How much do you help with projects?

My son got his first project. He has to make a time line of events in his life.

The steps are : Pick photos, print them, cut them out, glue them in a time line format, and then write a description of the even in the time line.

Except for printing them, my expectation is that he do all of the rest with minimal help from me.

Am I nuts?

 

Your DS is a year older than my kids, but I wouldn't expect them to do most of that on their own (though it would be nice!). For their birthday they had to do a "life story" book. The teacher provided a blank book with about 8 pages, and we were supposed to paste in one photo (or drawing) from each year and write a little caption. DH or I went through our photo album with the girls, they chose the photos, we pasted them in, then they dictated the captions and we wrote them.

Plus, of course, we had to sit them down and say "We're going to do your life story books now." If we had left that part up to them, they would simply have not been done. (As it was, Amy did hers the night before their birthday -- she was supposed to have time to practice "reading" it to the class, but she never wanted to work on it when we suggested it earlier.)

Anyway, projecting a year in advance, I would expect that at 7, my kids would be able to do most of those actual tasks (except the printing), but I would have to make sure they planned time to work on it, and probably enforce when it was time to sit down and do it.

 

He's about 1 1/2 years older than my girls, so I think he should pretty much be able to do it on his own (aside from printing, although given another year or so I suspect mine will print stuff on the PC). I do agree that you probably should help him plan his work.

 

I wouldn't fully expect him to be able to do it on his own either. If it is your goal to have him do it himself, definitely help him plan it all out first, then show him where everything should go and ask him what he would like to say, so you can help him phrase it. Neatness counts, and I am guessing he is in 1st grade, correct? At this age. they will definitely still need some help. My DD, Peyton, is in 1st too, and I know I'd help her too.

 

My boys did a timeline like in first or second grade. I helped them find and print the pictures, and they did do the rest. Now I was nearby to prompt them through it. But I did not write or do any of that for them. Both projects were different quality, in that one of my boys is much more meticulous than the other, but that was OK. One of the reasons so many teacher don't do projects anymore is that the parents do it for the kids.

 

I don't help. I hated projects when I was in school, and I still hate them now. I would do the printing (they don't use my computer). Once DD1 wrote such a long report (4 pgs; only one was assigned) that I did have DS2 type it for her so that she would have room for it on the display board. (That might sound lazy, but he types about 100 wpm or more, so it's actually more efficient if he types and I print.)

This does mean that my less artistic child's projects look very much like she made them herself. As it should.

 

This is how I usually feel about most projects. That doesn't mean I won't answer questions & provide guidance if they ask for it, but I feel like if the teacher assigns them a project, it should mean that it is age appropriate for them to be able to complete it & that she is expecting to receive age appropriate work. I see projects that kids bring in all the time where it is obvious that the parent has done most of the work & I feel like the kids just don't learn much from that.

 

My girls did that same assignment themselves last year. They did it mostly by themselves. They choose the pictures and I taught them how to print them. They decided on the layout (one cut her poster board in half and taped the two halfs together to make it a line, the other decided to make it snake around the square. I provided them with information about how old they were in the pictures and what was happening as necessary and they wrote it in marker themselves.
Where we live mothers seem to do most of the project for most of the kids and I hate that--I've already finished primary school I have no need to do these assignments. My children however are the ones who are supposed to be learning from them. If it's something they absolutely can not do by themselves, I think I'd talk to the teacher, and let her know I don't think the project is age appropriate. (But I'm one of those nightmare parents, who thinks she could actually do the teacher's job. :tomato: )

 

I printed the pictures because we are out of ink at home so I did it at work. I swear we always run out of ink when I need to print labels for christmas cards. I think it is age appropriate for him to cut, glue and write. When he sits and takes his time, the work is pretty good. I don't mind being nearby to answer questions or provide suggestions on how to make life easier. Once we read about the project and I broke down the steps for him, he came up with an idea of how he wanted to do it. We are going to go with that.

 

I TOTALLY agree with you! You are NOT nuts! You go girl! Boy, the more you can get your child to do his/her own projects the better off they will be in the long run. You'll watch their confidence build and soar when they complete it. I think we as parents often underestimate our child's abilities. We step in far too often and add to their projects to make them even better. Unfortunately over the long run, this undermines what our children are doing. They will lose confidence in their own abilities. You are so smart to recognize this early on! I bet the project turns out darling!

I will however, be available for them to show me what they are doing, let them bounce ideas off me and to provide lots of encouragement and praise.

Good Luck!

 

In a project like this I do think some help would be needed. We help the girls research for their projects. They have one coming up about weather that we will assist with the research.