Monday, January 12, 2009

Alpha-numeric soup

Like any parent I worry about my children's education. Like most parents, I use the modern tools available to me to assist the kids with their early educational development. Tools like the television, coloring books, music, the Internet and food. All of which, I am sure, are approved by the FDA, ADA, PTA, Children's Television Workshop, and Martha Stewart.

Teaching the kids the alphabet has mostly involved the video "Here Come the ABCs" By They Might Be Giants.

After we watched that video a hundred or so times (the kids now know that gyroscope starts with the letter G, they don't know what a gyroscope is but...) we decided it was time to kick it up a notch and present the alphabet to them with food.

Maxfield and Wyatt both love tomato soup and Lauren thought that adding alphabet shaped pasta to the soup would be great for them to learn more about letters.

What we learned is that the numbers 2,8,3,5,7 are all part of the alphabet. Max pointed the numbers out to us. Look at the pictures you can clearly see numbers in the Alphabet pasta. At first, I thought that maybe we were only seeing misshaped letters. That the 8 we were seeing was somehow a B or that the 5 was a squished S. After closer inspections we were able to determine that the numbers were actual numbers.

Then I thought that maybe we bought a bad batch of Alphabet pasta. That maybe someone at the pasta factory mixed up the pasta numbers with the pasta letters. But so far every box we have bought since noticing the numbers has the numbers in it.

This mix up theory did not make sense because why would they be making pasta numbers in the first place? Who has ever heard of Numeric Soup?

The educational value of food in this country surley is slipping.

25 comments:

Autumn said...

!! I want to find letter pasta!!!! I think my grocery store must be woefully understocked if they don't have letter pasta.

Denise @ Sunflowers, Chocolate and Little Boys said...

Numbers in your Alpha pasta? Thats crazy. I would call and complain, lol.

Julia said...

i think the real question is where did numbers 1, 4, 6, 9, and 0 go? did these get left out on purpose? i think that is numerical discrimination, how can you adequately use food as a teaching tool when half the numbers are missing?

Anonymous said...

This is a travesty. It's precisely what's wrong with our educational system today. Well, that and people who spell out "poop" and "boogies" in food products and then eat them.

Izzy, Emmy 'N Alexander said...

Ha, too funny, but I do want to know where I can find some alphabet pasta!

Anonymous said...

Who makes a product with Semolina?

It sounds like something else.

Steph(anie) said...

Look, maybe it's not a priority for you, but I need you to update your Nutrition Facts box-thingie over there on the right of the page. Please and thank you.

Anonymous said...

We only have alphabetti spaghetti over here and that is just letters. But we spell words correctly here unlike youse lot who can't spell colour or surprise properly!

No wonder you have numbers in there. ;)

eclectic said...

What about pasta punctuation marks? No commas? Question marks? Exclamation points? Geez. I guess they figured a trip through the colon would have to be enough.

Charlotte in Pa said...

You know... They Might Be Giants DO have a CD/DVD called "Here Come the 1,2,3s,' as well. Maybe it has confused the pasta company.

Rachel said...

I would call and complain. State that you should get a refund because you thought that you were buying "ALPHABET" soup and NOT "Numerical" soup.

What a way to get free food!

Anonymous said...

and don't call me surley.

JP said...

As a math guy, I have to say that I approve of numbers intermingled with the letters. Now if it had some Greek letters, it'd be perfect.

Ern said...

Are you sure the 2 isn't a flipped 5?

Word verification:
cheadr
Those numbers are cheadrs, sneaking into the alphabets.

mrtl said...

As a former English teacher, I am mortified and offended.

Furthermore, I can't read the letters in the word verification. Isn't is supposed to be a word? WTH does "acriest" mean?

Or "coloc" for that matter?

Ali said...

You'd think with three boys under age 5 you'd have less free time on your hands. I guess not. Wink!

Anonymous said...

I'm just wondering why your photo shows Poop and Boogies with the zip code for Proctorville, NC.

Anonymous said...

Such a creative idea - y'all rock as parents.

I love letters. I should totally put this alphabet pasta in MY soup.

Anonymous said...

someone in the letter department didn't graduate from grade school I think and are probably the lowest paid in the bunch

FilmFather said...

Here Come the ABCs, eh? I guess you'll understand when I tell you to..

Go, go, go, go for GGGGGGGG...
Go, go, go, go for GGGGGGGG...

joanna said...

I think your boys just have really good eye sight. That was like playing Where's Waldo when I looked at those pictures.

Maybe every box of alphabets pasta has the zip code of the manufacturing plant or corporate office. . .? I don't know. That was just an idea after reading Barb's comment. We should Google this and get to the bottom of it.

Mindie said...

I hope you cleaned up your mess, lol. :)

Anonymous said...

LOL At least you could spell Poop and Boogies!

Anonymous said...

I want to find this pasta as well! I'm OK with the numbers and all. Not like the kids really care.

My kids are watching "Martha Speaks" right now and think that they HAVE to have alphabet soup to keep talking (if it were only true!) so I've been buying standard alphabet soup in the can by the case. With Alphabet-number pasta, they can have alphabets AND numbers in EVERYTHING!

Unknown said...

Have you ever seen somebody lick the chutney spoon in an Indian Restaurant and put it back? This would never have happened under the Tories.