Snacks in Kindergarten - Page 2

[robynholly]

Talk to anyone who will listen about this. This is crazy! Why can't each child just bring in their own snack each day? I am sure you are not alone in being concerned about this. I am sure there are other parents who want their child to eat better at snack time.

[TCMoulton]

Originally Posted by AlwaysByMySide

I'm going to scan in the list to prove it to you all. I guess the mom of the child with the allergy sent the teacher the list - which includes the specific brand names (the gum, for the record, is Bubble Yum, Double Bubble, and Juicy Fruit. Lollipops include dum dums and Charms Blow Pops.)

I wrote all over the list, but you'll still be able to read it.

If the list wasn't in fact written by the teacher then it certainly isn't school policy. I would speak with the teacher calmly to find out how she feels about the note (heck, if it was written by a parent are you sure the teacher even read it? If the other parent had been in the classroom helping or visiting there is always the possibility that she distributed it on her own) before I would get all worked up and start complaining to school officials.

[meandk0610]

the mom of the peanut-allergic child is feeding her little one this crap every day?! yeesh! i feel sorry for the little for what that will do to his future.

[lach]

Originally Posted by TCMoulton

If the list wasn't in fact written by the teacher then it certainly isn't school policy. I would speak with the teacher calmly to find out how she feels about the note (heck, if it was written by a parent are you sure the teacher even read it? If the other parent had been in the classroom helping or visiting there is always the possibility that she distributed it on her own) before I would get all worked up and start complaining to school officials.

I agree. It sounds like the teacher either didn't understand or didn't explain properly what the list was. I can't even begin to imagine that blow pops are allowed as a classroom snack in any school... "no gum" is like the very first rule of school! "No backward baseball caps" being rule number 2. At least, that's how it was when I was a kid.

I wonder if the mother meant it as a list of suggested snacks if parents make goodie bags for all of the kids, for instance at Halloween.

I would definitely call the teacher to clarify before raising a big stink. It sounds as though someone has misunderstood something somewhere along the line.

[LauraLoo]

As the mother of a child with a peanut/tree nut allergy, it is challenging to find pre-packaged snacks that are safe and still affordable for everyone to buy. And when a parent is placed in this situation, having a safe snack over nutrition is more important if they are going to allow their child to participate in group snacks.

*However* I would have been ecstatic if the schools we've been involved with would have supported fresh fruit and veggies as snacks. I was told that refrigeration/storage was a problem for snacks like this.

I can't see that the school can keep you from providing your own snacks on a daily basis as long as it doesn't interfere with the allergy ban provisions of other students. We finally went this route with our ds, and I know of other children with allergies and intollerances in ds' classes did this as well. I didn't feel it was fair to suggest healthy snacks that were safe for him but more expensive than what most parents could or would want to provide, and I definitely had a problem with the junky snacks that ds would consume daily if I didn't send him with healthier alternatives. If I had had unlimited resources, I would have provided the classroom snacks altogether, but that wasn't an option either.

And yes, I would guess that the gum, candy, and sucker suggestions are for holiday types of treats -- not as a regular snack option. I think the teacher likely goofed on how she worded the note and maybe asking for clarification would be helpful.

[LauraLoo]

Originally Posted by meandk0610

the mom of the peanut-allergic child is feeding her little one this crap every day?! yeesh! i feel sorry for the little for what that will do to his future.

This isn't necessarily the case. It's likely that the mom is trying to find snacks that are easily accessible and affordable for others to bring. The next time you are in a store buying granola bars & other healthier options, try taking a look at the labels and see how many of them have "processed in plants or on mfg. lines with other tree nuts/peantus." And even the ones that don't disclose this info on the labels often can't guarantee the safety of their products due to cross contamination issues. I've had to make many calls to mfg. companies to extract this type of information. It's a real bummer for us parents with kids who have nut & other types of food allergies.

[_ktg_]

Originally Posted by LauraLoo

This isn't necessarily the case. It's likely that the mom is trying to find snacks that are easily accessible and affordable for others to bring. The next time you are in a store buying granola bars & other healthier options, try taking a look at the labels and see how many of them have "processed in plants or on mfg. lines with other tree nuts/peantus." And even the ones that don't disclose this info on the labels often can't guarantee the safety of their products due to cross contamination issues. I've had to make many calls to mfg. companies to extract this type of information. It's a real bummer for us parents with kids who have nut & other types of food allergies.

This is such a good point about the other side of this, and how possibly the other parent is trying to do good in providing options. I remember the cross-contamination issues coming up a lot when I briefly worked at a chocolate factory. Stuff gets re-worked/re-processed and may have had peanuts or other nuts involved.

Too bad every room can't have a mini fridge to store veggies & fruit.

[Hatteras Gal]

Has the scan of the list been posted yet? I can't wait to see it! 2 years ago, the teacher asked the parents if we wanted to have one kid bring in snacks for the whole class or do individual snacks and I said even if everyone votes for one kid/whole class, I am sending my own snack for my dd. Thankfully, the teacher went with everyone bringing their own.

Last year, they made it a school-wide rule there would be no food sharing so everyone had to bring their own snack. They did allow birthday celebration food, though.

This year, our school got a grant to provide a fresh fruit or vegetable snack every day. I saw a tentative list and it's plums, peaches, strawberries, watermelon, canteloupe, honeydew, cucumbers, carrots, cherry tomatoes, green peppers, cauli, broccoli, celery. I'm so excited!

[2cutiekitties]

Oh man, I cannot wait to see this scan!!

At DS's preschool, he was the last child of 11 to bring in the snack (we brought in Annies Cheddar Organic Snack Mix Buddies) and most everyone brought in Goldfish crackers. You know they make like 14 different kinds right One kid brought in raisins and one kid brought in teddy grahams. They specifically want prepackaged stuff so they can view the ingredients and they are concerned about costs as well. Fortunately we only have a peanut allergy which isnt as limiting as some of the other ones.

[lilyka]

I would start by offering to compile a list of acceptable snack time snacks that included some healthy options. Keep in mind though that at least in our kindy snacks had to 1) be store bought 2) fit in the snack box 3)affordable. The portions were small. a bathroom dixi cup. 2 or 3 ounces I think. Most fruits and veggies would not have fit in the box. So we would bring a box of crackers (usually cheeze its...i know but I figure they were getting like 8 crackers) a box of cereal, or a box of annies bunnies. Something under $5.

Fortunately the school received a grant from the grocery store I work at and the store now provides fresh fruits and veggies daily for snack. Its awesome.

[CookiePie]

I'm so glad that Dd's school has the individuals bring in their own snacks. The note did specify healthy snacks with a list of examples. My Dd does notice that her snack (and lunch for that matter) is much different form her peers. She understands why we eat what we do and doesn't complain. She was the only kid last year who brought her lunch all the time. Those who did so occasionally brought lunch-ables & she knew that those were not a healthy choice. Today was her first day & the snack that she picked was carrot sticks with hummus & a clementine! The school lunches are atrocious & it makes me sad that so many kids eat them daily!

[Mama2Xander]

That is crazy!!

My boys' classrooms (a total of 3 years of preschool now, plus kindergarten last year) have always had a strict policy of ONLY fresh fruits and veggies for snacks - because of allergy issues. There have been different ways of presenting the fruits/veggies (eg. each child brings his/her own, or each child brings one item and it is all cut up and placed on trays for them to share, and so on), but they have always been super adamant that you absolutely cannot bring anything else for snack. Even for birthday celebrations we were sent a list of ideas that consisted only of fruits and veggies.

Maybe have a talk with the school administration??

[Mamja]

any update OP?

[The4OfUs]

Originally Posted by Honey693

That's awful. I was in classrooms for 4 years in college and taught for a year and I have never seen candy on a snack list. There's usually chips/fruit snacks/graham crackers/fruit listed on there. Most of the schools I've been in schools where snacks had to be at least semi healthy and candy was a huge no.

I would definitely take it up with PTA/PTO/whatever it is by you. I've seen great things happen with that, including schools starting a wellness committee, school run vegetable garden and guidelines for healthy every day snacks.

This, exactly. We had Kindy last year, and 1st this year and both years we were asked for crackers, pretzels, fruit snacks, and in bold NO CANDY, CHIPS, OR SWEETS. Seeing the no chips thing I thought was awesome, and pretty hardcore! His 1st grade teacher doesn't even want the kids having juice at snacktime! She said water only at snack time, please. I kinda dig her.

I would totally try to get this list revamped to accommodate allergies, but not pump the kids full of crap every day. Totally worth making a stink over IMO and becoming "that mom".

[jadekat]

DD is in 1st grade this year and I've noticed the crap that people bring for snacks. The one snack that alot of people bring is "fruit" snacks (namely Walmart brand Smiles). This drives me batty because they have no nutritional value and don't fill DD up AT ALL! The other day someone brought in 3 different kinds of chips. I didn't think chips were on the list from last year. I'm planning on emailing her teacher and asking her what the appoved list is for snacks.

[JollyGG]

Originally Posted by superfastreader

Are you sure that M&M's were on the list? Because they are NOT safe for a child with a peanut allergy.

This was one of my thoughts as well.

Last year I didn't approve of the list of suggested snacks but it, at least, wasn't as bad as yours. Ours had things like goldfish crackers, graham crackers, popcorn, etc. on it. Other than the popcorn almost all of it was overly processed stuff that I don't keep out of my kids diet but do consider treats not an everyday snack. My solution was just to send in healthy snacks on my days for treats and I sent in things like string cheese, fruit, veggies, and yes yogurt tubes. And it was expensive to get a healthy snack for a class of 25. I did at the end of the year discover that at least two other parent had the same issue and tended to send in things that were healthier.

But this year it is completely not an issue. The school applied for and received a fresh fruits and vegetables grant for this year. So every single day the kids are getting fresh fruits or veggies for snack, these will also be the snacks at family events like the upcoming family carnival and fresh fruits and veggies are part of the school lunch.

Here is some information about he national program - http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/ffvp/ffvpdefault.htm

Edited to add - Already noticed that last years teacher had way more behavior issues than this year. In large part because this years teacher is a better teacher. But I think not having the kids hopped up on processed crap probably helps her manage her class alot better.

Also did have a talk with the principle last week and since they do do the fresh fruits and veggies program no outside snacks are allowed unless it is a health issue such as an allergy, then an alternative fruit or vegetable is encouraged. The principle strongly believes that alternative snack undermine that goal for this program to actually accomplish it's goal of exposing kids and families to healthy foods alternative snack undermine that goal.

[caiesmommy]

I don't really understand why you are responsible for the whole class? I want to be responsible for my children and my children alone! Plain and simple

My ds is starting jk Monday and we got this letter

The children have 2 nutrition breaks each day-one for snack the other for lunch. Please send a SMALL AMOUNT OF NUTRITIOUS FOOD with your child. As well as being nutritious, all of these foods are very low in sugar. Here are some nutritious snack food suggestions:
fruit-fresh or dried
yoghurt-unsweetened
raw vegetables and dip
cheese
unsweetened cereal

PLEASE DO NO SEND POTATO CHIPS, CHEESIES, CANDY, CHOCOLATE BARS, SOFT DRINKS OR OTHER "EMPTY CALORIES" JUNK FOOD

Everything that is bold and underlined was like that in the letter

Ds has a dairy intolerance, and is a vegetarian both are being put into the news letter thats going home monday night for parents that wish to send a "treat" for their childs bday/holidays. There is also a rule that the teachers need to be given one weeks notice if you are going to do something special. So you cant just show up at the school with a chocolate cake for your kids bday. Which is great since I can send something to school with ds so hes not left out

I think it was a list the peanut allergy mom sent. Kind of like the list on peta.com that has vegan food. Seriously half that crap I wouldnt feed my kid even if it is vegan. Its just giving options.