What is picky eating?

Picky eating typically refers to a child having strong food preferences, refusing to try new foods, or avoiding certain textures or tastes. It’s a phase that most children go through during their development. According to Melanie, nearly every child experiences phases of picky eating. This behavior can vary widely from child to child, making it crucial for parents to approach it with patience and understanding.

Identifying When to Be Concerned

While picky eating is usually normal, there are instances where it might indicate a more significant issue. Parents should consult their child’s medical provider to differentiate between typical picky eating and something that may require intervention. Regular checkups and open communication with health care professionals are vital in ensuring that a child’s eating habits are healthy and developmentally appropriate.

Supporting Your Picky Eater

Supporting a picky eater involves a combination of patience, creativity and persistence. Here are some strategies to help:

• Offer Variety: Continue to introduce a variety of foods. If your child doesn’t like a food prepared one way, try a different method. For example, if they don’t like steamed broccoli, try roasting it.
• Make Meals Fun and Engaging: Turn mealtime into a fun experience. Get your child involved in cooking, gardening, or grocery shopping. Discuss the food’s taste, texture and appearance to make them more curious and engaged.
• Be Patient: Don’t force your child to eat. Encourage them gently and offer new foods multiple times without pressure. A relaxed approach can help reduce mealtime stress.
• Role Modeling: Children learn by observing others. Eat together as a family without distractions, and model healthy eating habits. Older siblings can also be role models for younger children.
• Seek Professional Help: If picky eating seems to be more than a phase, seek advice from medical providers. They can refer you to dietitians or occupational therapists if needed.

Common Misconceptions About Children’s Nutrition

There are several misconceptions about children’s nutrition that parents should be aware of:

1. Picky Eating is Abnormal: Picky eating is a common phase in early childhood. Research says it takes eight to 15 times to introduce a new food before your child will accept it. Children need repeated exposure to new foods before they may accept them. Try offering it again in a different form or at a different time.
2. Healthy Eating is Expensive: Healthy eating doesn’t have to be costly. Utilizing frozen fruits and vegetables can be a budget-friendly way to provide nutritious meals.
3. All Children Need Whole Milk: Recent research suggests that not all children need whole milk after the age of one. Only children who are underweight require whole milk; others can transition to lower-fat options.
4. Milk is Necessary at Every Meal: A common misconception is that children need to drink milk with every meal. However, milk can be very filling, especially for young children with small stomachs. Offering milk with meals can sometimes lead to a full stomach, making the child seem picky when they’re just not hungry. Offering water during meals instead can help ensure that they are still interested in eating their food.
5. Babies are Ready for Solid Foods at Four Months old: The phrase “food before one is just for fun” highlights that introducing solid foods before a child’s first birthday is more about familiarizing them with textures and the concept of eating than meeting nutritional needs. Starting solids too early can make it seem like a child is picky when they may just not be developmentally ready for solid foods.

Picky eating is a common, often frustrating phase in early childhood. With patience, creativity, and the right strategies, parents can support their children through this phase and help them develop healthy eating habits. Remember, every child is unique, and what works for one may not work for another. Stay informed, trust your instincts, and seek professional advice when needed.

Making the transition into preschool and kindergarten is a big step and a big change in a young child’s life. Explaining what it might be like is critical in helping them feel secure. Reading books on the subject at storytime gives parents the opportunity to enhance their child’s understanding by providing illustrated examples of what their new school will be like and helping make learning fun.

Back-to-School Books for Preschoolers & Kindergarteners

Here’s a list of books recommended by the experienced staff and teachers of Educare Chicago. From books on how children around the world get to school, to first-day jitters, to classics that have stood the test of time, you are bound to find one, or more, that will be a wonderful tool to explain this milestone to your child. So get out there and start reading!

• Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney
  It’s Llama Llama’s first day of preschool! And Llama Llama’s mama makes sure he’s ready. They meet the teachers. See the other children. Look at all the books and games. But then it’s time for Mama to leave. And suddenly Llama Llama isn’t so excited anymore.
• My Preschool by Anne Rockwell
  Join a happy little boy during a day at preschool, from cheerful hellos in circle time, to painting colorful pictures and playing at the water table before snack time. The best part of saying goodbye at the end of the day is that the little boy knows he will come back tomorrow.
• Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate
  It’s the first day of kindergarten and Miss Bindergarten is hard at work getting the classroom ready for her 26 new students. Miss Bindergarten puts the finishing touches on the room just in time, and the students arrive. Now the fun can begin!
• Kindergarten Kids by Ellen Senisi
  This cheerful photo essay shows 21 kids in a kindergarten class on a typical day. Girls and boys play with everything from computers to blocks; they learn the alphabet and how to follow rules; they dress up, say the pledge of allegiance, listen to stories, and make music and art together. Sometimes they even have a bad day.
• Night Before Kindergarten by Natasha Wing
  Join the kids as they prepare for kindergarten, packing school supplies, posing for pictures, and the hardest part of all—saying goodbye to mom and dad. But maybe it won’t be so hard once they discover just how much fun kindergarten really is.
• Kindergarten ABC by Jacqueline Rogers
  Each and every day celebrates a letter of the alphabet with a fun-filled classroom scene.
• Who Will Go to School Today? by Karl Ruhmann
  Sam decides to send his toy monkey Timbo to kindergarten in his place, but after telling Timbo about his school friends and what his day is really like, he realizes he wants to go himself.
• Froggy Goes to School by Jonathan London
  Froggy’s mother knows that everyone is nervous on the first day of school. Froggy’s exuberant antics, complete with sound effects, will delight his many fans and reassure them that school can be fun.
• Otto Goes to School by Todd Par
  Otto goes to school for the first time, where he makes new friends and learns how to wag his tail without knocking things over.
• This is the Way We Go to School: A Book about Children Around the World by Edith Baer
  With fun-filled rhymes and colorful illustrations, children will discover just how much fun getting to school can be.
• Going to School by Sally Hewitt
  Children learn what it is like to go to school in other countries.
• Seven Little Mice Go to School by Haruo Yamashita
  It’s time for seven little mice to start school! And it’s up to Mother Mouse to get them there.
• Chicken Chickens Go to School by Valeri Gorbachev
  It’s the first day of school for the little chickens and they are a little scared. How a wise teacher helps the chickens overcome their fears and win some wonderful new friends is a heartwarming story that will reassure youngsters experiencing their own first-day jitters.
• Our Class is a Family
  With its heartfelt message and colorfully whimsical illustrations, “Our Class is a Family” is a book that will help build and strengthen that class community. Kids learn that their classroom is a place where it’s safe to be themselves, it’s okay to make mistakes, and it’s important to be a friend to others. When hearing this story being read aloud by their teacher, students are sure to feel like they are part of a special family.

Checklist To Navigate the Transition to Kindergarten

The start of kindergarten can be exciting, stressful, intimidating and scary at the same time. As a parent, you can help ease some of your child’s worries and fears by having conversations around their feelings. By learning as much as you can about the kindergarten experience, you’ll be able to better explain the transition to your child and they’ll understand how fun kindergarten will be!

1. Meet the Teacher Before the First Day of School
   If you can, schedule a time for you and your child to meet their kindergarten teacher before the first day of school. This will give your child the chance to become comfortable with the teacher. You can also let the teacher know about your child’s preferences, temperament, strengths and weaknesses. For example, if your child had trouble with transitions in preschool, explain how you and the preschool teacher helped them overcome that challenge. The kindergarten teacher will appreciate your tips! You can also talk about your aspirations for your child and what you hope your child will learn in the upcoming year. Ask how you can be involved in the classroom. Be sure to share your contact information and let the teacher know the best way to reach you.
2. Set a Consistent Routine Before School Starts
   A consistent morning and evening routine will help your child feel prepared for the first day of kindergarten. Young children benefit from routines because when they know what will happen next they are less prone to find changes stressful. Set a bedtime to help your child get a good night’s rest. In the morning, leave enough time for getting dressed, eating breakfast and packing backpacks. Start your routine a few weeks before kindergarten so you know how long it will take to get ready. Be sure to have a goodbye ritual like a high five, blowing a kiss or giving a hug to help your little one understand that it is time for you to leave, this will help them feel less anxious knowing that you are going to return later.
3. Do a Dry Run
   A few days before the first day of school, do a dry run of your morning routine, including going to school. You can walk or drive to school, or walk to the bus stop with your child. Show your child the door they will walk in on the first day of school. Ask the school what the pick-up and drop-off policies are. Some schools allow parents to come into the classroom to drop their children off, and others have a different meeting point. Not only will you find out exactly how long your morning routine takes, you’ll also give your child a better sense of what the day will look like to prevent first-day-of-school anxiety. While you are in the classroom, you can discuss with your child what is the same and what is different about this classroom and their old preschool classroom. Do they have the same areas? Are there desks? What is not there? You can also ask the teacher if your child can bring in a family picture or something special to add to their cubby to feel more comfortable. You can also watch YouTube videos of kindergarten classrooms together and even role play different school scenarios at home if your child has more questions or wants to see more examples.
4. Find Out What Skills the Teacher Expects Children to Have on Day One
   Kindergarten teachers may expect children to be able to handle their emotions, articulate their needs, listen to directions, raise their hand before talking, write their name, and recognize shapes and colors on the first day of school. Find out what the expectations are in advance and ask for tips on how to prepare your child for any skills they are still working on. If your child has mastered those skills, ask the teacher what will be done to challenge your child in the classroom.
5. Read to Your Child
   Check out our list of recommended books below for kindergarten students. Start reading books before school starts during storytime so that your child has a better idea of what going to school will be like.
   1. Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
   2. The King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes
   3. Look out Kindergarten, Here I Come by Nancy Carlson
6. Be an Advocate
   If your child needs any special services, talk to the administration and the classroom teachers in advance to find out who provides them. Ask if the services are provided inside or outside the kindergarten classroom. If your child has an individualized education plan from preschool, find out how that plan transfers over to kindergarten.
7. Network With Other Parents
   Talking with other parents is a great way to build a support system to help you through all the challenges of parenthood. Ask the school what supports are available for parents and what opportunities are provided for parents to meet, such as parent groups, school councils, or other committees that you can join.
8. Prepare for Breakfast and Lunch
   Find out if your school provides breakfast and/or lunch and plan accordingly. Your child may be used to eating at certain times at home or at an early childhood center, so explain how mealtimes may be changing. If your child will be buying lunch, get a menu from the school. Find out how food preferences are honored. For instance, some schools ask for a doctor’s note for food allergies.
9. Decrease Naptime
   Some schools may offer a resting period, but many don’t. So it’s a good idea to wean children off naps before the first day of kindergarten.
10. Make Afterschool Plans
    If your child will be in after school care, make those arrangements as soon as possible. Find out what afterschool care options your school offers and how much it costs. Make sure your child knows what the plans are and that you pick up your child on time or early so they don’t get anxious waiting for you. Create a backup plan with other parents, who you can rely on to pick up your child if you are running late.

Checklist To Navigate the Transition to Preschool

To help your child get the most out of the preschool experience, we asked a Start Early expert for some advice for parents handling this transition. Annaliese Newmeyer a teacher at Educare Chicago, a program of Start Early, shared her tips to help you and your child prepare for preschool.

Before the first day:

• Drive or walk by your child’s new school. Seeing their school ahead of time will help familiarize them with their new space. You can show them where things are like the main door and the playlot. This will help your child feel more comfortable with the space and how things will look on their first day.
• Meet with the teacher. Meeting your child’s teacher ahead of their first day is very helpful for both you and your little learner. At this meeting, you can help your child learn their new teacher’s name and give your child a chance to become comfortable with them. You can also take this time to ask the teacher what your child will be learning and what skills they expect children to have on day one. Then, you can set some realistic and developmentally-appropriate goals for your child. For example, do you work on your child’s reading? Together you can set goals that can help your child develop early literacy skills, like being able to recognize their name and the letters in their name.
• Celebrate this milestone. This can be the beginning of a tradition to say goodbye to Summer and hello to the school year! Maybe you and your child go get an ice cream sundae or go to a baseball game or stay up late and watch movies and eat snacks together.

On the first day:

• Be prepared. Bring a bookbag with a change of clothes, a favorite blanket or stuffed animal for nap time, and even a picture of your family. Having something that reminds your child of home with help them feel more at ease in their new environment.
• Make sure your child eats a good breakfast and gets some rest. Your child’s school might give them breakfast, but it might be later, and you don’t want them to be too hungry!
• Expect the first day to be easy but it might get hard the second day or the second week when reality sets in that they must return to school every single weekday.
• Explain to your child that this will be a hard transition for you too! You will miss them, and they will have to meet new people and have new experiences but each day will get easier.
• Make sure you say goodbye, do not sneak away. Have the same goodbye every day; we call this a goodbye ritual. It can be a hug, a special handshake or a dance! This ritual will help your child learn what to expect when you come to class and will help ease their anxiety when you leave.

Ongoing:

• Ask questions! Ask your child’s teacher how each day is going and what you can do to help make it better. And be sure to ask your child how their day was. At first, they might just say nothing, but as you ask them every day, their answers will become more and more descriptive.
• Volunteer in the classroom if you can. Get to know the other kids and parents. This is your new community, your new village and you are there to support each other!
• Be Open: Covid has affected children in many different ways.  We are seeing more children who are qualifying for services, such as speech therapy, due to having to wear masks or seeing adults wear mask, when they were first learning to talk.  These type of Early Invention services are so important for children to receive; they are free and the earlier they get them, the less likely they will need them later in life!

Checklist To Prepare for a New Child Care Setting

Once you’ve found a quality setting—from a center-based program to home child care to a relative’s house—here’s some advice from our expert Teresa Bennett a family support specialist at Educare Chicago, a program of Start Early, on how you can prepare your child for their first day of daycare:

• Visit the Child Care Center
  To help your child get to know the new environment, visit the child care center with your child before the first day. You and your child can meet the caregiver. Take photos of the route to the center, the center entrance and the room where your child will spend the day. You can assemble the photos as a book, which you can use to talk to your child at home about what their day will be like and where they will go.
• Talk to Your Child
  To help prepare your infant or toddler to go to out-of-home care, explain using language and concepts they will understand about where they’ll be going and what they’ll be doing. Talk about how they will meet new children and participate in fun activities. Always mention that you’ll be back at the end of the day to take them home.
• Build a Relationship With the Caregiver
  Your young child may not be able to talk, but they can observe your actions. They’ll form their opinion of the caregiver based on your reactions. Make time each day to talk to the caregiver and begin building a strong relationship. Caregivers at quality early learning programs see parents as partners and will want to develop a strong relationship with you, your child’s first and most important teacher.
• Share Information About Your Child
  Talk to the caregiver about your child’s cues, likes, dislikes and temperament. How do they like to be fed, soothed and put to sleep? Your tips will help the caregiver know how to best care for your child without having to guess which methods to try. You can also explain what developmental skills you’d like your child to learn. Ask for daily updates about your child’s progress from the caregiver.
• Create a Morning Routine
  Routines help children feel in control of their surroundings, which eases anxiety. Create a morning routine so your infant or toddler knows what to expect before going to the child care center. Find out if the center provides breakfast so you know whether or not your child needs to eat at home.
• Develop a Goodbye Ritual
  Create a goodbye ritual so that your infant or toddler starts to feel comfortable with their caregiver when you leave. Your ritual could be a hug, a high five or interacting together with a toy before you leave. Whatever activity you choose, make sure you take time to talk to your child about what’s happening and don’t rush the process. Once your child becomes used to the goodbye ritual, they’ll be better able to regulate their emotions so that they can calm themself more easily when you go. Learn more about separation anxiety.
• Bring a Transitional Object
  Your child may feel more at ease in a new environment with an object that reminds them of home. This could be a photo of your family that’s laminated or a stuffed animal that your child enjoys. The child can hold the object during the day as a reminder that this new environment is temporary and that you will come back to take them home.
• Ask What You Can Do at Home
  To extend your child’s learning, ask the caregiver what school readiness skills the children will be working on during the day and what related activities you can do at home. The reverse is also true: share information about what activities you are doing at home that your child is interested in and ask if the teacher can do something similar in class.
• Complete Any Medical Requirements
  Find out from the school or center what doctor or dentist appointments must be completed or scheduled before the first day.
• Bring a Change of Clothes
  It’s a good idea to bring a change of clothes for your infant or toddler in case they encounter any water, finger paint, etc. Also, ask the center if you need to bring diapers or formula for your child.
• Share Your Contact Information
  Let the caregiver know if it’s best to reach you by phone or email and share that contact information.

Project Overview and Timeline

March-May 2024: Discovery

This phase includes a review of existing policies, research and data on family/child homelessness, identification of gaps in policies, research and data, and creation of an inventory of relevant past or current  initiatives focused on child/family homelessness  in Illinois or elsewhere across the country.

June-November 2024: Theory of Change

In this phase, the project team will collaborate with stakeholders, including people with lived experience, to create a Theory of change that clearly identifies the primary drivers of homelessness for Illinois families at the local, state, and federal level and articulates a strategy for preventing and ending homelessness among expectant parents and young children and their families in Illinois, complete with identified impact goals, objectives, and outputs/activities.  

December 2024-March 2025: Action Plan

In the final phase of the project, the project team will continue partnering with stakeholders to create an action plan that identifies a set of levers that are most likely to reduce homelessness among pregnant people and families with young children in Illinois over the next 5 years.

Other Project Activities and Components

• Convene an Advisory Committee of cross-systems experts and leaders, including individuals with lived experience, to provide support and guidance on project activities. 

• Compile and examine policies, research and data, and promising initiatives as it relates to homelessness among pregnant people and families with young children, with an intentional focus on youth who are pregnant or parenting, individuals experiencing homelessness who are living with or at high risk of HIV infection while pregnant, formerly incarcerated women parenting young children, and women and children experiencing domestic violence.  

• Conduct listening sessions and other engagement opportunities to gather input and feedback from experts, people with lived experience, and system leaders to inform development of the Theory of Change and Action Plan. 

• Create a public facing report detailing findings from the project, including a comprehensive Action Plan aligned to the Theory of Change that identifies priorities for impact in the current landscape. 

At Start Early, we believe that fostering an inclusive culture where all voices and experiences are valued is crucial for the healthy development of children. Celebrating Juneteenth is a powerful way to instill these values in the next generation, helping children take pride in their identity and appreciate the unique contributions they bring to the world.

By celebrating Juneteenth with your child, you are not only honoring a critical moment in history but also paving the way for a future rooted in understanding, acceptance, and equality.

Resources to Help Celebrate and Honor Juneteenth

Here are age-appropriate book recommendations and a celebratory Juneteenth song to share with your little one:

Read:

• My First Juneteenth High Contrast Baby Book by Gisbert Weber (recommended for infants)
• The Story of Juneteenth by Dorena Williamson (recommended for toddlers)
• Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper (recommended for children in pre-K or kindergarten). You can also listen to this story read aloud.
• Tune into this Juneteenth read-aloud of I’m Gonna Push Through by Jasmyn Wright.

Listen:

• Fyütch and the Alphabet Rockers created Juneteenth Song for Kids, a song about what Juneteenth is and why we celebrate Black freedom and liberation.