Real learning requires curiosity and desire
My 13-year-old son recently volunteered to start cooking dinner for the family once a week.
As a teacher, I have been so tempted to give my own children formal lessons and transmit all of the knowledge I've accumulated in my life.
But some wiser voice has led me to the strategy of exposing my kids to learning opportunities, while never forcing them to learn a specific discipline.
So, my son offering to cook dinner is a huge payoff for a very long-term hypothesis I have been testing.
My observation is that real learning takes place in the presence of curiosity and desire.
For whatever reason, he wants to do this right now. He is exploring is creativity through food. He is building self-confidence and experiencing satisfaction in his accomplishment.
I don’t think he would have been motivated to do this if I had imposed cooking as a mandatory chore.
In those 45 minutes each week he is learning exponentially more than if I told him the same thing verbally. He becomes faced with questions like:
- How do I get these noodles to not stick together?
- How do I keep the buns warm while the burgers finish cooking?
- The recipe said the onions would be caramelized by now—should I keep going?
I'm tempted to step in and help him answer these questions, but I remind myself that this problem solving is learning.
It's beautiful to observe him being so present and learning real skills while working with his hands. It’s a gift in this age of screens.
You can try this with your child this week:
Let your child plan and cook one meal. Give them as much ownership as you're comfortable with—choosing the recipe, making the shopping list, shopping with you, and leading the cooking.
You can set whatever constraints make sense for your family:
- A budget limit
- Must include a vegetable
- Choose from recipes you pre-approve
For younger kids (5-7) this might look like: choosing between 2 simple recipes you suggest, helping add items to the cart at the store, and doing specific tasks in the kitchen while you support.
For older kids (8-10) this might look like: browsing a cookbook or website for ideas, writing the full shopping list, navigating the store to find ingredients, and cooking with minimal help.
I believe shopping is the first step of the cooking process. I highly recommend taking your kid to the grocery store with you. (Trader Joe's is especially great because of the small shopping carts they provide for kids.)
Going to the store gives kids more ownership of the food they eat. They can pick out good quality produce and choose products that look good to them.
If you want a head start on a recipe idea, here's one:
Download Easy Pasta Sauce Recipe (PDF).pdf
Independence is one of the core skills my students learn in Kids Cooking Club. When kids try things by themselves, they become confident, capable cooks.
Join Kids Cooking Club today
