How is Little Cookhouse Different?

“How are we different from others? How can we do better?” This is a question we constantly ask ourselves. It is actually not difficult in articulating how we are different and better, but is tough to convey and have parents appreciate how these subtle differences can make a big impact to the actual learnings of their child.

Differences in the expected role of a parent. As an educator, we know one of the best way for a child to learn is through actual hands-on, and the role of a parent is to encourage and nurture the child. But many a times, parents ended up doing all the work (eg, in mixing a cake batter), on the assumption that the child is unable to do it well and fast enough. Therefore, we encourage parents to let the child do the job, even if it means twice the time to complete, and leaving being a mess.

Differences in measuring the outcome of a class. As parents, we tend to measure how good an activity was, based on how happy our child is. However, we will like our benchmark to be even higher, to not only have a happy child after each class, but to ensure the child truly learns something in the 1 to 1.5hrs spend with us, and to continue their learnings even after the class. This is a big differentiator for us, as similar programs will not have teachers ‘bugging’ you to let your child hands-on, or ensure that the activities are all age-appropriate.

To ensure learning, we think from the perspective of how we can value add to a child, manifested through the delivery of our classes.

1. We focus on skills and values. Our intention is to use baking and cooking as an avenue to teach skills and values, differentiating us from other cooking schools. For instance, we will assign a child with different coloured cream for piping, and we will encourage them to ask for and share with their peers the other colours.
2. Providing age appropriate activities and tools. Every activity (from cooking to craft to story) has to be age appropriate – For instance, we can get 7 year olds to work in pairs to weigh out ingredients for each other’s baking, which will be difficult for 5 years old as they lack the requisite skills to weigh and split; A craft work which requires the use of scissors may be for a 5-8 year old class instead of a 3-5 year old because the younger child lacks the fine motor skills. These are little things which our competitors are not doing.We also use kid’s friendly tools (eg. Whisk with shorter handle, plastic chef knifes etc) to give the child better control and to provide a safe environment.
3. The child learns to be independent and hands-on. The child needs to hands-on and complete each task on his/her own, with minimal parent involvement. As highlighted earlier, hands-on experiences are the best way for children to learn
4. We believe in small class size (<8) to enhance interactions. A teacher-children ratio smaller than 1:8[1] is important, particularly for children under 5 years old to ease their fears and enhance their learning. We are aware of classes with 25 to 30 children, 1 teacher, and 4 assistants, however, the assistants only help in setting and cleaning up and cannot play the role of a trained teacher.
5. Reinforced learnings. Children learn well with repeated exposure to the same concept and theme. Hence, we will provide the relevant content (eg. Book title of story that was read) and activities (eg. busy bags) for parents to bring home to reinforce the learnings. It also provides opportunities for parents to recap on the lesson and encourage parent-child interaction.

And there you have it, this is how we are different. And the best way to appreciate the subtle differences, is to join us in our classes and experience it. Hands-on experience is also a great way to learn for adults!

[1] Based on recommendations by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the foremost professional association for the early childhood field