to be seriously tempted to tell dd she doesn't have to do her project?

[emkana]

She's not even eight yet.
She's in Yr 3.
The project is about climate zones (yawn).

ooh...sounds interesting

YANBU.

But then I'm not the one to ask, I did half of DS's hw last week (Y5).

Why do you want to tell her she doesn't have to do it - is the desire stemming from you or her?

She's not motivated. There are 101 things she normally fills her time with which are more interesting/productive. It is a waste of valuable family time IMO.

What does she have to do? Can you get away with googling it and printing something off the internet and taking it in?

Choose a climate zone. Write at least one page each on the weather there, the seasons, the people who live there, the houses, the vegetation, the animals.

Use own words, don't just copy.

YANBU
Ds in yr 3 and has some boring projects that I end up helping
Sometimes i think whats the point he is`nt bothered

That's how I feel about much of DS's hw Emkana.

well you know,as she gets older she'll get more.....and it ALL takes up valuble family time!! think you'd better get used to the idea of homework!!

That's a lot for Y3.

Do it for her, we'll help

I think that is far too much homework.

I cheered when DS2s (Y4) teacher opened her "meet the teacher" session this year by saying "I am not a project teacher and I don't expect parents to do their kids' homework" YES! Set a time limit then get your DD to hand in what SHE has done in that time.

Emkana, I am soooo with you this evening!
Ds1 has pretty much done the entire project this evening although he was apparently working on it all week.
French Revolution. I have been sitting on his shoulder spelling M-A-R-I-E A-N-T-O-I-N-E-T-T-E over and over and over........

bloody hell - yr 3? How long were they given to do it in? That sounds like a 'whole of the summer holidays' job to me..

They were given one month, of which one week is the half-term break

If she does 15 mins every few days or so though, she should be able to manage that in one month... Do big pictures

oh and some rainfall/hours of sunshine graphs...

Could you just do our climatic zone, and write about your family, farm animals and the local weather?

You can only choose b/ween rainforest, polar, desert, mediterranean

only positive thing to say is that when i've helped ds yr 2 with work (and i mean quite,erm, active helping for example, 'now, what else would be interesting to know about this climate zone - rainfall? Yes, I agree, ah, here is one on the internet shall we print it yes? Good idea.') we have got through it reasonably quickly and it's been a sort of bonding experience.

If you allow them to answer for themselves, of course, they get it wrong and then it all goes downhill

What gets me is when the teacher knows you have tried to cover up
She corrects your grammer!!!!
WHICH happened to be right before she changed it

6 pages over a month? It does sound a fair bit but not an un-doable amount and it is only 1 page on each bit, not 6 on climate, for example. I don't agree that she shouldn't do it, nor that you should do it for her. What kind of example does that set? Of course there will be things she and you would prefer she was doing instead but it's wrong for you to countermand the teacher and teach your dd she can ignore her when she doesn't fancy doing something.

My experience is that pushing too hard on homework at primary can be very counter productive when it comes to secondary work.

For this reason I sympathise, and if I had my time again I would be saying to my child: no, you don't have to do it, but we have to talk about why and I'll have to talk to the teacher.

If the feedback they get on a project is very, very good then it can be a productive episode, but so often feedback is poor.

Check with the teacher whether the project is to be presented to the class for "peer assessment" because she will feel mortified and left out if so.

I think that this is a very delicate area: you don't want to give your dc the message that homework is optional, but that message does come from school sometimes because there is very little they can do to rebuke or reprimand if it's not done. Nor do you want to give them the message that mum will do it: and at the same time you don't want to force them horribly as it could have lasting effects.

The upshot is, yanbu, but I wouldn't treat it casually or as a bit of a joke. I'm sure you are more than capable of helping appropriately but this is really quite a sticky thing that might not go away.

And yes I think these projects are often a stupid waste of time when set for homework.

YANBU to think that this is too much in Year 3, but YABU to decide that she isn't doing it without talking to her teacher.

Be an adult rather than a child and talk to the teacher about it (write to the teacher if you prefer!) and tell her what you think and all the reasons why your dd isn't going to do it.

But I think it also sounds like it could be an interesting project - and you have been given a month to do it.

Why can't she at least do a page or two?

I think YAalsoBU by undermining the school.

You may or may not like project work, but they are a good way of encouraging independent learning and research. It's a way, for example, of showing your child how to use the internet.

By the way, I speak as a parent who 'helped' their child make a model of a tudor house. 95% mummy's work, which is still - 3 years after DS2 left the school - part of the school's display. DS2 is adamant that he built it!!!

A month to write 6 pages. That sounds fair to me.
I think it could be a really interesting topic too with lots of scope. Projects give an opportunity for a child to self-organize and for children who need longer to complete work it can give them a chance to shine.
But if you really have a problem with it then I think you need to speak to the school. Perhaps it can be adapted. I agree it sends a message that you and the school are not a team if you just ignore it and that can have consequences in other areas.