Life in the open air, in the sunshine, and a diet high in nutritional content coming from the produce of neighbouring fields improve the physical health...
—Maria Montessori
From Childhood to Adolescence, p. 67.
From Childhood to Adolescence, p. 67.
March is National Nutrition Month in Canada and the United States. This year’s theme is “Savor the Flavor of Eating Right,” which brings to mind some articles I read recently. Headlines such as “Kids who are time-crunched at school lunch toss more and eat less” (Godoy & Aubrey, 2015) and “These days, school lunch hours are more like 15 minutes” (Westerveldt, 2013) make me wonder how children possibly savor any flavor with only 10–15 minutes to eat.
Montessori encourages adults to model the behaviors we wish to see in the child. We walk slowly, speak softly, and touch gently. What does it say, therefore, when we eat quickly?
