Teaching Guide

Situation Statement

Many families have both parents working; some families are headed by a single, working parent. Because of the busy life style of families, meals are often not eaten together as a family. Quick, tasty, nutritious meals are the focus of these educational materials. The intent is to provide the impetus to get families eating together and to value mealtime as important.

Objectives:

Upon completion of this lesson, participants will:

• Value mealtime as important.
• Involve their grade school-aged child in meal preparation.
• Use menus and recipes which follow the dietary guidelines.
• Use healthy guidelines for feeding children.

Target Audiences:

• Families with one or more grade school-aged children with employed parents.

Leader Materials:

• A copy of Dietary Guidelines for Americans, Fourth Edition, 1995
• Mealtime/Family Time packet.

Key Concepts:

• Families with both parents working need quick, nutritious, economical dinner menus that help make mealtime a healthy experience.
• Feeding children is a big responsibility and requires parental time, attention and planning.

Leader Advance Preparation Guide

1. Review the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 1995
2. Review this Teaching Guide and handout materials.
3. Reproduce copies of the following handouts for each participant.
   • Family Mealtime
   • Nutrition-How To
   • Feeding Children
   • Food Handling Practices for Children
   • Concepts of Menu Planning
4. Provide a copy of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 1995, for each participant.
5. Provide a set of 6 menus to each participant.

Leader Presentation Guide

Introduction:

Tell your audience about yourself, then let them tell everyone one reason they decided to take this class.

Inform:

Explain to the group the objectives of Mealtime/Family Time. (see objectives)

Handouts:

Give each participant a set of the 6 dinner menus.

Explain:

Point out each of the different topics and give a brief explanation:

• Menu - whole meal (can be prepared in 45 min. or less)
• Shopping List - everything needed
• Family Time - ideas to make mealtime enjoyable and meaningful
• Meal Preparation Steps - brief outline of who does what and when
• Preparation Tips - alternate cooking methods or short cuts
• Nutrition - comparison of dinner meal to whole day's suggestion for calories, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium and dietary fiber
• Keep It Safe - food safety ideas to explain to children
• Recipes - main dishes, nutrition information included per serving

Say:

There are several topics on the menu handouts that we'll discuss in more detail.

Handout:

Give each participant the handout, Family Mealtime.

Interest Getter:

Ask the group one or two questions and guide them in a discussion. Possible questions - How many times a week does your whole family eat together? What makes this happen? How do you handle kids "acting up" at the dinner table? What do you consider "acting up"? What are some ways to make mealtime pleasant?

Explain & Discuss:

Based on comments from group, explain areas of interest to them - for example if mealtime behavior seems to be the major discussion - use information from the handout about that. Or if having the whole family together for meals is a challenge, discuss that.

Handouts:

Give each participant the handouts, Nutrition - How To, and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 1995.

Explain:

Each of the dinner menus follows the dietary guidelines. Explain the recommendations for calories, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium and dietary fiber (from the handout, Nutrition - How To). Let participants take home the booklet, Dietary Guidelines, to read.

Handout:

Give each participant the handout, Feeding Children.

Ask & Discuss:

Ask the group what their most difficult challenges are in feeding their children. Get several responses. Then ask how they handle the situation when their child refuses to eat. After getting several responses, go into the areas they mentioned such as "The Division of Responsibility", "Children", or "Pressure to Eat Doesn't Work" from the handout. Remember, not everyone will agree fully with these guides. Feeding children has been a real struggle in some families.

Handout:

Give each participant the handout, Food Handling Practices for Children.

Ask & Discuss:

Ask how many of the participants involve their children in meal preparation and how often. Then, ask what kinds of tasks their children do.

Explain & Discuss:

Go over some of the tasks on the different menus that are designated helper, child. Possibly ask for discussion on how well or how much help their children need in using knives, stove top, oven, etc.

Handout:

Give each participant the handout, Concepts of Menu Planning.

Say:

This handout is self-explanatory. Please read at home.

Closure:

Today we have discussed the main areas of Family Mealtime, Nutrition - How To, Feeding Children, and Food Handling Practices for Children. We hope you enjoy using the six menus provided, involving your children and have an increased value for family mealtime.

Handout:

Give each participant an evaluation to complete.