One mixing bowl, two spinning beaters, three separated eggs, four sticks of butter, and five pounds of sugar; who says math is boring? Putting aside the calorie counting, there are dozens of opportunities for kids to learn math in the kitchen, especially measurement and fractions.
The trick to having children learn about measurement and units of measure is to provide them with meaningful experiences that highlight measurement, and to repeat the experiences until all aspects of measurement become second nature. When you tell your child there are 16 ounces in a pound, have him weigh out a pound of candy or nuts and see how heavy the bag is. Compare it to a half-pound bag of coffee, chips or pretzels or a two-pound slice of ham. This provides the child with an "image" of a pound, its parts, and its expansions. You can expand this concept when you are buying a ham or turkey for a family gathering. If each guest would eat about 4 ounces of turkey, let your child tell you how many pounds of turkey you need to buy, and help him pick the right sized bird.
When you have to beat eggs for one minute, remind your child that there are 60 seconds in a minute and count to 60 (at the rate of one count per second), so the child can get a feeling of how long both a second and a minute are. If the roast needs to bake for 15 minutes per pound, explain that 15 minutes is a quarter of an hour and let your child figure out when the roast should be done. Using an analog clock is good practice for counting by fifteens too.
When you are cooking and baking, especially for a crowd, it is hard to avoid using fractions. Students in Sixth Grade and higher should know most of the fraction facts listed below; these facts and concepts form part of the fabric of knowledge - the foundation for success in the middle school and high school math classroom. Most teachers assume that students already know these things. See how many of them you can review when you are cooking, whether you have to triple a recipe or cut it in half.
- A half plus a half equals a whole
- One-fourth plus one-half equals three-fourths.
- Three-fourths and three-fourths makes one and one-half.
- Dividing something in half makes two equal parts.
- Half-of-a-half is a quarter or one-fourth or 1/4.
- Half-of-a-quarter is an eighth or 1/8.
- Half-of-an-eighth is a sixteenth or 1/16.
- Half-of-a-sixteenth is a thirty-second or 1/32.
- You can cut a line segment in half forever.
- A quart is a quarter of a gallon - four quarts make a gallon.
- A pint is half of a quart - two pints make a quart.
- A cup is half of a pint - two cups make a pint.
