Always Looking For The Best

We are always looking for the best way to do everything that we do.

The best way to communicate with parents.

The best way to teach honoring developmentally appropriate practice.

The best way to arrange our rooms to be the ” third ” teacher.

Holly and I were in a conversation the other day still reaching to make our meal times more calm and just a peaceful transition.  I know.. you are thinking 16 kids eating lunch how in the world can that be peaceful ? It can and eventually we will figure out what works best for this group.  Honestly, the easiest thing ( that we did for years ) was fill the plates in the kitchen and deliver to a table of already sitting littles.  The only thing the littles learned from that was to sit and wait. Ideally we want to be learning and growing in every aspect of our life while here.  Our thoughts have been how can we make lunch time feel more like home ?  How can we make this more than just a time to fill bellies.

We tried another approach today.  We had a serving line and the kids got their own food. It worked except that the food was on the cubbies and when a few of the children needed in their cubbies others were there filling their plate. We will continue to work.  Here are some advantages of doing it this way.  ( Some of these are also applicable when we have self service at the table. )

1.  Independence.   Developing a sense of ” I can! “
2. Math – Counting food and knowing numerals on the place cards.
3. Social – Learning to wait while our friends are in front of us.  ( There was never a huge wait. Only 2 kids filled their plates at a time .)
4. Language – Social manners – asking friends to please finish.  Math language – you need two MORE.
5. Gross Motor – Learning to balance a plate or basket while they fill their plate.
6. Fine Motor – Using the tongs to grasp food items.

These are just a few of the advantages of this type of activity. Learning can and should take place naturally.