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Hee hee! Look, I have a signature! -
Nancy, if the daycare your child attends is licensed I would suggest you check with your state licensing entity to ask what meals are required to be served. For example, in NC for a center opened 6am-6pm must serve a morning snack, full lunch, and afternoon snack. Whether or not a child eats a single bit of it is irrelevant--it must be offered in NC.Comment
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Yup
It sounds like they are doing breakfast with the a.m. snack. They couldn't tell you guys that the kids were scarfing down the snack and the other parents were bringing in their kid without breakfast so they told you the opposite: They are NOT eating so it's not necessary and they are throwing food away.
I promise you that if they are doing a snack at eight thirty they are going to have a LOT of parents who don't do ANY breakfast at all. My guess is they tried doing "snack" and a small cup of juice (this would be a few crackers and four ounces of juice) and then found that they had a TON of kids still really hungry and wanting the snacky snack food "snack". They ended up DOING breakfast with a bunch of hungry kids.
If they cut off the snack then they can say to the parents that they will NOT have any food until lunch unless the parents provide the food. They will most likely get hit with a lot of "snack" food in the lunch boxes that are really for the kids breakfast.
It's a simple fix: Just pop in your kids lunchbox a baggie of dry cereal and a juice box and ask them to give it to them when the kids are hungry. Also if you aren't doing this: consider doing a really nice hearty home made breakfast for your kids and sit down with them in the morning to eat. Home made pancakes, biscuits and gravy, french toast, oatmeal and fruit... stuff like that. If you get up maybe fifteen minutes earlier and have some special time with them and then make a good hefty breakfast you should be fine.
Having a good home made breakfast together is such a wonderful way to start the day. It doesn't matter if it's at six a.m. or six thirty... if you all get to bed at a reasonable time at night and are prepared for the morning you should be able to have that family time together which will really increase their liklihood of eating a nice big breakfast.
I have a group now where every parent gets up and MAKES breakfast and has breakfast as a family. They are super awesome kids and soooooooooo healthy and well behaved. I love this about my group.Comment
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Doesn't sound like they are on the food program because I don't think they can do a.m. snack that early if they are.Comment
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It sounds to me that the daycare will still offer snack but that the parents will need to supply it. It sounds to me that op is upset to have to supply more food not worried about her child going hungry.
My suggestion is to get up earlier as Nannyde suggested and feed your kid a bigger breakfast....something that really sticks to your bones...oatmeal, breakfast sausages...whatever. Then throw a handful of cereal and dried fruit into a ziplock bag for snack and call it good!
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Snack
I do not provide a morning snack at my home daycare either. We have breakfast at 8:00 and lunch at 11:00. I do an early lunch because the kids do get hungry if they dont eat a lot for breakfast. Does your daycare belong to a food program? They would get reimbursed for the meals they serve if they did.
AngelaComment
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We all know that with kids your going to have food waste. No way of getting around it...
Im not too sure why the provider is not just offering a smaller amount of food.
I start out with small portions and then wait to see who asks for seconds, which most of them do....If I made too much food, then I try to squeeze it into the next meal reducing food waste..... Children need to eat every 3 hours just like adults to remain healthy....food is fuel...the body should not have to starve and store fat wating for its next meal 3.5 hours later..
I serve a small breakfast, large am snack, then we play outside until lunch...Most of the kids are begging to eat lunch from burning all the calories they took in at am snack...
let me ask this....if you have some children eating and those that don't want to eat playing, or doing something else, how do you watch all of the kids at the same time? I know I can't.....Comment
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I don't know, something doesn't sit right with me. by the sounds of it, the children are going to go hungry. If the center was worried about wasting food, then maybe they should have looked over their menu better, not ever child is going to eat everything and like everything. and what about portion sizes, were the children getting large protions and couldn't finish it. I would start asking more questions.
also, now that you as a parent have to pack all the food, are you going to get a discount, and what are the providers now doing now that they dont have to provide any meals.
now that I think about it, I don't understand the reasoning behing this lunch bringing stuff. I know that by eating at my house, its the only healthy meal many of the children get and food is a tax write off, so why wouldn't you take advantage of it.Comment
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I have eliminated the morning snack as well b/c if they eat a good brkfst they can go until lunch. Br is at 9:00am, lunch is 12:00, pm snack is 3:45. I know that seems like a late schedule but My first kid gets here at 745 and there not usually quite ready for a meal yet. I find that kids dont eat a good lunch if they have a morning snack. They should have given you some warning about that. Alot of daycares are havign parents bring there own lunches/snacks from home. I provide 2 meals and one snack daily.Comment
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I wouldn't say that I elimanted the morning snack, because sometimes we have it and sometimes we don't, it varies with breakfast and what we are doing, but I understand elimanating if you provide meals but if you don't provide anything, it just seems weird.Comment
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Breakfast at 9 seems late to me. If kids are coming that late, they should have breakfast at home. I serve breakfast unil 7:30 as we leave for the bus stop at 8:10. This gives the kids time to finish. Right now, though, I have a dcg who shows up at the time we leave for the bus and the other 2 come at 9. So I don't do breakfast right now. I do provide a snack around 9:45 and lunch is right after 12.Comment
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I agree with Country Mom and lvt77. This seems crazy to me. I know it's hard to continue to provide food and it can be expensive..and frankly, parents don't stay in a center because you provide fruits and vegetables - which is unfortunate..but cutting AM snack...and having kids bring their own lunch? I guess to each his own. I have breakfast at 8am and it's not "a little something" or "bite size" because I'm not sure why it would be..no offense. I don't get it. Why would it be bite size. I wouldn't want my 4 year old eating bite size for breakfast. Waffles, pancakes...they're not expensive. They have breakfast at 8 and by 10 am they're hungry after circle time and music so we have some fruit or veggie (something small to hold over their tummies) and by noon (after running around again outside), they're hungry again.Comment
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I am a parent and not a provider.
Is it really that big of a deal to make the adjustment and put a "morning snack" in your child's lunch? I'm sure you can find the resources to do this so your children are adequately fed. Your children are a priority. This is a no brainer to me.
Whether parents like it or not the day care is indeed in charge. They can make a policy change based on what is going on in the day care AS A WHOLE. The kids may not be eating the snack or (much more likely) the parents are bringing unfed, hungry children. You are not privy to this information but you do have the option of finding another day care if you desire.
First and foremost, you are responsible for the well-being of your child, not anyone else. You can't find the money and/or resources to do this for your child but expect a complete strange/day care to be able to do this and incurr the added expense for all the children in their care, that are in no way related to them?!! Parents need to take a look at themselves sometimes and not point fingers.Comment
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My Turn!
The daycare probably found that the added expense of X amount of kids for snack that no one eats anyways was easier to cut out instead of raising rates.
To be honest, I bet everything on it that they debated for months about this, thinking, "should we raise the rates by $1/day/child" (that's 5 dollars a week!) or "should we cut out the snack that no one eats?".
Admit it, if they told you they were raising the rates $5/week/child, that's $15/week for you? if all 3 of your kids are in daycare, that's 60/month extra you are paying, are you telling me you wouldn't be having a hissy fit and then saying "i'll provide the snack if you don't raise the rates"?!?!?!
That's what I see. No matter what, someone's going to have a fit. That's how it ALWAYS goes.
I understand how some may be concerned but IMHO, most parents don't want to get up 15 minutes earlier to feed their kids a good breakfast, so they buy some garbage sugared cereals, and this is what they feed their kids.
And if they provide all the juice and milk still, that's I don't see a problem. Milk is filling, and I try not to feed my kids milk until after they've finished eating because they fill up on milk, and don't eat anything. Milk is expensive, think about this: (based on 3 kids, with 3 servings of milk a day)
4oz milk X 3/day= 12 oz X 3 kids= 36 oz milk they are providing a day
a 4 litre jug of milk at approx $5/jug (depends where you live how much it is), is going to last apprx 3 days. So they are spending $10/week on milk for every 3 children in their care.
That does not include the milk that goes into bowls of cereal should they provide breakfast. That does not include milk that goes into meals prepared for lunches. Please remember this is only the milk I've factored a cost into. If you want them to serve snacks, they also have to buy fruits, vegs, crackers, etc.
They may not have the funds to purchase the snacks. They may be deciding to puchase snacks over new equipment to keep it safe or improve the care they provide. They may be deciding to purchase snacks over replacing books, or maybe even purchase snacks over buying craft supplies!
Please, if it concerns you why, maybe discuss this in private with them, but don't go in there with an attitude, don't go in there with anger.
It's hard to know whether this is a daycare center or a dayhome from what you're posted. It's hard to know if this is licensed or unlicensed. All of this plays a major factor in why they may be doing this.
Food expense is tax deductible, but that doesn't mean they have the funds now to dish out. It's not like we get a cheque back at the end of the year for the money we've spent on food.
EVERYONE is trying to stretch their dollars, but if you are simply upset because you have to stick some more food in your childs lunch box then that is very unfair to take that out on the providers. Cost of living rises, but yet the cost of childcare has not risen. When I was a baby my mom was doing daycare, and she charged the same as the standard rates are now. Yet we are all expected to provide the same care for less money. Cost of food, milk, gas to get to the store to buy this, etc, has all gone up.
Unfortunately there are a lot of bad apples out there, and many ruin it for others.
My daughters school implemented this new snack eating time thing. Personally I HATE IT! Many parents like it, but I don't.
Last year I had to send 2 snacks and a lunch (kindergartener). She ate everything EVERYTHING.
This year, I have to send snack and a lunch, and she brings home so much that I have to throw away! They don't get enough time to eat first off, secondly, the times they eat lunch and their snacks is ridiculous! They eat their snack before their lunch. So, the kids eat snack, and then they don't eat their lunch! And then they are starving when they get home from school, so you give them a small snack, and then they don't eat their supper.
I have an idea then, Why don't the parents take turns supplying something for snack instead? Why not discuss this with them? Say this week I'll provide the milk, Sally will provide the fruits/crackers, etc.Comment
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