To have judged about half of my daughters class

[fernie3]

Or their parents that is. They are 6 and they came home with a letter saying could we cut the labels off foods so that the children wouod make a map of where the food they eat came from....with the implication being that they needed to bring a little bunch each as they were going to have their own maps.

So i spent a week peeling labels off things which looked interesting for her to take, she came home that day and she had only had one label to stick on her map because the teacher had had to share her labels out to people that didn't bring any - so that means at least 10 children hadn't brought any at all.

Now I know it's stupid and petty and maybe i just have label rage from spending so long trying to peel labels off jars without ripping them or making the writing hard to read but it's not that hard is it just cut out a label or two and drop it in the book bag...

The teacher couldn't have done the original plan without the labels and the children get the message that it's optional to do these things.

AIBU to feel a bit judgey?

boooyhoo, have returned to this very late because I have been working, but feel I have to respond to 'its called progress' comment! I simply have to disagree.

Being expected to peel fricking labels on top of all the other work I have to do keeping the family together is indeed not progress in my eyes.

Adding my children's education at home - by doing activities, reading discussing maths, science - no problem I do this anyway. Supporting homework when there is an issue -again, yes support.

Contributing to someones elses lesson plan - and actually the completion of that lesson being dependent on my completion of said activity. Sorry no I actually do not have that time. I have my own job to do, and my own family activities to complete and don't quite have enough for that as it is.

sorry snowmama, i was referring to your point about having had no parental involvement in your own homework, not specifically peeling labels off tins. i meant parental involvement in general.

No probs. Have had a bad day and was feeling grumpy.

Even that point has a bit of a twist. Both my parents were teachers, but were very keen that we learnt things on our own (but provided support when needed). It worked for us - but possibly not all.

I completely agree with snowmama.

i can totally see where it can work well with that approach. i have to say when i got older (late primary/early secondary) my mum changed her job which meant she was retraining and just didn't want to be bothered with our work once she had spent so long with her own (understandably) but i found it became easier to not bother with homework. she asked if it was done and i said yes, knowing she wasn't going to check and assuming it wasn't a big deal for her if it wasn't done (that's just the impression i got) i do think it had a knock on effect on me as i still now find it hard to apply myself for any considerable amount of time but that of course could just be inbuilt

with 4 kids and a full-time job I sincererly object to teachers thinking they can set me homework

fuck off will ya

I think that's down to personality to an extent. My mother did however do a wonderful line in scaremongering and basically convinced me from quite an early age that if I didn't work hard at school my life would be completely shit, but fundamentally it was my life to ruin if I wanted to. Therefore I was never nagged to work hard or do homework but I did.

I still think this particular task was rubbish and homework for 6 year olds (and their parents) is nonsense.

Interesting that some parents lives are so busy they can't cut out labels, yet find time to post stuff on mumsnet!

I could cut labels, but I won't. And as the labels on our food would be about 85% UK, the resultant map wouldn't be very interesting.

Silly teacher!

Georgimama, completely. I won't either. I get to mumsnet when I have my cup of tea /watch half an episode of something on the telly...

...it is my free time and is not time I intend to use to complete someone else's work.

booohoo - i know what you mean about ensuring kids complete their homework, but to me a little different from me having to actively contribute to the homework/activity etc.

I'm a teacher too and I would have made a back up plan because parents are busy people and they often forget (although I would have checked who had one a few days earlier and reminded those that didn't).

Hopefully your child's class teacher made a fuss about your child saying how kind she was to share her labels (usually takes away any sting of having to share).

Don't think it's worth getting too annoyed at, and as another poster pointed out the teacher will know next time they ask for pupils to bring in things from home.

Mummy2Robbie

"I sincerely object to teachers thinking they can set me homework, fuck off will ya"

ho ho, norty but nice
very norty really but funny

Oh god, yes yes yes to fuck off I did homework when I was at school and I'm not interested in doing it now!

This thread is crap.

Kids go to school. Kids get homework.

Parents should help kids with homework. End of.

Parents aren't absolved of parental responsibility when they enter the school gates.

I have no support. I have three children one with epilepsy and possibly coeliac disease (no additives, no gluten, no wheat - mealtimes are a nightmare).

I work full time in a demanding job. My head is like a box of frogs, I struggle with anxiety and am lonely and hassled a lot of the time.

I still take the time to help my kids with their homework.

As a child who's parents could give a flying fuck, as a child who never, ever had the right things on the right day and was left out because I was the only one who wasn't in pyjamas on pyjama day. I make this my TOP priority, because I know how utterly crap it is to be the kid of the parents who can't be bothered.

Arghhhhhhh.....

Should and ought don't make bread.

You can't leave behind the children whose parents don't, so you have to build the curriculum around that. Why is that so difficult to understand?

Well said Padme

I agree Appletrees with that entirely Appletrees. What I don't agree with is the many parents on this thread who can't be bothered as they are too busy/too disorganised/too tired/can't be arsed/

Too many Appletrees' in that sentence.

I have no problem accepting and understanding those things. But I can see how your situation has led you to a different view.

Padme - I DO help my children with their homework, what I don't always remember to do is cut things up while I'm cooking dinner, or remember not to throw the empty cereal box in the recycling etc when I'm tidying the kitchen.

I've only once forgotten a dressing up day at school, and my children have never missed out on any out of school/paid for activities because of late slips/money back (though DS1 nearly missed out on the pantomime in December this year as he didn't give me the letter straight away! cue lots of tears yesterday when I read the letter and showed him that I needed to have got the slip back yesterday morning - and he only gave me the letter after school. Thankfully a quick call to the school, and having known the secretary for years meant he can go!).

Thankfully the schools are very good at making sure any activity which requires "materials" to be brought in/used.

My disorganisation/tiredness (insomnia doesn't help ) isn't an excuse. It's a fact, and it drives me insane at times. I would LOVE to be more organised remembering things, and it's not been for lack of trying over the last 6yrs. Oh how I would love to be one of those parents who has everything in order, and such like.

eek - missed out the rest of my second from last paragraph! I meant to say that those activites are managed and planned in such a way that no child misses out.

Hey MaMoTTat, my post wasn't directed at you per se.

I am sorry if you though it was. I am probably over sensitive to this topic and that shone through.

To give some context. When I was growing up, my mother took benign neglect to a whole new level and as a result I have a "thing" about being on top of school stuff. I can honestly say that she never attended a single parent interview, she never attended even one single sports events and rarely helped me with my homework and never helped with even one project (in all 12 years I was at school!). My dad was a bit better he helped me build stuff and even once made me a dancing outfit - this was because my mum was so out of it she couldn't do it for me. Sadly - the fact that Dad had to do it for me made me feel worse. I just couldn't understand why my mum was the only one who never contributed a jot to anything in my life.

You clearly care about your kids very deeply - I would have given anything for a mum who cared and I truly would not have given a toss if she was a bit disorganised. As I say, my mum just didn't care and as a child I was painfully aware of this.

I truly did not intend to upset you or make you feel worse about the things going in your life and hope that the little bit of context makes my POV a bit easier to understand.

x

It's gonna spund harsh but...

Got time to post on MN = got time to cut off a couple of lables.

Can't be arsed to do it? Fine.

But it is what it is. can't pretend otherwise.