As a homeschooling family, one of our major thrusts is to teach our girls with life skills. And teaching kids to cook is one useful life skill that we want to impart to them.

Homecoming: Teaching Kids to Cook

One Saturday, we went over to my parents’ house in the suburbs. It is like an outing or a picnic of sorts for us. Their house, my childhood home, is a considerable distance from the city.

In contrast to my city life, my parents’ home is a rather big bungalow. It has an expansive garden and a quiet neighborhood. We like going there, not just to visit my parents but to enjoy nature as well. They have planted a lot of trees and ornamentals.

Family Meals

When we come over, it is my mother who cooks food most of the time. But that Saturday, we brought a kilo of bright pink spareribs. They were thinly sliced into 14 thin portions. That way, we don’t have to grill each slice for very long.

My parents had been grilling their pork using their grease-less griller for some time now. But for this visit, I requested that they buy some charcoal for some good old traditional way of grilling pork. While my father built the fire, I cleaned the pork and salted it.

Homeschoolers Learning Opportunity

It may look like a simple outing. However, it was a deliberate effort for another learning opportunity. This is important for us homeschoolers. And times like this would be a golden time for teaching kids to cook.

• Related: Homeschooling Our Kids

I wanted my daughter Dindin, who was turning 8 at that time, to learn to grill over open charcoal. Of course, the helper brought out the makeshift terracotta grill and my father had to fire up the coals. But it was Dindin who grilled every slice while fanning the coals to keep the flame burning.

A Gleam of Pride

After about 30 minutes, Dindin was done grilling everything by herself. Her cheeks flushed pink from exposure to direct heat. But she was so proud to have done it all by herself.

And my father was very proud, too, that he kept telling about Din’s grilling several times throughout the night.

You see, ever since I was small, my father did all of the grilling for the family. He did that even during outings with friends and his office mates.

My father is a patient and industrious man who never complained about such tasks. Maybe he was just so happy that after five decades, somebody relieved him of grilling duties. That is a bond between grandfather and granddaughter that could not be broken.

This is just one of the many practical things that we teach our children. We we want them to grow up armed with practical knowledge about life and living.