Enhance and expand your nutrition-based programming and civil rights protections both in the classroom and for families at home.

Nutrition is an essential component of child development and family life. A balanced diet ensures children have the energy and nutrients they need to function, both physically and mentally, and thrive as they learn and grow. In this course, you will explore the basics of nutrition education in early childhood. You will learn how to engage children, families, and classrooms with nutrition-based activities that make eating healthy foods a fun and rewarding experience for everyone.

This course guides learners through identifying nutrition needs, challenges, and solutions to developing nourishing meal and snack plans that align with the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) guidelines.

This course will also explore civil rights in a Head Start context. By protecting civil rights, Head Start programs can ensure the equitable treatment of all families, children, and staff members. This course will outline CACFP requirements and guidelines around protecting civil rights and ensuring a positive customer service experience for all children and families.

Course Information:

• Start Date: On-Demand
• Course Level: Beginner
• Target Audience: Instruction and Effective Practice, Leadership and Management, Parents and Families, Program Operations, Support Services
• Requirements/Prerequisites: None
• Course Meeting Times: None
• Completion Timeline/Duration: One month

Topics:

• Family and Child Nutrition in Head Start
• Implementing Healthy Infant Meal Patterns
• Implementing Healthy Child Meal Patterns
• Food Safety and Sanitation
• Care Plans for Children with Allergies
• Defining Civil Rights in Head Start
• Collecting and Reporting Civil Rights Data
• Customer Service and Public Notification
• Discrimination and Filing a Complaint

Learning Objectives:

• Illustrate how nutrition has been an important component of Head Start since the program officially launched in 1965 and examine milestones in nutrition-related progress over the past 59 years.
• Analyze how nutrition plays a role in relation to social and emotional development. 
• Evaluate pros, cons, and approved substitutes to milk, deep fat frying, and fruits and vegetables.
• Assess the Title 7 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) that require certain stipulations to be met in regards to children’s meals.
• Point out aspects of routine sanitation and safety procedures and differentiate between cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting.
• Create a Written Care Plan for children with allergies.
• Describe the role of civil rights in Head Start programs and distinguish between the different federally protected classes.
• Evaluate the data collection process of civil rights related information.
• Explain how to use positive customer service to limit discrimination and illustrate civil rights information for Head Start families through public notification.
• Assess examples of discrimination to learn how to identify and prevent civil rights violations in a Head Start program setting.

Head Start Alignment:

This course supports programs in meeting the following requirements of the Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS):

• 1302.44 Child nutrition requirements in which programs must “design and implement nutrition services that are culturally and developmentally appropriate, meet the nutritional needs of and accommodate the feeding requirements of each child, including children with special dietary needs and children with disabilities.” 
• 1302.46 Family support services for health, nutrition, and mental health requirements in which programs must provide nutrition “education support services that are understandable to individuals, including individuals with low health literacy.”
• 1302.60 Full participation in program services and activities requirements in which, “A program must ensure enrolled children with disabilities, including but not limited to those who are eligible for services under IDEA, and their families receive all applicable program services delivered in the least restrictive possible environment and that they fully participate in all program activities.”

Not a member?: Join to save!

Course Author

Rachel Hutchison

Rachel Hutchison is the Manager of Online Instructional Design at the National Head Start Association (NHSA). In this role she oversees the design and management of 100+ online courses for the Academy at NHSA. In 2021, Hutchison launched NHSA in the Classroom, an initiative that aims to increase access to world-class arts and educational resources through virtual programming. Rachel earned her bachelors in writing and communication at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN and her masters in creative writing at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA. Rachel grew up in Havre, Montana and enjoys puppetry, music, and hiking.

Subject Matter Expert

Tracey Sauke

Tracey Sauke is a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) living in Iowa. Tracey earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Dietetics from South Dakota State University and went on to complete the Iowa State University Dietetic Internship Program, receiving her RDN credential in 2009.   She works in a variety of nutrition settings including partnering with Tri-County Head Start to help oversee their nutrition program.  In her spare time Tracey enjoys cooking and traveling with her husband.