Cookbook Curriculum

The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum provides comprehensive lesson plans to teach traditional food recipes and kitchen techniques to students in grades K-12. The curriculum is free and is over 250 pages.

What is The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum?

The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum is a free, comprehensive educational companion to The Modern Pioneer Cookbook. Each lesson features a different recipe from the cookbook, as well as discussion questions, engaging activities, and cross-curricular connections to math, science, history, and more.

Children and adults of all ages will enjoy digging deeper into the topics of The Modern Pioneer Cookbook, becoming experts in traditional cooking methods and their health benefits.

The best part? Tasting all the delicious foods and beverages you will make!

Where Can I Get The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum?

Download your free copy of The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum:

Download The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum

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Table of Contents

Who Can Use The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum?

The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum can be used by homeschooling families, parents who want to supplement their children’s public or private school education, classroom teachers, community educators, and self-teaching adults!

Where Can I Get The Modern Pioneer Cookbook?

To use this curriculum, you will need a copy of The Modern Pioneer Cookbook (ISBN 978-0744077421) by Mary Bryant Shrader.

This bestselling cookbook is published by Penguin Random House under their DK imprint. You can find this cookbook at your local bookstore, and you can also order it online from your favorite retailer.

What is the Structure of the Curriculum?

The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum is structured into three grade bands (K-4, 5-8, and 9-12) and organized according to the 14 chapters of The Modern Pioneer Cookbook. There are 42 lessons in total.

What is the Structure of Each Lesson?

Each lesson consists of a discussion, an activity, and a recipe. Sometimes, the activity is as simple as making a chart or drawing. In other lessons, the activity might be a hands-on science experiment.

In addition to these three main parts, at the end of each lesson is a list of optional interdisciplinary extensions. These brief questions or prompts connect the lesson content to other subjects, such as writing, math, science, and history.

Are the Grade Bands Flexible?

Yes. Each lesson is designed with an age group in mind, but all lessons are practical enough to be used for all age groups. You can facilitate all 42 lessons in any order you like. For example, you might work on all fourteen K-4 lessons first, then all 5-8 lessons, and finally all 9-12 lessons. Or, you might work from K-4 to 9-12, one chapter at a time.

Each grade band’s lessons are connected to a different pair of themes:

  • K-4 themes: Homemade food and low-waste kitchens
  • 5-8 themes: Real, whole foods and seasonal eating.
  • 9-12 themes: Maximizing the nutritional value of food and preserving food for self-sufficiency

Feel free to tweak or customize each lesson to meet the needs of students of different ages and abilities.

Can Students of Different Ages Work Together on This Curriculum?

Absolutely! The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum works well for homeschooling families or community classes with students of different ages. At the beginning of each chapter, there are some relevant notes about using more than one lesson plan at a time while working with different age groups. Cooperating in the kitchen is an additional (and very valuable) skill that gets reinforced when students work together on these lessons.

How Can I Be Informed of Updates to The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum?

To be informed of future updates to The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum, subscribe to the free Mary’s Traditional Foods Newsletter. The newsletter will inform you of updates to the curriculum, new recipe videos, free downloads, and more!

What is The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum Lesson Experience?

The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum Lesson Experience is a unique series of articles that guide you through the lesson plans in The Modern Pioneer Cookbook Curriculum. Jamie O’Hara documents her family’s experiences working on lesson plans from the cookbook curriculum. Her insightful articles draw from her extensive experience as a homeschooling mom, curriculum writer, and former classroom teacher.

Reading Resources

Some of the K-4 Lesson Plans recommend books for additional reading. In case you can’t find them at your local library or bookstore, here are links to the books on Amazon:

More Educational Videos and Resources