2025 Lunch Menu Canton and Waterford
Breakfast is served daily upon arrival and until 7:45 AM. Breakfast consists of one of the following daily: bagels and cream cheese, sausage with pancakes, sausage with waffles, cold vitamin D or skim milk over cereal, muffins, toast & jelly, warm oatmeal, or other seasonal items.
Breakfast is served with vitamin D or skim milk.
Morning snacks consist of seasonal fresh fruit or vegetable, protein, or yogurt. Afternoon snacks consist of pretzels, Goldfish, Cheez-Its, cookies, or other seasonal items.
Please let a Director know if your child has any ALLERGIES to the foods listed above.
2025 Lunch Menu | 2024 Lunch Menu
Food Served at Paradigm
Throughout the year we introduce new or seasonal items to our breakfast, snack, and lunch menus. Breakfast is served daily until about 7:45 am. If your child arrives after 7:45 please give him/her breakfast at home. Teachers are cleaning up breakfast to start their day in the classrooms by 8:00. Children who arrive at 6:30 am are offered breakfast by 7:00 or earlier. We know they are probably hungry by the time they arrive at school so we waste no time getting breakfast on the table.
Morning snack consists of fresh fruit or vegetable daily. This is usually when we see and hear our “picky eaters” be their most boisterous about their food dislikes. Our approach to this is to encourage them to try a bite of the item each time it is served but we never force them to eat it in its entirety. Usually, after they try it a few times they start to like it. Teachers explain that the foods we choose for their morning snack are smart, healthy choices for their bodies which help them grow strong and feel good.
Picky Eaters
Sometimes we encounter a particularly stubborn picky eater who will completely refuse to even try the healthy choice. If they choose not to eat morning snacks they will be served lunch within a reasonable amount of time. If we give in to their pickiness and serve them a less healthy snack we are compromising our beliefs and ultimately our message to the children. Giving in to a picky eater would communicate that the adults in their life are not decision-makers for them and reinforce defiant behaviors. This would also send a conflicting message to the other children in their group. Lunchtime is just a short time away and offers several options on their plates. We do not contact a parent over the refusal of a morning snack unless there is a diagnosed medical condition that requires a certain calorie intake daily.
Food and Milk Accommodations
If your child requires a food accommodation due to an allergy or other reason, such as religion or a special diet, you will be required to provide both a NUT FREE meal AND snacks on a daily basis, regardless of what is listed on the menu to be served that day. Meals and snacks will not be stored in the refrigerator and must come prepped and ready to serve just like a sack lunch you would send in elementary school.
Paradigm serves milk to children who are in attendance for breakfast and lunch. We are required to serve children ages 12 months through 2 years of age whole homogenized Vitamin D-fortified cow’s milk. For children over 2 years old, Paradigm serves Skim cow’s milk. If your child has special dietary needs and must be served an alternative in place of the milk served at Paradigm, we must have this form on file.
If you are providing alternative milk for your child, you are required to bring a commercially packaged single serving for each meal your child is in attendance. Each individual serving MUST be labeled with your child’s first and last name. We are only able to keep up to a one-week supply of milk.
Lunch is a busy time at Paradigm. We serve family-style so children are offered seconds or sometimes thirds of their favorite parts of the meal after they have tried a bite of everything. Lunchtime is a great time for the kids to chat with their teachers and friends. We encourage our teachers to sit and eat with their children. The conversations and teaching moments teachers have with their kids during mealtimes are so meaningful. This is one of the reasons we require families of children with food accommodations to provide an entire packed lunch that requires minimal preparation by the teachers. If teachers are having to heat foods or manage lists of different allergies, religious or other accommodations they are less engaged with the children.
Since we have a number of children with differing mealtime requirements this prevents mistakes from happening. Our goal is to keep teachers as present as possible in teaching, loving, supporting, observing, and talking with children all day long therefore we make it a priority when considering what policies we put into place.
Many times our afternoon snack ends up being a birthday treat and a celebration for one of the kiddos! Since we do have children with allergies please only provide a store-bought treat with the ingredient list on the packaging. We apologize if you have a super fun and cute recipe you want to make. We want to keep everyone safe and included in celebrations whenever we can. Also since allergies can still be presenting themselves, someone could have a first-time reaction and his/her parents will appreciate the list of ingredients.
Developing healthy mealtime and eating habits requires us to maintain consistency.