Geography and Food Diversity

I came across this blog called “Whats Cooking In Your World“.  This mother, Sarah Commerford, took on a challenge from her son to cook and serve food from the 193 countries around the world, focusing on a different country each week.  It is very interesting to read, and the photos are terrific.   Each recipe is clear and easy to follow. 

http://whatscookinginyourworld.blogspot.com/p/whats-cooking-in-your-world.html

I want to add this resource as part of our Cultural Unit Study, as we learn about places and cultures from around the world.  I plan to create a mini-theme in our unit study and call it Geography and Food Diversity.   We will lapbook several recipes and locations too as we learn details about the culture.

If you would like to read more about our Cultural Unit Study here is the link:

http://weiseracademy.com/2010/07/14/international-cultural-opportunities.aspx

I love it that in her front photo she is stading in front of a world map and is pointing to the country she is learning about.  I think her blog is nice for a parent who is nervous about teaching geography, because they can see her in action and follow what she is doing very easily.  There is a tremendous amount of pictures posted and this is very helpful.

One caution, this blogger is not a Christian and some of her words could be offensive.   Please screen the posts ahead of time so you can either avoid letting your children read the offensive word or you are prepared to talk to them about it as it arises.  That said, her work is very detailed and families will learn a lot from her experience.  She co-owns a special education advocacy company and from what I can tell she is an educator at heart.  She also worked in training and supporting foster parents in the past.   I think she has a lot to offer.
 

I found this such an interesting blog, because I love learning about people from around the world and the food they prepare.  This is an American mother interested in it too, and she chose to write a very detailed blog about the adventure.  

Also it struck me as very interesting, because the local homeschool group HCHA, puts on an international night once a year where each family involved brings in a meal, decorations, native clothes, and information about a country they studied.  Then everyone involved gets to try the different foods and talk about what they learned.    This blog is similar, but it is one mom doing it with her son, and writing about it for the world to see.

Here is another great blog I recently found.  Meet the “Adventures in Unsell Land” a terrific homeschool family with six kids.  They did a food geography study and lapbook on the book 

How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World

Part 1
http://theunsells.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-make-apple-pie-see-world-part-1.html

Part 2 
http://theunsells.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-make-apple-pie-see-world-part-2.html

They read several books as part of their unit study and have listed them with pictures on the blog article.  To see what they did, click the links above for part one and part two.  The kids look like they are having a lot of fun.
  

Preparing food from around the world, and learning about the people and culture it came fromk is a fantastic way for children to learn about the world we live in.