Half-baked

For a few days, we’ve been rescuing breakfast bananas destined for the dumpster. I even intercepted a bowl of bananas that children from another class were carrying to the compost pile.

Today, we made banana bread!





Cooking is a wonderful way to integrate lessons in practical life, non-fiction reading comprehension, volume measurement, equivalent fractions (1/2 = 2/4), temperature, chemistry, and physics. I began by presenting some of the tools we would be using:
 





a nut grinder (equipped with gears and a crank),

 

two different sifters (each featuring different simple machines),

and measuring cups for both liquid ingredients and dry ingredients.

I also demonstrated how to crack an egg into a separate bowl prior to mixing (and scoop out any wayward shell).

We discussed the ingredients we would be using and the chemical changes that would occur in the oven as heat interacted with the eggs, baking soda, and baking powder.

The children worked in their cooperative science groups, each group preparing either the wet or the dry ingredients so that we ended up with enough for three loaves. One of the groups responsible for dry ingredients mixed the baking soda with water and vanilla, as the directions indicated. However, instead of waiting to add the soda solution to the wet ingredients alternately with the dry ingredients, they dumped the soda solution into the dry flour mixture, creating a dough that did not mix well with the wet ingredients.

One volunteer speculated that I planned to make a new batch at home if the loaves the children mixed didn’t turn out right. Nope. That’s one of the wonderful things about Practical Life. Built in to the activity, is what Montessorians refer to as “control of error,” meaning direct feedback and/or a logical consequence indicates to the child that the work was not done properly, allowing him/her to self-correct. Children are provided with real tools and materials (even those used—maybe especially those used—with children ages 3 to 6) are typically ceramic or glass, i.e. breakable. In the case of a Practical Life pouring exercise, the control of error is that the cup will overflow if you do not watch carefully as you are pouring. If you do not carry a tray carefully, the contents will spill on the floor and you will need to clean up a mess and possibly make repairs to broken objects. If you do not water classroom plants regularly, they will wilt and eventually die. If you do not follow the directions when you are making banana bread, the consequence is a slightly funky loaf of bread. This isn’t unkind. It’s a fabulous, real-life learning opportunity!

It has become popular to rescue children, to “protect” them by preventing them from enduring the consequences of their own mistakes. But let’s imagine that I did replace the improperly mixed loaf with a loaf I mixed myself. Seeing the correctly mixed and baked loaf that I substituted, the children would naturally conclude that mixing improperly does not yield different results than following the directions.  They would not be able to see for themselves the results of their error.  In a Montessori classroom, we often do not intervene as we watch children make mistakes. Instead, we embrace those mistakes as learning opportunities. We encourage children both to correct errors in the moment (clean up a spill, solve a problem with a friend, or redo a math problem) and or make improvements next time (carry a tray more carefully, say “Excuse me,” rather than shove, work a math problem with more attention to detail, or read and follow directions in a recipe).

Personally, I learned that next time, I shouldn’t attempt to carry a tray of three pans of not-yet-baked banana bread, along with my cart, my bag, and a box of things I’m taking home for the summer. Brain cells don’t fare very well in hundred degree temps. We’re all in this learning thing together. :)

Thank you, thank you to the two outstanding volunteers who helped to coordinate this five-ring circus! We couldn’t have done it without you!