Noodle Crafts At Preschool.

[dandelionmom]

I'm not sure what to do. When my daughter started preschool I talked to her teacher about gluten art projects and offered to provide gluten-free substitutes for any projects. At the holidays, a noodle necklace came home and I sent the teacher an email asking them to exclude her from noodle crafts and reminded them of my offer to bring in gluten-free substitutes whenever they need them. Today, there was another noodle craft in her backpack.

Do I email her teacher again? Do I cc the director? What would you do?

[finally diagnosed]

I'm not sure what to do. When my daughter started preschool I talked to her teacher about gluten art projects and offered to provide gluten-free substitutes for any projects. At the holidays, a noodle necklace came home and I sent the teacher an email asking them to exclude her from noodle crafts and reminded them of my offer to bring in gluten-free substitutes whenever they need them. Today, there was another noodle craft in her backpack.

Do I email her teacher again? Do I cc the director? What would you do?

Hi Dandelionmom what I would do is just give her another reminder. Sometimes face to face is more personal and effective than email. email can be taken all different ways. Also I would just go ahead and provide her with a box containing gluten free pastas and crafts supplies ie:glue,etc this way there will be no reason for this mistake happening again. It might be helpful to take a picture of your daughter and put a paper under it with all the things she can touch and use. It does get very hectic in pre-school life. My daughter had a friend who was allergic to wheat etc to the point he would get very sick and they did the picture thing in every classroom and even in the kitchen for when stuff was prepared just as a safety reminder. Sometimes the teacher is out and the fill in just doesn't get it.

Good Luck.

[missy'smom]

I worked with a preschool teacher, actually knew several, who just kept a large stash of supplies on hand and decided on craft projects when the moment presented itself. They were rarely planned ahead of time. If parents donated supplies they were a welcome break from the usual and used right away, providing that they were simple and appropriate, which they usually were.

[RiceGuy]

Hi Dandelionmom what I would do is just give her another reminder. Sometimes face to face is more personal and effective than email. email can be taken all different ways. Also I would just go ahead and provide her with a box containing gluten free pastas and crafts supplies ie:glue,etc this way there will be no reason for this mistake happening again. It might be helpful to take a picture of your daughter and put a paper under it with all the things she can touch and use. It does get very hectic in pre-school life. My daughter had a friend who was allergic to wheat etc to the point he would get very sick and they did the picture thing in every classroom and even in the kitchen for when stuff was prepared just as a safety reminder. Sometimes the teacher is out and the fill in just doesn't get it.

Good Luck.

I agree with the suggestion of face to face, or at least by phone. An email might not even be seen, as spam filters can be somewhat over-aggressive. The other suggestions are good too.

Does your daughter understand what she needs to avoid?

[home-based-mom]

I'm not sure what to do. When my daughter started preschool I talked to her teacher about gluten art projects and offered to provide gluten-free substitutes for any projects. At the holidays, a noodle necklace came home and I sent the teacher an email asking them to exclude her from noodle crafts and reminded them of my offer to bring in gluten-free substitutes whenever they need them. Today, there was another noodle craft in her backpack.

Do I email her teacher again? Do I cc the director? What would you do?

Along with the picture recommendations above, make a list and give several copies of it to her personally, at a face to face meeting because she apparently still doesn't "get it." Some people - particularly busy ones with no prior gluten intolerance knowledge or experience - need multiple reminders. (I have a friend like this - she is starting to get it and it has been over 2 years!)

Keep your list at the pre-school level.

Noodles, spaghetti, macaroni, ect. are made of wheat which contains gluten

Flour is made of wheat which contains gluten

Bread is made of wheat which contains gluten

Birthday cake and all other cakes are made of wheat which contains gluten

Cupcakes are made of wheat which contains gluten

Cookies made of wheat which contains gluten

Crackers, including Goldfish, are made of wheat which contains gluten

Pretzels are made of wheat which contains gluten

Donuts are made of wheat which contains gluten

Pizza crust made of wheat which contains gluten

Play-doh is made of wheat which contains gluten

Cheerios and nearly all other cereals contain barley malt which contains gluten

Add anything else that might possibly be or be brought into in the classroom.

Hope that helps!

[dandelionmom]

Does your daughter understand what she needs to avoid?

She does not completely understand yet. She knows not to eat anything but her own food and will tell you that she needs to "be gluten-free" but that's as far as she understands.

[RiceGuy]

I think I read on this board that both finger paints and licorice have gluten.

[confusedks]

I think I read on this board that both finger paints and licorice have gluten.

Yes, I know for a fact that licorice contains gluten. I was glutened badly once by licorice...I assumed it was safe.

[okgrace]

I think the suggestion about keeping your note on a preschool level is appropriate. My dd's preschool has been wonderful, but sometimes they still don't get it. I recently takled to them about taking sugar and dairy out of my dd's snacks, and cc. The teacher came back to me and said that all the children would be using the same pb that she can eat so there wouldn't be cc. There were so many parents around, I couldn't think so I didn't try to explain cc again. Monday I will have to though. On Wed most of the parents were grilling me on a gluten-free diet and if could help their children which was interesting and more interesting two of the kids sounded like they could benefit from the diet.

I also had my best friend, who tries so hard to prepare appropriate meals for my dd, state that she could eat a muffin because she made it with flour. My mouth hung open for several minutes. Some people don't get it. Flour is made of WHEAT. My BF is an intelligent person for the most part.

Good Luck to you.

[home-based-mom]

I also had my best friend, who tries so hard to prepare appropriate meals for my dd, state that she could eat a muffin because she made it with flour. My mouth hung open for several minutes. Some people don't get it. Flour is made of WHEAT. My BF is an intelligent person for the most part.

This is EXACTLY the same issue with my above-mentioned friend! For whatever reason, sometimes otherwise educated and intelligent people just don't "connect the dots" and so they don't "get it."

Keep reminding yourself that Patience Is A Virtue as you explain it again.

[Annaem]

As a kindergarten teacher i had to handle noodles and play dough and children's snacks. I had to wash my hands all the time. Buying gluten-free noodles for the whole class is very expensive. For myself, i would wear gloves when doing these crafts. And sometimes an apron so it wouldn't get on my clothes. I had lots of wipes donated by parents that i would use to clean all surfaces afterwards as well. Can you perhaps buy a box of gloves for her to wear during craft time. So when they do playdough, noodle art, finger painting etc... she is always wearing gloves (gluten or no gluten). Granted the gloves are not powdered with gluten. Sometimes a supply teacher will do the craft or another teacher that does not know her history. There are also lots of parent volunteers that get involved. I think its very difficult to prevent. Perhaps if you train your child to always wear gloves and wash their hands during craft time this may help. Also provide a smock (old dress shirt) to prevent it from getting on her clothes. And of course talk to the preschool and provide information. But this problem will be an ongoing problem in elementary school so i think it may be best to teach your child how to protect themselves. Perhaps, smocks, gloves and some wipes will help....