Hands Off the Glue Sticks Parents...

I always thought that when I had kids and they had school projects that I would be the type of mom who would want what they did to be perfect- as in perfect up to the standards of something I could do.

Well, thankfully I am not that kind of mom. I'm actually the kind of mom who sits back and lets my child do what they want- though I do help when needed or asked. I want my child's work to look like they did it themselves and for my child to be proud that they did it themselves.

A few weeks ago Tyler and the entire first grade were assigned a big project to do on a European country. They had to make a poster or diorama and write three facts about their country, and then in school they wrote little reports. Tyler chose to do a diorama using Legos- he is obsessed with Legos and using them made him so excited about his project (thank goodness because he is not always so keen on doing homework).

He did it pretty much all on his own- I would say 95% was Tyler and the other 5% was my husband and I helping him find needed Legos and spelling words for the facts he had to write. Tyler knew it was his hard work that made such a cool thing and he was so proud of himself.

From talking with other moms and seeing what other kids turned in, it is a little appalling to me how much "help" kids got on their projects. I know that first grader handwriting is not the neatest and their drawing abilities are not super advanced, but what in the world does a child learn from their parent doing most of the work? I feel like it makes the child become disinterested in what the are supposed to be learning- I can guarantee you that if I built Tyler's diorama (as other parents did to their kids) then he would have been blah to learning about Portugal and would have cared less about handing in his project.

Seriously parents, back off of your kids stuff. Let them do their own work, even if it doesn't come out looking like something that can be hung in an art museum. Letting them do it themselves is part of them learning and helps them gain confidence in themselves. Plus, I already did all of my own projects when I was in school- been there, done that and don't want to do it again  ; )