Cooking can be considered as one of the most educationally rich activities you can do with your children. When cooking with children there are simply so many different curricular subjects being discussed in one single cooking experience, whether is reading a recipe, organizing the ingredients, mixing the project and cooking to completion are all active aspects of learning that fall into curricular classifications from the classroom.
Learning Math and Science
Children must be able to recognize and understand math for measuring the different ingredients, science as the combining of many single ingredients will result in a single product, and agriculture to figure out where the different ingredients originate and social studies as each different cultural food source is a representation of the society from which it originated. Many times the combining of different food coloring to foods can turn out to be wonderful experiments in food art.
Information in a Fun Manner
Children don’t become conscious that different foods comes from different countries when they are eating, but if dietary history is being presented as foods that are being prepared, it is amazing the amount of information that will be retained during such a short lesson. Children will learn best when bits and pieces of information are presented to them in a fun and stimulating environment. Most children learn best through movement, therefore the actions cooking which include the gathering, mixing and preparing of foods provides an adequate amount of physical stimulation to encourage the mental retention of facts and related ideas.
Learning Outside a Classroom
Many parents don’t recognize that children learn much more outside of the classroom than they ever learn inside it. Arranged, the classroom is an official place that focuses on providing valuable facts and information in a structured setting. The students are subsequently tested to find out the total amount of mental growth, knowledge comprehended and educational development that has occurred throughout their attendance. Upon the results from the testing, the teacher subsequently evaluates what was successfully retained and what needs to be revisited and then realigns and represents the missing concepts. I am a teacher; I clearly understand the values of a classroom and the structured learning process.
However, I am also a mother and I recognize the reality of what takes place outside of the classroom as well. By taking the chance to cook with your children at any time your schedule permits, you will promote their appreciation for cooking and their understanding of real life applications for math, science, agriculture, social studies and art. If you qualm these ideas, just consider how your child originally learned language and the art of communication; within the “classroom” of your own home.
