Safety, Health, and Nutrition in Early Childhood Education

Reviewed by Jeanne Tardiff, Department Chair & Professor, Tidewater Community College on 6/20/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This book is VERY comprehensive; it exceeded my expectations for covering my course learning objectives. The content is easy to follow and rigor is appropriate for my 100-level course.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Content is accurate and unbiased. The statistics provided were as up to date as possible and can be easily changed in the Google Document.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The content is up to date and easily editable.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is easy to read and provides adequate context for any possible jargon or technical terminology.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is consistent and organized well. Students can easily locate information throughout each chapter.

Modularity rating: 5

The units are split in a logical manner and each chapter scaffolds from the prior chapter. The chapters break down into smaller sections that could be easily assigned as stand-alone requirements.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The topics in this book are presented in a logical flow and they are easy to read. The relationship to the prior chapters are evident.

Interface rating: 4

The text does not show and significant interface issues. However, it would be helpful to include hyperlinks to each chapter in the Table of Contents.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text contains no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The book successfully promoted diversity, equity, and inclusion by both providing separate chapters/sections on culture/ability content and integrating it into the whole book.

Comments

This book exceeds my expectations in content; covering all of my course learning outcomes and more. It is very comprehensive; yet easy to read. It is of the perfect rigor for my 100-level health, safety, and nutrition class.

Although there is no index, I appreciate the "Resources for Further Exploration" websites at the end of each chapter. These could be used in many ways; specifically to support student work on accompanying assignments. On the OpenStax website, there appear to be no ancillary materials, but at the beginning of the book, a link for a Google Conversation can be found. This offers some great resources and allows instructors to collaborate. I especially value the video observation library. There was also a lot of information found in the many appendices in the back of the book.

This book integrates much diversity in ability, culture, and gender. For instance, children's mental health is covered in chapter 11. This is a growing topic that needs to be studied by early childhood educators. In addition, the book covered topics such as trauma and adverse childhood experiences. The book even includes general guidance on religious food choices for many cultures!

The beginning of each chapter identifies licensing standards that align with the chapter and that is helpful. It could easily be re-created with the adopters' state licensing regulations. It would be helpful to also align the NAEYC Standards for Professional Preparation in each chapter.

The sources used were all very credible and research-based. Not only so, but the content was developmentally appropriate in many ways. For example, in discussing biting, it explored other reasons for biting (communicating) than just something to admonish the child for. The book included much NAEYC content, which aligns perfectly with our NAEYC Accreditation.

Reviewed by Deb Merrigan, Instructor, Normandale Community College on 3/1/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 2 see less

The text covers key topics related to child safety, health, and nutrition. Missing are index and glossary sections. In addition, key oral health components related to child safety, health and nutrition are not addressed.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content appears to accurate and unbiased. This book provides a sufficient degree of depth and scope in the safety, health, and nutrition related to early childhood education.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The content appears to be up-to-date. One of the strengths of this book is that it is arranged in a way that to allow for necessary updates to be easily applied.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is written in lucid, accessible prose. It consistently provides adequate context for each topic discussed. In addition, definitions of terminology are provided within the chapters to provide adequate context and meaning.

Consistency rating: 5

Similar content is grouped together and the heading and body styles are consistent throughout the book. The text is divided into smaller reading sections that the reader will find easy to navigate.

Modularity rating: 5

The text maximized readability and minimizes distractions. A nice feature throughout the chapters are callout boxes that help draw attention to information and prompt the reader to think more about the content they have just read.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The structure of the text is consistent, logical, and efficient. The layout and design, broken down by sections on safety, health, and nutrition create an easy path for readers to follow. In addition, the Appendix section which houses forms, checklists, and other relevant information is organized in a logical flow by topics.

Interface rating: 5

The text navigation facilitates ease of movement throughout the book. Images, tables, and callout boxes are appropriate, meaningful and clear to the reader.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

Overall, editing and proofreading errors are minimal.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

The text aims to be sensitive to gender inclusiveness. Unless language was pulled from source content, the term child or adult is referred to with the pronoun they or them. In addition, efforts were made to use the terms caregivers or guardians to be inclusive of all families. Also, person first language is utilized.

Comments

Addressing oral health related to safety, health and nutrition is a key component missing in this book. For safety, needed is information on oral health signs of child maltreatment. For health and nutrition, a deeper dive into caries risk and prevention is needed.
There is a brief mention in Ch. 1 on risks for dental caries (cavities) under the subheading Understanding Childhood Health Concerns. Consider listing information on risk factors for tooth decay and how untreated cavities can cause pain and infections that may lead to problems with eating, speaking, playing, and learning. In addition, what educators, caregivers, and staff can educate families and/or caregivers on cavity prevention related to oral home care and diet.

Reviewed by Dawn Hendricks, Instructor, Clackamas Community College on 2/17/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The textbook is quite comprehensive and provides thorough information on all aspects of health, safety and nutrition in early childhood settings. Unfortunately, there is not an index, which would make navigating the book more efficient. However, the table of of contents at the front is detailed, providing an outline of the four different sections and fifteen chapters of the book. There is a robust appendix at the end with helpful resources such as health and safety checklists.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content is accurate and un-biased. Since the author of the book teaches at a community college in California, there are some California-specific references and information which not be relevant to programs in other states. However, that information could easily be omitted or passed over.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The information on health, safety and nutrition in the book is current and up to date. The statistics that are used and the research that is referenced is current within the past few years. Given the way the book is formatted into smaller chapters and sections, it would be relatively easy to update the book as needed to maintain its relevance.

Clarity rating: 5

The language level used in the book makes it accessible for community college students as well as potentially high school students. When educational jargon is used, brief explanations of the terms or concepts are provided.

Consistency rating: 5

Each of the fifteen chapters are consistent in terms of organization, structure and framework. This makes the contents very reader-friendly and inviting.

Modularity rating: 5

The main topics of the book, saftey, health and nutrition, each have their own section. These could easily be re-organized, given the sequence of a particular course. Within each of those three primary sections, there are chapters, which lend themselves to easily being re-organized or even omitted if need be.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book is well-organized and presents the contents in a clear, logical sequence.

Interface rating: 5

There were no discernible issues with the interface.

Grammatical Errors rating: 3

There were some grammatical errors and spelling typos in the book, particularly in the appendix. Appendix N particularly had several errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

With the images, contents and examples, the book is inclusive of other cultures.

Comments

I do plan to use this book beginning in Fall 2022 in one of my courses. The course currently is "Nutrition, Music and Movement". However, given the comprehensive nature of this book, and the already existing need to re-design the course to align with other community colleges, I will be updating the course to "Safety, Health and Nutrition in Early Childhood".

We are also planning to translate this OER into Spanish.

Reviewed by Dawn Behan, Professor of Education; Director of Graduate Education Program, Mount Mercy University on 12/27/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This textbook is quite thorough in the content areas of safety, health, and nutrition for early childhood students; however, it fails to include the necessity of teachers and child care providers being trained in CPR for children in early childhood: infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers, as well as K-3rd grade students.
It begins with a comprehensive Table of Contents which describes the text’s four main sections: Section I, Introduction; Section II, Safety; Section III, Health; and Section IV, Nutrition. These sections are followed by a list of 16 appendices.
Next, the Preface tells the reader about the following sections: Licensing of Source Content, Language Choices Throughout This Book (i.e., Terminology, Gendered Language, Family Structures and Forms, Person First Language), and Special Features Throughout the Book (i.e., Licensing Regulations, Pin It!, Pause to Reflect, Engaging Families, In the Classroom, and Resources for Further Exploration, and more).
References are given on each page via footnotes.
There is no Glossary or Index included in this text. Both would have been helpful in navigating this textbook. Although the author alludes to the difficulty in providing consistent terminology in the text, a glossary of terms would enhance an understanding of the vocabulary used in the text. Also, an index would be helpful in locating specific topics and information in the text, such as Trauma Informed Care, because only chapter headings are listed in the Table of Contents.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The content appears to be accurate and current; however, most content comes from resources that are web-based. Thus, the absence of dates on these resources must be taken into consideration, and resources should be checked for currency of content. Nonetheless, most content that is from dated sources seems to be fairly recent (i.e., within the past 3-15 years).
The content included in the text appears to be unbiased; the content used in this text is from sources noted in footnotes on each page of the text.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Because the content appears to be fairly up-to-date, the content should not be obsolete within a short period of time. The text is written and structured in a way that updates to the content should be relatively easy to implement.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is written in understandable language, and text boxes with examples, important information, and further resources are included and highlighted to add clarity to the text's vocabulary.

Consistency rating: 5

The text uses consistent language and consistent text features which allow the reader to identify information that can enhance their understanding of the content throughout the text. For instance, one text feature, Pin It! uses examples and focuses on specific information that relates to the topic in the chapter. A couple of other text features, Pause to Reflect and In the Classroom, provide suggestions on how to apply the content. The author does note the inconsistency of early childhood terminology, as the text was compiled from “hundreds of sources” (Paris, 2020, p. 6).

Modularity rating: 5

The text is divided into four sections, and each section is further divided into chapters (there are a total of 15). This text could easily be divided into four modules or by chapter for more specific, focused discussions. This text could be used for online, virtual, or Face-to-Face course delivery models.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Bolded sections, chapters, and subheadings; bulleted lists; text boxes; photos; figures; and tables are included to create an organized, structured flow throughout the text. These text features enhance the organization of the text content and complement the content information found in the regular (not bold) print.

Interface rating: 5

This text is available on the internet and can be downloaded for reader preference. However, the reader needs to be aware there may be a charge on some websites if they choose to download more than the content presented for previewing the text. There did not appear to be any display features that may distract the reader.

Grammatical Errors rating: 3

There are a number of mechanical and grammatical errors throughout the text. The text requires major proofreading and editing to make it appear professional. There is a note on p. 3 of the text under the heading, “Have Feedback or Resources to Share?” about what to do if the reader sees a typo. There are too many to point out in this textbook.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text is culturally neutral. Examples of this are the following, as noted in the text on pp. 6-7: the pronouns they or them was used as much as possible “to be more gender inclusive,” the word family was used in place of the word parents to be more inclusive of different family structures, and person- first language was used in an attempt to be respectful to students who encounter different living situations (e.g., poverty) or experience different personal characteristics (such as disabilities or medical conditions).

Comments

Overall, I liked this textbook. However, I would hesitate to adopt it for an education course due to all of the mechanical and grammatical errors in it.

Reviewed by Susan Driscoll, Adjunct Faculty, Massasoit Community College on 6/30/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text is well organized and comprehensive.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The information is accurate and current.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The text is relevant and will help students apply the information in their classrooms. If it is used in a state other than California, the state licensing regulations will need to be reviewed.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is easy to comprehend. It is well written.

Consistency rating: 5

The terminology is consistent and up-to-date.

Modularity rating: 5

The chapters are easy to break down into sections.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The text is organized to make it easy to comprehend. Main ideas are highlighted in boxes and coded to help students organize the information. An index would be helpful.

Interface rating: 5

I didn't have any issues.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

The text is free from grammatical errors. There are forms in the appendix that do have some significant errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text is culturally sensitive.

Comments

I have not used this text but will in the future!

Reviewed by jennifer kearns fox, faculty, Roxbury Community College on 6/30/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The book is VERY comprehensive. It includes information on the following; Children’s Well-Being and Early Childhood Education, Safety (physical, social, emotional, environmental) and injury and illness prevention, basic first aide and safety information, abuse & neglect (I link to MA state agencies), overall health and wellness, caring for children with special needs, and nutrition. I recommend this book for a health safety nutrition class OR chapters for special needs courses or foundational courses in ECE. I find each chapter useful and relevant and in my courses use most chapters and include links to MA state agencies and NAEYC & Head start supports.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

As stated above, the book is comprehensive and does include most pertinent information around supporting health, safety, and nutrition in ECE. Though I find it accurate I stress the importance of pairing this with local, state and federal resources. For example, I write this in June 2021. Much has changed in the landscape of the world and with this topic in regard to COVID, protocols, safe care, immunizations, etc.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Please see above. Comprehensive, relevant, accurate.

Clarity rating: 5

This text is very easy to use, read, and understand. I recommend it for PD, parents, college courses, and as a resource to child care settings.

Consistency rating: 5

This text is well organized and consistent.

Modularity rating: 5

Though this is well organized, I do use the chapters out of order. I do find that the organization and information is easy to pair with other chapters. For example, you can read chapter 5 after chapter 9.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

See above. The organization is clear, logical, and easy to understand or reorganize for your work/purposes.

Interface rating: 5

I used a phone and computer and could access the entire text. I do recommend using a computer. I used 3 browsers (chrome, explorer, and firefox) and had no issues accessing or moving between chapters.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I did not edit this book. There are no obvious errors. I was NOT looking for errors in a published OER text.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This book is culturally sensitive.

Reviewed by Sandra Scialabba, Instructor, Midlands Technical College on 4/25/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This book is the most comprehensive one that I have found. It covers every aspect of safety, health, and nutrition as it relates to children from birth to 8 years old. It covers topics that are overlooked, or not as emphasized, in other textbooks, such as car seat safety, using technology and media safely, what to look for on labels of art supplies to identify whether or not they have passed a toxicology review, taking into consideration developmental milestones and how they impact children's behaviors, reasons why toddlers bite, diagram explaining why the safest sleeping position for an infant is on his back, and feeding children who have special needs.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Facts are accurate, and current. The resources used are current and up to date.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The book has covered the objectives needed for an early childhood program. It will be easy to add up dates as needed. At this particular time, the only thing I can think of to add is information about COVID-19.
The only reason I would choose not to use this book is that it is specific to the licensing regulations in California, which is overseen by the Community Care Licensing Division of the California Department of Social Services. Since I am an instructor in South Carolina, I would need to revise each section in every chapter that correlates to licensing regulations to correlate to the specific licensing regulations provided by The Division of Early Care and Education through the Department of Social Services in South Carolina.

Clarity rating: 5

This book is easy to read and understand. Students will not have any trouble comprehending the content. It is easy to understand how to put the safety, health and nutritional information into practice in a variety of child care settings.

Consistency rating: 5

The terminology used is not only consistent, it is also current and relevant for today's society and student.

Modularity rating: 5

This book is easy to breakdown into sections for class reading and homework assignments. It will be easy to include in an online format, such as D2L, because it is already divided into short chapters.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

I would recommend that the Table of Contents have a Section V: Appendix A-P
The Appendix is currently included in Section IV: Nutrition
Throughout the book, some of the references to the Appendix aren't worded consistently with the title of the document.
For example:
Page 102 refers to "checklists" in Appendix E, however, there is only one checklist.
Page 232 refers the reader to Appendix J for more information on illnesses, however, it should refer the reader to Appendix M.
Page 243 refers the reader to Appendix K, however, it should refer the reader to Appendix J.
There are other examples like these that need to be revised.

Interface rating: 5

No interface issues noticed.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical errors noticed.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text is culturally sensitive. The pictures and examples used, as well as the relevant content provided throughout the book, show diversity with respect to races, ethnicities, and backgrounds. The book is sensitive to using "people first" language and recognizes that what constitutes a family is going to be different for each child. Some examples include: Chapter 7 highlights the culture of sleep, referring to the ways and places that people sleep. Some people sleep inside, outside, in beds, on hammocks, on mats, on the floor, alone, with children, only at night, etc. This chapter also highlights that Developmental Screening Tools need to be culturally sensitive. Chapter 11 highlights that culture influences every aspect of human development, including mental health. Chapter 15 highlights that menu planning needs to take into consideration cultural and religious beliefs.

Comments

The special features included throughout the book are especially helpful. These features are easily identifiable through the use of color-coded "callout boxes" containing symbols. They include:
Licensing Regulations
Pin It!
Pause to Reflect
Important Information
Quotes
Engaging Families
In the Classroom
Resources for Further Exploration

I highly recommend this book if you are an instructor in California. If you are an instructor in any other state, you will need to make revisions that reflect your particular state licensing regulations.