by Jean B.
HCLS offers many resources for supporting students: skill building activities on our website, research materials and guidance, Brainfuse online tutoring, and free access to computers and printing, to name just a few. Explore a new place to look for homework help – the cookbook aisle!
Why not start the school year with a plan to do more family cooking that fosters math learning and fun? Cooking with kids builds a wide range of math skills — from counting, sorting, and measuring, to sequencing, fractions, ratios, and budgeting. Best of all, instead of a completed worksheet, cooking produces something delicious to eat and share!
Start early and involve even the youngest children in kitchen tasks and food conversations. Ask them to count the ingredients or compare the measuring cups to find the biggest or smallest. Talk about the steps in the recipe and let them name what goes first, second, third, last. Make a pattern with cookies on a pan or fruit on a plate.
To get some great ideas for things to make with the littlest cooks, check out Look and Cook Breakfast: A First Book of Recipes in Pictures by Valorie Fisher. With simple recipes presented visually, pre-readers can decipher what happens at each step, while the grown-up oversees the sharp tools and oven. You’ll soon be feasting on Tasty Toast, Choco Pillows, and Topsy-Turvy Eggs! Older chefs can tackle more involved tasks. Challenge them to double or halve the quantity of one ingredient or work out the fractions involved in dividing a pizza equally. Let them help with grocery shopping, evaluating the price of ingredients for value or the correct quantity for a recipe.
Inspire them with The How-to Cookbook for Young Foodies by Janna Saltz and the editors of Delish, which offers great information on cooking techniques as well as recipes the whole family can enjoy like Mexican Beef and Rice Skillet, Chicken Tacos, or Chocolate Pizza.
Even cleanup can be a math game – your student builds spatial reasoning skills by puzzling out the best way to fit dishes in the dishwasher.
Cookbooks + Kids + Math = a win for everyone! This fall, strengthen your student’s math skills, create new and interesting meals, get help in the kitchen, and inspire a young chef!
Jean is a Children’s Instructor and Research Specialist at HCLS Central Branch. She loves talking about books with people of all ages, but especially enjoys leading the Heavy Medals book club for fourth and fifth graders, exploring award-winning books of all genres.
CHAPTER CHATS 