Mar 25 2009
Parent projects: When homework help goes too far
Anyone who has ever proudly carried Junior’s papier-mache heart into the science fair—only to run into the cardiologist’s kid with the medical school model—has seen what happens when the line between parental involvement and parental takeover gets crossed.
Science fair season is in full swing, but meddling by mom and dad is not limited to budding scientists. It spans childhood, from the Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby to college essays. Parents may try to help a struggling child, allow a perfectionist streak to get the best of them or get carried away by their own interest in the topic. But one way or another, dad’s or mom’s work gets turned in, giving the student an unfair advantage.
In response, several school districts are opting for more in-class assignments, studying the meaning of grades and flat-out reminding parents not to do their child’s homework.
“It’s so tempting to get overly involved,” said Tom Hernandez, a spokesman for the Plainfield public schools and the father of an 8th grader and a high school sophomore. “Your child is a reflection of yourself … so we’re all very invested. But it’s a delicate balance.”
Vernon Hills parent Barb Rosenstock admitted that she once helped her son build a project for a school assignment. In her defense, she said, it was on magnetic electricity.
“It had to light up and be magnetic,” Rosenstock said. “Come on. They’re in 2nd grade.”
Her son wanted to build a hockey game, so Rosenstock helped him affix magnets to the bottoms of figurines and rig a light that illuminated when the puck hit the goal.
They proudly took it to school only to find an even more impressive “parent project” displayed alongside theirs.
“They literally had a walking, talking teddy bear. They had made a circuit chip. A circuit chip! You’re talking about 2nd graders,” Rosenstock recalled with a laugh.
To be sure, today’s parents aren’t the first to be heavy-handed. But teachers say the help seems to be escalating for a host of reasons, not the least of which are the push for parental involvement and the pressure to get into good colleges.
Read more here.
[From me]
How timely! We, I mean my kids just took their Parent –Science Projects to school this morning. Can someone explain what good they do students? I was horrible in Science. If I didn’t have Science on my ACT I would have had academic scholarships. I have never used my Science Projects in real life. I’ve used English, Spelling, Math and History everyday. But never have I used Science Projects. I think there is way too much time and money used on these projects. I would rather the time be spent on my children to help them communicate and learn skills that they will use in real life like computers and other technologies.
My children did the vast majority of their projects, but there is no way they could have done it on their own. I feel for those children who don’t have parental help.
What do you think?



