Take a Bite Out of Schoolwork

About author / Christine Gable

Culinary enthusiast; kids cuisine and slow cooking; magazine recipe developer; professional writer. Her simple recipes are great for family dinners.

Now that the books are covered, the first tests administered and everyone’s getting settled into back-to-school schedules, maybe there’s a subject or topic that’s getting your kids down. Perhaps it’s not clicking. Or the concepts aren’t easily flowing.

Hey, perhaps it’s time for a snack. No, really. A different kind of snack. Not a Haagen-Dazs or salty, fat-filled Fritos short-lasting departure from reality.

No, a snack that will help to bring bookwork down-to-earth. One that will claim it back-from-the-books. Yes, no matter what the assignment, there’s usually a tasty way to help your kids make a connection with it.

For example, when my kids were quite young and confused by the concept of a fraction, one day at lunch I cut one of our pita pizzas in half, and then in half again … and again … and again. In a fun and rather jovial matter (forget the serious school marm style), I proceeded to ask them how much they’d like to eat. And they played along. It wasn’t a right/wrong session—it was lunch, but it was also a goofy math lesson at the same time.

And while it may have been easier to just plop a whole pizza on their plate and let ‘em at it, it certainly was more fun-and satisfying to see how they figured out how much they’d like to have next, whether it was 1/4, 3/8, or 1/2. And there really is nothing like real life experience to drive home an ethereal math concept. This easy slice and dice idea can be used with multitudes of different foods. From a pb&j sandwich to apple slices, math can turn into an edible adventure.

There are countless ways to help bring flavor and learning excitement into different subjects. Sometimes it’s not that hard to add something special to dinner—say cornbread, grits or collard greens—when they’re studying the pre-Civil War era in history. Or to pick up some Greek olives and feta cheese to toss into the salad when they need to know where Greece is in geography.

Just getting into the kitchen helps to create good memories—so if you find small ways to help bring some subjects to life for your kids, it’s definitely a winning proposition. Or maybe I should say an A+ way to go.

Here are a few ideas to get you started in thinking of easy ways to bring any subject to the table:

• Tuck leftover veggies and grains into a prepared piecrust for a hearty main dish that dates back to the 19th century Industrial Revolution.

• Beef stew paired with crackers or cornbread can bring home the battle line taste of the Blue and the Gray.

• Cook up a pot of quick barley for a hot cereal, side dish or salad and you’ve got the easy makings of a meal from the Dark Ages.

• Toss some cinnamon, cloves or garam masala into that hot cereal or stir-fry and recreate the exotic spiced flavor of Arabia and India.

• Slice bagels, muffins or pita sandwiches in sections and talk fractions.

• Take a closer look at how many peas, baked beans or noodles are in a scoop to build those estimating skills. Have fun guessing and then checking accuracy!

• Just read those labels and discuss serving sizes and calories – kids often have lots of questions!