We learn about Nutrition in Preschool

The Classroom

Today we take a trip into Mrs. Afanasenko’s cozy classroom. This colorful, well organized classroom has many learning experiences at the fingertips of children.

Our teacher begins by reading a very fun story about nutrition called, “A Fruit is a Suitcase for Seeds.”  She asks in English “Why do you think this book is called “A Fruit is a Suitcase for Seeds”?  She leaves a moment for reflection before many of us participate with interesting thoughts and ideas.

To further inspire us, she takes out a tray of fruit and tells us about each and every one. We touch them, feel them, smell them and analyze the types of seeds held inside each fruit. We compare and contrast. Our teacher guides us to well thought out observations.

We are thrilled as all five senses are involved in this learning process.  All of us have different levels of English, but we are all involved in speaking.

For those of us that are learning new words in English, like avocado or plum, it´s easier to use this new vocabulary with a hands-on experience, feeling and smelling these delicious fruits. Our teacher shows us one fruit at a time, keeping us attentive and fully engaged.

At the end of our story and exploration, we learn about food groups.  We talk about fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, and dairy – all with fun visuals.

Center Time

And now…it’s our favorite, CENTER TIME! 

Before we transition to centers, we stand up, stretch, and sing a very fun song about how we should behave during center time.  We chant, “I stay in my center.  I use my busy bee voice.  I work the whole time.”  The color-coded chart guides us to the right center.  It is all very smooth and well-organized.

First, we find ourselves in the Fruit Jello Letter Center. This center feels and smells like a thousand wonders!  Letters and fruit shaped erasers are hiding in the jello.  We are super ready to dive into this little jello pool.  We search for letters, fish them out, and place them on the correct category mat.

The next center is Food Shapes.  Here, the fruits and vegetables have unusual shapes, not just circles or triangles.  Our job is to identify the shapes.  This is a geometry center.  We clip clothes pins to show our answers.  This is very hands-on and fun.

On the carpet, we find the Food Games Center. We learn collaboration with this team activity.

In the last center, the Road of Stickers Center, we practice our fine-motor skills. We cut zig zag, straight, and swirly lines. Then we bring the lines back together using fruit stickers.  We even get to choose our favorite stickers.

The whole process is 100% English, 100% hands-on and 100% minds-on.