© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 2-1 Nutrition, Health, and Safety for Young Children: Promoting Wellness, 1e Sorte, Daeschel, Amador

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

All rights reserved.2-1

Nutrition, Health, and Safety for Young Children: Promoting Wellness, 1eSorte, Daeschel, Amador

Chapter Two

Teaching Wellness Concepts




How Children Learn

How did you learn best as a child?

What is your view of the best way for most children to learn?




How Children Learn

Children construct knowledge when they experience new ideas and gain new information that is added to what they know.

Play Through their interests Firsthand experiences using their senses Achievable Challenges Interacting with other children and adults




How Children Learn

Through assimilation children take in and fit new experiences into their existing mental structures.

Children modify what they know to include new ideas and information through accommodation.

Children balance discomfort with new ideas and experiences (disequilibrium) and their comfort with familiar knowledge and events (equilibrium).




Teachers Support Brain Development

Encourage sensory activities and exploration to build foundation for future learning (rich network of neuron connections).

Allow children to practice new skills to reinforce brain cell connections.

Provide and build loving relationships.

Provide interactive communication—talk, offer new vocabulary, ask questions, be observant of children’s needs.




Scaffold Children’s Learning

Can you explain scaffolding?

What is an example of how a teacher scaffolds a young child’s learning or development?




Scaffolding: What Teachers Do

Teachers guide learning by structuring familiar and interesting experiences that offer challenges just beyond the child’s current level of understanding and ability.

Scaffolding involves observation, being engaged, verbalizing child’s activities, letting children lead, reducing participation, observing again, introducing another more challenging activity.




What if…

…you had to explain how to scaffold:

Handwashing to a preschooler? Crossing the street to a first-grader? Putting away toys to a toddler? Setting the lunch table to a preschooler?




Brain Development

“The Early Years are the Learning Years”

Rich experiences = greater neuron development

Deprivation of rich learning experiences = lower neuron development

Stress, toxic environments = lower neuron development




Domains of Learning

Four developmental domains of learning:

Cognitive development Language development Physical development Social-Emotional development




Hands-on and Experiential Learning

Why are hands-on or experiential learning experiences an important way for young children to learn?




Planned and Incidental Learning

What is the difference between planned and incidental learning?

Why is it important to observe, listen, and provide incidental learning to young children?




Teaching Infants Wellness Concepts

Provide safe and appropriate opportunities to explore using their sensory and motor skills.

• crawling, high-quality materials, etc.

Introduce healthful routines.

• Napping, eating, cuddling, safe exposure outdoors

Model safe interactions with other children and adults.




Teaching Toddlers and Preschoolers Wellness Concepts

Provide ample opportunity for children to explore their ideas by manipulating materials.

Offer planned activities that guide children to learn nutrition, health, and safety rules.

Guide children by offering language that supports understanding of wellness concepts.




Teaching Children in Primary Grades about Wellness Concepts

Offer individualized activities, such as having children keep a diary of all the foods they have eaten for the day.

Guide small group activities.

Provide concrete experiences so children can explore ideas in real and tangible ways (e.g., projects).




Teacher Older Children Wellness Concepts

Provide information that explains the positive outcomes associated with healthful behaviors.

Identify healthful alternatives to less healthful activities.

Allow opportunities to describe ideas and compare and contrast intangible solutions.




Developmentally Appropriate Activities

Process-oriented activities that focus on the process rather than the product or answer.

Child-selected and teacher-directed activities. Project learning, or activities that grow and evolve

across a period of time. Wellness activities that cross into all centers and

learning areas.




Evidence Based Practice

Information guiding the wellness curriculum should be founded on research.

Teachers should stay informed about best practices supported by professionals, and avoid approaches based on opinion and personal preference.

Wellness activities should be relevant and respectful to different cultures.




Planning for Safety

All aspects of the wellness curriculum must be safe.

Review details of each activity and lesson to ensure safety.

Supervise children for safety at all times.




Promoting Physical Activity

Schools should integrate physical activity into their wellness goals and daily routines using the following guidelines:

Recognize that all activities that involve movement are beneficial.

Provide choices for safe physical activities.Support children to feel comfortable and confident.Make activities fun.Ensure safety.




Components of Wellness Activities

Concept (Broad idea, typically based on standards) Activity name Activity goal (What do we want kids to learn?) Materials list (What’s needed?) Activity plan (What teacher does, what children do) Adjustments and differentiations (for special needs) Evaluation (assessment)




Including All Children

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has four main objectives:

1. To ensure a free and appropriate public education for all children with disabilities.

2. To protect the rights of children with disabilities.

3. To support states provide special education services.

4. To ensure that early intervention programs are effective.




What If…

…you created a wellness activity and, while presenting it to a group of 4-year-olds, discovered that the children wanted to play with the materials and did NOT want to proceed through the steps of the activity?

Will you adapt the lesson? If so, how?




Supports for Teachers

Curriculum books and Internet resources Community health professionals such as pediatric

nurses or community health providers, or health service advisory committees

Professional development and in-service training Membership in professional organizations such as

National Association for the Education of Young Children




Wellness Concepts for Families

Providing nutritious meals Ensuring children get sufficient sleep Identifying a regular medical provider Obtaining recommended immunizations Keeping children home when they are sick Encouraging physical activity Protecting children from harm




Modeling Wellness Concepts

Teachers and families set examples for children in the following ways:

Eating well and stay active Ensuring positive experiences with food and eating, such as

family style eating Participating in physical activities with children Practicing healthful activities in front of children




What if…

You recognized that a child was coming to school or your center hungry?

How would you approach the family members?

What local resources would you tell them about?

Documents

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 2-1 Nutrition, Health, and Safety for Young Children: Promoting Wellness, 1e Sorte, Daeschel, Amador