Betty Peck's kindergarten in Saratoga, California was a magical place. One mainstay of Betty's classroom cooking was the Kindergarten Bread. Baked weekly, the making of the bread takes children through all the stages of wheat, from kernel to loaf. The children plant the wheat each year, harvest it, grind a small amount to add to the bread, and learn about kneading, rising, and baking, singing songs about the different stages along the way. Each student even practices the letter of the week by forming it with dough (the tactile, three-dimensionality of which has been found to help students with reading and writing skills.) Every little thing in Betty's classroom had its purpose- to show how everything in life is connected. The bread was a delicious, regular example of this. Read on for Betty's recipes for a magical childhood and her kindergarten bread.
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