why the f do they set "make a model" homework when they know it's the parents that end up having to do it!? grrrrr!!!

[RedOnHerHedd]

Just that really!!!
Make a model of a

Why????
Just why???

They know the kids version will be a pile of crap, and they know that that one kids parent spends a grand on hobbycraft items and makes a scale version of the Taj Mahal.

And your kid's attempt is 2 yogurt pots and a butter carton glued to a box of coco pops.

Why don't they just tell your kids "ok, so your parents homework this weekend is to make a working model of the international space station, complete with the ability to self orbit around the globe".

Guess what I'll be doing tonight!?
Making a fucking model.
Yet again.

Does anyone else remember seeing that brilliant Easter bonnet a couple of years ago? It had a wolf with a wide gaping mouth and murder in its eyes and a little Easter chick looking absolutely petrified. Funniest thing I've ever seen

There was a model-making competition in Reception - that's was my Sunday afternoon taken up.

Quelle surprise - all the winners were children of teachers or PTA!

My P7 is making a model of the Titanic this week but it's all being done in school in groups - she had to bring in a roll of tinfoil this morning as her contribution. Last week she was making up a haiku about the Famine - happy times in school at the minute.

This made me snort!! A model of the Titanic? Ambitious, much?

My DH got congratulated by a teacher for his model once

I know, I'm not really sure how the model Titanic is being assembled, bar some glue guns, empty kitchen rolls and afore mentioned tinfoil. A few years ago the P7s did a stop/motion film of the sinking of the Titanic - it was quality although I think the pupils may have used the film as their main inspiration - Celine Dion provided the background music, there was a bobble head Leo and a Kate Winslet inspired Lego figure. You can tell this term in P7 is the one after all the post primary transfer test debacle. We're in NI.

You can make a model of pretty much anything in Minecraft you know, and print a screen shot.

I let DC do this once each per academic year. Its sooooo much easier :)

Yanbu. Even if you don't make it for them you have to buy some extra craft supplies so they can make it.

Parents not parents'

May dancer

Writing your child's English lit coursework?! Can't believe you think that's acceptable!

Momamum that picture always raises a smile for me

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/937597-Sinister-Easter-bonnet

I remember when DS was in Foundation 2, so was aged three, coming up on four, at the time.

The homework was "make a boat from recycled materials" so we did, out of a box, a toilet roll tube, some bent bits of cardboard, a cutout photo of DS stuck onto more cardboard as Captain of the boat, and probably a half tonne of sellotape to get it all to stay together. It looked very much like we had sellotaped the contents of the bin together and painted the word "boat" on it because we had

We arrived at school at the same time as his classmate, whose Dad was carrying a perfect scale model of the Titanic, complete with a tiny Jack and Rose at the front doing that flying thing.

There is no way in the world that child had even touched that model. His Dad was carrying the boat like it was a newborn baby and you could see the dilemma on his face when they stuck it in the centre of the display area. On the plus side, it was in pride of place. On the negative, it was just the right height to get poked at and messed with.

They had to practically shove him out the door that morning, otherwise I think he might still be standing there guarding it.

Help your kids with their homework - within reason, but if you think that the amount / difficulty of school set homework is becoming such that it must be all the other parents that are doing the homework for their kids, then speak to the head of year at the school. All the parents are probably feeling the same as you.

Many schools now open up the idea of project-based homework by giving children a list of options to choose from, all based around a particular theme, e.g space. The options cover a range of subjects and skill sets, so the child can choose the project which most interests them. It means that homework is not always writing or maths, and the more open-ended projects take away the competitive element.

So far example, for the topic of space which a PP mentioned, , children might have the option of building a model of the solar system or the ISS, but other options could include writing a story based on being an astronaut or exploring a particular planet, or making a poster with drawings and facts, or inventing a physical game which could be played on the moon in reduced gravity, or designing a scientific experiment which could be carried out on the space station, or writing a poem about a planet, or working out what the length of a planet's year depends on, or making a powerpoint/prezi about an aspect of space, or acting out a drama based on the moon landings, or research about black holes, or making a meal which could be eaten by astronauts... the possibilities are endless really, and there's certainly room for allowing children to come up with their own project ideas.

I think a previous poster is right to say that the pressures of SATS mean that there's rarely time in school to devote whole days to project work like this, which is a shame. Still, those 7- year-olds aren't going to teach themselves about subordinate clauses and co-ordinating conjunctions!

My dd never had any help from me with these projects - she wanted to do it for herself. However she always felt a bit deflated when all the mum/dad -made offerings were brought in and were oohed and aahed over while her childish attempt was ignored. I know it was the parents who made the great ones because they are friends and talked all about how much time they had spent on it and what an effort it was for them etc. YANBU op.

I don't think the homework is too difficult - I just think the parents should butt out and let the child do it, even if that means it looks like the contents of the dustbin sellotaped together (thanks for the image Hygge).

Dd has these every term. The first one was based on Brunei and could be anything. She did a drawing of one of his bridges and it was Brilliant. We went into school for the parents display and were confronted with scale bridges made out of wood and metal complete with suspension roles etc. There is no way 10 year old made them. Some of them were massive!!

The second was on space. Dd did some paintings of planets which I thought were great. Got to school to find scale models of the fucking space station and other seriously complex models clearly not made by the child.

It's a pointless waste of time but I will continue to let dd make her own projects and do her own designs. I give her praise for doing them and she understands that it's pointless worrying about what other people do because she's done it herself and done her best.

Over the years, with two dc I've had castle, Viking ship, shield, space and bridge.

Why is it a 'waste of time', I don't understand why researching and designing and creating can be a waste of time? So is there no need for art and design then?

I personally think being involved and interested in your child's life is not a particularly radical idea. School life is a big part of their life as they get older so to me it's just like being interested in your partner's work, their ambitions, their hobbies etc. I always had my parents' help and support in school life so I don't find it a modern, 'curious' thing!

I was interested and also prepared to help and advise, or clarify if required. But I am shit at art and all things related and my children inherited my talent. So that made any form of model-making absolute torture as far as we were concerned. Schools don't run parents' evenings on how to design and build a Norman castle (unlike maths or English where everything is taught and explained to death to get you involved), they just expect you to be able to do it.

I've only done 3, ever. I tried to get the kids interested, but they just weren't. I barely managed to get them to contribute.

felicity, thank you for the link to the Easter bonnet. I see that docket has it as her profile pic? It still hasn't lost the power to make me laugh

Thanks again

I personally think being involved and interested in your child's life is not a particularly radical idea. School life is a big part of their life as they get older so to me it's just like being interested in your partner's work, their ambitions, their hobbies etc. I always had my parents' help and support in school life so I don't find it a modern, 'curious' thing!

We'll leave aside for the moment the idea that twatting around with models amounts to being interested in your child's life and that, conversely, not twatting shows the opposite, and focus on that last sentence. I mean, heaven forfend someone be interested but really bad at crafts, or not have money in the budget for materials. You always had parental help with school stuff, so it's normal to do the same for your children. Can you see how this might leave children who don't have parents who were raised to see parents helping with homework as normal at an even greater and preventable disadvantage?

I think your DC should make a ration book out of a little notepad/lots of folded bits of paper stapled. Easy to google an image and copy it out. Or the National Identity Papers for an under 16 year old. the outside could be dyed with an old damp teabag to get the brown (or use brown paper if you have it. then it would be all your DC's work no parent effort except the inspiration. And your DC could add their own details to the card to make it look even more authentic to them. Here

I was always itching to help with any school craft projects, DD wouldn't let me

*MadamCroquette - absolutely agree. So narrow minded and parochial to ignore every other culture out there (but no real surprise given the party in power)

I'm all for recognising the variety of skills that children but I refuse to spend much time, money or effort on encouraging my kids to stick some cardboard boxes together in the shape of an animal just to tick some Government box. If it's so valuable to their learning they can do it in school time - although I'd rather they focused on something more productive and important.