Raising Healthy Eaters in Early Care Training

This training is designed to help early care educators, teachers, administrators and other staff follow best practices when it comes to: 

• Practicing responsive feeding during meals and snacks for a positive, pressure-free environment.  
• Supporting the development of children’s feeding skills and milestones. 
• Integrating mealtime with other domains of child development. 

Upon completion of this training from the majority of the center, you will be eligible:

• To receive 1 Bright From The Start (BFTS) credit hour
• To order the education materials pictured below at no cost to the center. (Georgia residents only)

Intentionally planned mealtimes and food-related experiences support all 5 domains of child development within the Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS):

• Physical development and motor skills. Healthy, developmentally appropriate foods and feeding practices support proper growth, sensory experiences and fine motor skill development.
• Social and emotional development. Responsive feeding practices and mealtime routines promote self-regulation and help children bond with their caregivers while developing a sense of self.
• Communication, language and literacy. Mealtime provides an opportunity to support nonverbal and verbal cues of hunger and fullness, and to help children develop language connecting food and mealtime to the world around them.
• Cognitive development and general knowledge. Food-based learning activities and mealtimes provide opportunities to connect food with math, science, social studies, creative development and more.
• Approaches to play and learning. Encouraging feeding milestone practice and achievement supports the development of initiative, exploration and persistence.

Get more information about how to incorporate the GELDS during mealtime.