This article was sent to our parents from Miss Jaclyn, our Elementary 2 teacher.
Preparing for the Holidays the Montessori Way
The holidays are upon us and that means that with a little patience (okay, sometimes a lot of patience) your child(ren) can gain and practice many practical skills in the kitchen no matter what age they are.
I know…I know, if you just do the cooking and all the prep work yourself, you can get the task done so much faster. However, having your child help with what they are able to helps them on their own journey to independence. So let’s break down ways that your child can help in the kitchen.
Every child needs to start out by washing their hands and the surface they will be cooking on. Of course by this time of the year, they’ve already been shown this in the classroom and that is a skill that can be translated easily into your kitchen at home with nothing more than soap and water.
The Toddler child has already had some cooking opportunities in the classroom as they have made apple sauce, which was highly supervised by their teachers. The students got to use an apple spiralizer, got to dump the ingredients in the bowl, and got opportunities to stir the applesauce. Even before you get to the kitchen you can have your child help by picking out some fruits and vegetables at the grocery store that you might have on your veggie tray. Usually this becomes what they already know they like, but this is also a way to encourage you and your family to try something that you may have not had before. Ask your child: “What is a fruit or vegetable that looks interesting today?” and as they point something out just get one to try. Once back in the kitchen, be sure to have a sturdy step stool ready for your child and they can be in charge of washing the fruits and veggies while you as the parent are preparing something else. Once cut, the child can help you arrange your tray. Another task this age loves is being able to cut out cookies using cookie cutters. This is the age where it’s important to teach that we don’t eat uncooked foods, so eating the raw cookie dough is not ok and that they have to wait to eat the cookies until they are cooked. This helps to teach your child about patience and waiting. It’s fascinating how excited the child will be to eat the items off these trays come Thanksgiving Day!
In Children’s House this year, some students have already had lessons on peeling an orange and cutting apples with an apple cutter, which reminds them they can do things even when they’re hard. These skills can be an asset in the kitchen at home too. As their skills develop, the child of this age is now ready to mix ingredients such as pancake or other batters, which has a natural control of error. Not being able to see any of the unmixed ingredients lets them know the mixing is done. Helping the child see that the bowl is mixed all the way down to the bottom and using the rubber spatula to scrape the sides is a perfect way to get the mixing done. Of course they already should have the skills mentioned earlier too, so they can help with more of that cookie making process that comes this time of the year. Helping with the Thanksgiving feast could also look like using real potatoes that are boiled (and already peeled if your family is anything like mine) and using a potato masher to mash the potatoes. This takes a great deal of concentration and focus, but can be a way that you as the adult can be working on something else that needs to be getting done while supervising your child with the task at hand.
By the time the child has reached E1 their skills have developed even more. If they haven’t already had practice, now is the time to learn how to crack an egg into a separate bowl, so that you can easily check for egg shells before the egg is added to a recipe. Peeling fruits and vegetables is a great activity for this age, as is highly supervised knife skills. In order to practice reading, children should help find the ingredients in the cupboard or the refrigerator and are able to use measuring cups and spoons to measure a specific amount of each ingredient. It is still important to supervise the children when they are measuring out the ingredients, to be sure all ingredients are being added, and in their correct amounts. The child still confuses the tablespoon and teaspoon at this age, but by supporting their careful work, they can have success in the kitchen. Failures are also important, as then the students can learn about what went wrong too. While the Children’s House student could mash the potatoes, the E1 child can wash and peel the potatoes before they get boiled. This year the E1 students have already made some great recipes including homemade “mashed potato” candies, fluff, and they’ve followed a recipe with help to make cheesecake bites.
The E2 cooking experience starts long before the day in the kitchen. They begin by locating their own recipe, researching what is already available, and create a shopping list of the ingredients that they still need. Then they are capable of a trip to the grocery store, where they can find the ingredients they will need. In the classroom we look into how many servings one recipe makes and have to plan accordingly for our shopping adventure. Once it is finally cooking day, the students are mostly using knives independently, cooking on a hotplate/stove and using the oven mostly independently but supervised as necessary. They have the added challenge to make sure that they are being mindful of dietary restrictions as well as allergens so that all the members of our class can have them. We also start thinking about what can be made ahead, so that we don’t feel as rushed on the day of our event. So far this year the E2 students have really enjoyed making birthday popsicles, smoothies, and getting the opportunity to plan and execute our Thanksgiving meal. In the upcoming weeks we will be making homemade ravioli for our upcoming family dinner in January.
The adolescent community goes even further in their preparations. They have learned how to place an online order at the grocery store, paying attention to package sizes that are most economical, planning a menu to be served, baking several goods each week, and thinking about how to store what is left over if it is feasible to save. At school, their baked goods are sold for their end of the year trip. They are capable of using the oven and stove independently. Besides weekly baking and learning how to be a barista for their business “Cup O’ Coffee”, the Middle school students have also put artistic flair into their own fruit trays, learned how to make a roux, and have been honing their skills to make things that meet the dietary needs of members of our school. These students are pretty much able to help with all aspects of the kitchen and now you can get twice as much done in the kitchen at once.
Remember every kitchen experience has a clean up component and your child(ren) should be helping with that step as well. Whether that is simply bringing the dishes to the sink, loading the dishwasher or putting away the dishes, all are important to your holiday festivities.
I know kids in the kitchen takes extra time now, but my brother and I were products of getting to spend time in the kitchen as kids and to this day, both of us enjoy being in the kitchen and preparing recipes for our families. Don’t miss out on those opportunities with your children as well!
