One of the most important aspects of our work with children is giving them language to be successful in their daily lives. With toddlers, teachers model language for sharing, taking turns, and expressing what they need. At this level, the staff are doing most of the talking. The children hear this kind . . . Read More
written by Tati Vanegas and Jenny Limburg, Toddler 2s teachers It may sound strange, in the Toddler Twos we encourage children to literally play with their food. Feeling, touching, cutting, tasting, preparing, and dealing with various foods grows their understanding and acceptance of them. Engaging in sensory play with different . . . Read More
Sunday was the perfect day to plant a garden. In the morning it rained and later in the day it happened again. By the time I was ready to plant my seeds, the soil held just the right amount of moisture. The sky was full of dramatic cloud formations and . . . Read More
written by Becky Lewis, Seed teacher emeritus The same precious hands that cradled pea seeds when my 1st/2nd graders planted them reached out for the harvest of those seeds. A warm feeling zoomed through my heart as I watched children munch organic peas from their individual gardens, and from our whole . . . Read More
written by Jenny Limburg, Toddler 2s teacher “Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?” The week we’ve all been anxiously awaiting has arrived: planting week. The weather has cooled down, our seeds have arrived, and the soil has been prepared. With packets of seeds and colored popsicle sticks, . . . Read More
written by Mary Glover, Awakening Seed director Two weeks ago it was snakes, now it’s bees. On Saturday, Bill received a notice from the Smiley Honey Company in the Florida panhandle. It’s the company where he’s bought tupelo honey for years. The notice said their 2015 supply was wiped out . . . Read More
written by Mindy Bender-Webster, PreK teacher At the beginning of the week a variety of fruits and vegetables were set out at centers. The smorgasbord invited students to explore foods in a hands-on approach, as they engaged in comparing, sorting, and measuring. For example, the children noticed that some okra . . . Read More
written by Mary Glover, Awakening Seed School director Our schoolwide seedfood curriculum is in full force. Preschoolers are cooking bean soup and banana muffins. Toddlers are tasting different types of fruit. Lists of nutrition terms are growing longer and even in P. E. classes children are matching food colors with the colors . . . Read More
written by Kathy Daniels-Balzano, speech therapist/feeding therapist at Foundation for Blind Children It always amazes me how involved oral eating is. It requires so many precise motor movements, strength, pressure changes and timing in order to successfully consume one bite. If you are successful with physically being able to consume . . . Read More
written by Emily Murphy, Seed PreK teacher (2013) Growing up in Wisconsin gave me a different definition of healthy food than most of our population gets today. A minimum of three glasses of cow’s milk a day were required for our survival. It was important to be a little overweight, . . . Read More