We just got a new child last week and along with him came a new issue for me to experience. It seems that this child is not getting much, if any, food other than what is given at school. He tries to eat the breakfast served (usually gram cracker) all morning. We tell him to put it in his cubby but he is constantly sneaking a bite. He has also been getting in trouble the last few days for eating food of other children's plate at lunch.
I know from personal experience that when I am sitting in class hungry I don't pay much attention to what is going on. Really I sit there and watch the clock till lunch. So for him to come in hungry and have to wait till lunch to eat, then still not get enough food, its no wonder he is a little scatter-brained.
If his mother would get him to school earlier he would have time to eat breakfast which would help a lot! But yet again that would require that his mother to be more responsible than any 7 year old can really control. It's really hard to watch a child sneak food because they are hungry and have to tell them to stop.
I don't know how to solve the problem but I know its hard to watch!
-Miss Hansen
"I know from personal experience that when I am sitting in class hungry I don't pay much attention to what is going on."
ReplyDeleteThat is your grounds to give that child permission to eat... maybe even to give him animal crackers or better yet some protein - nuts or cheese - and let him sit and eat before joining the class.
I keep a little desk in the back of the room (so it's not a distraction) and let kids who need to finish a snack or breakfast sit there and eat and rejoin the class when they are ready. It only takes 2 minutes to eat a piece of string cheese, and it can make the difference of learning something, or learning nothing that whole day!
It's true that you can't feed everyone yourself, but you also can't expect to have any impact on learning if a kid is hungry all day.
I say feed him and get on with it! :)