This weekend we visited France and Italy. Saturday morning we made crepes- yogurt & banana for Dylan, chocolate and almond with bananas for the boys, and a savory ham & swiss for me. I talked to the kids about their favorite ingredients, we reviewed the words for their favorites in French and the y all enjoyed sampling their creations!
Last night I left short ribs braising in red wine and star anise, so that this morning we could work on some fresh pasta for a Sunday lunch. Jack LOVES pasta with pesto sauce- it's his favorite meal. This was a chance to show him how pasta is made. I started with the dry pasta from a box, letting him touch and feel and explaining that today we would learn how pasta "comes to be" if you will- from a fresh dough to the dry stuff in the box. We worked on numbers as he helped with measuring flour and counting eggs (and of course kneading and getting your hands dirty is as much fun as any afternoon with PlayDoh would be. It's resting in the fridge now and in a few hours- we'll enjoy our pasta lunch feast. I'm thinking it's time to introduce a few words in Italian (we have a trip to Italy in the works for next year- it would be nice for the kids to know a few words when we get there).
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| What better way to introduce the Italian language? Homemade Pappardelle w/ Red Wine & Star Anise Short Rib Ragout |
Talking and laughing around the table, enjoying a delicious meal- this is the universal language understood around the world. So whatever language you are working on with your children- take a moment to cook something delicious from that culture together, and savor your work- talk about it, laugh about it - you'll so how fun, easy (and delicious) it can be to teach kids a foreign language!
Enjoy your weekend,
Consuelo Bova,
CEO of SmartMouthLearning.com
