Moms Talk: Do You Do Your Child's Big School Projects For Them?

The Alpharetta Milton Moms Council gets emails each week with questions from readers on which they would like to hear our opinion. After we offer your thoughts, we turn it over to the readers in the community. Please add your comments and thoughts at the end of the article in the comments section. If you would like to submit a question or topic, please email the author.

This is the email question that we received from a reader this week.

Why do teachers assign big projects for elementary school kids? They seem to be really aimed at the parents. Do you know any kid who actually does his or her own diorama or poster board or science experiment, etc? I am curious if any kids actually do their own! 
 

Q:  When your child turns in school projects, are they mostly your work or mostly the child's work? What do you think about these big assignments?

A: I have only helped with a school project to any real degree twice between all 3 kids. And I was motivated because I really valued the project and could see a real learning opportunity in it for them.

I have always been of the camp of "let it be their own, let it look like theirs, let it be between the child and the teacher." But I admit that on those two occasions, I saw my kids take a real interest in it because of my involvement and enthusiasm. Again, I was passionate about it, not determined my kid will get a good grade, otherwise they would have hated my being involved. While I went above and beyond to provide them the resources and time, they still did all the hands-on work themselves. But I did very much help in their thought process and organizing a plan of action. And they truly benefited from the pride of taking in a project they were really proud of. I was hopeful this would inspire them to push themselves to the same level next time. I look back and wish I had the inside knowledge, time, etc. to do this more often, but I simply don't

I do believe it should be the student's project, but yes, I believe most of them really lack the "go get 'em" and creative skills necessary to produce an inspiring project. In recent years, I have seen more teachers start to put more emphasis on school time work/projects and less at home. I believe it is to level the playing field, and the division between those with fancy resources (and parent help) and those without. I would prefer one big project that takes place over months whereby the teacher carves out class time to accomplish it. When they can be walked through the process together, step by step and avoid a sloppy "get it done for the sake of the deadline" completion, I believe everyone can walk away with a project they can be proud of. The teacher should help each student to complete it according to their interests and talents. I would like to see more of this. -Audrey Greenwood, mom of 3

A: Our daughter is in second grade and already she has a lot of rather large projects and book reports due frequently. I don't really mind as I want to be extremely involved in her school work because we are not fond of the school she is attending at this time. In my opinion I don't think that it is just the teacher's responsibility to guide and teach our children it is also that of the parents. So when a big project comes home we make it a family project and help her from start to finish (mind you with her doing the majority of the work).- Lori Salata, mom of 2 

A: We have had several projects come through our house over the last six years. Overall, I do not mind them. I enjoy spending the time with my kids working together on a  project. We typically get into them and end up spending a lot of time together working on them. I do think that many are so parent guided that they do become much of our work as adults rather than the kids work. 

I do wonder how others get them done. It often seems like the kids have 2 weeks to get them completed. This is a tight schedule for families two have multiple kids, sports, working parents, etc. I also wonder about the cost affect on families who struggle to afford the basics as it is. These projects usually end up costing us money at Micheal's or other local stores in supplies. I feel fortunate in that we can afford the items we need and have the flexibility and time to help our kids.But, I do feel for those who do not have that ability. -Tammy Bester, mom of 3.