Pre-School and Daycare
daisies05
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Snacks at Preschool
daisies05
member
DS is about to start a preschool where each day a parent is responsible for bringing snack for everyone. The school sent home a list of approved snacks. My question is the drinks. We're supposed to bring either whole milk or 100% juice.
I find this odd as the daycare DS previously attended sent home a note that per new guidelines, children over 2 were going to get 1% milk. (And my pedi had me switch to 2% at 2 years and we recently switched to 1%). DS also doesn't drink juice except for really rare occasions. So I'm worried about going from no juice to potentially 3 times a week...would this concern you? Is this normal? It just seems outdated to me...
ETA: Should have mentioned, he'll be in a 3/4 room.
DS1 9/2008 * DD 8/2011 * EDD DS2 3/2016
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Re: Snacks at Preschool
We are really new to preschool (week 4 here), but our school does a similar thing. We provide the snack each day for our own child, but take turns providing drinks for the whole class. We were told to bring in a juice box or Capri Sun or similar, but were given no other guidelines. AFAIK, DS has had juice each day since he started (he doesn't drink milk). I'm not totally bent out of shape about it since I allow juice in moderation (he gets OJ for breakfast), but he is starting to get a ton more since he goes 4 days a week. I can see how that could be an issue for parents worried.
Our teacher did indicate that we could send a water bottle/sippy cup if we preferred him to have just water, but I can't see that going over well with DS, so it's a battle I've chosen not to pick. But I'm sure that could be an option for you. I'd talk to the teacher.
DS~4 years old~born November 6, 2010 (1st year of preschool)
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I don't have any advice, but I just wanted to say that I agree - I think it sounds odd and outdated. My DD (same age as your DS) rarely has juice, and I like it like that. I would think that they would at least offer water as an option...and the whole milk thing? That's just weird. Maybe you could present those new guidelines to the director?
Our new preschool provides snacks, mostly crackers and cookies that we don't eat much of at home (we sent snacks to our previous one...which was great because I could send healthier options.) I am going to try to just let it go and come to terms with what they are serving...but I know that will probably last about 2 weeks before I start recommending some changes. :-)
GL!
Honestly, for me the 100% juice would be less of a concern than all the junky snacks that the other parents are going to send. In the two weeks since school started, he has yet to have a day that he doesn't have crackers, cookies, brownies or rice crispy treats as his snack or part of the snack. Total junk, and that's WITH a significant portion of the handbook dedicated to suggested snacks that are actually healthy. Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to our snack day next week.
At DS' school the kids get to choose 1% white or chocolate milk from the school's cafeteria to go with their snack. Honestly, I'm not sure which is worse IMO...chocolate milk or juice. But, the only thing I can do is talk to him about healthy choices and hope that he makes good choices most of the time, and honestly, he has. He had chocolate milk the first two days one of which the cafeteria ran out of white milk b/c he's in the afternoon PS class which gets their snack after all the older kids eat lunch, but then the new wore off. Since then, he's chosen white milk every day.
Moral of the story? If you've taught DC to eat a well-rounded, overall healthy diet, a little juice at school isn't going to be that big of a deal IMO. You're going to have to let go at some point, and this is certainly better than koolaid or soda. Keep giving her healthy options at home, and talk about making good food choices. Teach her about moderation...not just by example but by actually talking about it and what it means.