Riverside Unified School District preformed lower in math on the 2009 California Standards Test (CST) for most grades. There are many correlating factions why this is; some speculate that the reason is math is not advanced at home. For many students mathematics is a subject that they simply have never experienced before except in a text book.
There are many ways a parent could promote math at home in practical ways, such as, having the child help in bill paying, organizing a bake sale, and shopping. These are all ways that encourage mathematics, but are developmentally for older children, cooking is a great and practical way to start teaching mathematics at home with your preschooler.
A child will surprise you with how much they learn from some thing that is mandatory in everyday life: cooking! Allow the child to make the meal and assist when needed. Encourage them to measure the ingredients. Have several different sizes and let the child experience the scale from small to large. Discuss the amount of ingredients that is needed to complete a meal and allow the child to count the addition or subtraction as needed. Turn meal preparation into an experience that a child can develop so when it his/her turn to take the CST, mathematics will be a subject that is not foreign.
Not only is a child benefited by learning addition, subtraction, factions and multiplication through cooking, but they also improve fine motor skills, language expression and problem solving. These boost a child’s development and help promote a more confident child.
The quality time spent with the children alone is enough to make cooking with preschoolers a staple in home learning. The smile on the 2-year-olds face when they break open their first egg to add to dinner is enough to know you are on they way to learning.
To help in this venture try visiting CM School Supplies for utensils that are a more appropriate size for preschoolers. This can encourage confidence and lower accidents due to size hindrance. A child will enjoy their own size spoon, oven mitt and pot holder, so they can be like his/her guardian.
Also check out cook books for children at Borders and other local book stores. There is a nice family memento cookbook just for children by Paula Dean in the Barnes & Noble at Tyler.
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