making bread, their own snacks and WHEAT

[junglefamily]

hey,
i don't know a lot about the montessori method...at the school my son (he's 4) is going to in the fall, when we visited, the kids were making bread. also, they have a place where they can make snacks when ever they want. is this always done? i'm concerned because my son has a major wheat sensitivity and we don' t give him anything sweet. i've been thinking about what to do...maybe we could talk to the teachers about wheat free snacks? right now i saw that they were pretty much eating graham crackers and honey...but the bread baking...hum. what do you all think?

thanks!!!

[CrunchyMomto3]

Never did anything like that at my school. I'd certainly talk with the Director about your son's allergy though. We had a student allergic to peanuts and no peanut products were permitted in my room at any time.

[arahzel]

I can't speak for other parents, but we are pretty conscious about stuff like that. I know when I made a fruit bowl for snack (each child takes turn bringing in morning snack), I asked if there were any strawberry sensitivities in the classroom. They also don't allow peanuts because of potential allergies. I think that has to do more with licensing though.

[kaydee]

At our M school, kids can access/prep food pretty much whenever they want BUT the school is also responsive to food allergies (we have a peanut free school, for example). But open access to food and food preparation are typical of Montessori.

[junglefamily]

thanks everyone. here in small town ohio people aren't responsive food issues. are there laws about this? i mean...this isn't a really big deal, is it? if i bring this up to the director?

[GooeyDay]

Originally Posted by kaydee

At our M school, kids can access/prep food pretty much whenever they want BUT the school is also responsive to food allergies (we have a peanut free school, for example). But open access to food and food preparation are typical of Montessori.

This is characteristic of my M. school. If your child has a food sensitivity, you *must* make the school aware of it. How else will the school be able to keep your child safe?

~* Laura

[AMJ]

Hi...I just started lurking on this board since DD is starting a Montessori program in the fall and has dietary restrictions (severe egg allergy and we're vegetarians). Here is the situation at her school. Her school is completely nut-free. Last winter/spring when we visited, each room had different rules regarding what kind of food could be brought in based on the children's dietary restrictions. In one room, nothing besides fresh fruit and vegetables were allowed. In another room, dairy and meat products were okay. According to the info letter that I received last week, the school is moving to all of the rooms offering only fresh fruits and vegetables as snacks because of allergy and health concerns (great idea if you ask me!).

We considered two other Montessori schools in our area that were also very diligent about dietary restrictions since snacks are always serve yourself. I would think that it would be quite difficult to expect a 3 or 4 year old with a food allergy to police themselves and that the school should error on the side of caution. Have you asked the directress how they handle dietary restrictions?

[fizzymom]

Absolutely talk to the director!! One of the classrooms at my kids school even uses wheat-free play dough because one of the kids has Celiac. There are a lot of wheat-free options for snack and it shouldn't be a problem.