Do your kids know how to cook? Have you figured out how you’re going to teach them with everything else that’s going on in your homeschool?
This post includes affiliate links.
Teaching my kids to cook has always been really important to me, but I had only managed to get them in the kitchen here and there. Time was always short and I just hadn’t figured out a way to teach them specific cooking skills without losing my mind.
I heard about the Kids Cook Real Food eCourse in May and jumped at the opportunity to purchase it. This course is the best thing I’ve bought in a long time.
Course contents
Kids Cook Real Food is an on-line video course with 3 levels – beginner, intermediate and advanced. Levels can be purchased individually or all together, with either one-year or lifetime access.
Each level has 8 lessons with one or two skills each. Lesson materials include professionally-produced videos, pdf files to download, and optional printables. It takes about 20-45 minutes to work through each lesson, including video demonstration and kitchen practice time.
How we’re using this course in our homeschool
When I was trying to figure out what level to buy, I looked through the curriculum map to get a list of the skills taught at each level. Even though my kids were technically old enough to start with the advanced level, I decided to buy all 3 levels because I wasn’t confident that they had mastered everything at the beginner level. I figured it was easiest to just start at the beginning and make sure we covered everything.
We’ve done one lesson per week for most weeks over the summer and have just finished the beginner level. Some of the beginner level was a review, but other parts were brand new. My children enjoyed all the practice they got and we always ended up with something good to eat at the end of the lesson.
We’re continuing with the intermediate level for the fall, aiming for one lesson per week.
Lesson preparation
I go through the parent guide video and pdf file for the upcoming lesson the day before we go grocery shopping. The list of what I need is easy to find and I make sure those items are on the shopping list if they aren’t already in my pantry.
I schedule the lesson for the week on a day that we can fit it in and/or when it makes sense to make whatever food is in the lesson. For example, one of the lessons was a breakfast-type dish with the option to add eggs to it, so I scheduled that lesson for a morning we were home and would have time to make it first thing.
- Healthy food. No junk food here. If you have special dietary needs or allergies, the course can be adapted. It’s all outlined on the FAQ page.
- My kids love Mrs. Kimball. My daughter desperately wants one of the aprons the kids wear in the videos (so Katie if you read this, could you send me one?!), and my son tries to copy what she says. For example, in one of the lessons, she talked about how it’s not polite to say “ew” when talking about food. It’s better to say “it’s not my favourite” if you don’t like something. My son’s catch phrase for days after that lesson was “it’s not my favourite,” and I haven’t heard him say “ew” since.
- It’s organized well. The skills follow a logical order and are age-appropriate. Multiple ages work together on the same lesson, but can still learn at their own level.
- Immediate application – My kids use the skills they are learning right away. They make their own snacks without my help. They wash the produce we bring in from the garden. I’m getting back the time I spend teaching them the lessons because they are saving me time with food preparation.
- Life preparation – I want my kids to feel confident and prepared when they eventually move out, knowing that they have the skills they need to live in the real world. This course is one step towards that goal.
Get the Kids Cook Real Food eCourse here.
Bio:
Leanne Seel, CPA, CA is a homeschool mom of 2 from Ottawa, Ontario. She blogs about French teaching ideas and resources at Frenglishlearning.com.
- How to Keep a Toddler Busy While Homeschooling - March 21, 2024
- 25+ Things Your Kids Learn From Video Games - March 20, 2024
- 10 Words For New Homeschoolers - March 20, 2024