Reply to What is up to people telling everyone to "bake" to teach math?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Baking is more than just pastries, FYI.  Kids cook with me from the time they can consistently follow simple directions (ie around 2).

2-3yo: 
They count 1-1.  Sometimes that means pressing the same number of chocolate chips into each cookie (it takes FOREVER, but it works), sometimes it means counting the number of potatoes, onions and carrots I need.

We work on colors and basic shapes.

They’re learning safety rules for the kitchen.  Walking, no running.  Close the refrigerator after you get something out.  Make sure things are completely on the counter.  After you finish with a knife, the blade is turned away from people and the knife is put on the far edge of the cutting board.  Don’t reach for the oven or stove until an adult tells you if it’s hot.  We wash our hands before, after and sometimes during cooking.

They working on fine motor skills.  Scooping, mixing, cutting soft food with a butter knife.  They knead bread after trying with homemade or peanut butter play dough.

4-5:
They start adding and subtracting word problems: “I need enough baby carrots for each child to have 5 and each adult to have 10.  Please put them on the cookie sheet.”  I introduce them to the idea of scaling recipes to get a desired amount of food.  They’re working on recognizing the difference between how things are measured (liquid measuring cups, shortening/butter using water displacement, measuring cups or spoons for some dry ingredients and a food scale for others).  They learn how big teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, pints, quarts and gallons are and know how to order the sizes without knowing the conversion table.  They learn that ounces are smaller than pounds, again without needing a conversion table.  They accustomed to numbers up to 450 in an abstract way.  They learn a few basic temperatures in Fahrenheit (the freezer is -10-0, the fridge is around 35-40, the oven is roughly 80 when they turn it on, and it takes a while to preheat to anywhere between 300 and 450).  They learn to view the product as a whole and the amount they’re allowed to eat as a fraction: “You may have one quarter of this recipe now, but the rest will wait for later/tomorrow.” (This is fairly common when I halve or quarter recipes.  They learn to view their 1-2 treats as the fraction of the whole by dividing the batch into equal groups.)  They also work on repeating and growing patterns (potato, carrot, onion variations are a favorite).  2D are continued, 3D shapes are introduced.  We do rite counting practice while doing other things, working on multitasking skills combined with rote memorization.

They’re also working on science/health.  Eggs and milk will allow fats and water to mix.  Some things change very little visually (roasting carrots), while other things are not recognizable (scrambled eggs).  Some things can be separated (chopped apples and walnuts), others can’t (batter).  We discuss solids, liquids, gases and phase changes.  Different temperatures result in different times required to be completely cooked, and dryness is effected.  They learn about the differences between meat/fish, fruit, vegetable, dairy and starch, appropriate portion size, and that there are little things called vitamins and minerals in different foods, which is why we eat an assortment.  We talk about hunger cues, satiety and eating when you’re not hungry.  We also discuss what happens to the body when you don’t eat enough of a variety of foods, don’t eat enough food in general or overeat, both short term and long term.  We talk about food in terms of moderation, but also as fuel for the body, so some people need to change what they eat when they change what they do.

Phonics make a huge splash in the kitchen.  We sound out words orally, then check the letters on the label.  We find rhymes for various ingredients and tools.  We play word games while doing other things.

Fine motor skills continue to improve with more scooping and stirring.  I introduce the difference between folding and mixing.  They move on to cutting soft food with a paring knife.  I introduce butting shortening or butter into flour.  They’re learning to clean up as they go, including washing dishes by hand.

Safety skills progress.  What is cross contamination, and how do we avoid it?  When should you wash your hands?  How do you hand a knife to someone else?  How do you carry scissors and knives safely?  How (and why) do you tell someone in a kitchen that you are passing them or standing behind them?  Why is temperature important for storage and cooking (from a safety perspective)?  How do we handle hot pans and hot food safely?  What do you do if you want to help, but you think something might be too heavy or too hot?

[i]This is getting long.  I’m only listing a few going forward, and not separating into skill group.[/i]

1st/2nd: introduction to scaling recipes using addition/subtraction of integers and fractions, more temperatures, introduction to budgeting, science vocabulary (physical/chemical change, emulsifier, mixture/solution, etc), how phase changes during cooking/baking effects the product (what happens if you stir ice chunks into bread dough just before baking), chemical changes and ingredient interactions while cooking (yeast feeding on carbohydrates), carbohydrates/protein/fat as building blocks for food, reading labels, more food safety, what is clean for dishes and surfaces, etc

3rd/4th: scaling recipes on their own using multiplication/division of fractions and conversion between units (for a challenge, I pull up recipes in metric and they convert to stars before scaling), writing a grocery list, meal planning, looking for sales and coupons, what the minerals and vitamins do and which foods are the best sources, introduction to nutrition labels, etc

By 5th/6th, I’m supervising in case there’s an accident or younger child present.  They’re on their own unless they need me to move a hot, heavy pan to the sink.

By 7th?  I’m not even in the kitchen unless they want me there.  They have nights that they are responsible for planning, preparing and serving the meal.

Do I think you can teach a full curriculum only using cooking?  No, not even if you limit it to just math.[/quote]

Wow!  I wish I'd had a parent like this - I'd know WAY MORE about cooking as an adult!  Maybe I should just come and hang out in your kitchen for a good strong month?  What are you doing every Thursday night for the next 5 months - can I come and hang out (and yes, I'd love your teens to cook for me - can they make double for me to take home for Friday night dinner?  I'm really impressed.  I was woefully under skilled when I graduated college and had my own kitchen!

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