We all understand the importance of teaching our children how to plan and prepare healthy meals as a necessary part of raising our kids. Many homeschooling families also incorporate this skill into their regular studies by teaching beyond the basics. Some homeschoolers include making recipes native to a particular country, region or time period in their geography and history studies. Others did deeper into the science of cooking through experimentation with ingredients. And cooking and math are wonderful companions in learning about fractions, measurement and other math concepts.

If you are planning to use cooking as an elective in your classroom and would like to create your own course, in addition to a trip to the library where there are always a great selection of books and videos related to cooking, here is a baker's dozen of websites to get you started.

Plain and Not So Plain – Kitchen Skills Main Page – Homeschool blogger, Amy, provides a very thorough, 16-unit online study that includes downloads and assessments.

K-State - Kids a Cookin' – This site from Kansas State University provides a boatload of lessons about cooking techniques, kitchen safety, nutrition and more that include both a YouTube hosted video presentation and an accompanying downloadable PDF worksheet. Select the "Educators" link in the right-hand menu to find even more great downloadable resources including a Kids a Cookin' Cookbook.

Utah Education Network – Utah Curriculum Resources – Scroll down the list of lessons to locate the Food and Nutrition 1, Food and Nutrition 2, Food and Science sections to locate lessons that include downloadable activities and printables.

Culinary Schools.org - What's Cooking?: A Culinary Curriculum for Cultivating Foodie Kids – This page provides links and descriptions to other websites for grade-leveled lessons. Also available at this website is a page for Online Nutrition Games for Kids.

HomeschoolShare - Cooking Unit Lessons and Lapbook Printables – You will find a free lesson plan and lapbook at this link. You may also want to browse through the "Cook with Books" blog posts to find recipes and ideas to tie cooking into your literature studies.

Nourish Interactive - Kids' Cooking Classroom Activities - Cooking with Kids Fun – At this page you will find printables to use in your studies, some available in English and Spanish, which would make them fun to use with your Spanish language studies.

Cookit - Cooking – This is a wonderful resource for learning all about the various cooking processes and the equipment used in the kitchen. Click on a process to watch a video about the technique or select a kitchen tool to learn about its use.

Exploratorium - Science of Food – Discover the science behind cooking with the activities and experiments at this website.

Science for Kids - Food Science – Kids can learn about food with the games, activities, videos and more at this website.

Fight Bac! Curricula and Programs – At this page of the website find grade-level activities, games, downloadable lessons, coloring sheets and more relating to food safety. (The Grade 9-12 curriculum link is broken but we found it and included it below.)

FDA - Science and Our Food Supply - Middle and High School supplementary curriculum – Download the teacher's guide at the page from the Food and Drug Administration for activities that explore food safety.

Further Education Support Service - NWT Literacy Council - Kitchen Math – Scroll down the page to locate the "Kitchen Math - Everyday Math Skills 2009" download link for the 103-page PDF that provides lessons, worksheets and answer keys for units covering "Shopping for the Kitchen," "Using Measurement" and "Nutrition."

Smithsonian National Museum of American History - Bon Appetit! Julia Child's Kitchen – Take a virtual tour of the kitchen of one of the most well-known American chefs.