To wonder what year 7 pupils get from building a castle model

[Verycold]

In history? What is the point?? How does it actually improve their higher level history skills?

I live in Canada. Ours have to build Native-American Longhouses and bear caves .

swan I suspect your DS1 would find it really difficult as from what I know about dyspraxia, it effects co-ordination and the ability to plan, the way the brain processes certain information. Did the school not offer any support with it or was it left to you?

Teenandtween, I think I love you!

tween well no because it's not necessarily about making everyone happy, we all have to explore different learning styles to be able to learn new skills and how to utilise them. If someone consistently choses to do essays, they'd miss out on other learning opportunities that allow for a more rounded learning experience.

I thought the idea of learning styles was in fact that people can learn in their own way? So if they thrive on the written word, why stop them.

And I still don't think i am bu, because nobody has convinced me yet

DoYouLike - well I would agree, except that if that's really important then maybe they should do it at school as a team project in the classroom rather than setting it as homework where my daughter if left unguided would produce something that looks like a y2 has produced it, and wouldn't in any way show her knowledge.

How many times should someone have to be asked to construct something before they learn that it doesn't suit their learning style? Surely the teacher should be thinking what the key learning is and try to ensure the homework set enables this to be achieved?

My DD1 has clear dyspraxic traits though we have never had an assessment (long story behind that). Poor planning & organisation skills, poor fine and gross motor skills, poor spatial awareness, fussy about clothes. Which is maybe why I disliked her being set these homeworks so much. Luckily she's in y10 now and has dropped all the tech subjects and gets sensible homeworks these days.

How are they to discover if they like a learning style if they don't take part in it? They're young - there's much they won't have experienced and limiting those experiences just because they 'thrive on the written word' is silly.

No-one is stopping them, they're just trying to engage them in different tasks so as to help them see things from a different view, and like I've already said, learn new skills.

Like I said, even at degree level you need to be able to demonstrate knowledge using different outlets. You can't limit yourself to one. You're not exactly preparing your daughter for further education if you feel she should only have to write.

sorry crossed posts, its taking me an age to type with these nails

I spent years and years in education and never had to do this, why is it suddenly considered to be so desirable??

verycold Because times have changed, we know a lot more about cognitive development (and not just in children).

Well, I don't feel she should only have to write. Actually she's pretty good at presentations, public speaking, singing even.

But by the end of primary it was pretty obvious to anyone who knew her that drawing/construction was not one of her learning styles. She really didn't need another 2 years in secondary to work that one out!

One thing we did try for some time in secondary was mind maps to structure thoughts before writing essays. But despite a lot of trying and practice those don't seem great for her either (too unstructured).

So maybe all we're discussing is up to what point should a pupil be made to use a non-mainstream-for-that-subject learning style when doing homework. (As opposed to trying it in class, using it in a more appropriate subject, optionally being allowed to use it).

The OP needs to get in touch with the teacher to find out the assessment criteria for the task. If they didn't give any either a) they're a crap teacher or b) this is a piece of fun.

Also, learning styles are a big pile of poo. Just google "learning styles are rubbish" and take a look. What matters is that what needs to be learned is presented in the best way to get it learned. An example would be riding a bike; no-one would seriously present a kid with an essay on how to do it, no matter if some half-arsed test showed they liked writing; the best thing is get on the bike, and have some guided learning.

In PE, you don't learn how to kick a ball properly by reading a manual; you'd show the child, possibly run a video too. I can see some interesting applications for ball kicking in physics lessons, though.

As for VAK

Visual: read this
Auditory: listen to this
Kinaesthetic: write this

Good teaching means, among other things, presenting material in a variety of ways that support learning

Echt, and that is my point: I don't believe that this task matches the subject matter to be learnt!

Swanhilda, assuming your DC's teacher hasn't specified particular materials (and very at lolly sticks only!) and hasn't specified size, I'd go with air dry clay and keep it small. Look up Stansted Mountfitchet for ideas (we live an hour away and had visited it twice before the task came up, and it was immensely helpful).

Teachers aren't expecting artistic brilliance - DD1 had to include certain components (the motte, the bailey, the village within, a palisade, some people and a few animals) but outside those criteria they were flexible. DD and her friends decided to put in deliberate anachronisms and make it a 'spot the error' exercise for the teacher - one of the horses was a unicorn, one of the knights was in a gangnam style pose, there was a flipflop on the edge of the well and a surfboard in the river, that sort of thing. The teacher was totally on board. It's amazing what you can do with fondant, I'd never have thought of most of it...

Just incase you need to know how to make a model castle with lolly pop sticks:

Take empty ice cream tub - glue sticks around it and two empty drinks cartons on top to make battlements.
Glue together in a criss cross shape to make a portcullis.
Paint grey! Put tinfoil or blue tissue paper around to make a moat.

You could also use polystyrene and cut into shape as it looks like stone.

OP - I do take your point as I know for a fact that in secondary school the aim is to find the preferred learning style of each individual and allow them to go with that. At that level I don't think it would have effected her learning if she just wrote about it. From what you've said she'll never pursue Art.
If she was much younger I'd disagree but I think I get it now simply because my brain is wired purely one way - arty. And that would have always been my preferred learning style - so why shouldn't it go the other way too.

Thanks Valdeeves

If you're that concerned about the competence of your DD's history teacher then why don't you make use of your superior knowledge and home school her? You obviously believe she's not receiving the education she should be.

I got a 'B' for my next door neighbours castle homework. Chocolate cake castle mmm

Mind you I got an 'A' for the volcano cake - I think it was the working lava flow that did it.

I really don't see the educational value in it - she wasn't told to make a certain type or construction, just 'a castle'. Her teacher mum had actually told her just to draw on a cardboard box, so I suspect she wasn't impressed either.

leventhorpe.net/documents/content/KS3 Humanities Hw Project Castles.pdf

Now that is one impressive task! But a scale model of an existing task? In year 7? Where on earth do you start with that???

Not my dd's school btw, just an example I found!

Very at the cake castles om nom nom.

I have conducted a very non-scientific RL poll and the shocking conclusion is that...teachers know that model-making homework is to test the parents, and give them an opportunity to boast about the marks they get. It's a cunning ploy to engage parents in supporting their children's learning.

The point is that when you build something in 3d you have to really think about where the different elements are in relation to each other. Architecture is central to many periods of history and dictated how people lived and whether they could resist attack. Some people find making things more difficult than others, but 11 is a little young to stop trying to step outside your comfort zone.

11 is a little young to stop trying to step outside your comfort zone.

Any age is too young to stop stepping outside your comfort zone.