As the fall season slowly fades into crisp weather, it may seem as though it is harder to introduce fresh fruits and vegetables into your program’s curriculum. It can become more expensive to purchase the products and harder to created learning environments with less than peak produce. How can you still incorporate FARM 2 ECE into the classroom?
Trainings-
The winter season may see a serious decline in growing produce outside, but this is a great time for you to bulk up your knowledge and prep for the spring season! Not only is it helpful to keep your eyes on the prize (Hello long sunny days!) but preparing NOW can mean that you can slide into the long days on gardening easier.
There are quite a few great training opportunities over at the PA PD REGISTRY website.
Lunch Time is Learning Time is a quick 1 hour training that “discusses practical issues around mealtime. It deals with such matters as showing respect, accepting responsibility, cleanliness, having fun with nutrition, table habits and incorporating artwork into the meal time scenario.” It can be done during a planning time or when your students take a rest during the day.
General Nutrition is also a short training packed with helpful information that is easy to share with families. One of the main components to Farm 2 ECE is bringing fresh products into the center to keep our families healthy. We recognize that fresh is best, and this class solidifies WHY proper nutrition equals happier bodies.
Finally, while you may not earn PD hours for this webinar titled Bringing Local to our Littlest Eaters, it is an excellent resource for additional information about Farm to ECE practices, provided by National Farm to School Network.
Looking for more trainings and seasonal information? Sign up for The Dirt! Ready Set Grow’s monthly newsletter highlighting PA’s most current events and information about bring Farm to ECE!