I’m often asked how we lifeschool, so I thought I’d start a series on ways we use everyday activities as a way to naturally teach our children. This post will show you 5 practical ways to use cooking as homeschool lessons. Be sure to bookmark this post and save it to your favorite homeschool Pinterest board!
5 Practical Ways to Use Cooking as Homeschool Lessons
First, let me just clarify what I mean by lifeschooling. In short, Bryan and I believe that our children benefit the most from natural learning. Yes, there are times when we focus on something specific for a significant amount of time. Other times we opt in for more structure. However, most of our homeschooling journey consists child-led learning and the flow of everyday life.
Below are several ways we use cooking as homeschool lessons.
Mathematics
Cooking involves precise measurements, providing practical experiences for teaching/learning math concepts like fractions, ratios, and conversions. Bryan likes to use grams and liters whereas I like to use cups and ounces. So our kiddos learn both ways which makes for interesting lessons.
Planning meals within a budget is also great for teaching children about money management and arithmetic as they compare prices, calculate costs, and adjust recipes accordingly.
Science
Cooking is essentially a series of chemical reactions. We help our children explore concepts like fermentation, emulsification, and leavening agents, and observe how ingredients transform during cooking. These are especially easy to do when baking bread, cakes, and biscuits.
We also teach our children about food origins. This is really easy to do when we go to our favorite Mexican and Greek restaurants. Speaking of which…
Cultural Studies
Cooking is filled with opportunities for cultural study exploration. Whether we use YouTube videos to explore cuisines from around the world, locate countries on maps (geography), or learning about culinary traditions – it always makes for fun learning.
It’s also a fun learning time for us as parents. We frequent a local Greek restaurant often and Bryan was wondering about the correct way to eat baklava. So we looked it up and found some interesting ways it is eaten in the Greek culture.
Use these Free Notebooking Template Pages to Help Your Children Document What They Learn Through Cooking
Language Arts
I really like how cooking provides our children with lots of opportunities to follow recipes together, discuss the sequence of steps, gather the ingredients on the list, and understand cooking terminology.
We also take opportunities to encourage our children to write recipes together and emphasize the importance of clear and concise instructions. Our oldest two children also keep journals to record their cooking experiences, reflections, and favorite recipes.
Life Skills
When it comes to life skills, cooking is there for the win. We are able to teach proper handling, storage, and cooking techniques to prevent foodborne illnesses. We also discuss topics like cross-contamination, temperature control, and kitchen cleanliness but in much simpler terms.
Overall, cooking fosters self-sufficiency as our children learn to plan meals, shop for ingredients, and prepare dishes on their own. They are also encouraged to take ownership of meal preparation and cleanup.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully you can see how easy it is to use an everyday activity like cooking to homeschool your children. Sometimes educating your children at home can be over complicated and doesn’t have to be the case. Instead, think about all of the unnecessary things you may have learned in school as well as the things you wish you would have learned instead.
Use your homeschooling journey to teach your children concepts that will be most beneficial in their adult years and provide them with experiences that will help.
Chime in: What are some ways you naturally home educate your children? Let me know in the comments below!