My Son's Social Studies Fair Project

[shelbys mommy]

is due....TOMORROW!!! Did he tell us? NO! Now we are working overtime to get him to do his report and the board done. His topic, The History of the New Orleans Saints. I hated doing this crap when I was in school, I refuse to do this for him. This is HIS project for HIS grade. He gets 2 A's for this. Any other parents have this problem of finding out the last possible minute?

 

[metalis4ever]

I used to be that kid LOL Thankfully I had parents like you that made me do it myself which really helped me when I got to college....Not that I procrastinated any less once I got to college haha but I was able to put my nose to the grind and get things done because of it....He'll learn, plus he's got it easy at least he has the internet in our day we had to break out the dusty and outdated almanacs and encyclopedias

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

Thankfully, dd hasn't waited until the night before.....yet. She's only in 4th grade and has only had big projects this year. She did have a Social Studies project about the NC state symbols that had to be a minimum of 28 pages...each page telling about a different symbol. The teacher gave them a month to do it.....she waited until the last week She did work really hard on it that week and got an A+.....but I ranted and raved all week about it.

I , on the other hand, once did a term paper in high school that was 50% of the grade in one day. Typed on an old fashioned typewriter and everything. I guesss I should lay off my dd, huh

 

[shelbys mommy]

Thank god for the internet.

 

[dallastxcpa]

I have 3 procastonators. I feel for you.

 

[C.Ann]

is due....TOMORROW!!! Did he tell us? NO! Now we are working overtime to get him to do his report and the board done. His topic, The History of the New Orleans Saints. I hated doing this crap when I was in school, I refuse to do this for him. This is HIS project for HIS grade. He gets 2 A's for this. Any other parents have this problem of finding out the last possible minute?

I'm confused by the part of your post that I bolded.. Are you helping him? I wouldn't.. In a case like this, I would go with "natural consequences".. If he doesn't get it done - or doesn't get a decent grade - it's all on his shoulders and perhaps the next time he'll take the due date of his project a little more seriously..

 

[RitaZ.]

I used to be that kid LOL Thankfully I had parents like you that made me do it myself which really helped me when I got to college....Not that I procrastinated any less once I got to college haha but I was able to put my nose to the grind and get things done because of it....He'll learn, plus he's got it easy at least he has the internet in our day we had to break out the dusty and outdated almanacs and encyclopedias

For those students that wanted to get an early start, they had to make sure they went to the library before it closed.

In 12th grade, I waited until the last minute to finish writing my paper on Macbeth. I still remember that night and I'm 44 now. I vowed never to do that again. I learned my lesson.

I've been there with my kids. I refuse to do their work.

My DS and DD had their Science Fair projects due in December. Each grade had to turn in their completed project on a specific day. The morning that DS (8th grader) had to turn in his project, DH saw a mom parked in front of the school with the trunk of her SUV opened. She was gluing the project onto the board. Her son just stood there watching her. Maybe she did it to embarrass him in front of the whole school.

 

[shelbys mommy]

I'm confused by the part of your post that I bolded.. Are you helping him? I wouldn't.. In a case like this, I would go with "natural consequences".. If he doesn't get it done - or doesn't get a decent grade - it's all on his shoulders and perhaps the next time he'll take the due date of his project a little more seriously..

I'm looking things up for his report, he's writing it. I'm not doing the work for him. He is just clueless when it comes to searching online for things. Other than that, he is on his own.

 

[Sinderelli]

Oh...I feel your pain. I HATE school projects- and I'm a teacher I have one child who really struggles in school (5th grade) and one child who breezes through it (1st grade). My son would do something like this- "natural consequences" don't work for him- consequences- he doesn't care!! My husband and I are resigned to the fact we will be sitting next to him in high school while he does homework

I love your son's topic My son had to do a SS project in 2nd grade on "An American who has made a significant impact". Guess who he chose? Bobby Hebert!!! It was actually very cute- he brought his poster to Deanie's after one of the home games and Bobby autographed it. The next week, he had my DS on the radio program and went on and on about how Michael had completed a school project on him and he hoped he didn't get an "F"!!!

 

[shelbys mommy]

Both of my boys are very great students. DS9 (who is doing the project) has had 3.78 average for the last 2 9 weeks. DS7 has had a 4.0 average. DS9 just likes to put things off.

My son is a die hard Saints fan. He bleeds black & gold more than any kid I have ever met.

My MIL's church is doing a raffle right now & the winner gets GRAND PRIZE IS A FOOTBALL SIGNED BY SAINTS QUARTERBACK DREW BREES (IN A CASE) ALONG WITH MEDIA GUIDES, PROGRAMS FROM BOTH PLAYOFF GAMES, AND EVEN THE ACTUAL STATS PAGE FROM THE PLAYOFF GAMES.
SIX REEBOK ONFIELD SAINTS JERSEYS WILL ALSO BE RAFFLED.
(Extra jerseys will be sold on the day of the raffle for $45 each, with $10 of the proceeds going to benefit Mrs. Becky)

*sorry for all caps, I copied & pasted. I also have a pic of the football.*

 

[minkydog]

Sorry Mom. I was your kid when I was his age. I would put off everything until the last minute and then break out in a burst of speed to finish it all up. I never got anything less than a B and it drove my mother crazy.

I understand that you want him to do well, but I think you need to stop looking up stuff for him on the internet. How is that not doing his work for him? I know his back is to the wall, but maybe this time he just needs to fail. Natural consequences are just that--it what happens to you when you choose to do or not do something. I think this lesson would go a long way toward giving him some understanding about how procrastination negatively impacts his grades.

Or you could just keep rescuing him from now to kingdom come.

 

[hereyago]

I would let the chips fall where they may instead of looking up stuff for him. But then again, I am a mean mom.

 

[C.Ann]

I understand that you want him to do well, but I think you need to stop looking up stuff for him on the internet. How is that not doing his work for him? I know his back is to the wall, but maybe this time he just needs to fail. Natural consequences are just that--it what happens to you when you choose to do or not do something. I think this lesson would go a long way toward giving him some understanding about how procrastination negatively impacts his grades.

Or you could just keep rescuing him from now to kingdom come.

I totally agree.. It's the same as doing it "for him".. If he were my child, he would be showing up with no project tomorrow - or only what he could have managed to do "on his own" prior to his normal bedtime..

 

[shelbys mommy]

Well other than looking up facts for him, he has done it all. He has sat here at my desk writing facts, cutting, pasting, printing, typing, writing. I'll post the pics after it's done of his progress on the project.

 

[shelbys mommy]

And him not doing well, he was the child who cried when he colored out of the lines just one tiny bit in kindergarten. He knows his back is to the wall & he's is panicking as much as we are on this.

 

[quasar4legs]

My son is still the 'last minute man' and I will never get used to it. I am someone that does not work well under pressure so was always one of those kids that did their work early.

It was tough for me to let go and let my son work it out for himself but those lessons are just as important, if not more important than the content.
It used to annoy me when he would throw something together at the last minute and get a great grade.

Good luck

 

[shelbys mommy]

And here is the finished project!

 

[quasar4legs]

He did a great job, very nice.

 

[melanieRN]

I just had to laugh when I saw your thread. My DD is completing her science project as I type this response. She also waited until the yesterday afternoon to tell me that it is due this morning! Your son did a wonderful job on his project.

 

[shelbys mommy]

Thanks! He's proud, but very tired when it was done & I am very proud of him. I can careless if it makes it to regional or state, as long as he feels like he has done his best, then I am proud of him. And I have to admit, that looks better than ANY project I ever did lol.