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March 18, 2013

Doodle Bugs! Standard of the Week: 3/18/13

This week’s SOTW is a follow up to our recent work on the ‘mealtimes’ subsection of the ERS. As a reminder, the ECERS scale notes the following regarding mealtimes (just an excerpt, not all indicators are listed):

A rating of (7) EXCELLENT includes:

• Children help during meals (ex. Set table, clear table, clean up a spill).
• Meals and snacks are times for conversation

A rating of (5) GOOD includes:

• Most staff sit with children during meals and group snacks.
• Pleasant social atmosphere.

A rating of (3) MINIMAL includes:

• Well balanced meals and snacks.
• Non-punitive atmosphere during meals/snacks.
• Sanitary conditions are maintained.

A rating of (1) INADEQUATE includes:

• Meal/snack schedule is inappropriate (hungry children are forced to wait).
• Negative social atmosphere (ex. Staff enforce manners harshly; force child to eat; chaotic atmosphere; silent lunch).

It’s also important that mealtimes include napkins and utensils, and of course, that infants’ individual feeding schedules are respected.

The SOTW will be posted for parents to see, in the faculty lounge, and placed in each classroom’s mail-slot.

View the current SOTW as a .pdf here: Lunch