Education in Experiences
The kitchen lends itself well to all manner of experience. From smell to taste to temperature, we become acquainted as youngsters with the things we later study in science. We observe the changing of a variety of ingredients into solids such as cakes and brownies, and we appreciate the importance of this hub of the household when our tummies rumble, informing us of mealtime. Equally important are the beginnings of important mathematical principles, as we learn to count, sort, identify, and compare. Sets and subsets are not important, but stacking of cans of like sizes, or arranging of silverware according to size and type are the beginnings of our understanding of relationships that will later enable us to compute and solve the most basic to the more complex problems.
In the modern classroom, all too often, test scores trump understanding. What I mean is that, while intended to measure a student's understanding, most testing tools are limited to easy-to-grade answers of multiple choice or true/false. There is little opportunity for a student to provide his thinking on a topic, or to defend his answer. Further, time to develop the tactile understanding through hands on experience is limited by needs to comply with the schedule at hand for the curriculum. While the basic information needed to pass a test might be communicated, the understanding needed for essential application of these concepts is bypassed.
As parents, we can fill in some of those missing gaps by allowing our children to explore and experiment with materials that allow them to see, touch, and experience in a way that brings understandings of quantity and qualities.
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| Head Chefs Measuring Cup for Junior Chefs |
Counting and Sorting
The activities of counting and sorting really come naturally. If a child is presented with a set of items, it won't be long before they are doing one, or both. Allow this to happen naturally in the kitchen. Encourage your child's presence as you prepare meals. Allow them to taste, touch, and smell the ingredients in your recipes....within reason, of course! Of course, we aren't going to have little ones handling raw meat or hot peppers. Nevertheless, there are many things in our kitchens that little ones can do to participate. While it may be loud and annoying for a child to play with pots and pans, these are beginning opportunities to experience sounds.
Youngsters love to help in putting away groceries. What a fantastic means to allow sorting. As cans are separated from vegetables, as pantry items are stored with like items, it's the opportunity to develop a sense of attributes and sets. Fruits are separated from vegetables, and separated from each other, as they are stored, again providing the opportunity to experience attributes and relationships.
Small materials such as rice or pasta or marshmallows may provide a great opportunity to compare or conserve. Some measuring cups, a bowl of grain, and some other assorted containers, and a pre-schooler can easily be entertained. The bonus is the understanding that is being developed.
Learn to Ask Questions
A parent who asks great questions will encourage understanding. Rather than telling the youngster how many marshmallows there are in a bowl, ask. If an incorrect quantity is reported, count together. Allow the child to have his "aha" moments. If he asks how many of something there are, encourage him to do the counting. Help him to attain understanding by enabling him to do it himself.
Fun Materials
Depending on the child's age and ability to eat certain sized foods, it's fun to purchase some special items for the purpose of encouraging sorting, counting, and measuring. For example, a bag of M&M's is lots of fun to experience. It need not be a large package, but could be a small individual sized bag. Gummy bears, gumdrops, marshmallows, and cereals are all fun materials to work with, which can be consumed during or after a planned activity. These provide lots of fun in sorting, counting, and of course, consuming! Not only are these great for mathematical understanding, but also, are nice means of discussing textures, weights, and other characteristics. Vocabulary will develop in the discussion. Comparisons and contrasts may naturally develop, for example, as large marshmallows and small are experienced. The opportunities are limitless. Many of these same food items are often used in crafts, whether stringing Cheerios and Fruit Loops, or glueing pinto beans and rice to a picture. The encouragement of exploration may ignite an artistic interest or a musical interest. As your children grow, many of these same materials may allow for understanding more advanced ideas and concepts, such as ratios and proportions, and may lend themselves to charting and graphing. The most important thing is to have fun as you facilitate learning.
You Can Do It
You do not need a credential to encourage your child's learning. You are your youngster's first and best teacher. As you learn and experience together, you are key to his or her confidence, and you are able to make a huge impact before school years approach. Take advantage of the inexpensive and ample opportunities in your own kitchen to encourage mathematical understanding and more! Learn together!
Fun Educational Kitchen Gifts
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| Head Chefs Measuring Spoons and Tools Make Fun Gifts |
Whether you need a fun set of activities for your children for the summer or a great birthday gift, a junior cooking set can provide the opportunity for your youngsters to explore measurement and cooking at the same time. There are play sets and there are sets of
real kitchen tools for junior chefs. Involving your youngster in kitchen activities will allow for familiarity and confidence in culinary skills and will allow for an intuitive understanding of measuring, number significance, fractions, and counting.
One of my daughters picked up a Perplexus ball as a Christmas gift for her brothers last year. It spanned the ages, working as a gift that suited all kids from ages 6 to 15, and while they occasionally challenged each other about whose turn it was, it proved to be a lot of fun. The goal in maneuvering the tiny ball through the maze is not a novel idea, but it is more challenging in the 3D environment of working this puzzle. Occasional successes made it clear that success could be achieved in solving this puzzle, but there's enough challenge to keep it fun for everyone, including the adults in the house.
One of my favorite educational game choices is dominoes. A simple set of double-six dominoes is perfect for provoking kids to use their mental math skills. Cooperative skills come into play as people challenge each other. In our large household, the fact is that there have to be teams for everyone to be able to participate, adding to the learning experience. While there are lots of game choices for kids, the simple and standard choices can be among the most pleasurable.
Add a set of double six dominoes to a holiday or birthday gift, or make it a standard family game night choice!
in the fall of 2011, just in time for the holiday season, you may see some good deals on this system, come holiday shopping time. There are educational systems in many price ranges, and if your budget is tight, this is a more cost effective device for your youngster. As age goes, this type of learning toy still appeals to my 6 and 7 year old youngsters, by age 8, might be a little too immature. You can read a set of 
