Fess up! How much do you "help" with their projects?

[AnyDream]

This weekend, DD had a particularly bad pile-up of a term-long project and two others besides - and I still have black paint under my fingernails and a hungover feeling from the late night last night.

This is the first time I have ever needed to help DD in such a hands-on manner, just to get thru the amount of work needed. This included things like me painting all the black diorama bits, helping with cutting out, gluing every thing into place after she arranged it (while she worked on something else) - not to mention all the prior work I had done sourcing the library books, brainstorming (read = generating ideas), proof reading, helping her to divide tasks into lists, etc etc. Might I add the goading to get cracking on it started probably about 4 weeks ago but she had only done bits of some tasks and nothing of others. She is in Grade 6 so I insisted on title page and reference list, and pointed out to her the gaps in what she had done, but the rest of it was her usual standard of work.

I don't remember doing any projects of this scope at the same age (diorama plus 4 other written tasks incl maps, illustrations, diagrams - plus research plan design build and evaluate a "unique" tool that could be used to pan for gold IRL)- and I wonder how much other mums "help" with the school projects?

[Fleur]

Lol, what timing MD - I was talking to a friend of mine this morning who helped her DD all weekend with one that was due today, and she said there was a lot of as her DD would have been quite happy to let her do the lot!

And my DD had an oral presentation this morning that she was still writing at 7:30 so I pitched in a fair bit with that.

I know I shouldn't - especially at DD's age she should be more on the ball - but I also know what it's like to be stuck for ideas

She just texted me - she got an 'A'

As for the boys, they are even worse. I think sometimes it can be a bit daunting & they don't know where to start. So I try to offer suggestions that will lead them to another point ITMS, so they still have to think about it.
But yes, there are times when I have a fair bit of input

[diannescruffy]

I hear ya Marydean, DS14 is a classic for leaving homework/projects till the last minute, I practically ask him everyday when he gets home from school if he has homework otherwise it gets done the night before it's due. Last week one evening he asks me what I know about Ned Kelly, you guessed it, he had to write an essay that was due the next day . DS11 and DD8 are totally the opposite they do their homework the day they get it.

Regards,
Dianne

[Roryrory]

My mum once wrote a science project for me - it was a comnpletely fabricated "experiment" with two mice (exposing them to heat, cold, etc and observiong them). She did it under protest when I had nothing to hand in the day it was due.

It won an $8 prize. She made me give her the money. At the time I thought it was unfair of her to insist on this

[AnyDream]

It won an $8 prize. She made me give her the money. At the time I thought it was unfair of her to insist on this

I have already told DD she's buying me a thankyou gift at the Haighs shop

[Turkish Delight]

i guess it depends on the age really. DS is only 8 and i think this is an age where they need help on how, where, what to find the info, ideas, presentation, explained about plaigarism (etc..). We do it together. He finds the info and we both do the presentation of it.

I was never helped with projects or homework as my parents don't speak english and they did not even finish primary school.

I will help DS til about high school, which is another 2 years away and then he's on his own.

[widdly]

I was never ever helped with homework as my mum was always too busy with my younger sisters. I hated it when a particular girl in the class in high school would come in with these awesome projects that her mum did and get A's for them and the rest of the class would get told we needed to work to a higher standard.

I will be helping DS with projects but I certanly wont be doing it for him

[Pandora]

Thats sounds like a lot of work for a grade 6 project.
My parents extent of helping us with assigments was taking us to the library, showing us how to use the reference section and explaining the difference between using a reference to develop or explain and idea and plagiarism.
I never had to do anything where building of things or construction/assembly was required though.

[nic]

I am quite lucky at the moment to have a child who is bursting with ideas as to what to do before she has even walked outside the school gate! She insists that I take her to the cheap shop for supplies straight away, and if I suggest we go home and she can brainstorm for a few minutes beforehand, then I get the feeling I am dragging her down lol.

We have helped her once with a Melbourne cup hat, when she was in grade 2, and we were using a hot glue gun to stick everything together. We help with things like "Hold this here for a second mum"

When she has to write or draw etc, she will either get on the computer and type it out, or handwrite it out herself. she will always bring it to us to spellcheck, and if she gets anything wrong, we tell her there is a word wrong, and see if she picks up on which word it is. I never give it to her straight away. If she doesn't see the mistake, we tell her, and ask her what did she miss? Most times she works it out herself, and if she doesn't we then say, ok, you got the first 3 letters right, the last few need fixing. (This applies to her homework as well) MIL is huge on telling DD and niece what they spelt wrong and tells them the correct spelling straight away, I prefer her to work it out herself.

Last year while we were away for a weekend, DD went out into my parents garden and took some flower photo's with her little point and shoot camera. I was having a nap at the time, and when i woke, she had convinced my mum to take her to Harvery Norman to print the pics, then take her to the newsagent to get some cardboard so she could do a collage of photo's to enter the school's art competition. she even had nanny whip out her scrapbooking supplies for pens and whatever else it was that she used. She got a Highly Commended for her collage...so proud..and all while I napped with DS.

I'm sure it will change over the next few years though...

[Trillian]

WOW MD! That is a huge project, no wonder you have been riding her about it. I bet there will be more than a few kids that don't get it all done, or at least only do a half hearted attempt. DS has only had two big projects - 1 in yr 1 and another in yr 2. We research together on the net etc because I don't want him trawling the internet on his own LOL. Then he tells me what he wants printed out and I went through and get the information out and wrote it in a way that was understandable for his age level, otherwise it would have looked to the teacher like he just wrote it word for word kwim? Then the rest is up to him. He wrote it all out, cut out pictures, or drew pictures/diagrams and then he stuck it all on himself. I think that my involvement was pretty minimal, as it should be I saw some of the other kids projects and you could tell who had their parents do the entire thing or did most of it. One parent did tell me once that she does the lot for them because she doesn't have time to waste helping them research a project and put it together! But he is in yr4 now and I think he is more than capable of dong a research project on his own now, but if it was something of the size that your DD is doing, then I would help a little bit

[Turkish Delight]

geez, i so wish i could go back to those years and do projects. I used to love doing them. But then again i was and still am a bit of a nerd

just after i submitted my other post i went 2 years, til high school?

[krysalyss]

won an $8 prize. She made me give her the money. At the time I thought it was unfair of her to insist on this

Ha ha Rory! All animal experiments (even like this) need to pass by an animal ethics committee. Does that mean she would also have fronted the fine if someone pointed that out, or maybe just fessed up that she made it up. LOL!!!

[AnyDream]

just after i submitted my other post i went 2 years, til high school?

Oh yeah, I've had this moment a number of times this year. I'm in total denial. Luckily for us high school doesn't start until grade 8...feel like I've had a year's reprieve