Chapter 10 addressed the health and safety of children in a childcare center. Our center is USDA approved and we serve the children breakfast, lunch and a snack that is included into our tuition. I think it is appropriate for our center to provide these meals to the children in the community. We serve it family style and I think it’s a good opportunity for children to experience all different foods. USDA requires all meal to be well balanced and our children can be exposed to all types of seasonal fruits. I also think it’s a good idea because all the children are eating the same thing and we know that there is enough food for each child. When we do have field trips and the families have to provide the child’s lunch I always worry if that is enough food for that child. It also alleviates the worry of another child giving another child food that they are allergic to. My question is that how do we know if a child is eating too much? We can’t force children to eat but can we limit food to children? I would think that we just provide the food until they say that they’re full because the book does mention how some children will go through eating binges. I had a parent tell me that they were concerned about their child eating too much. We read that the obesity rates, in children, are raising, does it start in preschool? How do we address this issue?

The website article has many different ways early childhood and sustainability can work together. I like this idea and I would think that many teachers would embrace this idea. Teachers have always been mavericks when it comes to reusing and recycling when it comes to art, and materials. I feel that every center is all about repairing – getting the most out of things – and always willing to find a use for any donated item. I think that we do need to talk to the children about it. To think of making a center that is sustainable is quiet daunting but I think we have to build up to that. Budgets might not allow for a “green” building but it’s the little things that we talk to the children about. I did a segment of our curriculum about growing and recycling around Earth day and the children responded really well to it but I think we need to implement it year round. One thing that we did have was a worm bin at our school and we added our leftover food and paper into it but we only had it for a couple of months and we didn’t have the children do much with it. I think it would be a great idea to have worms that the children could add the extra food into and see the dirt that comes out of it and use it to plant a garden.