February, 2004 / "Hands-On" Home Education

"Serving" Math

There are so many things you can do that your children can really enjoy with the subject of math. Math can become very mundane if some "spice" is not interjected. This project not only encourages the importance of math, but it also introduces the concepts of promotional advertising and the Protestant work ethics.

The "Restaurant Project" has been used for all my children. It seemed to work most naturally when my children were in their 3rd year of math because that was about the time when cooking and measuring was most concentrated on, but all elementary-aged students love this project!

To begin, the student must design and create 3 menus, one each for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which the customer (usually dad) will be able to choose his meals from. Important!: Only produce one meal on any given day, or mom will become frazzled!

Producing the menus is an advertising/promotional learning process. Have the child research (by observing and writing) the data and visual appeal of actual menus at restaurants. Help them to understand the idea of promotional advertising with the use of bright photos and lettering which excite the reader and entice their taste buds. Notice the organized list of items and their prices. Also, by placing the food selections in their proper categories the customer finds his choices easily.

Assembling the menus should be a time of concentration, not just a craft time. With the notes they have taken from their research, they must now organize and put them into an appealing layout.

I suggest that the student work on plain white tag board. Before writing down anything, have the student collect and cut out photos from magazines, or the food section of a newspaper. Anything they think they might use should be cut out, though they probably won't use it all. As they assemble their pictures loosely on the board, they will more than likely change their design more than once. They may also want to draw some added graphics such as borders, accent symbols like stars, lines, etc., or they may prefer drawing some food items that they couldn't find. Be sure they consider leaving space for the food items and their prices. When satisfied with the placements, they can glue down and/or draw the pictures.

Once a general layout has been established, use a pencil to lightly write the wording and prices down. If a student is overly concerned about making mistakes (tag board is difficult to erase on) have him work on a separate piece of thin paper, then cut it out and paste it on to the tag board.

After the wording is roughed in with a pencil, use colored markers over the pencil marks. Perhaps for the breakfast menu they would like to put a big title such as "Wake Up to a Great Breakfast!" with a bright sun behind it at the top of the page. They may want some pictures to run off the edge of the board like "real" menus have, or use a circle of ice cream scoops for the dessert section. Let their imagination run free.

I suggest that all three menus be completed before actually taking orders from the customer. This may take a while, perhaps even weeks.

Taking the orders from the customer can be anytime. Give the first menu to dad, or grandma, or a friend who is willing to "pay the price" for great service. Do one menu at a time. In this way it will be easier for the student to learn to focus on one task at a time.

Plan a suitable time for preparing and serving each meal. You might have the customer order their breakfast on a Friday so Saturday morning it could be served. This project does not have to be squeezed into a routine school week.

After the meal has been cooked and served with love by the student, allow them to write out a "check" with the itemized foods and their prices. You will see them glow with satisfaction when their job is fully complete, and they will also begin to grasp the idea of working for a living. They will probably receive an added bonus to doing a job "with all their heart" if the customer gives them a tip!

Suggestions:

• Don't rush the project. My girls' projects took a few weeks, while my son's took over a month.

• The prices on the menu should be low, "kid" prices. The prices my children came up with were part of their personalities. One child charged .05 for water and juice. Another charged .50 for eggs. Don't allow them to become greedy in any way with high prices. You want the focus to be on the overall accomplishment.

• Depending on time allowed and your child's attention, abilities, etc., you may decide to only do one menu project, rather than all three.

"...if any man would not work, neither should he eat." 2 Thess. 3:10

Questions? Comments? Contact Jane@HisGlory.us