Montessori Monday: Mustang in the Kitchen

I don't like to cook.  I'm not all that good at it either.  So, to say that I had not been interested in having cooking be a part of our lessons would be an understatement.  If you really know me, you know that Mustang learning to cook is 110% child lead learning!!

About 3 weeks ago, she decided she wanted to cook a dessert.  She was not going to use a recipe, she was going to make her own up.  I have to tell you that it wasn't exactly the best thing ever, but we all ate some of her creation.  I had suggested using a recipe, but she would hear nothing of it.  BUT, when Daddy suggested a recipe she was all ears.  At least someone got through :).



Mustang remembered that at last fall's homeschool swap, she had picked up a cookbook:  Better Homes and Garden's Junior Cookbook.  She pulled it out and announced that she was going to make every recipe in the book-in order-from start to finish.  She wanted to make one each week.  So far, she has been committed to this.






Before we go shopping each week, she looks at the ingredient list and we determine if we have all the ingredients.  If not, she tells me which ones to add to the list.  She also helps me find the items in the store.


When it is time to cook, she likes to gather everything she needs before she starts.  She sets them on the kitchen table, since it is at her height.













She measures out the ingredients (with a little help) and mixes them together.  I do the actual cooking part-I'm not ready to let her go on a hot stove!

She serves the food to the family when it's ready.

So far, she has made pancakes and French toast.  She found out that she doesn't like the French toast.  The rest of us do, though!

She has learned so much through this already.  We have talked about measurements, quantities, making a shopping list, doubling a recipe-due to our large family-how to break an egg and much more.  Since she has chosen this work (real work I might add), she has been so much more receptive to learning the things necessary for cooking then should have been if I had decided we would do this.  She has also been so pleased with her accomplishments and has delighted in telling friends and family.  I might even be learning a few things myself!

We counted 56 recipes in the book, and she has made two.  So, this will take us all year! I'll keep you updated on her progress.

Next up?  Monkey bread!!

Thanks for stopping by and God Bless!

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