Page 46 - parent handbook 2024-25 FINAL FLIP

Healthy Nutritious Lunches
Healthy and Nutritious! Watch your child when he/she is accomplishing "real work" in the kitchen at home. Whether carefully slicing apples or arranging crackers topped with eggs on a tray, his/her face shines with purposeful concentration. You can provide support for such rewarding experiences daily, when packing a Montessori style lunch. Prepare lunches the evening before, with your child. They'll relish the opportunity to undertake an important role in caring for themselves in this way. Giving children a chance to choose from healthy options respects their food preferences and allows for their eagerness to participate in family life.
Healthy foods are a hallmark of the Montessori philosophy. Dr. Montessori was one of the first educators to recognize the connection between nutrition and the developing brain. We request that you to pack healthy foods
and avoid the pre-packaged, high-salt, high-sugar foods. We especially ask that you donʼt send candy and
sodas, cupcakes, etc. There is no need to pack juice boxes or other sugary drinks as the children use their waterbottles to drink cool, delicious water. Children never get enough!
Helpful Hints
Foster independence and limit frustration by packing food in containers your child can open by themselves. Limit microwavable things to one minute so that children do not have to wait long periods of time. Please, no pre-packaged items that require special preparation by the teacher. Ex: Ramen & Mac-n-Cheese. Due to possible severe allergic reactions we are PEANUT FREE.
Food for Thought! Pediatric feeding experts recommend avoiding squeeze pouches. Choose items that require lots of jaw action. Crunchy, sticky, slippery, whole foods are better for a childʼs development. Squeeze pouches oversimplify the eating process, leaving fewer opportunities for children to practice the oral and fine motor skills they need to eat more textured and varied foods, increasing picky eating. They also dilute the nutritional quality
of food and may cause cavities due to added sugars. Pack a real apple instead of apple sauce in a squeeze pouch.
From a Montessori perspective, squeeze pouches delay social skills developement with the use of utensils. Food requiring time and effort to eat offer more time for social interaction when they arenʼt slurpping down their meal in five seconds!