Family Child Care is a home-based program geared for a mixed age group which includes infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. The purpose of this program is to provide a safe, informal, healthy, nurturing environment for young children while the parent/parents are working, attending school, or seeking employment. The Citizens for Citizens Family Child Care program offers a series of provider food training meetings three times a year to ensure that child care providers are serving nutritious meals and snacks to the children in their care. The curriculum includes both food safety and the preparation of nutritious foods for children, much of which comes to providers through the Child & Adult Care Food Program of the USDA. A session held on October 14, 2008, gave hands-on instruction on the new food pyramid (www.MyPyramid.gov) and the preparation of healthy snacks taught by nutritionist Jessica Williams of the UMass Extension Nutrition Education Program. In addition, following the Dept. of Early Education Care regulations (see page 7), children have at least a half hour of active exercise appropriate for young children. Materials from the Children In Balance program have also been distributed to providers. For more information about the program, contact Citizens for Citizens Family Child Care Coordinator Linda Wheelock at 508-324-7517.
 

(Top row, left and center) Jessica Williams, nutritionist for the UMass Extension Nutrition Education program explains her choice of Life cereal for a healthy snack that she teaches the child care staff to make using pineapple, carrot shavings and M&Ms. (Top row, right) Gail Pereira, Carol Souza and Catherine Poirier shake up their snack cups. (Middle row, left) Ana Paula Raposo, sitting next to Elena Rebelo, shakes her snack mix as staff member Melissa Kimball and Cari-Lynn Souza watch from behind. (Middle row, center) Jessica prepares to distribute some plain low-fat yogurt to add to the snack mix. (Middle row, right) Bernadette Medeiros, Sandra Ferreira, Maria Raposo and Ana Paula Raposo stir their mix. (Bottom row, left) Maria Raposo shakes her snack mix as staff member Donna Hipolito watches from behind. (Bottom row, center) Joyce Perry compares her snack mix with Kathleen Gunning's. (Bottom row, right) Madelyn Casimiro and Lisa-Ann Klein receive recipes handed out by program coordinator Linda Wheelock.