[tesin]

At least in our experience, it's graduated based on age and ability. Soft fruits and vegetables with a glorified shape cutter. Firmer things with a plastic or ceramic knife. Harder things with metal.

Not dissimilar to what you'd do at home, except supervised closely with peers and integrated into the classroom.

Edit: I should mention that gross and fine motor control is a really big focal point in general. Like how writing things down has been shown to improve memory, other forms of tactile interaction increase engagement and learning.

[bitexploder]

Similar experience. They aren’t given a massive finely sharpened chefs knife or anything. Just a small not too pointy knife that can manage small fruit. But it is still a sharp enough metal knife early on. They also set the environment up to keep it safe. One food station. Careful movement of knives. Near a sink, etc. never heard of more than a butterfly stitch or two across a lot of kids and parents :)