Here they are on their last day of class.
And here they are with their teachers.
Let me tell you, I could not be happier that this school year is over. It has been a lot of WORK and Dalen and I seriously need a break! Here are a few of the projects that Seth and Aleah completed for school this year. They had multiple book reports and a timeline and the gigantic science project, along with several smaller projects.
It seemed to me that the kids were continually being assigned projects to be done at home. And invariably, the first assignment for each of these projects was that the parents had to read over the requirements and sign off saying that they understood the assignment. They might as well have sent home a giant warning sign saying "Parents, there is no possible way that any 4th grader could ever complete this project on their own, so you are going to have to help them." But then they would always warn you that the project was supposed to be the child's own work and not the work of the parents. What this really translates into is hours and hours of work as you "help" your kids. I am not saying that I don't see that there is value in doing projects at home. The kids actually learned a TON. However, I did question what my children were supposed to learn from such things as being required to hand write a project in cursive and in INK. It seems to me that the only thing they learned from that was how to use a lot of Wite-Out. The other thing that I found difficult to swallow was all of the drawing and coloring that went along with the projects. In the first place, it took a ridiculously large amount of time. And secondly, these projects were not considered "art" projects but they were continually graded on the "neatness" of the artwork in addition to the written content and oral presentations for the project. Thankfully, my kids have always received good grades for their entire projects. But, I couldn't help but wonder how they would have been graded if they had turned in something that looked like the picture below. (Not that I am saying my kids are little Picasso's, but I'm not sure that their teachers would recognize it if they were.)
("Head of a Woman" by Pablo Picasso)
Anyway, I'll guess I'll quit complaining now. For the most part, I am happy with Seth and Aleah's school. It really is a good school.
I am really going to have to take advantage of the summer break to rest up, because I have heard that 5th grade has even more projects. Oh, my!
2 comments:
Your kids are wonderful. And I can tell you that I am grateful that I no longer am involved in all those projects -- I echo your feelings. Good stuff, sure - -but Mom and Dad definitely had to be involved.
yay for summer break!!
The one really good thing about summer that I look forward to most is NO MORE homework...for the kids or for me! By the end of the summer, however, I'm ready for the projects. Anything to get them out of the house for a while!
Ah, there is no balance in life is there...especially when you have TWINS! ;)
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