Reflective Journal Healthcare Concept 2022

Running Head: HEALTHCARE 0
ReFLECTIVE JOURNALS
[Document subtitle]

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Routing care
A well-scheduled routine for a child is essential to inculcate discipline in their lives. A
well- scheduled day makes a child happy and healthy in a long run. It helps them in developing
the importance of time and doing things in a systematic manner. In a school, well- framed day of
a schoolchild from his time of breakfast to the time he leaves is perquisite for their healthy
growth. These initial years of a child are formative years and the mind of a child is like a sponge
in these years as the child, easily absorbs whatever is poured in.
As mind of a child is like a sponge, its body is also like a sponge. It becomes important to
nourish the child’s body with proper nutrients to help them grow physically robust and improve
their motor- functioning. As a childcare, I feel that children need to fed with healthy food to give
them a happy and healthy life ahead. A healthy body of a child can be achieved with nutrients-
rich food and proper hygiene. The children of our class N1 are trained to wash their hands
thoroughly before seating at their preassigned seats to have a salubrious breakfast. After the
breakfast gets over, they wash their hands and resort to their classrooms. The food given to them
are according to the guidelines of EDCA to ensure the proper intake of vitamins. It is important
to serve schoolchildren with the food rich in Protein, which include eggs, beans, peas, soy
products and unsalted nuts. The high protein in their diet enables the formation of muscles and
bones in children (Phillips, Heaney, Nicklas, Slavin, & Weaver, 2015). It is important to keep in
mind that the preparation of the food should be done with proper care and hygiene. Any kind of
unhygienic factor could weaken their body immunity. The cook should make sure that the
utensils are properly washed with no trace of liquid soap on it. Their every day’s diet should
contain fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy products. The fruits can be of all varieties but it is
important to make sure that there is no added sugar to it. The added sugar is detrimental to the
child’s body as high sugar intake could cause hyper-activity in child. The highly nutritive food
can be sometimes tasteless to a child so the children could be served with healthy snacks, which
may include vegetables dips, Turkish sandwich, cheese and crackers and milk and cereal.
As a health care provider, I believe that it is important for schoolchildren to be taught
hygienic habits like of washing hands thoroughly before the meal, wearing napkins while eating,
and establishing the routine for dental hygiene (Health Direct, 2019). Dental hygiene is a very

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important subject for schoolchildren (Dental Care, 2019). They should be taught the routine of
brushing teeth three times a day. They should be taught the habit of cleaning their nails by
cutting them weekly. A session should be conducted in teaching them the values of cleanliness
and conveying them creatively that germs are as monsters, which should be killed at all, cost.
Multiple intelligence-based approach of teaching kids
Two children in the age group of four to six were seating in the park with their teachers.
One of the children could pronounce rabbit very well just by seeing it written in the book while
for the other kid, it was difficult. Then suddenly, the rabbit passed by that make the child to
pronounce “rabbit”. The above story shows the importance of different ways through which a
child learns a subject.
The multiple intelligence-based approaches are focused on teaching children according
to their strong intelligence area (Cherry, 2019). Some children are good at learning through
pictures while some learn easily through words. The approach provides the creative way of
teaching a child according to their strong intelligence ability. The creative way of teaching
promotes easier learning to children. They are more in the position of accepting the new words
and concepts from the usage of their strong intelligence area. The Singapore has its first
Childcare established with the aim of providing Integrated Holistic Curriculum through multiple
intelligences-based approaches
There are eight types of multiple-intelligence approaches. It includes Visual-Spatial,
linguistic-verbal, logical-mathematical, Bodily-Kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal,
and naturalistic intelligence (Gardner, 2018). The visual-spatial intelligence is concerned with
those individuals who are good at learnings through charts, diagrams, maps, and videos. In term
2, the teacher used paintings of security system to make the children understand the concept of
emergency. The second is linguistic -verbal intelligence where the individuals are good at
learning through reading, writing, and debating. The third approach is learning through
recognizing patterns, reasoning, and logical analysis of the problems the approach is the logical -
mathematical approach (Baş & Beyhab, 2017). The teacher in the childcare used the approach in
teaching them about the weathers with the help of Lego blocks.

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The bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is concerned with learning through the body
movements and performance of the actions. In term 3, children were taught about wild animals
through various physical activities. In a musical intelligence, Rhythms and music are used in
educating children through songs and lyrics. The interpersonal intelligence used strong
interpersonal skills in teaching children about different concepts. IN term one, the teachers
taught them regarding the body parts and its care with the help of a drama setting. In a drama, a
small flat was created where the bed, toilet paper and bathtub was used to teach them about
toiletry products and body parts. The style proved out to be very engaging and full of learnings
for children. The intrapersonal intelligence of an individual is concerned with strong self-
reflection and introspection skills. The last intelligence approach is Naturalistic intelligence
where the individuals share the deep connection with the nature and environment. They are more
likely to learn in a natural setting. For example, some children can learn a lot in the field trip than
in classroom. In term 3, teacher taught them about the wild animals by taking them to a zoo.
The multiple intelligence approach if used prudently as per the child’s innate intelligence
could improve their learning. It is essential for the teachers to teach children in manner highly
grasping to them as it becomes more time-efficient to teach them in such a manner.
Importance of Field Trip
A four-year-old child was playing in a field when he started pronouncing the fallen leaf
on the ground. A few days back, when teacher asked him pronounce the written word “leaf”. He
could not pronounce it but the image of it made him to do so.
I have observed from the incident that seeing something practically could have good
impact on a child. The incident taught me the importance of field trips.
Field trips are organized with the motive of increasing the learnings of children. The trips
help them understand the concept or theory taught at the classroom practically by visiting the site
(Lavie Alon & Tal, 2017). Teachers organize the trips at least two months before the exact date.
The first step that comes is deciding the place of field trip keeping in mind all the safety
precautions. It becomes important to take the permission from the parents of the kids regarding

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allowing their children for a field trip. Once the permission is granted, Teachers plan for the
activities to be performed on the field trip day (Teachthought, 2019). They arrange for the
transport facilities and prepare rules for the safety for children. They also prepare for other crises
plans in case of any emergency such as wet weather. The field trips have many benefits.
Conducting field trip after the end of the term improves children learning, they can relate the
learnings from the trip with their coursework. It develops the creativity of a child as they are able
to see the concepts from different angles thus developing creative problem skills in them. The
field trips help in strengthening the relations between the teachers and children thus improving
their learning capacity in the classes after the trip gets over. The field trips are also helpful in
developing the analytical skills of children as they are made to solve after trip questions. The
questions include what they observe their or it could be a simple exercise of recognition of
pictures. These exercises help in the development of observation and introspection skills in
children. Other important benefits include increased connectivity with the real world, improved
classroom performance, and creation of social bond. Increased connectivity with the real world
means children are in the better position to relate themselves with the real world for example the
visit to the park helped them connect the cactus in their textbooks with the real cactus in the
park.
The other benefit that comes with it is improved classroom performance of children. The
field trips results in increased productivity of a child in the classroom as they feel the pinch of
reality in their textbooks (Teachthought, 2016). They feel the existence of every word in the
textbooks. Creation of social bond is another benefit. Children in the field trip are given
opportunity to create bonds with various elements of the society such as nature, human beings,
and environment. The opportunity helps them to take in the new cultural aspects of the place.
Sometimes, there are tough topics that are difficult for children to comprehend. The field trips
help in easy grasping of the topics by children.
Family and school partnership
I have observed that children perform well under the supervision of parents in school, as
they feel secured. There are various instances where a child was made to recite poetry in front of
the teacher but could not recite but he was able to recite in parents-teacher meeting, as his

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parents were present. I learned from my observation about the importance of good family and
school partnership. The partnership is important for the child’s development. There is one such
childcare Centre that promotes the healthy bond of love between the child’s family and school.
The Centre maintains the quality relation with the parents of the child by informing them about
the activities done by the child at school. It keeps their parents aware about things like child’s
naptime, any special feats achieved by him and the child’s eating behavior. The teachers also
appraise the child’s performance by starting with the positive opening statement. The high
involvement of parents at school keeps the children motivated and happy.
There are various important theories that support the concept of family- school
partnership. Those theories are Epstein’s theory of parent involvement, Bakhtin’s Answerability
theory, school power: Comer’s ecological Approach, and Sheridan and kratochill’s model of
family-school partnership (Australian Government, 2019). The theory of Epstein was
propounded by Joyce Epstein, according to him, a child’ socialization is affected by three
elements and they are school, family and community. These elements share the responsibility of
the child’s learning and growth (Epstein, 2018). The author further conveys the importance of
these elements to work together to achieve the optimal level of child performance. The important
theory is Bakhtin’s answerability theory that states that schools and family to need to focus on
their relationship. It focuses on the responsibilities of parents and school to help in the growth of
the child. He further conveys responsibility as the essential attribute of a relationship and
responsibility brings answerability to an individual hence the name of the theory. School power:
comer’s ecological approach was propounded by James Comer and his colleagues, the theory
focuses on the reforming the schools educational system where partnership and participation of
model of family-school partnership does the comprehensive analysis of the factors responsible
for the holistic development of a child (Keyes, 2019). It states out the key difference between the
traditional and modern partnership approach of the family and school relations. Families are
present to bring about the development in a child. The theory focuses on the two activities. The
first is the ardent commitment to develop a child skill and the second is to develop system-based
approach to increase the power and participation of the child.
These theories lay down the importance of family and school partnership. The most
important benefits that these theories point out to are the holistic development of the child. The

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other benefits include are the increased creativity, feeling of security and happiness among
children.
Child Care Centre: Healthy meal program
I have observed that children who are served with green leafy vegetables are more likely
to have a strong immune system than those children served with high caloric food. It suggests
that to produce physically and mentally strong young generation, it is important to give high
attention to the food they consume as kids.
There is one childcare Centre in Singapore that act on the motto of providing healthy
meals to children (Early childhood development agency, 2017). It follows the complete
guidelines of healthy program initiative by Singapore government (Health promotion board,
2019). The Centre has been awarded with the title of healthy meal programs. The healthy Meal
program initiative came into existence with the motto of providing healthy and nutritious meals
to the children. It is mandatory for childcare Centre to follow the healthy meal program.
The healthy meals provided to the children under the initiative, are nutritive enough for
the physical and mental development of a children. The meals served have low fat, sugar, and
salt contents. Every meal, which is served, is rich in important nutrients that include
Carbohydrates, Proteins, and vitamins. The proteins are helpful in the building the bones and
muscles of the growing kids while Vitamins are helpful in developing the good eyesight and
boosting immune system of children. The meals are cooked from brown rice, meat, whole meal
bread, and vegetables. The meat is rich in proteins thus helping in meeting out the requirements
of growing children. The brown rice has high carbohydrates contents that help in the good
development of brain (Wang, 2019). The meals include all varieties of vegetables that are again
the source of all nutrients, vitamins and minerals.
The healthy meal programs also conduct workshops for cultivating culinary skills for pre-
school cooks and supervisors. It teaches them the skills for healthy cooking and the skills to add
the right proportion of ingredients in the meal. The Centre has made it mandatory for its cooks to
attend the culinary workshops so that the good quality and salubrious meals are provided to
preschool kids. The Centre offers four weekly menu plans according to the requirements of the
children. It also complies with the cultural eating requirements of a child. Every cultural

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environment follows a different eating pattern. In some cultures, eggs and meats are completely
prohibited while some children have medical allergies towards a ingredient. The Centre
specifically takes care of children who have different eating patterns due to their family culture
or some medical issues by writing down their name on white board and putting it in kitchen and
dining area. The act of putting in dining area will let the teachers and other stakeholders
understand about their eating patterns.
It is the responsibility of every childcare Centre in Singapore to assure that the healthy
meals are provided to the children to ensure their healthy growth.

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