Cooking is a fun way to practice and build many basic learning skills.
Cooking as a learning tool is one of the many advantages of homeschooling. In a traditional school setting, Home Ec. is about the only way to learn culinary skills. In a homeschool setting, however, cooking becomes not just a delicious end in itself, but a way to strengthen many basic skills, like math, reading comprehension, logic, and history.
Setting Up
Having the right tools makes all the difference; Having your own set of tools makes it fun! Go to a discount store or dollar store to purchase inexpensive cookware for each cook in your home. Many things can be shared, however a few personal tools are easily stored and make cooking special. Each cook can have their own: measuring cups, oven mitt, spatula, wooden spoon, rubber scraper, large and plastic stirring spoon. Aprons are also a way to personalize your cooking experience, and help keep you clean!
Safety First
Make sure each cook in your home understands the safety rules. Be clear about what your child can or cannot do. For example, young children should stay away from sharp knives and hot stoves. Have a first aid kit in the kitchen. Show your child the fire extinguisher.
Consider taking a cooking class with your teenager to learn more advanced skills. For example, a knife skills class can help expand cooking skills and increase safe kitchen skills. These types of classes can be found at specialty cooking stores or community colleges.
Skill Building
Cooking is a great way to build a variety of skills. In order to cook, your child must read through a recipe (reading comprehension). Some terms may be unfamiliar and need explaining (vocabulary). Following a recipe involves understanding the step-by-step process (logic and following directions). Recipes involve portions and measurements, often needing doubling for a large crowd or dividing for a smaller group (math skills like fractions, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing).
Eating Through Geography
History and geography are excellent subjects to use cooking. American Grub, by Lynn Kuntz and Jan Fleming, is an excellent cookbook for American history or geography. Each state gets a little introduction and at least one mouthwatering recipe, such as Illinois’ Deep-Dish Pizza Pie or Massachusetts’ Sugar Baked Beans – yum!
An excellent web site to begin exploring world food is Kids Cooking Activities. This site is an amazing site in general. Two of the best features of this site are cooking videos and cooking lessons, which are divided into age groups. Full of ideas about how to get kids in the kitchen, this site is well worth looking at. Also in this site is a set of “world studies” recipes. These are being added to, but there is already plenty to begin with. Food makes learning fun and memorable.
Other Ideas
Homeschool Cooking With Kids offers a whole cooking curriculum for around $60. Advertised as “The No-Work, Stress-Free Cooking Curriculum That Instantly Downloads Into Your Child's Brain Through Fun, Easy, Kid-Friendly Recipes”, this system promises recipes that kids can actually make themselves. Designed with the homeschooler in mind, this site is worth checking out.
Have fun!
