If cooking was taught in schools...

amother

Honeysuckle

Wed, Mar 06 2024, 9:28 am

Tzutzie wrote:

My now 5th grader can do cookies, cakes. Omelets and scrambled eggs. Waffles/pancakes. She's BEGGING me to let her do baked breaded cutlets and potatoes. I'm not sure why but I feel like cooking supper is a mommy's job. I let her help but she wants to have to kitchen to herself and make it.

I let my 6th grader and 3rd grader do those things. They feel great about themselves and it’s a real help when the other kids need my attention. In general, I try to let them do anything in the kitchen that they want and can do, I know it won’t last much longer…

Bnei Berak 10

Wed, Mar 06 2024, 9:29 am

galpal wrote:

How do you correctly dice an onion? I didn’t know there was an incorrect way!

There no incorrect way, however dicing an onion by the means of a do see device vs dicing with a chef's knife.
Learning proper cutting and slicing skills eliminates a huge amount of those slicer dicer gadgets and machines that are on the market. Most of them a totally superfluous.

amother

Honeysuckle

Wed, Mar 06 2024, 9:31 am

flowerpower wrote:

Or put the milk back in the fridge which includes closing the cover and closing the door after too. But I think that is too hard for a second grader. More on a seventh grade level.

My 3yo could do this… my 11yo is still learning LOL

flowerpower

Wed, Mar 06 2024, 9:33 am

amother Honeysuckle wrote:

My 3yo could do this… my 11yo is still learning LOL

You mean your 3 year old can still do it. Wait a few years for your preschooler to unlearn it🙈

amother

Hawthorn

Wed, Mar 06 2024, 9:36 am

I had home economics in 12th grade for just 1 semester. And it was a weekly class. So not much education there. But I was living at home and being part of a family taught me mostly what I needed to know. I learned how to cook, clean, sew. Much more than home economics.

What I wanna know is, why can't boys have this as part of their curriculum too!?

Amarante

Wed, Mar 06 2024, 9:45 am

I wanted to add that for a child, cooking is actually an incredibly educational experience and age specific in terms of skills.

Arithmetic - reading comprehension - organization including planning for a mise en place LOL

- shapes - coordination with pouring.

One of the classic tests of child development is when a child is realizes that the quantity of water is the same whether it is in a wide container or a tall thin container. Until a certain development stage, children think something in a tall container is "more"

amother

Daylily

Wed, Mar 06 2024, 9:49 am

I never had home economics but learned from home how to sew by hand and machine (I can't follow a pattern anymore but that is because I forgot. But I can still do seams or smaller projects). Learned how to iron, do laundry and cook too. Maybe it isn't the official way but at least it can get done without ruining anything!

I remember my mom teaching a local boy how to do buttons before he went to Yeshiva and then the IDF. Apparently none of the boys knew how and it made him quite popular. They get in trouble for missing buttons in the army but no one knows how to fix them!

I aim to teach my boys the basics too. Even if he won't enter the IDF.

amother

Antiquewhite

Wed, Mar 06 2024, 10:03 am

I dont get the need to teach cooking..

its something that can be picked up organically at home.

I never had one cooking class - I was just part of a household and so you learn.

honestly tho - most of my skills were learned after I got married and was fully responsible for my food. and I dont think it would have helped me to learn in 5th grade.

Bnei Berak 10

Wed, Mar 06 2024, 12:00 pm

amother Antiquewhite wrote:

Not every home cooks from scratch. There's take-away, restaurants and frozen food etc. With mothers working full time ready-made food doesn't teach you how to cook basics.

amother

Blushpink

Wed, Mar 06 2024, 1:31 pm

amother Antiquewhite wrote:

I used to think this. Nobody ever taught me to cook. As a child I enjoyed experimenting in the kitchen and helping my mom and just picked it up. I'm also interested in food in general and will read articles about food and recipes for pleasure. I have become a very good cook and I thought most people are like me. I have discovered that to cook well you need a knack for it. Although people can be taught to follow recipes, cooking really well is a talent. I have met so many intelligent, capable people who cannot cook to save their lives.

amother

NeonPink

Wed, Mar 06 2024, 3:11 pm

wanttobehappy wrote:

I went to culinary school as an adult.. was totally life changing I don’t use recipes anymore. I taste and layer my spices. I wish they would teach this in schools so much more useful than a ton of things our kids learn.

would you give us a mini course here Smile

Miranda Wright

Wed, Mar 06 2024, 4:01 pm

How did this turn into a referendum on home economics? I just wanted to know what people think 5- and 10-year-olds should be able to cook!

amother

Blonde

Wed, Mar 06 2024, 5:44 pm

ddmom wrote:

I think it's part of parenting.
Not everything should be taught in school.

Totally agreed! I always started with baking cookies, advanced to cooking mac n cheese, making apple crisp for Shabbos, cholent. Even my boys!

amother

Forestgreen

Wed, Mar 06 2024, 5:47 pm

amother Indigo wrote:

My 6 year old goes to an after school baking class. He loves it! The Morah has far more patience than I do. The kids learn how to measure ingredients and crack eggs and juice lemons and zest oranges. They're not allowed to do anything truly dangerous like add boiling water to the Hershey's chocolate cake recipe or go near the oven, but they definitely do more than you might expect for their age!

Morah Shoshy?

Rappel

Wed, Mar 06 2024, 5:54 pm

Miranda Wright wrote:

How did this turn into a referendum on home economics? I just wanted to know what people think 5- and 10-year-olds should be able to cook!

5 year olds should practice technical motor skills: peeling, grating, rolling pin, chopping (under supervision). They can learn basic flavor profiles, and some common sense rules (ex: you can always add to a mixture, but you cant take away! Less is more)

10 year olds: I expect them to be able to do any prep work independently, and they can also stand in front of a hot stove after a reasonable safety lesson
.