MathGrade 6ages 11–12
🍳 Proportion
A child who thinks of "more" as "add a bit extra" may double a recipe by adding the same fixed amount to every ingredient, which changes the balance between them instead of keeping it the same.
Try this lesson freeNo card needed. The first lesson is free.
Download on the App StoreWhat your child learns
- In proportion every ingredient grows by the same multiplier.
- You multiply and do not add, because a fixed addition changes the balance between the ingredients.
- Find the multiplier from the one ingredient whose amount is known in both versions.
- A multiplier smaller than one shrinks the recipe.
The mistake most kids make here
Adding the same amount to every ingredient instead of multiplying.
Try one question
A recipe for three needs 2 eggs. How many for six?
Three becomes six
- 4
- 5
- 8
Answer
4 — That's it. Two whole recipes side by side.
How Maya teaches it
Your child tells Maya what they did in class. She teaches this topic at her desk, asks questions with tappable answers, and when the answer is wrong she explains why that answer was tempting instead of saying “try again”. She remembers what did not land and comes back to it.
Your child has it when they can: Say what happens to each ingredient when a recipe is doubled.
How to help at home
Scaling a recipe correctly means every ingredient grows by the same multiplier, not the same fixed amount — adding three eggs to every ingredient would make a very different, and much worse, cake.
Cook or bake something simple with your child using a small recipe, then make it again for double the people. Lay both batches' ingredients side by side and count them out loud together.
When they reach for an add-on-a-fixed-amount answer, ask: "if we doubled the people, is one more egg really the same idea as two whole recipes side by side?" Two full batches next to each other makes the multiplying visible.
A sign they have it: given a recipe for three and asked to scale it for six, they double every single ingredient without needing to check twice.
Questions parents ask
- Why does my child add the same number to every ingredient when scaling a recipe?
- Adding a fixed extra amount feels like a natural way to make "more", but it changes the ratio between ingredients rather than keeping the same taste and texture at a larger size.
- What is a hands-on way to practice proportion at home?
- Make a small recipe, then make it again scaled up, and lay the two batches of ingredients side by side so your child can see every ingredient multiplied by the same amount.
- How do you find the right multiplier for a recipe?
- Compare one ingredient whose amount you know in both the small and large version — dividing the large amount by the small amount gives the multiplier for everything else.
- How does Maya teach proportion and scaling?
- Maya has the child compare two real batches side by side, so multiplying every ingredient by the same factor comes from seeing the two versions match, not from a rule stated in words.
No card needed. The first lesson is free.
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