Addressing maltreatment

Action Plan 3

Addressing Maltreatment—the Role of Early Childhood Professionals

As an early childhood professional you are a mandated reporter of neglect and abuse in the state you are employed. Many states have policies and procedures that early childhood professionals must follow if they suspect neglect or abuse happening. In my state of Maryland, early childhood professional who suspect maltreatment must follow the following policies and procedures. According to Maryland Abuse and Neglect laws only applies to a parent, any person who has permanent or temporary custody, household or family member, or responsible for supervision. All professional who work with children, need to know that to protect themselves they need to report any suspected maltreatment, because if they fail to report they can sanctioned by the licensing board. When a early childhood professional suspects maltreatment they must follow these following procedures.

• With in 48 hours of suspecting abuse, it must be reported both verbally and written to child protective services.
• Must have the following information when reporting the suspected behavior.
  • Names, ages, and addresses of all the family members where the abused child lives.
  • The present location of the maltreated child
  • any information on the maltreatment
  • who is being accused of this maltreatment

After you have reported the suspected abuse you need to support the needs of the children and non abusive family members. This is a difficult thing to do for many childhood professionals because they may not want to get involved anymore then they have to. One way you can support the family is to have information about community services, like counseling, and other services to help the child and family understand what is going on. Also educate the family of the victim of the wide range of emotions, behaviors, and how to cope with them. Another way is that you can be the positive, and emotionally stable person in their lives and hope they can trust you enough to express themselves to you. How could you show your support with out getting to involved with the family? As and educator you should keep your emotions in check and only supply the family with the information needed, but be supportive as much as possible. As the educator you spend most of the child's day with them and see if there may be change in their behavior and emotion, write all of this down and give the parent a copy so they know what maybe going on, and can tell the doctor, or counselors. The only thing that you can control is how your classroom is run, keep the child's daily routine as similar as possible, and reassure the child that everything will be ok and give lots of TLC.

How to present the information to the non-abusive parent in a supportive non-judgmental way? One way is to wait for them to approach you for the information, and when they do keep your opinions out of it, but be supportive emotionally. On the other hand, you can inform the parent of any change you may have noticed in their child, and maybe suggest things that you use in your classroom to help the child deal with their emotions, Like journal writing, creative arts, role playing, and open conversations. Another way to present the information to the non-abusive parent is maybe fliers or brochures with information about child development and how children deal with maltreatment, and community services that may be helpful sitting in the lobby for the parents to grab if they want too.

References

Maryland Department of Human Resources, (n.d) Reporting Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect, retrieved on February 2, 2014 from www.dhr.state.md.us

supporting children's need after a disaster

Action Plans for Early Childhood Educator To Help Support Their Students Needs

Every educator whether early childhood, elementary or secondary, needs the background knowledge on how to support the needs and emotions of every child who may walk into their lives. In this paper I am going to explore five possible scenarios that educators will confront sometime in their professional career, supporting the child's needs after a disaster, loss of a family member, maltreatment, divorce, and being an advocate for a family in your community. With each of the five action plan scenarios I will provide background information, and ideas and advice on how to support the child's needs.

Action Plan 1

Supporting A Child's Needs Following a Disaster

For my first action plan for early childhood educators to support a child's need and emotions in the case of some emotional distress, first I am going to look at the effects of a natural disaster. Many regions around the world are affected by weather related and natural disasters like hurricanes, tornado, typhoons, tsunamis, and earthquakes. Just this past year the mid west was hit with tornadoes that left many families with out a home, the loss of lives, and the stress of rebuilding even though it could happen again. For the gulf region of the united states, these type of weather related disasters happen often around the late summer and early fall months, during hurricane season. We all are trained on what to do in the case of a disaster, but how do we support the families and children in our care in the aftermath? What should educators know about the needs and emotions of the children, what do the experts say we should do to help support the children, and what problems could the children face in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

Scenario:

You are an early childhood educator working with young children in the gulf region who are still struggling with the effects of Hurricane Katrina. What essential information will you need to know in order to help support the children who are still struggling with the aftermath? What useful information can experts give you to help the families and children? What problems related to the aftermath of Katrina could effect the children's family life, routines, and sense of security? How can you help support the needs and emotions of the children in your care?

After a disaster like Hurricane Katrina, educators must know that many of the children in their care have been hit by this type of disaster in many different ways, loss of childhood home and belongings, parents loss of job security, malnutrition and basic needs not met, loss of family member, friend, and pets, seen violence, illnesses, and death, and may have been separated from family members. The affect from these traumatic experiences cause children to ask many difficult questions, show signs of depression, anxiety, and behavioral challenges. The outcome of many of the situations mentioned above could affect the child's daily life and sense of security, by starting a new school, and family life changes. With the children's emotions being a wreck, starting a new school could cause more stress for the child. Start at a new school, not knowing if you will be liked, if your old friends will be there can be stressful for a child who is already dealing with so much. Another problem that can affect a child's daily life after a traumatic experience, is the separation of the family unit. Do to the stresses of rebuilding, financially supporting the family, and living in closes quarters for a long period of time can have an affect on the family. Many adults struggle with keep a family together while trying to overcome this type of disaster that effects many different parts of our lives. What we as educators need to do is understand what the families are going through, and help as much as possible to keep the child's life as normal as possible.

The experts on the affects of disasters of children suggest that as educators, we must support the basic emotional and physical needs of the children affected, keep their daily routines the same as before the disaster, limit the amount of information that they may receive about the disaster, listen carefully to the children and reassure them, look for changes in them and yourself, be a role model on how to cope with the aftermath. The points that the experts tell us that we should do in the aftermath of a disaster like Hurricane Katrina, should be used on a daily basis. As educators we should be a role model, looking for behavioral changes, meeting the physical and emotional needs of every child in our care, if we do these things on a daily basis the children would not hopefully notice any change in their routines while in our care.

 As an educator of 15 plus years, I can say that I have only had a few incidents where I had to emotional and physically support the children in my care due to some traumatic experience, but nothing like the experiences that the children of the gulf coasts states have had to deal with in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. What I have come to learn is that I need to be a role model, and keep their daily routines the same no matter how difficult it may be. I need to be a good listener, and observer. I also need to be their friend and someone they can trust in this difficult time of their lives. Like I said it maybe difficult at times but i know that I have to be the rock, be the only constant, non-changing thing in that child's life.   

Supporting families with a loss

Action Plan 2

Supporting Young Children through a Family Loss

The second action plan for early childhood educators is to know how to support children, infant through school age, with a loss of a family member. Many of us have lost a close family member in our adult life, and it affects us just as it does for children. We all think that children are resilient and can bounce back from losing someone close to them, well they can, but during their grieving period we have to be emotional and physical supportive for them. Death and the grieving process can affect our body, mind, emotions, and spirit, through loss of appetite or sleep, happy and sad memories, worrying and regret, an emotional roller coaster, and question our faith, or renew our faith. If we think it is hard for us to cope with the death of a loved one, it must be worse for a child who may not understand what is happening around them. For this action plan I am going to explain what an educator should know about how children cope with losing a family member, what the experts tell us about how to support a grieving child, and what we can do as educator to support a grieving child.

Scenario:

You are working in an early childhood setting that cares for and teaches children ages 0–5. Two families in your program share a grandmother who has been an active and loving caregiver for their children—an infant, a toddler, and a preschooler. The grandmother has recently passed away and you want to support these families by helping them understand how infants, toddlers, and preschoolers grieve in order to help the children with this loss.

We all respond and grieve differently to the loss of a family member; some celebrate the life that was lived, others go into a depression, some verbalize their feeling, others write or draw about their feelings. Children are not exempt from the grieving process and depending on their age and development they may grieve differently then you and I. Educators should know how children at different developmental levels, and how each culture grieves with a loss. The experts in childhood development field, tell us that children from birth to school age grieve differently, listed below are some of the ways that children may understand and grieve with a loss.

Infants

Infants do know that some type of change is happening in their life, they may not know the details, but they sense the change. They can sense change in the caregiver’s emotions, which may affect how they grieve. With the inability to communicate verbally, Infant communicate to adults that they may be grieving the loss of someone by…

• Regressing or stop developing those fine and gross motor skills
• Loss of appetite, or choose a comfort food
• Change in personality or becoming more irritable
• Disruption in sleep pattern

As infant caregivers of who may have lost someone close to them is to keep their life as normal as possible. We need to keep our feelings about the loss to ourselves, and be as normal as possible around the child. They feed off our emotions, and react to them.

Toddlers

Similar to infants, toddlers grieve for the loss of someone close to them differently than we do, due to their lack of language, and communication skills. Toddlers are developmentally growing and learning to navigate the environment around them, let allow learning how to understand loss of something. Toddlers are beginning to use their verbal skills to communicate to the people around them but they may not have the vocabulary to tell us how they are feeling. Below are a few signs to look for in a grieving Toddler.

• Change in emotions
• Change in eating and sleeping habits
• Regression
• Attachment to a security blanket, binky, or stuffed toy

As an educator of toddlers who maybe grieving over a loss of someone close to them, we need to be there for them emotionally and physically. We need to work hard on keeping their daily schedule as normal as possible. We also need to keep our emotions about the loss to ourselves, just like infants, toddler’s sense change in us and react emotionally.

Preschool

As for preschoolers and older children, they grieve similarly to us. They have the understanding of loss and communication skill to verbalize their feelings. Like adults children do grieve in different ways. The experts say we should look for the following signs in grieving preschoolers.

• Regression
• Emotional roller coasters
• Tantrums and other unusual behaviors
• Separation anxiety
• Clinging to a security blanket or item
• Imaginary friend or family member who recently past.

As a caregiver of a preschooler who may have lost someone close to them, all we can do is the same thing we have done for the infant, toddler and anyone else who may have lost someone, be there for them. Be a friend and listen to them and be emotionally and physically supportive. Keep their schedule as normal as possible.

As for the children in the scenario, who had recently lost their grandmother, as their caregiver I would try to keep their day as normal as possible, and be there for them. I would be there for them emotionally and physically, it is a tough thing to go through at any age. For the Preschooler I would let him talk about what he is feeling and reassure him that everything will be OK. It would defiantly depend on the child on how I would handle this situation but with the knowledge of the grieving process and the signs to look for I will know what to do in the case of a child grieving over the loss of someone close to them.

References

TLC,(2008) The National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children, Infant and Toddler Grief, retrieved on January 18, 2014 from www.tlcinst.org/toddlergreif

AACAP, (2013) Child and Greif, retrieved on January 18, 2014 from www.aacap.org/aacp/families_and_youth

Supporting Families with Divorce

Action Plan #4

Supporting Families with Divorce

When a young married couple feel that they are not able to love each other anymore, are in an unhealthy marriage, or have tried to work out their problems with counseling but it didn't change anything, the tendency is to go their separate way and get a divorce. This is a difficult time in these two peoples lives, now add children to the mix. If it is difficult for the married couple to handle how do you think children handle the situation of divorce, and the life they knew changing? Children feed off their parents, if the parents handle the situation calmly and not fight in front of the children, the children will handle the situation better, then a situation where there is a lot of negativity. In this action plan, I'm going to inform early childhood professionals how families are effected, and how to support the children, infant through preschool, and families through separation and divorce.

How Families are Effected by Divorce

When it comes to the young married couple planning to get divorced many things could be a factor, unfaithfulness, married to young and not prepared for the roles of a couple, abusive, untrustworthy, and to much arguing. As educators, and early childhood professionals we have to understand what could have caused the families of the young children that we care for to go through this difficult time in their lives, and separate. No matter the reason for the divorce, the outcomes of the children are always the same, difficult understanding why mommy or daddy are moving out, pain, guilt (it's my fault they are leaving?), and resentment. This time in anyone's life is stressful, and needs to be handled as stress free as possible in front of the children. I mentioned above that depending on how the parents react to the divorce, will depend on how the children react. A divorce with a lot of arguing and conflict will, make the children feel guilt, anger, and lonely. On the other hand, a divorce that is conflict free, a child will still feel anger and guilt, but will feel less alone because the two parents will work together to make the transition successful. As professionals, we need to know that the effects of divorces will not change overnight and may take up to five years to change the child's feelings and understanding of why his or her parents don't live with them all of the time.

Supporting the Children and Families

Nithyakala Karuppaswany and Judith Myers-Wells, Authors of Children's Reactions to Divorce, explain that children at different developmental stages and ages handle the stress of divorce differently. As early childhood professionals we have to understand who children at these different stages and ages handle the understanding of what is going on around them, so that we can support them correctly.

Supporting Infants with Divorce

The researchers say that even in the first years of a child's life, they are learning to read body language, emotions, who to trust, and form close relationships with. We may not always realize it, but infants do react to our emotions. Infants don't understand that their family is going through a divorce, but they do know that someone close to them is not always around. To support an infant child and his or her family in this difficult time is simple, as an educator or E.C. professional you keep their routine as normal as possible, remain calm while in their presents, always maintain a worm comfortable environment. When it comes to supporting the family, give suggestions when asked, and don't get to involved.

Supporting Toddlers with Divorce

Like with the infancy stage, Toddlers don't understand what and why their life is changing, they only know Mommy or Daddy is moving out. With toddlers you will notices signs of regression, problems sleeping, change in emotions, and anxiety when a parent is out of sight, which all could be signs of how they are dealing with the stress of the divorce. How can we as early childhood Professionals support a child and his or her family though divorce? While just like in the infancy stage, we need to keep the child's routine the same as much as possible, be reassuring , caring and patient, if possible spend some quality time with them one on one if possible. As an educator I know with the ratios it is kinda hard to spend one on one time with a child, but try to take time to sit read and make them feel special, and cared for.

Supporting Preschoolers with divorce

Preschool children are just starting to understand that one parent is not living in the same house as them, because of divorce or separation. Depending on how open the parents are about talking to them about the difficult changes that are going on in their lives. Just like with the toddlers parents and caregivers will start noticing change in the child's behaviors, like anger, guilt, emotional, acting out situations in home-living, and question what divorce is and why is this happening. As early childhood professionals we can support our preschool children through divorce by keeping their schedule and routines as much as possible the same, have them make presents for both parents, make the child feel he or she can trust you to talk about their feelings with, and just be patient and caring. As far as the family support goes, you don't want to get involved or pick sides, stay neutral, and give advice if asked for.

Divorce is a tough time for all parties involve, but as long as we are all working together to keep it as stress free, and their routines and schedules as normal as possible for the children, they will bounce back to a normal life with minimal effects. Our goal as early childhood professional is to keep our environment as safe, and comfortable as possible, while supporting positive behaviors.

References

Karuppaswany, N., and Myers-Wells, J (copyright 2006-2013) Children's Reactions to Divorce, retrieved on February 6, 2014 from www.extensions.purdue.edu/providerparent/

DeBord, K, (n.d) The Effects of Divorce on Children retrieved on February 6, 2014 from www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/fcs/pdfs/fcs471.pdf

Physical Fitness: Why is Important?

Physical Fitness

Many of us know that physical fitness is important for the development of fine and gross motor skills, but it seems to be excluded from the curriculum or left out of our day when time gets away from us. In this blog entry I am going to explain the importance of physical fitness, and how parents and caregivers can help children get active.

Importance of Physical Fitness

Why is physical fitness important for children birth through school age? Well just like physical fitness is important for adult health, which helps reduces the risk of heart disease, controls blood pressure, and controls weight, it is just as or more important for children.  As a child, being active helps with healthy growth and development, achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, stronger bones and muscles, decreases risk of developing diabetes and other diseases, and improves mental health. Not only does physical fitness help with the child’s health but it assists in developing gross and fine motor skills, improves confidence and self-esteem, and gaining social skills.

What can happen if a child or an adult are not physical active enough? If a child or adult are not active enough, they can become overweight due to the fact they maybe eat more calories than they are burning, and muscles, joints and bones can become weaker over time and become more susceptible to injury. Also a child as well as an adult can increase their chances to develop illnesses or diseases, like heart problems, type II diabetes, and the common cold. With all of these effects of inadequate physical activity, the child and adult could have low self-esteem and think that they are not likes, not good enough, ugly, fat, made fun of, and not part of the in crowd. These are all the more reason that we should all strive to be physically fit.

The positive impact on a child and adult who are physically active can help with their overall health, and prolong their lives. While watching the TV show The Biggest Lose once, they had the doctor talk to each contestant about what their weight and what the lack of exercise did to their body. It was a wakeup call for me and how I need to be more active, because the weight can affect your heart, bones, age you, and lead you to an early grave. I will tell you that after that episode I change the activity level for my class as well as myself.  

How we Can Encourage Physical Fitness

Like with pretty much everything we would like our children to do, we must first model what it is we are expecting from them, like being active, healthy eating, and work ethic. If parents and caregivers don’t model or encourage physical activity, how do we expect children to be active? We can’t! Like Milton Bradley encourages us to take time away from being a couch potato, and have a family game night; we can go outside and be active with our children. To be active doesn’t mean playing organized sports, like football, soccer, baseball, basketball, and ice, roller, and field hockey, it just means to get your heart rate up and your muscles moving. Some physical fitness activities we could do as a family, or school group are play catch, ride bikes, take a hike, go sled riding ( when it snows), swim, play a game of one on one, or playing the Wii. Even the President of the United States and the NFL are challenging children to be active with the play60 program, and the president fitness challenge.  So why are we struggling with obesity in our children? Years ago if you drove down a residential street you would have found a ton of children running around, riding their bikes, and playing hopscotch, today you see more children and adults attaches to some type of electronic device. Let’s take at least 60 minutes away from playing on electronics and be active, here are some fun fitness activities both gross motor (large muscle movement) and Fine motor (small muscle movement) the children like to do at my child care facility.

Gross Motor                                                                           Fine Motor

Obstacle course                                                                   cutting

Musical chairs                                                                      Color pom pom sorting

What time is it Mr. Fox                                                         Beading

Jump rope                                                                             Stacking cups

Catch/ four square                                                               Finger painting

Football                                                                                  Squeeze painting

Ring a Round the Rosie                                                     Writing

Freeze Dance

As you can see from the list of different gross motor and fine motor skills that my children at my Child Care center love to do when we have free play time, it is easy to get the children active with little to no materials. These are some ways we can encourage children in our care to be active.

            I want to leave you my followers with a couple of thought-provoking quotes that captures the importance of fostering healthy growth and development.

“Physical Fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity” ~ John F. Kennedy

“Most of us think we don’t have enough time to exercise. What a distorted paradigm! We don’t have time not to. We’re talking about three to six hours a week – or a minimum of thirty minutes a day, every other day. That hardly seems an inordinate amount of time considering the tremendous benefits in terms of the impact on the other 162 – 165 hours of the week.” ~ Stephen Covey

 

References

Robertson, C. (2013) Safety, Nutrition, and Health in Early Childhood, Belmont California, Wadsworth Cengage Learning

American Red Cross, (n.d) Prepare for Emergencies with American Red Cross First Aid, CPR and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Courses retrieved on December 20, 2013 from http://www.redcross.org

American Heart Association CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care retrieved on December 20, 2013 from http://www.heart.org

Eating Well, May/June 2008, Eating Well for Healthy Heart Cookbook, retrieved on December 27, 2013 from http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/

Move Me Quotes, Top 21 Health and Fitness Quotes, retrieved on January 3, 2014 from http://www.movemequotes.com/top-21-health-and-fitness-quotes/

Goodway, J. D., & Robinson, L. E. (2006, March). SKIPing toward an active start: Promoting physical activity in preschoolers. Beyond the Journal: Young Children on the Web. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200605/GoodwayBTJ.pdf

National Association for Sport and Physical Education. (2006, May). Active start: Physical activity guidelines for children birth to five years. Beyond the Journal: Young Children on the Web. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200605/NASPEGuidelinesBTJ.pdf

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008, November). Childhood overweight and obesity. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/index.htm

Healthy Foods and Nutrition

                        

Healthy foods and Nutrition       

   When you and your significant other are thinking about starting a family or a teacher entering the education field nutrition, and healthy eating is the least on their minds. Many of us just want health babies at home, or children entering our classrooms eager to learn. As a parent we never think about, what do we feed them when do we feed them, do we have time to feed them. As an educator we never think that we should worry about, did they have breakfast, do they have lunch, or I wonder if they will have a healthy dinner tonight. In this section of my blog I am going explain the importance of good nutrition and healthy eating in the early years, why adults should model good habits, and mention three healthy recipes we can make with and for our children. 

Good Nutrition and Eating Habits for Infants, Preschool and School Age

            Why is it important for good nutrition and eating habits for all ages of development? The earlier you start a child on the right path of eating healthy the easier it will be to sustain the habits. When a child is born they depend on their mother to provide them with the nutrients they need to grow, and develop whether it is from breast milk or formula. In the book, Safety, Nutrition, and Health in early education by Cathie Robertson, she states that it is important for infants to be breast feed for them to learn to control their own eating pattern, and stop feeding when they are full. Many parents and care givers bottle feed, to regulate the amount of food the baby is eating, and don't pay any attention to the babies cues of saying I'm full. If the baby and parent/caregiver can learn how to portion control at this early age, they would not have any problem with their weight as they grow. As the child, through these age developmental stages, it becomes more apparent that we need to teach the children good eating habits. Why is good nutrition and healthy eating habits important for preschoolers? Just as in infants and toddlers, it is important for the child to learn when he or she is hungry or full.  I was at my Boyfriend's sister house over the holidays, she has two young preschoolers who both were hungry, so we sat down to have dinner, they didn't eat much and turned to their parents and asked to be excused, she asked why and without skipping a beat they both said we are full. Two minutes later, they came back and said “can we have a cookie?” I could not believe what I just saw, but she gave in and gave them a cookie. What do parents do? Do you give in and give them what they ask for or do you make them go back to the table and finish eating their dinner or whatever meal that they are eating? This is a hard question to answer because you don't want to tell a child they can't eat but you want them to eat healthy foods. Also at this age you can have the child help you make the meals and serve them too. These are the most influential years and you hope that what you have taught them will empower them to make the healthy choices. The next age stage that good healthy eating habits are important for our school age children. These years it is most important because they are not with us 8 plus hours, and while they are not with them we hope they make the best food choice. Why is good eating and nutrition important for school agers? Healthy eating is important for school age children because they are more active then the younger children. Many at this age are on the go most of their day and need more nutrients for their body to stay healthy. These are some of the reasons why healthy eating habits are important for each age developmental stage.

Why is Modeling Good Eating Habits important?

          

  Why should we as educators, parents, and other adult’s model good eating habits? We live in a society that obesity is on the rise, why is this? Many of us blame it on the portion size, busy lives, and quick access to food. Which is all true, but what can we do to change the direction our society is heading? We can't change the direction on our own, and it will not happen overnight, it's a lifestyle change. What I mean is as adults we can model, and teach healthy eating habits. When I say lifestyle change, I am not saying that we need to stop eating at fast food restaurants, or change our busy lives. I am just saying eat fast food in moderation, prepare food ahead of time, don't snack while driving, pack your lunch and your child's lunch, and control your portion size. All of these things are do able and we can still have everything we would want like cookies, soda, and the occasional drink without feeling guilty.

            How can we model healthy eating habits? There are many ways we as adults could model good healthy eating habits for our children in our care. A few ways we can do this is by family style dining, the children help with the preparation and making of the meals, talking to them about the USDA guidelines of the MY PLATE, also known as the food pyramid, taking them to the grocery, helping plan the menu for the week, and planting a home garden.

             At my childcare center we provide all of the meals the children eat from breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack which all of our meals follow the USDA My Plate guidelines. Many of the childcare providers only provide a morning snack and afternoon snack, and the parents provide the lunches, but the snacks that they provide maybe cookies and juices, nothing healthy. What we also do is each meal time we use what we call family style dining. This is where we have a set time to all sit down and eat at the same time, including the teachers. We also allow the children to serve themselves, with a certain size scoop depending on the age of the child. This helps them learn portion control, and to eat until they feel full and not have to clear their plate.

             Another way we can model healthy eating habits, is to teach the children about the USDA guidelines of the My Plate or food pyramid, and the importance of eating certain foods. I know with all of our busy lives, we eat a lot of processed foods, and we don't eat the allotted servings of dairy, meats/ protein, grain, veggies, and fruit. How much and what do you consume on a daily basis? I bet no one really can say that they know for sure how much they eat of something and what they eat that day. I challenge you to write down with the serving amounts, everything you put in your mouth, do not forget to add the condiments, and cooking oils. You would be surprised what you would find out about what you choose to eat. An example of what my childcare center serves the children on any given day would be....

Monday week 1

Breakfast

8 oz Milk

3/4 cup of Cereal, (Toasty O's, cornflakes, Chex, kiks, or rice krispies)

 1 to 2 oz of fruit

                                    Lunch

                                                            1 oz chicken

                                                            2 oz brown rice

                                                            Cream of chicken soup (used as gravy)

                                                            2 oz of vegetables

                                                            2 oz of fruit

                                                            8 oz milk

                                    PM snack

                                                            Cheese crackers

                                                            8 oz of 100% Apple Juice or Water

We serve many different items for each meal; our protein could be beans, beef, turkey, fish or chicken, and rotate the menus for 5 weeks. Many of us think we have picky eaters but I have been surprised when preparing these meals I always think, “What kid would eat this, and what was my company's nutritionist thinking?”, and the children end up eating and loving it.

            Another way we can model good eating habits for our children, at home or at school is letting them feel a part of the process of making the healthy meal. Maybe an older child could plan, help prep for the meal, read a recipe, and measure out all of the ingredients. A younger child could dump per-measured ingredients, or stir the things. If the children are involved in making the healthy meal, the more they are going to want to try it. They also learn how to read a recipe, correctly measure ingredients, and work together to make the meal for the family or class. Below I have included three healthy child friendly meal ideas and recipes.                                      

Three Healthy Recipes for Children and Adults

            I have not tried two of the following healthy meal recipes with my international cooking club at my child care facility yet, but they look and sound so good. The recipes I chose to include in my blog are the breakfast taco, chicken salad in a pita pocket, and zucchini bread.

Breakfast or Brunch

Breakfast Taco

            Total time to make: 15 minutes

            Serving size 1

            per serving: 153 calories; 2 g fat; 15 g carbs; 17 g protein; 0 g fiber

           

            Ingredients

2 corn tortillas

1 tablespoon salsa

2 tablespoons shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup liquid egg substitute, such as Egg Beaters

Preparation

1.Top tortillas with salsa and cheese. Heat in the microwave until the cheese is melted, about 30 seconds.

2.Meanwhile coat a small nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Heat over medium heat; add egg substitute and cook, stirring, until the eggs are cooked through, about 90 seconds. Divide the scrambled egg between the tacos.

            The My Plate guidelines met are the grain, protein, dairy, and vegetable. You can add a fruit, to complete the plate.
Lunch

Chicken Salad Pita Pocket

            Total time in making: 15 minutes  

            Serving size 4

            Nutritional facts per serving: depends on what ingredients you use.

           

            Ingredients

                        8 oz. Chicken diced (Purdue chicken cut work)

                        1 cup chopped celery

                        1 to 1/2 cup Mayonnaise (depends on how wet you want you chicken mixture)

                        Salt and pepper (add to taste)

                        2 pita pocket bread

                        4 tomato slices

                        4 Roman Lettuce leaves

            Preparation

1.    dice the chicken, and celery

2.    combine chicken, celery, and mayonnaise in a bowl, and mix together

3.    Add seasoning of choose, salt and pepper, old bay, etc...

4.    Put chicken mixture in pita pocket with lettuce and tomato and enjoy.

            The My Plate guidelines met with this recipe are the protein, grain, and vegetable. You can add fruit like grapes, and dairy like a Greek yogurt dressing instead of mayo to meet all of the guidelines for one meal. I have found many different chicken salad recipes online, and they all sound good. My friend and I made chicken salad for a bridal shower and added old bay seasoning for flavor and it was so good. 

Snack or breakfast

            Zucchini Bread

                        Total time 1 hour 10 minutes

                        Makes 2 loaves

            Ingredients

2 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup oil
2 cups zucchini, grated
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons cinnamon

Optional additions

1 cup Nuts

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup shredded carrots

            Directions:

                        1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
                        2 Combine all ingredients.
                        3 Pour into two greased loaf pans.
                        4 Bake for one hour.

My school age children this past summer grew zucchini in our school garden and made this recipe at least once a week the entire summer. We would change it up and add different optional ingredients, except nuts due to allergies.  

CPR and First Aid Emergencies

CPR and Choking Emergencies

          No one ever wants an emergency in which one has to conduct Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) to happen while taking care of children. Sometimes things happen out of our control and we need to know how to handle the situation, stay calm, and preform any emergency procedures we need to until help arrives. In this section of my blog, I am going to describe two emergency scenarios, the proper procedures of preforming CPR, how to prepare, respond, and possibly prevent an emergency that requires CPR or First Aid.

Choking Emergency

           As many of us know a child or adult who seems to be fine one minute can be chocking on a piece of food, or even small toys and other small items. Choking is the leading cause of accidental deaths in young children, because they put everything in their mouths when they are teething, or don't chew things up properly. Many adults may now what to do when they see someone choking, but they panic which causes them to forget the procedures of what to do to clear the air way.  I am going to describe a scenario, and explain what one should do in a choking emergency.

          A four year old little boy is playing with small Lego blocks. He wants to use a certain size and color block, but it is stuck to another. He struggles to break it free, but it does not budge. The boy then decides to try to break the block free with his teeth. The block comes loose and the boy swallows the block, but it becomes lodges in the boy’s airway. What do you do?

          At first look one might not know what is wrong with the little boy, but quickly take notice to the boy’s surroundings. One might notices that the boy seems to be choking on something, and begins check to see if the airway is blocked and can be cleared with a finger sweep. If that doesn't work, begin to try the Heimlich maneuver until the object comes loose. If the child becomes unconscious and stops breathing at anytime have someone call 911 and start to preform CPR and continue to clear the airway.

       Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Emergency

       

According to the American Red Cross cardiac emergencies are rare in children, but Respiratory emergencies are more likely to happen and lead to cardiac emergencies.  What do you do if you have an unconscious child with no pulse and not breathing? You IMMEDIATELY call 911 and begin to preform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. In the following scenario what should one do to help this unconscious child?

          While at the lake with your family you notice a child struggling to stay above the water, you scan the area to see if anyone else sees this or if the child's parent is close by. Then you look back and notice the child stopped struggling and floating with his face in the water. What do you do?

          As a CPR/ First Aid certified person you do not have to do anything unless people know that you are, according to my instructor, but you can be a Good Samaritan and help. The first thing you want to do is to turn the child over to have his airways above the water and move him to a flat solid surface. Then get if parents are present get permission to preform CPR, and have someone call 911. After this step check the child breathing, by doing the following...

·         If the child is not breathing, check his airway by tilting his head back slightly more than a normal head position, and open the mouth.

·         Clear airway if blocked

·         Pinch the nose and give two rescue breaths, check for rise and fall of chest.

·         Check for breathing, if no sign of breathing is noticed check for pulse.

·         No pulse begin chest compression (child 30 compression about 2 inches with the palm of one hand, infant 30 compression 1 1/2 inches with 2 fingers, adult 30 compression about 2 inches deep with two hands)

·         Continue all steps until child begins to breath, and has a pulse, or until help arrives and takes over but do not stop until the paramedics tell you to.

·         If the child begins to spit up turn on side and clear airway.

How to Prepare, Respond, and Possibly Prevent an Emergency

      

    As an educator of young children I have to be preparing for all types of emergencies, and how I can be prepared is to be certified in First Aid and CPR and keep current on the changes. Every two years, my staff and I get retrained and certified in First Aid and CPR since it is a Maryland State licensing  COMAR regulation to have at least one teacher in every classroom certified, and also that CPR expires every two years and first aid every three. Even if I was not an educator and needed by the state to have certification in CPR and First Aid, I would feel more comfortable as a parent if I knew how to help my family. My boyfriend’s family owns a house near a lake in Kentucky, one day when his nephew was two, we took the dog to the edge of the property to swim and retrieve things we would throw in the water for her. Well we did not realize that the dog while running in to the water knocked over his nephew who was standing thigh deep in the water, being two he panicked and did not know what to do. And floated deeper out and began to bob up and down in the water. I quickly let go of the dog leash and jumped in to get him. Luckily I did not have to preform rescue breathing or CPR, because I caught it quick enough but it could have been worse if I was not there or didn't know what to do.  How we can all be prepared to help in these types of emergencies, is to all have training in CPR and First Aid, and maybe the CPR app on our smart phones to have a reminder of the procedures.

          Once you are prepared for any emergency that may come your way, you need to know how to respond. Always remember to quickly survey the situation and area, and then have someone else call 911 if at all possible, and get permission from victim or parent before conducting any emergency procedure if you can. Then continue to help until help arrives and takes over.

          I will say it is hard to prevent these types of emergencies because they can happen so quickly, but you can take so precautions by removing choking hazards, like small toys, and items from the reach of children. At my child care facility we use a choking tube to see if any toy that may enter the building can cause harm, and those toys are not allowed where small children are. So purchasing a choking tube might be a good idea is you have small children in the house and want to make sure that the toys that they are playing with are except-able, and not a choking hazard. Another way to possibly prevent these emergencies is just constant supervision, I know from experience, reading about, and seeing it on TV, things happen quickly, we just need to be prepared to respond and possible help prevent these types for emergencies form happening to the children in our care, or the adults around us.