Module 2 Blog

It was very interesting and fun observing in the Pre-k classroom. The children are very active and hav e a lot of energy. I also feel like they were showing off because I was in the room observing. The teacher stated to me “they don’t usually act like this”. The children were doing silly things, and the teacher had to repeat herself a few times before they would listen. Some important things that I observed is that the parents didn’t really come into the classrooms to speak with the teachers. They dropped the kids off, signed them in and left right away. During pick-up at 12:00pm, the parents came in the front door, signed them out and the teachers sent the children to them. I also noticed that the teachers didn’t encourage conversation. The children would ask the teachers questions or tell them something and the teachers would give them short answers and walk away. For example, one of the children said “Yesterday I went to the doctor”, the teacher said “oh really” and continued what she was doing. I felt so bad for the child because you can tell he really wanted to tell the teacher about his experience.

I also observed a little in the kitchen to observe food prep. I also interviewed the cook. One thing she told me that I was pleased with is “All of our food is purchased from local vendors and I cook it onsite, we usually purchase fresh fruits and vegetables”. I thought that was great. I also looked at their menu and they didn’t have any cookies, juice, or anything processed besides breads or crackers. The cook also stated that she doesn’t really use any butters, oils, or added spices or salt. The cook was clean and seemed to be very sanitary, wore a hair net, gloves and constantly sanitized and cleaned her cabinet. Before she served the food, she took the temp and covered the food before bringing it to the room. The teachers also did a good job of encouraging the children to eat and try everything.

Childhood Obesity Interview

For my Interview I chose to interview the cook at the school, and also the teacher. I felt that these are two very important people when it comes to childhood obesity and nutrition. When I started my interview with both the teacher and the cook, they both said that my topic was very good and they felt like it was an important subject to discuss. For the interview with the teacher, she had suggested that I use the topics of children's eating habits, children are not active enough, and parents are not educated enough about what their children should and should not eat. She went on to say that children come in the room eating junk for breakfast like donuts, cookies, cheetos, and soda, and when she ask the children what they did after school, most of them reply "watched tv", or "played video games". The teacher stated that one day she informed a parent that it probably isn't a good idea to let her child eat a donut everyday on her way to school because then she wasn't going to eat our heatlhy nutritious breakfast, and the mom didn't understand why. Parents think that because their children are young, they can eat whatever they want (we must stop this madness). The teacher stated that she encourages the children to eat their fruits and vegetables at school, and they also discuss the benfits of the foods. She said they also do food expereinces so that the children can learn about new foods (how they grow, taste,). The teacher stated that the director offers nutrition workshops for parents and I also noticed in the front lobby that there is a board of nutriton tips and resources.

When I spoke with the cook, she stated very similar things that the teacher did. She notices that the children don't really eat vegetables, but they do like a lot of the fruits. The cook stated that she really likes the menu at the school, and that a Dietican looks over and approves the menu before the school starts using it. The cook stated that she feels that the children are not active enough with their horrible diets and that's why so many of the children are overweight or obese. She feels that the children don't want to try new foods because they are so used to the way they are eating at home, beans, rice, and tortillas, and that the families don't prepare enough healthy foods like vegetables and fruits for their children. Another issue the cook brought up was that there are way too many people going out to eat for fast food. She also feels that parents need to be educated on how to cook and prepare healthy meals for their children so they are not always going out for fast food. The cook feels that the bigger issue is that parents are not educated and aware of proper diets and nutrition for their children.

I really enjoyed interviewing both the teacher and the cook, and they have a lot of the same views that I do. I also feel much better about my topic because they brought to light more issues surrounding hte topic.

Childhood Obesity

As I am sure you can tell that I have chose childhood obestiy for my topic. I am very passionate about helping families understand what leads and causes childhood obesity and what later affects it can have on a person. I am also very interested in proper nutriton and diets for children, and activity levels for them. There are not many people that know how nutrition and children diets affect there ability to learn and focus. These are all subjects that parents and children need to be educated on. There are many resources for childhood obesity, child nutrition, and nutrition in general. Ms. Obama is also very passionate about this topic and has created websites like Let's move, and also has been a huge advocate for children and families. I feel that I will have a very easy time finding resources, information, and research on childhood obesity, children's nutrition, and proper diets. What do you think?

Well setting up a blog wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.