Inspired by the school project post...

[mudnuri]

Not saying anyone is a 'crappy parent' etc... however

When my DD's come home with a project, which they do every 2-3 months....we sit down the first night and break the project down into managable tasks...then we assign a 'to do by' date and time to them...For instance..

Poster board for a book...

we break it down to- pick the book, draw the rough draft, pencil the poster board, color the poster board, rough draft of written paper to go with it...final draft of paper to go with it....each of these has a day to do them on.

Sometimes they go beyond the task- doing 2-3 in one day, if they have extra time etc..

this keeps it from being a last minute project, or spending their weekends consumed with a project. It's also something I do with big tasks at home, breaking them down into managable tasks. i also do this with my college classes, with papers, projects, case studies etc..

Am I the only one that does this? It seems to me that it helps them at this early age get into a system for when they get into high school and have more and more project type hoemwork (term papers, book reports etc.)...

Just a thought

Brandy

 

[golfgal]

We do this too, we have 2 kids that will follow the plan, one that won't. Kids don't automatically know how to manage their time and having 2-3 weeks to do a project seems like a lifetime to them. Teaching them how to do this is one of the most important ways to help them with homework.

 

[Southern4sure]

Nice and organized but it wouldnt work for me. The majority of times, DS#1 (highschool) waits until the day before to let me know he has a project. I put my foot down about school projects this year with him. He might as well get use to a big fat 0 because Im not helping at last minute anymore.

DS#2 loves working on projects (I do too!) so he is always eager to tell me about them and we work on them together. I know this can change at a moments notice and he will turn into his older brother......UGH!

 

[mudnuri]

Nice and organized but it wouldnt work for me. The majority of times, DS#1 (highschool) waits until the day before to let me know he has a project. I put my foot down about school projects this year with him. He might as well get use to a big fat 0 because Im not helping at last minute anymore.

DS#2 loves working on projects (I do too!) so he is always eager to tell me about them and we work on them together. I know this can change at a moments notice and he will turn into his older brother......UGH!

That might be why it works here...I run on schedule/organization LOL...works great until we end up with a change in plans

It's just something my mom started with me when I was in elementary school, and thankfully it stuck all the way through highschool and now college. I'm hoping it sticks with the DD's...I have a cousin who use to freak the night before a project was due, etc... adds way to much stress to an already stressful time of middle school....

Brandy

 

[Mom21]

Well as the originator of the project post, I guess I should answer this. My dd had about 3 weeks to do this project. We did break it down. I even wrote it on the calendar.
shopping for supplies (ok I was grumpy in my OP and included this in the time--so shoot me people)
2 days cutting pics--deciding what best fit her.
covering box
pasting and labeling
writing paper
reviewing and finishing paper

It still is taking forever. Maybe I didn't convey the magnitude of the project to some people on the other thread. Even if I had done it, it certainly wasn't a 1-2 hour project. My dd has at least 50 pictues on the box complete with each one being labeled. She also was very artistic with stencils in labeling each side. So she did take a lot of time, and I did talk to her about it. I told her it must be turned in tomorrow no matter what else she thought she had to do to it. I even typed her paper for her as she would never finished if I hadn't. She needs a typing class, I know. I did type it just as she wrote it though.

And for those that thought my dd a perfectionist.......... That one made me really laugh.

 

[golfgal]

Well as the originator of the project post, I guess I should answer this. My dd had about 3 weeks to do this project. We did break it down. I even wrote it on the calendar.
shopping for supplies (ok I was grumpy in my OP and included this in the time--so shoot me people)
2 days cutting pics--deciding what best fit her.
covering box
pasting and labeling
writing paper
reviewing and finishing paper

It still is taking forever. Maybe I didn't convey the magnitude of the project to some people on the other thread. Even if I had done it, it certainly wasn't a 1-2 hour project. My dd has at least 50 pictues on the box complete with each one being labeled. She also was very artistic with stencils in labeling each side. So she did take a lot of time, and I did talk to her about it. I told her it must be turned in tomorrow no matter what else she thought she had to do to it. I even typed her paper for her as she would never finished if I hadn't. She needs a typing class, I know. I did type it just as she wrote it though.

And for those that thought my dd a perfectionist.......... That one made me really laugh.

You still have to realize that she spend WAY too much time on this project. It is great that she wanted to stencil, etc. but you can't blame that on the teacher or the school. If she decides to go above and beyond in this project, that is her issue, not the school's. 100% is 100% and if you spend 1 hour or 20 to get that 100% it doesn't really make a difference.

 

[disneysnowflake]

My kids are in 11th and 7th grades.
In our house the rule has always been do the homework, reports and projects when they are assigned. No waiting until the last minute to do something.

If my 11th grader had his way he'd wait until the night before something is due, try to work fast, make a bunch of mistakes and get a bad score. Then he'd complain he didn't have time to finish it.

My 7th grader is required to do a math project and science project. The teacher has deadlines for each of the projects with steps. You must have a topic and topic paragraph turned in by this date. You must have your list of supplies and an outline by this date and so forth.

 

[CEDmom]

I think you can do this with young children and hopefully help instill good time management skills. However, I think middle and HS kids wouldn't be as receptive to mom's assistance.

My DD had a few projects in 1st grade and is also into making everything pretty and fancy. We make her hold off on that until all other aspects are done. For instance the book report has to be written and ready to turn it before the cover can be made. If not she'll spend so much time on the fun part that she'll have to rush through the meat of the project.

 

[golfgal]

I think you can do this with young children and hopefully help instill good time management skills. However, I think middle and HS kids wouldn't be as receptive to mom's assistance.

My DD had a few projects in 1st grade and is also into making everything pretty and fancy. We make her hold off on that until all other aspects are done. For instance the book report has to be written and ready to turn it before the cover can be made. If not she'll spend so much time on the fun part that she'll have to rush through the meat of the project.

The point is that if you start this at a young age they get into the habit of doing it this way and will continue into middle school/high school. I have middle schoolers and a high schooler and believe me, they are PLENTY receptive to any help from mom/dad.

We also have online gradebooks so we KNOW if there is a big project that is assigned so the kids can't get away with the "I didn't know about it" excuse.

 

[PlutoPony]

When my DD's come home with a project, which they do every 2-3 months....we sit down the first night and break the project down into managable tasks...then we assign a 'to do by' date and time to them...
Brandy

This is a process that's evolved in our house with DS. The "to do dates" are the most critical for us. If he's in a procrastinating phase he knows those dates are out there and he HAS to hit them or something else important in his life (like going to soccer practice or something) will have to go! Before he turns it in we review the time line and see where he should have given himself more time, etc. This process has really cut down the arguments about when he should be working on projects. etc.!

 

[snowwite]

Not saying anyone is a 'crappy parent' etc... however

When my DD's come home with a project, which they do every 2-3 months....we sit down the first night and break the project down into managable tasks...then we assign a 'to do by' date and time to them...For instance..

Poster board for a book...

we break it down to- pick the book, draw the rough draft, pencil the poster board, color the poster board, rough draft of written paper to go with it...final draft of paper to go with it....each of these has a day to do them on.

Sometimes they go beyond the task- doing 2-3 in one day, if they have extra time etc..

this keeps it from being a last minute project, or spending their weekends consumed with a project. It's also something I do with big tasks at home, breaking them down into managable tasks. i also do this with my college classes, with papers, projects, case studies etc..

Am I the only one that does this? It seems to me that it helps them at this early age get into a system for when they get into high school and have more and more project type hoemwork (term papers, book reports etc.)...

Just a thought

Brandy

My problem with the school projects is the cost for supplies. I resent being asked to buy supplies which we dont have in our budget. I do not think teachers realize the strain they can put on families when requiring kids to buy stuff during the year. It is especially frustrating when it appears to be a worthless project. In general I think projects and the bulk of education should be at school. I think kids need fresh air,exercise,volunteer work,extracurriculars and family time more than they need to do another 3 hours of busy work when they get home It also bugs me when teachers hae the kids correct each others tests and homework. I do not want another student seeing my sons work and teasing him (DS is in a regular class w/IEP and has some learning issues and has been mercilessly teased).Most of the teachers in his school are young,new teachers and have a lot to learn but dont want to listen to anything I or other parents have to say.I hate this school system but we cannot afford to move and we would not be able to pay the bills if I stayed home so I am left with sending them to a school I despise. My kids go back to school tomorrow and I am dreading it already.

 

[kendall]

We are there with you, OP. If there is a large project without any intermediary steps defined by the teacher to check on progress, we absolutely work on that schedule here at home in order to help DS and DD see how to break down large tasks. DS is a procrastinator, and would wait way too long. Now that he is a high school junior, we ask him to make his own calendar with tasks. We check up on how the progress is going, and only twice now has he gotten so behind he kicked himself for not following the schedule he established. If it is project, DD will usually dive right in to the projects and get them done early (we work with her on the schedule - finite tasks and project management are not her strengths).

Creating the schedule with the kids, so they can see what the components are of a large project, and they agree with the due dates, is key. Couldn't have family sanity without this in our house!

 

[NMAmy]

I've always tried to help dd divvy projects up into small manageable parts--she's in high school now and she knows she's on her own. I'll proofread, etc., but if she puts it off--she's on her own.

However, I did take issue with her 4th grade teacher's projects. The woman would always assign enormous projects to be completed over any school break--Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, etc. They would include about 10 separate projects that needed to be done and no time was allowed in class. For example, I remember one project for the big Christmas project involved picking out gifts for a family member, cutting out pictures and looking up prices, and making a budget and adding them all up. That was just one piece of about 10 separate projects for each holiday--the other parts I remember were a one page paper on the history of the holiday, drawing pictures of what the holiday means to the child, a one page essay on your family traditions for this particular holiday, etc. To get a good grade meant working on this for the entire break. Since my ex and I shared custody, and he would not spend his family time with her doing these projects, that meant that our entire holiday time together was spent working on these little gems. I was seriously ready to beat the teacher. It's the only time I've ever complained to a teacher--she told me that she wanted the kids to stay sharp during these breaks. Whatever. I'm sure that kids are going to lose all their skills over the 5 day Thanksgiving break.

 

[golfgal]

My problem with the school projects is the cost for supplies. I resent being asked to buy supplies which we dont have in our budget. I do not think teachers realize the strain they can put on families when requiring kids to buy stuff during the year. It is especially frustrating when it appears to be a worthless project. In general I think projects and the bulk of education should be at school. I think kids need fresh air,exercise,volunteer work,extracurriculars and family time more than they need to do another 3 hours of busy work when they get home It also bugs me when teachers hae the kids correct each others tests and homework. I do not want another student seeing my sons work and teasing him (DS is in a regular class w/IEP and has some learning issues and has been mercilessly teased).Most of the teachers in his school are young,new teachers and have a lot to learn but dont want to listen to anything I or other parents have to say.I hate this school system but we cannot afford to move and we would not be able to pay the bills if I stayed home so I am left with sending them to a school I despise. My kids go back to school tomorrow and I am dreading it already.

Do you realize that you pretty much said that you don't want to take part in your child's education and then go on to complain how much you hate the school because it asks you to help educate your child? I would like to know what 'suggestions' you have for these "new" teachers that don't listen? Also, you state that your child has 3 hours of "busy" work. Could it be that it takes your child that long to do the work but it takes other kids only 15 minutes to do the same work? Don't take this as a bash, I am just trying to point out two sides of the coin here. I know that my DS14 can turn 15 minutes of homework into 3 hours in an instant. It is frustrating but it isn't the school's fault, it is 100% my DS's fault.

As for the supplies for projects, all you need to do is contact the teacher and tell them that you can't afford the cost of the supplies and they should give you what you need.

 

[mudnuri]

My problem with the school projects is the cost for supplies. I resent being asked to buy supplies which we dont have in our budget. I do not think teachers realize the strain they can put on families when requiring kids to buy stuff during the year. It is especially frustrating when it appears to be a worthless project. In general I think projects and the bulk of education should be at school. I think kids need fresh air,exercise,volunteer work,extracurriculars and family time more than they need to do another 3 hours of busy work when they get home It also bugs me when teachers hae the kids correct each others tests and homework. I do not want another student seeing my sons work and teasing him (DS is in a regular class w/IEP and has some learning issues and has been mercilessly teased).Most of the teachers in his school are young,new teachers and have a lot to learn but dont want to listen to anything I or other parents have to say.I hate this school system but we cannot afford to move and we would not be able to pay the bills if I stayed home so I am left with sending them to a school I despise. My kids go back to school tomorrow and I am dreading it already.

Are the projects honestly that expensive?

Trying to think back to the last 6 years of projects we've had, and I can't remember ever having to actually purchase anything other than poster board. We've done a multitude of projects, and 99% of things are on hand. As a matter of fact, its encouraged to use what you have. We have markers, crayons, glitter, general craft stuff at home. This is bought during super back to school sales, or when I see something on clearance. I have NEVER gone to Michaels or any other craft store to purchase supplies for a project, to me thats excessive and not at all in the scope of the teachers thought for the project. But again, thats just me.

The district we are in, has a 68% eligible for free/reduced lunch, to show the income levels of families here, I have NEVER heard a parent complain about the cost of materials for a project. I can't imagine a teacher would EXPECT someone to spend more than a few dollars for a project...but thats just me.

Brandy

 

[golfgal]

Are the projects honestly that expensive?

Trying to think back to the last 6 years of projects we've had, and I can't remember ever having to actually purchase anything other than poster board. We've done a multitude of projects, and 99% of things are on hand. As a matter of fact, its encouraged to use what you have. We have markers, crayons, glitter, general craft stuff at home. This is bought during super back to school sales, or when I see something on clearance. I have NEVER gone to Michaels or any other craft store to purchase supplies for a project, to me thats excessive and not at all in the scope of the teachers thought for the project. But again, thats just me.

The district we are in, has a 68% eligible for free/reduced lunch, to show the income levels of families here, I have NEVER heard a parent complain about the cost of materials for a project. I can't imagine a teacher would EXPECT someone to spend more than a few dollars for a project...but thats just me.

Brandy

I haven't had that problem either with projects. We do have $84 going out tomorrow for a t-shirt order and field trip fees. It is also stated several times in the letter that if you can't afford the fees there are scholarships available (bascially the school pays the cost instead). I can see where a lot of people would have problems coming up with $80+ dollars this time of year.

 

[momof2inPA]

Do you realize that you pretty much said that you don't want to take part in your child's education and then go on to complain how much you hate the school because it asks you to help educate your child? I would like to know what 'suggestions' you have for these "new" teachers that don't listen? Also, you state that your child has 3 hours of "busy" work. Could it be that it takes your child that long to do the work but it takes other kids only 15 minutes to do the same work? Don't take this as a bash, I am just trying to point out two sides of the coin here. I know that my DS14 can turn 15 minutes of homework into 3 hours in an instant. It is frustrating but it isn't the school's fault, it is 100% my DS's fault.

As for the supplies for projects, all you need to do is contact the teacher and tell them that you can't afford the cost of the supplies and they should give you what you need.

Nowhere in her post did she say she wasn't interested in partaking in her son's education. She said she's tired of the busy work-- like decorating a shoe box or making a leaf collage or finding 100 small objects for the 100th day. I wish that teachers would be more mindful of how intrinsically valuable a project would be and weigh that against the time involved in completing that project, instead of just assigning the work because it's cute or they learned about it in continuing ed. To be honest, I haven't had many problems with this issue yet, but I see my niece dealing with it in her school system.

If a child is faced with frustration because of learning disabilities or behavioral problems on a daily basis, only assigning necessary work after school would be particularly important. Don't you think?

Having the kids exchange papers for grading was never a good idea and is pure laziness on the part of a teacher. Is it even legal to do that in this day and age?

 

[snowwite]

Do you realize that you pretty much said that you don't want to take part in your child's education and then go on to complain how much you hate the school because it asks you to help educate your child? I would like to know what 'suggestions' you have for these "new" teachers that don't listen? Also, you state that your child has 3 hours of "busy" work. Could it be that it takes your child that long to do the work but it takes other kids only 15 minutes to do the same work? Don't take this as a bash, I am just trying to point out two sides of the coin here. I know that my DS14 can turn 15 minutes of homework into 3 hours in an instant. It is frustrating but it isn't the school's fault, it is 100% my DS's fault.

As for the supplies for projects, all you need to do is contact the teacher and tell them that you can't afford the cost of the supplies and they should give you what you need.

First of all you are not correct.
I have spent hours helping my kids study,voluntering at thier schools and buying whatever is required. What I am saying is that I think the teachers need to teach them more at school and that I do not agree with the volume of homework my kids get. My DD is the 23rd in her class and studies her but off. She also is up until 11pm most nights because of the load of work she has to get done. It is unreasonable. I have repeatedly informed the school that we cannot afford some of the expenses but since I make more than the amount for "free lunch" they dont care. We just had to buy DS a graphing calculator which is required and cost over 100. The 3 D projects in a shoe box, the numerous poster boards and essays are all worthless garbage in my opnionion. I do not agree that these are good teaching methods. I think many teachers have too many kids and assign a lot of work to be taught at home because they cannot teach it in school. I am asked to "teach" my child French, which I never took along with Algebra II and Chem II etc. My DS has ADHD and other LD. He has an IEP but frequently the plan cannot be met because the school does not have the staff or the supplies. Ex he is supposed to have a math aid but she was alid off,he is supposed to have a set of books for home but there arent even enought to go around. It is terribly frustrating. You are apparently happy home svhooling or providing the bulk of your child's education. I work full time by necessity. I woluld love the luxury of being home with my kids but it just is not possible for us. I do expect to need to help with my kids education.My problem is that I feel I am now responsible for more of it than the trained teachers who are wel paid to provide it.Some of them had no experience with learing disabled kids and I tried to provide some information but was told by home room teacher she does not have time to treat any child differently and would not have time to read the materials.Youre school system may be perfect.Mine is awful.

 

[snowwite]

Nowhere in her post did she say she wasn't interested in partaking in her son's education. She said she's tired of the busy work-- like decorating a shoe box or making a leaf collage or finding 100 small objects for the 100th day. I wish that teachers would be more mindful of how intrinsically valuable a project would be and weigh that against the time involved in completing that project, instead of just assigning the work because it's cute or they learned about it in continuing ed. To be honest, I haven't had many problems with this issue yet, but I see my niece dealing with it in her school system.

If a child is faced with frustration because of learning disabilities or behavioral problems on a daily basis, only assigning necessary work after school would be particularly important. Don't you think?

Having the kids exchange papers for grading was never a good idea and is pure laziness on the part of a teacher. Is it even legal to do that in this day and age?

Thanks! I dont know what I did to deserve the bash. You made my day

 

[mudnuri]

First of all you are not correct.
I have spent hours helping my kids study,voluntering at thier schools and buying whatever is required. What I am saying is that I think the teachers need to teach them more at school and that I do not agree with the volume of homework my kids get. My DD is the 23rd in her class and studies her but off. She also is up until 11pm most nights because of the load of work she has to get done. It is unreasonable. I have repeatedly informed the school that we cannot afford some of the expenses but since I make more than the amount for "free lunch" they dont care. We just had to buy DS a graphing calculator which is required and cost over 100. The 3 D projects in a shoe box, the numerous poster boards and essays are all worthless garbage in my opnionion. I do not agree that these are good teaching methods. I think many teachers have too many kids and assign a lot of work to be taught at home because they cannot teach it in school. I am asked to "teach" my child French, which I never took along with Algebra II and Chem II etc. My DS has ADHD and other LD. He has an IEP but frequently the plan cannot be met because the school does not have the staff or the supplies. Ex he is supposed to have a math aid but she was alid off,he is supposed to have a set of books for home but there arent even enought to go around. It is terribly frustrating. You are apparently happy home svhooling or providing the bulk of your child's education. I work full time by necessity. I woluld love the luxury of being home with my kids but it just is not possible for us. I do expect to need to help with my kids education.My problem is that I feel I am now responsible for more of it than the trained teachers who are wel paid to provide it.Some of them had no experience with learing disabled kids and I tried to provide some information but was told by home room teacher she does not have time to treat any child differently and would not have time to read the materials.Youre school system may be perfect.Mine is awful.

I thought an IEP was a 'legal' document- meaning- if it states in the IEP that a child is to be provided with X, and the school does not provide it, they are in essence not supporting the IEP, which is illegal......no? Not familiar with IEP's as neither of my DD's have them...but thats what I thought.

Brandy