On Monday of this week, we took a very special class trip to Tribeca Kitchen to find out and talk about how restaurants work. We got to sit down, look at the menus, meet the restaurant employees and owner, and see the kitchen where "everything is bigger."
Jude: "I come here with my family but not my kitties." (upon entering the restaurant).
Grady: "I want to be the pancake cooker." (after seeing the chef flip the pancakes).
Our 2B friends provided some fantastic insights into what they like to order (many of them said "cakes") versus what their parents like to order ("spicy food" - Oliver, "chicken fingers for me and salads for mommy" - Sloane, "spicy omelettes" - Thomas). We then asked what spicy food was. Our friends knew that black pepper was spicy but the salt, ketchup, and sugar on the table were not. Then we talked about what foods we could find on a "healthy" menu. Options included carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, pasta, and potatoes.
We even talked about the restaurant decor. A couple friends asked why there were plants in the restaurant. We noticed the paintings on the walls and the flowers on the tables. We decided that we like decorations because they are pretty and pretty things make us feel nice and happy. Jude then mentioned the decorations on the Christmas tree he has. "I put decorations on the Christmas tree with my family but not the kitties because they don't have hands," he said. Jude made a second association between his family and his community, showing how he ties his learning about the restaurant to his own personal experiences (i.e.; decorations can exist at home and outside of the home, the decorations are nice and make me feel happy, and my family a part of both).
Overall, this was a fantastic learning experience to connect our family and outside / community experiences with our classroom learning experiences... We plan to serve our parents a healthy menu restaurant style for our special Parents Day / Curriculum Presentation.
