Learning Math Through Baking {Guest Post}

 Today we have Katie from Mexican Wildflower guest posting

Some of the best lessons are learned through doing and not from a textbook. While lessons learned in school/homeschool are important, many lessons that stay with us are learned going about our daily activates. I love hands on learning! That was one of my favorite ways to learn growing up. The lessons I learned from my mom stick with me more than those I learned from a textbook. Learning should be fun and something our children want to do, not a chore that they hate. I want my children to be excited about learning.

Teaching math through baking is one of my favorite ways to help my girls learn fractions, addition and multiplication. We bake bread every week. After we set all the ingredients out, I tell my girls how much of each ingredient to use but leave it to them to show me that they know how to use the correct measurements. Sometimes I’ll pull out the ½ teaspoon instead of the 1 teaspoon. So if the recipe calls for 4 tsp of yeast they need to know to use 8 ½ tsp. Or I’ll pull out the four cup instead of the 1 cup. If the recipe calls for 12 cups of flour they need to know not to use the four cup 12 times. (When I wasn’t watching they did.) Instead they use it 3 times. Now my older ones are teaching the younger ones. Having them teach helps them remember the recipe and apply their math skills. There have been times when the bread didn’t turn out. We go back through the recipe and see where they went wrong, normally it’s because they didn’t measure properly. While I don’t remember my high school algebra and geometry the lessons my mom taught me while baking in the kitchen have stuck with me. Lets face it, not all of our children are going to be math geniuses but they do need to remember math basics. If we can make the lessons fun and help them understand why these math skills are important they are more likely to remember them and want to use them in the future.

Math isn’t the only lesson learned through baking. You also can talk about science, why they bread rises. You learn patience while waiting for the bread to rise, especially if you are making sourdough. You can learn the history of bread or different types of bread made around the world.  Your children can learn stories and lessons from the Bible as well. The Israelites ate unleavened bread the night before they left Egypt. Jesus talks about how a little bit of yeast permeates the whole batch. There are so many possibilities out there for your children to learn. Don’t just limit the lessons to math. Most importantly make learning fun!

Katie is a missionary living in Mexico as a dorm mama to 16 deaf girls at a home and school for the deaf. She blogs at Mexican Wildflower about nourishing cooking, herbs, raising her girls and thoughts about Jesus.

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