What’s Right With Our Schools: Jones County PreK School Cooking through the curriculum

GRAY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Some teachers believe finding a fun way for children to learn makes them more interested in the material.

Jones County Pre-K School has implemented creative ways to teach students Math, Science and Reading.

They are measuring, mixing and following recipes.

“With cooking, first of all students learn those healthy foods and healthy habits. Secondly, it also incorporates our Georgia early learning standards in Math, Literacy and Science,” says Principal Keisha Pitts.

To strengthen their math skills, they’re measuring ingredients. Their reading improves with following a recipe. Watching the batter change when liquids are added helps students become more familiar with Science.

Students ages four and five are learning educational skills through these simple cooking methods. Some students say they enjoy following the recipes to make their favorite treats.

“This is the recipe and it tells me how to make strawberry shortcake,” says Pre-K student Ezil Austil, as she points to the recipe on the board.

“I like decorating cupcakes,” Harper Stone adds.

Pre-K student Gage Pittman continues, “One of my favorite shows, they eat pizza and I like it.”

While cooking the dishes, students are reminded of safety measures.

“We do have the items up high anything that’s hot. We have talked about the items that can burn them and that kind of thing. We have always done fire safety at the beginning of the year. We sanitize and we talk about when we are cooking that we don’t touch our hair and that kind of thing; keeping or hands to ourself,” explains lead teacher Kristi Harley.

Students are also learning new terminology they can carry across the curriculum and enjoying all of the fun stuff that goes on in the Pre-K daily life.

The school received the Bright from the Start grant to buy ovens and food for students.