The world of preschoolers is adventurous and care-free for the students; however, some students are more reserved, quiet and bashful.  But teaching preschoolers is a passion that the Nutrition Education Program (NEP) Assistant from Grayson County has grown to love.  Since the prevalence of obesity in this county is estimated to be 29% (kentuckyhealthfacts.org), and the lack of physical activity is 42%, she felt it is imperative to begin teaching good nutrition and stressing the importance of daily exercise to these students while they are still very young.

     The NEP Assistant taught the LEAP curriculum in 12 preschool classes, in four different schools during the school year 2019-2020.  She was amusingly labeled “The Food Lady.” Teaching preschoolers is sometimes challenging because, it can be hard to keep them all quiet and sitting still at the same time to read them a book or give them instructions about their snack. But after the first or second lesson, they had grown accustomed to how things worked when the food lady arrived.  

     Each class was a little different, some were noisier and asked lots of questions, while other classes were quieter and more interested in the story.  But as time went on, it became very apparent that the children were learning more and more about their food groups and healthy snacks.  And even though there is no evaluation for preschoolers, the NEP Assistant was able to see some significant differences and many encouraging signs in her student’s behavior regarding food and physical acidity.  Many of the children were eager to taste new foods and always wanted more; while there were others whom we had to support and reassure each week that the snack would be very tasty.  In time, all of the children looked forward to the NEP Assistant’s arrival, even though there were always a few students who were skeptical about the new food in front of them. They always wanted to please the food lady and acquire one of her special stickers to wear on their shirts. 

     The LEAP program in the Grayson County Preschool classes was a huge success.  Students had great things to say about the program including:

• “I love when you come Ms. Robin” 
• “You’re the best Ms. Robin”
• “What yummy snack did you bring today Ms. Robin”
• “Can you please come back tomorrow?”

Teachers equally loved the program and shared these comments:

• “Thank you so much for coming….so many of these children don’t get these types of fruits and vegetables in their homes, so this is a wonderful way for them to try new foods”
• “The kids love you and so do we”
• “Can you come more often?”
• “This is a great curriculum, the children enjoy it so much and so do we
•  “I love this, I’ve even learned things I didn’t even know”