When I was in the first year of elementary school, my mother working so hard and she had to work late, so if I wanted to have something to eat at 6 o’clock, I had to learn how to cook. In that time I was young and short, and I couldn’t reach the place for cooking, so my mother didn’t letting me start the cooking with fire. At first she will show me how to use the microwave, because this is the easiest and error-free way to heat up food, and then she will prepare the food before going out and put them in the refrigerator, so when I come home, I just need to put the food in the microwave and heat it up. I was so proud of useing the microwave, because that is the the first time I have some food made by myself.
After I became familiar with the microwave oven, my mother began to teach me how to cook rice and operate the rice cooker. That is how to clean the rice and start the rice cooker to cook. I was a little afraid of rice cookers at first because they would emit very hot steam, but my mother told me that rice cookers and microwave ovens are the same, except that the microwave oven is sealed, so there is no steam, and there is a small hole in the lid of the rice cooker, that’s why they spew out steam. As long as I don’t touch the steam I will be fine.
After I mastered these skills in the fourth grade, she officially let me enter the kitchen and do some simple preparations, such as washing vegetables and cutting meat. I am very confident about washing vegetables, but I am very afraid of cutting meat, I always worry that I will accidentally cut my fingers, so at the beginning, my mother instructed me how to use the knife to help me start cutting by holding my hand and cut with my hand. After helping me cut a few slices, and I started to calm down and carefully observed how to cut the meat, she would start to let me start cut by myself, but she will watch how I use the knife in case I cut my hand. When she found out that I had almost mastered the knives, she would let me cut the meat by myself while she continued to cook. When I handed the cut meat and clean vegetables to my mother, she would give me affirmation and gratitude, which made me feel very fulfilled in cutting meat and washing vegetables.
In the sixth grade, when I was able to master the knives proficiently, she began to let me start cooking. The first dish I learned was fried eggs. My mother demonstrated it first. I stood by her and watched how she made fried egg, and then instructed me by letting me simulate her steps. At the beginning, I was prone to problems, so she have to keep eyes on me. For example, when I couldn’t turn egg over, she would grab my hand with the shovel and manipulate my hand to learn how to use the shovel to turn it correctly.
After I was able to fry eggs proficiently, she began to teach me scrambled eggs with tomatoes, that is, add chopped tomatoes on the basis of scrambled eggs, and taught me some simple kitchen tips, such as not putting water in hot oil , or how to put out the fire if it catches fire. At this point, my mother basically won’t interfere with my movements anymore, most of the time, she will only give verbal guidance. After that, I gradually became more and more proficient in how to make dishes.
After studying reading this week, I found that learning theory in reading resonated with my personal experience. I found that the process of learning this new skill of cooking is a very typical zone of proximal development (ZPD). When I was younger, the simplest method was to use a microwave to heat for simple cooking, and gradually became the use of raw materials to make dishes,
When I started to come into contact with more dangerous fire sources and knives, my mother and I had a theory of scaffolding. At the beginning, I was basically controlled by my mother. As I relaxed and became proficient in movements, my mother’s support gradually decreased and let me take control of what I was doing.
When she shows me or manipulates my hand to solve the problem, she tells me the correct way. This is a very typical guided participation. Through experienced people help others with less experience to become capable in practice.