these situations so that the children can feel secure and know that we are able to keep them safe. Also, for the parents so that they know that their children are safe in our care and will be taken care of.

The consequences of not being prepared would be chaos and frantic parents everywhere – as well as staff.

Our staff would meet and brainstorm about all the possible scenarios surrounding these issues and come up with a procedure for each one. We would contact all the local public safety offices and find out their procedures and coordinate ours with theirs. We would then solidify our plan and print it out and hold safety training for the parents, asking them to sign off on the procedure after they fully understand all the procedures.

Potentially Hazordous Situations Pertaining to Preschoolers.

1. Children running down slick sidewalks instead of walking.

     Child care providers need to be sure to explain to the children that walking to and from any area is the safest policy. Providers should always be leading their group by example and ensure that all children are reminded to walk.

Providers need to check sidewalks before children arrive and clear them of debris and hazardous materials.

Parents need to follow up at home and discuss with their child the rules for school and that walking to and from activities promotes safety.

2. Children walking out onto a road without looking for traffic.

    Providers must discuss the safety rules concerning stop, look and listening before crossing a street.  Practice with children so that a general understanding is developed.

Providers should always be present whenever a child is at a street crossing to help ensure proper procedure is followed.

Send home policy to parents and encourage follow up with their children to ensure continuity.

3. Hand Washing

    Providers need to instruct and review hand washing policy with children at least once a month to ensure that it is being learned and carried out. The spread of germs causes illness and both children and adults can actively stop the spread of germs by frequently washing their hands.

Families should also be given hand washing policies and asked to follow up with them at home.

4. Children hiding under or behind furniture.

    Providers must set up a classroom in such a way as to best ensure that children can not get behind or get stuck behind furniture. Providers should also encourage children not to hide and stay hidden in the classroom so that the provider can know at all times where they are in case of a fire or emergency.

Parents should be asked to discuss these same issues with their child and asked to not encourage hiding in the classroom – even when the child is expecting their parent to find them at pick up time.

5. Children using toys or sticks as weapons.

    Providers must explain to children that using toys or sticks to pretend that they are weapons is dangerous and could potentially injure their fellow classmates. Providers must be sure to clear play areas of debris that could be used for such play and only have toys available that are safe and could not be used to injure other children.

Parents should also discourage the use of weapons or pretending to use weapons at school.