Saturday, 23 April 2016

A Pedagogical meal

Friday, January 29, 2016

When I was a child my parents allowed me to experience food at many levels. It is important to establish an affinity relationship with different kinds of food since an early age. To accomplish that, the feeding needs to be done in a harmonious environment. The baby must be free to touch in the food, to smell it and to taste it in its many kinds of textures. The meal can be a really good opportunity to work with the sensory dimension. The mealtime has also a very strong symbolic value. Since the early times of existence, pre-historic man treats it with a lot of respect, like if it was a ritual. It is a moment of sharing, very favorable to strengthen bonds. In very important moments and celebrations the family and be loved ones gets reunited around the table. It is a symbol of union and intimacy.
In our actual society it is not possible for the children stays at home next to their family. School institutions should provide the closest environment possible to the family´s atmosphere. Each classroom should be like a little community.Swedish pre-schools can be quite different from the Portuguese pre-school. The mealtime is treated in a completely different way. In Portugal, the children have lunch in a canteen join with the other groups. The pedagogues have the meal in a different section of the room.  The school´s staffs serve the food to the children. They always eat soap, a meet/fish dish and (sometimes). Vegetarianism has grown, but it is a little bit difficult to find vegetarians options in the pre-school’s menu. For the snack time the child eats bread with cheese, butter or ham and drinks milk or yogurt.In Sweden the child have the mealtime in its own classroom. The educator joins the group and can act like a role model. For lunch children eats soap or a meet/fish dish with a cold salad and a vegetable mixture. They can choice to drink milk or water. Each child serves its self.Sometimes the mainly dish can be vegetarian. For the snack time they eat knäckebröd (the traditional Swedish bread), with cheese, cut pieces of cucumber or paprika and drinks milk or yogurt with pieces of fruits or cinnamon.Food is also a part of our cultural dimension.  Our feeding habits are different. We have different ways of cooking, different textures and different flavors. I like to think that now I have both of these gastronomies in myself. 


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