A few days ago I was having an online conversation with a couple of moms regarding school. It began with one mom posting her frustration over the amount of 'projects' and wondering how much actual teaching was going on. (Valid question) The conversation between others evolved into a conversation of private vs. charter vs. homeschool vs. public education. In each case, the mom had moved her child out of public education because the child's needs weren't being met or she didn't like what was/wasn't going on. I am not here to debate whether or not we should even have other types of educational settings besides public. Rather to get parents to think before they pull a child out of any type of educational setting. Each type has benefits and serves different purposes. There are reasons to pull your child out, but there times to stay and fight.
The comment that made me think we needed a 'revolt' was "...there was too much necessary busy work." There should never be busy work let alone necessary busy work. Yes, teachers may have a time when they have to get something done, but have the kids read or write! Do your own research about worksheets and the ineffectiveness of them. Ask the teacher the purpose of the busy work. A little aside, during busywork time is when most discipline problems happen.
And about those projects. From a teacher's view they are great. The kids are working independently, then there are the days to 'share' them with the class. It eats up a lot of teaching time. Lesson plans are easy to do. There are times when project learning is good, but not all the time. I hate home projects. I think those should always be questioned, especially in the younger, primary grades and here is why. Either the parent does the project and it looks like it is straight off Pinterest or the child does it independently and it looks like it. Not to mention the expense.
One year, my son had to complete a project at home to represent his group's learning. He was so excited and planned the entire thing out. He wanted to use broccoli for trees etc. We were there to guide but he made the decisions and did it. It looked like a young child did it. As I was dropping him off at school he noticed all the dads walking their projects in. They were beautiful! I was amazed. Blake spoke up and said, I'll leave mine in the car, it looks ugly. I assured him it was beautiful and the teacher would know he did it all. Not to worry! He got out and I cried all the way home. Later when he got his grade, he was counted off for it not being to scale. Really?? So what if the canoes were double the size of the trees. It had all the requirements and he did it! It represented what he had learned.
Don't worry, I learned a valuable lesson. From that time forward any time a project was assigned I called and asked how it would be graded. Would it be taken into account that the child did it, or the parent? What exactly was the teacher looking for? Was it about the learning or the aesthetics? Yes, I was that parent.
Pay attention to what is going on in your child's class. If your child can't state the purpose of something being done, stop and call. Teachers tell me they do some of these things because parents want them. Well then, parents let your voice be heard about what you don't want.
You can do it in a very nice and respectful way. We need to be as concerned about what is going on in our child's class as we are about the new iPhone.
Three things to remember:
Every year of your child's education is critical.
Your child can't afford to have a year filled with 'necessary busy work'.
Your child's time should never be wasted at school.
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