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AS4 (5 in 2 weeks) started Kindergarten about 2 weeks ago. Last year he was in a full day preK program at the same school. However, since he was a FC, he got free lunch at school. This year he is taking lunch from home. We are having a really difficult time getting him to eat healthy foods at lunch. if we pack: sandwich, fruit and chips (granola bar, graham cracker, etc) he will eat the fruit and other "fun" thing, but will not eat the sandwich (it could be pb& j, meat & cheese, wrap, etc). He is usually a slow eater as he gets too busy watching other people/talking, so I am sure this is exacerbated in the lunchroom. We really try to provide the kids with healthy options for lunch (and dinner - they still get breakfast at school). And he has no problems eating the things that are offered on weekends/school breaks. We have tried to talk to him about it but dont get very far. I also dont want him to go hungry as he is at school from 8-3. Any suggestions for talking with his teacher/school staff about this issue? Also, any recommendations for lunches to send to school would be helpful. There is not a microwave available to him, so whatever he eats would be cold.
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Maybe the staff/teachers could start by giving him the sandwich first and keep him on task with lunch. If he eats that, then they could give him the other things. I know my 5 yr is the same way and we will see how lunch goes for her next week when school starts. If she has her way, she will eat the chips and the other thing and leave the sandwich which means that in less than two hours she is hungry again. I also figure that after a week or so of being a slow eater, she will decide it is better to eat at lunch time than not.
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Sometimes cutting the sandwich into four is helpful, I am not sure exactly why, but it is. LOL I had to stop putting the fun stuff in. I would just put the sandwich and drink and maybe carrots or an apple or something. I moved the chips and fruit snack or cookie or whatnot to be the after school snack. When my kids complained I told them that if they were able to eat it all, I would add those things back in one at a time. My sister writes numbers on her kids food, she uses a marker and will write a 1 on the sandwich, 2 on the fruit, 3 on the chips and 4 on the cookie. For some reason that helps my nieces. They often end up eating the cookie or chips on the way home, but many days they are able to eat it all.
I found a great book at the library last week (I was actually sitting here reading it before I got online) called "The Cleaner Plate Club" by Beth Bader and Ali Benjamin (C is a little young for some of the stuff in it, but I wanted to start early). It has a whole section on packing lunches. One thing it talks about with sandwiches is cutting them into fun shapes with a cookie cutter. Also, at 5 he is still pretty small. Like momraine said about cutting a sandwich in 4 pieces, sometimes smaller sized things feel less daunting to kids than larger sizes, so maybe preslicing veggies in smaller bits, cutting the sandwich smaller, doing sandwich meat and cheese rolled up, sliced, and toothpicked... having bite-sized finger food might help him keep eating even if he gets distracted.