Any event in life is a true and natural fusion of knowledge in various fields. Dining is one of the important links in the daily life of kindergartens. However, due to the characteristics of repetition, frequency and monotony, many teachers often ignore the educational value of this link and only regard it as a means of regular training, especially in small classes. For example, in view of the main problems existing in small class children's dining, including psychological anxiety, difficulty in eating independently, partial eclipse, lack of basic dining habits, etc., teachers generally design activities from five areas: health, language, society, science and art, but often ignore the rich learning and development opportunities contained in the three links before, after and after meals.
Educational value in health field
The educational value of the health field in the catering sector has always been highly valued, which is also a more direct educational opportunity for the catering sector. The goal in the health field put forward in the Guide to Small Class Children's Dining Links is mainly reflected in the aspect of "good living hygiene habits", especially the goal of "under the guidance, not being partial to food, not picky about food, and like to eat fresh food such as fruits and vegetables". In the actual observation, the author found that most small class teachers use preaching methods, such as oral education for a picky eater, but for small class children who are in the stage of intuitive action thinking, such preaching methods often can't play a very good role.
In fact, the form of health education for small class children with a balanced diet can be more vivid. For example, children's favorite cartoon images and cartoon pictures are matched with six kinds of food, such as staple food, vegetables, meat, fresh river (sea), fruit and snacks, to make cloth books. Before eating every day, let the children find out the corresponding food pictures according to the menu, "feed" them to cartoon characters, give them positive psychological hints, and encourage them not to be partial to food or picky about food, and love to eat everything. At the same time, it is also an intangible health education to post the pagoda map of the daily food needed by the human body in the classroom through the environment.
In addition, most teachers will introduce the recipes of the day to their children before eating, but most of them just report the names of the dishes once, which is dry and meaningless, and most children forget them after listening. In fact, the proper way to introduce recipes will obviously affect children's appetite. For example, making full use of multimedia technology to make vivid and interesting videos of food preparation and nutrition, and playing them in the transition before meals will stimulate children's appetite. If conditions permit, it is more effective to introduce recipes before meals, such as letting children participate in the process of making simple food, or letting the kitchen chef introduce the recipes of the day in class.
Through these methods, children have a deep impression and rich experience on healthy eating styles and eating habits. The Educational Value of Language Field
In the field of language, the Guide clearly points out that it is necessary to create opportunities for children to speak and experience the fun of language communication. Language communication runs through all aspects of kindergarten daily life, but the educational value of language field in dining is often ignored or not recognized. On the one hand, there is an old saying in China since ancient times that "it goes without saying that you eat and sleep"; On the other hand, most preschool teachers think that talking while eating not only affects children's digestion, but also causes dangerous situations such as suffocation. Therefore, most kindergartens require children to keep quiet during meals.
In fact, children in small classes are more interested in new things, curious and like to talk endlessly. Even though the teacher repeatedly stressed that children can't talk while eating, it is still common for children to whisper. Therefore, before eating, it is advisable to make use of the transitional link to let children carry out various forms of activities, such as telling stories, reciting children's songs, and communicating with each other, so as to give more opportunities for language expression. For example, share stories and children's songs about diet, nutrition and habit formation. Before meals, such as "cock and overflow" and "Popeye".
During my study in Japan, I have observed the dining links in Japanese kindergartens many times, and many Japanese kindergartens have "small announcers" activities before meals. Every day, a child comes to the front of the classroom, introduces a kind of food he likes, and briefly explains the reason. For example, a child proudly said, "I like to eat rice balls made by my mother best, because there are floss I like to eat!" " "The other children applauded warmly. Such simple activities not only cultivate children's expressive ability, but also enhance their self-confidence. In addition, many kindergartens in Japan adopt the form of bring your own lunch, and teachers often encourage children to exchange their own special foods during meals. At the same time, Japanese kindergarten teachers eat with children and answer their questions at any time. The atmosphere is as relaxed and happy as a family. These dining practices effectively promote the development of children's language ability and peer communication ability, and also create an equal and pleasant dining environment, which is an inspiration to our traditional practices. Educational value in social field
The Guide points out that interpersonal communication and social adaptation are the main contents of sociology of childhood's learning and the basic ways for children's social development. September, 10 every year is the stage when children in small classes generally have separation anxiety, especially in people's gardens, lunches, naps and other life links. In small class dining, children often cry while eating, and some children cry that they don't like kindergarten meals and want to eat the meals cooked by their mothers. These scenes provide opportunities for children's social learning and development.
For example, for children who are in a bad mood when eating, the teacher can let them talk about how their mother takes care of them first, then sit next to them to calm their emotions and give them proper feeding, and at the same time guide the children to talk about how the teacher takes care of them in time, so that the children can realize that the teacher likes their mother and let them have a sense of trust and attachment to the teacher. In order to make small class children familiar with the small partners in the class as soon as possible, it is best not to fix the dining position in the dining session.
For another example, the transitional links such as queuing to wash hands before and after meals, taking meals by turns, taking seats by turns, etc. are of great educational value to cultivate small class children's awareness of rules and their ability to eat independently; Appropriately let small class children undertake some simple tasks, such as cleaning the table after meals, so that children can quickly adapt to the duty student system after entering middle and large classes; Activities in quiet areas after meals are a good opportunity to cultivate children's willingness to share, communicate and play with their peers.
In addition, conditional kindergartens can also try to organize a children's buffet once a month to change the usual dining mode and make the dining session more interesting. In the process of buffet, children feel the pleasure of dining with their companions, and at the same time, through the requirements of orderly queuing for meals and taking meals as needed, they initially realize the concept of order and the consciousness of cherishing food and respecting farmers' labor. Teachers can also introduce traditional food to children on traditional festivals such as Dragon Boat Festival, so that children can have a preliminary understanding of national culture and establish a certain sense of national pride.
Educational value in the field of science
In the field of science, the guide puts forward the goal of "letting children know things and phenomena around them in inquiry" and the educational suggestion of "supporting children to accumulate beneficial direct experience and perceptual knowledge in contact with nature, biology and phenomena". The dining session contains abundant opportunities for science education, which allows small class children to observe the color and shape of food, touch the size, shape and organizational structure of food, taste the taste of food, smell the fragrance of food, and even pat the fruit to listen to the sound. Constantly perceive the various characteristics of food, so that small class children can fully exercise their sensory organs and lay a solid foundation for their early growth and development.
In the process of eating at noon, teachers can let children fully perceive the characteristics of fruits with different shapes, sizes and quantities, and let children learn mathematical concepts such as shape, volume and quantity. For example, when eating grapes, ask the children to count how many they have, and feel that the grapes are oval; When eating oranges, let children feel that oranges are round, orange and have a unique sweetness. These simple and basic common sense are the key experiences that small class children need to accumulate. These scientific contents included in dining activities can not only improve the enthusiasm of small class children for dining, but also expand their scientific knowledge and stimulate their interest in exploring science.
Educational value in the field of art
In the description of the art field, the Guide emphasizes that the key to guiding children to learn in the art field lies in fully creating conditions and opportunities, sprouting children's feelings and experiences of beauty in nature and social and cultural life, and enriching children's imagination and creativity. Small class children's dining seems to have little connection with the art field, but as long as teachers are good at discovering, they can also tap the value of art education.
For example, soft pre-meal music creates a warm dining atmosphere for children, and at the same time makes children gradually calm down and enter the state of preparing meals, giving children a certain hint-music can make people feel happy and let children understand that if they speak loudly, they can't hear good music clearly.
In addition, in the process of eating, guide children to taste delicious food and appreciate the beauty of lines, colors and shapes of dishes, fruits and grains. This can gradually train children's ability to discover beauty, enhance aesthetic taste and stimulate artistic imagination.
At the same time, the author found that children in small classes have a strong interest in lovely and brightly colored tableware. Conditional kindergartens can prepare safety tableware with rich shapes and various colors to stimulate children's appetite and initially cultivate their aesthetic consciousness. This can also be inspired by the vivid modeling and rich color matching of Japanese kindergartens.
The goals in all fields of the Guide are closely related to children's lives, which is also the embodiment of the principle of "attaching importance to the integrity of children's learning and development" emphasized in the implementation of the Guide. In addition to the dining session, teachers should not be confined to a fixed mode of thinking when organizing all aspects of children's daily life. For example, outdoor activities are health education and early reading is language education, but each link should be regarded as a whole that effectively integrates the educational value of multiple fields. This is also the key to grasp the integrity principle of the guide.