Recently we read about dairy foods.
We have been learning about nutrition. We have learned about fruits and vegetables. We also know that it is important to eat foods from the four food groups to grow healthy. We can’t eat only vegetables. Today we will start to talk about the dairy food group. It is also called the milk group. The foods that belong in the dairy food group are foods that are made from milk. Where does milk come from? A cow.
There are different kinds of cows. Three of them are the Guernsey – brown and white, the Holstein – black and white, and the Ayrshire – red and white (show pictures). Cows live on farms and eat grass that grows in pastures. A pasture is a big field of green grass. When it is winter the cows stay in a barn and eat hay. When a cow eats, they swallow their food without chewing it very good. The food goes down into the first and second stomachs. A cow has four stomachs! After the cow is finished eating, she lies quietly and chews her food again. This is because the food comes back to her mouth to be chewed some more. The food that came back up to the cow’s mouth from her stomach is now called cud. Cows always seem to be chewing and chewing, because she is, she is chewing her cud.
The children could choose to paste dairy food samples onto the cow.
Of course, not all the children choose the same Works on the Shelves, and so gravitate to those things that interest them. Here are some of those activities. It is important to have your shelves filled with works, which requires a lot of time to organize and prepare, sometimes making your own materials. It is worth the effort, though, as we see the children’s absorbent minds take it all in. I am so proud to be a Montessori teacher!
