Home School - Cooking and Maths!

I was recently asked this question about my Home School work: "Your topics looks great fun, but how do you tackle a boring subject like Maths?"

I always think as a teacher, as well as a parent, that it is crucial to engage in your child's interests at every opportunity; it incorporates something that they will find fun with the laying across subjects.

If you've followed some of my previous posts you would know that William loves his baking and cooking.

William's Grandad, on his mother's side, is a Chef.

When he was a baby we thought it would be amusing to have a photo shoot where we had him dressed as a chef.

What we didn't know at the time was that William would show a flare in this area.

Subsequently; William is now the head Chef in our household (And an incredibly good one too!!)

This week as part of his Home School I decided to layer his Numeracy topic of measurements with his love of cooking.

Thanks to Amy and her beautiful post on Beef Stew. We stole her theme, and most of her recipe, and attempted to make our own version.

When we attempted to prepare the vegetables I took advantage and layered Numeracy into it. Each piece was spoken about as a 'Whole', then as a 'Half' and then as a 'Quarter'.

This, not only covering Numeracy targets and vocabulary, worked perfectly to make larger chunky pieces for the Stew.

Once all our pieces were added, William chose which stock mix he wanted; carefully examining all the ingredients to come to his conclusion.

We also took advantage here of the stock cube and examined the qualities of a Cube.

William then measured by weight the Beef that we wanted to use. Again, we took advantage of Numeracy layers and discussed larger and small terms as well as measurements in grams.

We then gently cooked the beef; Sealing the edges in the pan.

*** I would advise absolute Adult Supervision ***

William then added everything to the slow cooker and waited.

Not once did William question if we were doing Numeracy; All he knew was that he was doing a topic that he enjoyed, whilst having a conversation, with his Dad.

I on the other hand covered some basic points of Numeracy; These points are now understood and when we do refer to these in a 'schooled' environment I can refer back to this activity as an example.

Not only a great activity for children we also layered educational themes and provided a yummy dinner for us as a Family. Schooled or not, this is something that could secure your child's learning

So what do you think? Could you do this at home?