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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To have judged about half of my daughters class

324 replies

fernie3 · 11/10/2010 22:10

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 Blush 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?

OP posts:
stoatsrevenge · 11/10/2010 23:24

Hmm at all the excuses on here! Peeling labels off tines takes so little time!

Nevertheless, I too think this is stupid homework for a 6 year old, as so few tins show country of origin of the product. (Just checked this and our tin of rhubarb was ' packed at ASDA in Leeds'!) Also, the print on the labels is SO small that very few 6 year olds could decipher it, and even fewer 6 year olds could actually find the relevant information.

Clothes are much more reliable for findng country of origin!

Original poster
fernie3 · 11/10/2010 23:25

Appletrees I thought it sounded like a really fun activity for them which is why i wanted to get some from different countries for her. They have lots of this sort of thing another one was drawing around their bodies and labelling the main parts its better than just reading it out to them.

OP posts:
MoreCrackThanHarlem · 11/10/2010 23:25

Unfortunately, loopyloops, we have half a class who never have the right things
Not enough hours in the day to read with them all

I agree with TFM that a lot of these parents have hostile attitudes to education because of their own difficult background, but at what point do they have to begin to take responsibility? Personal/family background is a potential reason for inadequate parenting, but not an excuse for it imo

LoopyLoops · 11/10/2010 23:28

:(

sue52 · 11/10/2010 23:41

Fernie3 Maybe their parents were knackered having been up half the night making a sundial for one of their other DCs to take to school for yet another project and forgot the labels.

MillyR · 11/10/2010 23:45

I can't see the educational benefit of and adult peeling the labels off food and giving them to the child to take into school. A lot of food labels have no pictures and many 6 year olds will not have particularly good reading skills. It would seem more sensible to have food in the classroom and the children match up the food with where in the world it comes from. .

I can see that a parent following a teacher's instructions shows that the parent supports the school, but it isn't really an educational experience between the parent and the child so I think there are a lot of more direct ways than a parent could support their child's education.

sanfairyann · 11/10/2010 23:46

but 6 and 8 year olds can get their own stuff ready for school - well I make mine do it anyhow. this year I've given up on listening to them read as well - same book for a bl*y week, read cover to cover on day one, won't give us any more cos then they'd run out of books! yawn yawn yawn. we've got our own investigations and experiments to do when they're out of school - that's our time, not school time.

Appletrees · 12/10/2010 01:07

No it's silly -- as Millyr says it's better for the teacher to have a load of stuff from different countries and do it there.

This ensures

a. parents AGAIN doing the work
b. no guarantee which countries or even if there'll be more than one
c. no guarantee parents will take part so the whole thing can go wrong
d. too much classroom time wasted faffing about with collecting labels and sharing out labels and IN CLASS time sorting out which countries they can talk about
e. too much parental time utterly wasted

this is better either for Y6-7 in a more focussed way ie we are doing Asia so bring in your tinned mangoes OR for the teacher to bring in a typical food basket and prepare the lesson properly

Appletrees · 12/10/2010 01:11

and I absolutely agree with all the comments about how it's unfair to expect all parents to join in with enthusiasm

lessons should not be planned on the basis that parents will take an active part

for six year olds, it's hardly difficult to devise a social geography lesson that doesn't involve parents joining in

Appletrees · 12/10/2010 01:12

and this is from a devoted label peeler, metaphorically speaking -- it's the unfortunate kids from unfortunate backgrounds who suffer when parents are relied on too much and it's simply not fair

colditz · 12/10/2010 01:17

I don't often buy food that has labels on. Apples off the market don't have labels on. Meat from the butcher doesn't have labels on. If I dind't have pasta in the house, that parent who 'didn't care could have been me.

Wanting your children to have a wholesome diet doesn't mean you don't care whether or not they learn geography!

LadyFantastic · 12/10/2010 01:24

I don't understand these YABU's. It is homework. The child needs to impress on the parent how important it is and the parent can at least provide 2 or 3.

Colditz maybe you would have sent in a note: apples from Market in where ever... Meat from Butcher's...
YANBU but sometimes these things happen.

colditz · 12/10/2010 01:26

No, I really would not have sent in a note. The homework specified labels. The labels would have been sent in, if hygienic and available. I am not sending in notes to cover why I haven't done a child's homework for him/her.

Appletrees · 12/10/2010 02:21

"The child needs to impress on the parent" -- what?

the child is six!

the child might not care
the child might have misunderstood
the child might not have heard
the parent might be unwilling to be impressed
the child should see the parent as an authority figure not someone to be told off

PadmeHum · 12/10/2010 05:40

Appletrees - of course something would be learned. The children would learn where there food came from.

PadmeHum · 12/10/2010 05:47

This thread is quite astounding.

If a parent cannot play an enthusiastic part in their childs' education who on this great green earth is going to?

Bloody lazy if you ask me.

Biscuit
proudnscary · 12/10/2010 06:30

I'm on the fence.

I agree it's a shame and a bit worrying if parents aren't actively interested in their kids' education - but really there are so many other reasons these parents might not have done this activity. I am madly interested in my dc's schooling but like all of us, I have a million and one things to do each week, I have a full time job, blah blah and sometimes the odd school things slips through the net.

mathanxiety · 12/10/2010 06:40

It wouldn't even have to be labels -- the teacher could have asked for pictures of food or ads for certain brands from magazines.

I'm one of the mums who always sends extra stuff in if it's asked for. YANBU but what are you going to do? Folks is folks.

Littlebylittle, I agree with you here.

Panzee · 12/10/2010 06:42

I've taught this lesson. I went though my cupboards and brought my own.

dilemma456 · 12/10/2010 06:43

Like proudnscary I'm undecided.

On the one hand it was unreasonable of the teacher to set a task that relied so much on parental goodwill. She should have at the very least asked other staff to contribute one or two labels each in case children forgot for some reason.

Other the other hand its sad that some parents feel so very little involvement in their children's education. DP and I work full time but always try to send in the requested items. For example we had a letter demanding half a dozen used stamps for the next day last week. DP drove DD back to his office (half hour each way) and they took a big pile of them off the desk as the office always saved them.

A basket was passed round during assembly and children put them in. DD realised some of her friends didn't have any so shared hers round. I told her how proud I was of her for sharing and what a kind thing it is to do and I think that is what you should emphasise with you DD

activate · 12/10/2010 06:45

you people are mad - I will assume that the 6 year old is your oldest child or you don't have children out of primary

stuff like this is an abysmal way to teach and the teacher should know better

and then to judge other parents for not knowing or not being able to take part is frankly pathetic

activate · 12/10/2010 06:47

and there's the rub

schools ask for this crap the next day

last night I was driving DS3 around supermarkets trying to get fucking strawberries that he mentioned at 7pm and needed next day

stupid teachers

AlgebraKnocksItUpANotchBAM · 12/10/2010 07:58

YANBU. it's homework, and homework should be done. I doubt that many people in the class had a valid reason for not doing it.

OTOH teacher should've had spares. And IMO no homework or request should ever be given with only one night to do it.

camdancer · 12/10/2010 08:16

Get used to it. It'll be the same people bringing stuff in and getting involved for the whole time she is in school. I was always the child who brought everything in, just as the teacher asked - my Mum felt it was important. It gets embarrasing being the goody two shoes who does everything.

But fast forward to now. Preschool asked parents to bring in things for their shop. Guess what, I was one of only 4 parents to bring anything in.

It's just one of those things. Some people want to support their child's learning in this way, others don't think it is important.

AlpinePony · 12/10/2010 08:18

YANBU - thank goodness you've got so much time on your hands.