Cooking in the Curriculum @EMS: 7 Good Reasons

Cooking? Are you serious?  Yep!  Here's why:

A child putting the steps to make "The Besto Pesto"
 in sequential order. (later followed up as an
independent activity to make a mini "recipe book."

1.  Sequencing - Cooking helps children in understanding procedure and ordering events to reach desired outcomes.

2.  Leadership - Cooking is a simple/low-stress means for children to direct their peers through assigning duties (as part of the recipe) to other children and overseeing the production of the final product.

3. Followership: Cooking allows children to understand the responsibility of teamwork, of being an effective part of a group working toward a specific goal.  Also, once given a "job," a student then must follow both spoken and written direction to fulfill their assigned task.

4. Math:  calibrating required ingredients introduces units of measure (amounts and temperatures) and an understanding of proportion.

5.  Gross/Fine Motor Skills:  chopping, measuring, stirring, peeling (under careful supervision) all works on the large and small muscle groups along arm, as well as developing hand dexterity.  

Middle School Cooking Club:  often featuring guest chefs
and the exploration of culture through cuisine.

6.  Tangible Results:  completion of a recipe offers a tangible and real result for the children.  Engagement is usually there as well, as the children get to eat the tasty results.

7.  Eating Right:  learning to cook introduces children to healthier food options.  Plus, at EMS, we often cook with our own vegetables (grown on campus), and children are more likely to try new foods if they've participated in growing them.