Family Style Dining with 2-Year-Olds

Summary

The video script showcases a visit to the Little Brown School in Port Royal, South Carolina, where children engage in family-style dining as part of their Reggio Emilia-inspired preschool education. This approach fosters hands-on learning driven by the children's interests, aiming to develop competent and capable lifelong learners. Family-style dining is highlighted as a crucial component of the curriculum, offering opportunities for social interaction, nutritional awareness, motor skills, math, manners, and independence. The script emphasizes the children's growth and their newfound ability to take initiative and responsibility, showcasing the positive impact of this educational method on their development.

Takeaways

• 🏫 Visiting the Little Brown School in Port Royal, South Carolina.
• 🎨 The school is Reggio-inspired, focusing on hands-on learning and child-driven projects.
• 👧 The goal is to foster competent and capable learners who become lifelong learners.
• 🍽 Family-style dining is an integral part of the curriculum, enhancing child development.
• 🧑‍👧 Family-style dining provides opportunities for practicing skills, learning concepts, decision-making, and taking responsibility.
• 📅 The school has been using family-style dining for about a month with positive impacts on learning.
• 🤝 Social interaction is a key aspect of mealtime, with children sitting and talking about their day.
• 🥗 Nutritional education is emphasized as children serve themselves food and decide portion sizes.
• 💪 Gross and fine motor skills are developed through passing bowls, gripping utensils, and serving food.
• 🧮 Math skills are taught through activities like pouring milk or counting vegetables.
• 👍 Manners are taught through social interactions like saying 'please' and 'thank you' during mealtime.
• 🌱 Independence is encouraged, with children taking initiative in serving and passing food to each other.

Q & A

What is the name and location of the school featured in the transcript?

The school is called 'the little brown school' and it is located in Port Royal, South Carolina.

What educational approach does the school adopt?

The school adopts a Reggio-inspired approach, heavily borrowing from the Reggio Emilia approach to preschool education.

How does the Reggio Emilia approach manifest in the school's daily activities?

The Reggio Emilia approach is manifested through hands-on work, where children engage in projects driven by their own interests and curiosities, fostering competence and capability in learning.

What is the goal for the children when they leave for kindergarten?

The goal is for the children to become competent and capable learners, and lifelong learners by the time they leave for kindergarten.

Why is mealtime considered an important part of a child's day at this school?

Mealtime is important because it enhances child development by providing opportunities to practice skills, learn concepts, make decisions, and take responsibility.

How long has the school been using family-style dining?

The school has been using family-style dining for about a month.

What aspects of child development does family-style dining cover according to the transcript?

Family-style dining covers social interaction, nutritional understanding, gross and fine motor skills, math, manners, and independence.

How does family-style dining contribute to a child's social development?

Family-style dining contributes to social development by encouraging children to sit and talk about their day, and interact with each other by asking for and passing food.

What role does family-style dining play in teaching children about nutrition?

Family-style dining allows children to serve themselves, which gives them the opportunity to decide how much food they want, thus teaching them about portion control and nutrition.

How does the school use family-style dining to teach children about math?

The school uses family-style dining to teach math by having children pour half a glass of milk or take a certain number of items, such as two carrots, which introduces them to basic math concepts.

What is the impact of family-style dining on a child's sense of independence?

Family-style dining enhances a child's sense of independence by allowing them to serve themselves and make decisions about what and how much they eat.

How do the children respond to the family-style dining and the sense of independence it provides?

The children love the sense of independence and fulfillment they get from doing things themselves, and they show growth and development in their ability to interact and serve themselves.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Reggio Emilia Inspired Learning Environment

The script introduces the Little Brown School in Port Royal, South Carolina, which adopts a Reggio Emilia inspired approach to preschool education. This method is characterized by hands-on learning, with children engaging in projects driven by their interests and curiosities. The goal is to develop competent and capable learners who will become lifelong learners upon entering kindergarten. The school emphasizes the importance of mealtime as a part of the curriculum, using family-style dining to enhance child development.

🍽️ Family-Style Dining for Child Development

The script highlights the benefits of family-style dining at the Little Brown School. This method has been implemented for about a month and covers various aspects of child learning. It includes social interaction, nutritional awareness, gross and fine motor skills, math, and manners. Children serve themselves, deciding how much food they want, which promotes independence and responsibility. The script describes how children have embraced this dining style, showing growth and independence in their interactions and decision-making.

Keywords

💡Reggio Emilia approach

The Reggio Emilia approach is an educational philosophy focused on preschool and primary education. It emphasizes hands-on, experiential learning that is driven by the interests and curiosities of the children. In the video, this approach is described as encouraging children to become competent and capable learners through projects that they initiate and explore.

💡Family-style dining

Family-style dining refers to a meal setup where children serve themselves from shared dishes at the table. This method enhances child development by allowing children to practice decision-making, responsibility, and social skills. The video highlights that this dining style helps children develop independence and learn important social manners.

💡Hands-on learning

Hands-on learning involves engaging children in activities that require active participation and practical experience. The video emphasizes that this type of learning is central to their approach, allowing children to engage deeply with projects and develop a sense of competence and capability.

💡Competent and capable learners

Competent and capable learners are children who have developed the skills and confidence to explore, question, and learn independently. The video's goal is to foster these qualities in children, preparing them for lifelong learning and success in future educational settings.

💡Independence

Independence in the context of the video refers to children's ability to perform tasks and make decisions on their own. Family-style dining and hands-on projects provide opportunities for children to practice and develop independence, fulfilling their natural desire to do things themselves.

💡Social interaction

Social interaction involves children communicating and engaging with each other. The video highlights how family-style dining promotes social skills such as conversing, asking politely for items, and thanking others, which are crucial for social development.

💡Nutritional aspect

The nutritional aspect refers to the learning opportunities related to food and healthy eating habits. In the video, children serve themselves, which helps them understand portion control and make choices about their food, contributing to their nutritional education.

💡Gross motor skills

Gross motor skills involve the use of large muscles for movements such as passing bowls and plates during family-style dining. The video shows that these activities help children develop physical coordination and strength.

💡Fine motor skills

Fine motor skills involve the use of small muscles, particularly in the hands and fingers, for tasks such as gripping utensils. The video mentions that family-style dining helps children practice these skills, which are essential for tasks like writing and self-care.

💡Manners

Manners refer to polite social behaviors that children learn, such as saying 'please' and 'thank you.' The video illustrates that family-style dining teaches children these social niceties, which are important for positive social interactions.

Highlights

Visiting the Little Brown School in Port Royal, South Carolina.

Children engage in family-style dining.

Reggio Emilia approach to preschool education is adopted.

Hands-on work and child-driven projects are emphasized.

Goal is to develop competent and capable learners.

Family-style dining is a key part of the curriculum.

Child development is enhanced through family-style dining.

Children practice social, nutritional, and motor skills during mealtime.

Children learn math skills through portion control.

Manners and social interaction are taught during mealtime.

Children develop independence through self-service.

Teachers observe daily growth in children's abilities.

Children take initiative and direct interactions with peers.

Children experience a sense of fulfillment from completing tasks.

Family-style dining is a universal practice applicable to all children.

Transcripts

today we're visiting the little brown

school in Port Royal South Carolina the

children here do family-style dining

come on in

we're Reggio inspired which means that

we borrow heavily from the reggio emilia

approach to preschool education and what

that really translates into practice for

us is that our work is very hands-on the

children are involved in a lot of

projects and a lot of their projects are

driven by their own interest and their

own curiosities and that allows the

children to become competent and capable

learners which is our goal or when we

send them off to kindergarten that they

are they become lifelong learners

mealtime is an important part of a young

child's day like a good child centered

curriculum family-style dining enhances

child development by providing

opportunities to practice skills to

learn concepts to make decisions and to

take responsibility we've been using

family-style dining for probably about a

month now and we've been using it and it

covers all aspects of what these

children should be learning there's

obviously the social aspect of sitting

and talking about our day there is the

nutritional aspect of they actually

serve themselves the food so they get to

decide how much they want

there's also gross motor of passing

bowls and plates by motor where they

have to grip their own utensils math

where we pour half a glass of milk or

take two carrots and then there's

manners and the social interaction of

saying please pass the peas thank you

for the milk and we also talk a lot

about that independence two-year-olds

always want to do it themselves so this

gives them a really good chance and

fulfills that need for independence

I think they've loved it and we've

watched them grow every single day they

do something new now instead of having

the teacher direct everything they know

the routine so they get to ask each

other I had one little girl today look

at another little girl say please pass

the carrots and she picked up the bowl

and handed her the carrots they love

that sense of Independence and that

sense of that fulfillment they can get

from just doing something if two years

to do it anybody can do it