Message from the 

Head of the Junior School

Learning Through Cooking

Over the remote learning period I have been hearing stories of families, friends and colleagues cooking together. Our Year 6 students are taking up the challenge over the term break, inspired through their learnings in French. Hearing the stories, it has caused me to reflect on the power of cooking to engage our children in valuable lessons. Something you might like to consider as we move into the term break during continued stay at home orders.

1. Language and cooking skills

Isn’t the language of cooking wonderful! Almost as good as eating! And the language of cooking is so unique to cooking: whisking, stirring, sauteing. You don’t have these words in many other contexts. It is only by whisking eggs for a breakfast treat of scrambled eggs, that a child truly learns the way it involves air, froth, and aching arms, and what a truly descriptive word ‘whisking’ is.

2. Mathematical knowledge

Following typical recipes introduces basic maths skills. In most recipes we find the kind of fractions and rations with which everyone needs to become conversant. Doubling quantities to feed the hungry hoards involves developing computation skills in multiplication, even multiplication of fractions! Learning about time and time lapse is a crucial element in cooking. Many recipes now have preparation time and cooking time as part of the procedure. But if they don’t, if you need a recipe to be ready by 6:00pm, and it takes 10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook, when should you begin preparing it?

Through cooking your child will learn about measurement. At School, we use real-life equipment to try to replicate what you have at your daily disposal in your home kitchen. I have never met a child who does not enjoy measuring. Scooping flour out of the container with a measuring cup and plopping it in the mixing bowl is endlessly satisfying to them. Through measuring a child learns about the combination of common cup measurement that would make up 1 ¾ cups of flour. Through cooking, children learn about all kinds of measurements: liquid, solid, metrics, cups, teaspoons, weights.

An important mathematical and life concept to understand, is temperature control. Putting a pot of water on the stove allows you to observe and discuss what it takes to bring it to a rolling boil, a simmer, and a stagnant (more language!). You can also learn about Celsius degrees when using an oven. What happens in a higher temperature? At a lower temperature? Learning how to control temperature takes practice and lots of trial and error. Encourage them to read the recipe and try what they think will work. Then discuss the results.

And of course, as they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating. If we have not got our mathematical knowledge right, we know. Not by a red cross against a written sum in a maths book, but by the taste!

3. Kitchen safety

We need our children to have a healthy respect of those things that can harm them! Being comfortable in a kitchen means your child will learn hands-on about safety. Learning how to use knives and hot items safely, how to drain pasta and work with a gas stove, electric oven or induction. The more they cook with you, the more these safe practices will simply become habitual, and that is exactly what you want. 

4. Basic science skills

Cooking is a science in action. Science is adding yeast to dough and watching a loaf rise over the course of the day, making a basic salad dressing with precise measuring and observing the process of emulsification, watching an egg fry, and watching the process of creating meringue, toffee or any caramelising. Your child might just see it as a step in a recipe at first, but over time they’ll begin to ask you all the why and how questions. Why does bread dough rise? Why does the oil and water separate? How did the egg expand? Why does the kettle water turn black when you pour hot water over a tea bag? Why isn’t the egg runny any more? All of these have basic scientific explanations and will be things they observe in the kitchen for the rest of their lives.

5. Courage and Patience

Cooking builds resilience (after all not every recipe is perfect, and not every measurement is exact!). It can encourage children to try food they may not have encountered before. I know when I pass by our Junior School vegetable patch and see students working away as part of our Little Potters co curricular group, they always ask me about the different foods they are growing and if I have tried them. I can certainly vouch for the rhubarb this year. Experimenting with herbs and spices, unusual foods and new combinations helps your child’s culinary repertoire, encouraging them to be unadventurous cook, a little ‘foodie’. Cooking also teaches patience and precision. ’A bit more’ or a ‘bit less’ does matter. Waiting is a big part of the reward of food.

5. Constructive bonding

The one strong memory I have of cooking with my own children is the way it made me feel. Even amongst the mess and chaos, I felt like I was part of a wonderful happy team. Our children do want to spend fun time with us. They enjoy seeing us enjoy ourselves. It can be really bonding to engage in structured activities together. And so, while the learning I mentioned will help build valuable life skills and provide a focus during the term break while in lockdown, the memories you make together will be priceless.