Educator Jessica Lahey has a bone to pick with parents and teachers. A propos of those school projects that seem to beg for parents to roll up their sleeves - and complete.
On one hand, parents are to blame for not knowing when to back off and allow a child to learn from turning in his own sloppy assignments - you know the kind, fancy homemade puppets or overly sophisticated science fair entries.
Parents, teachers aren't fooled; they can smell your "help" a mile off. Not only that, Lahey argues, but other kids see your involvement for what it is - cheating. And what of your own child? She doesn't feel the swell of pride that comes with knowing she did 100% of the work herself.
But don't teachers deserve to take some heat, too? Frankly many of these so-called assignments require an unreasonable amount of hours, dollars, and an above-grade level expertise that are frankly not rooted in realism.
No matter how hard it may be, Lahey suggests that, a few organizational pointers aside, parents step back - waaaay back - and let kids go it alone. Yes, even if the end result is a dismal failure, as was the case with her son Finn's Walt Disney project:
"And all the while, our children know the real score. They know when they have not done their best, and the discomfort and embarrassment they feel when they have to put that subpar work on display for others often spurs them to do better next time."
The path to improvement is paved with mistakes, a ton of mistakes. Just ask any writer.
One commenter had the perfect solution to this niggling problem. Projects assigned for class are to be completed in class. Boom!
RELATED: Why I Stopped Making My Kids Do Their Homework
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