How long should this take?

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
Duckie has a project for Social Studies: a 16 word Egyptian pictionary that includes a cover page. Basically, she must make the cover page, put the word and it's definition (in complete sentences) in alphabetical order, one on each page. Add a neatly colored picture on the cover and for each word. How long do you think this should take 6th grade honors student?
 
lol.

however long you think it should take should be multipled by 2 weeks, 4 meltdowns and ultimately, a dashed of version of the assignment that will probably take 1/2 hour to slap together.

in my world it could go either way (mine is artsy so she could fool me on it) but i'd think it would be 17 days--one for each pictionary page and at least 1 for the cover---not because its h-a-r-d, but because its overwhelming.

personally, i'd take away 16 sheets of paper and give her 1 and tell her to do one pictionary and go from there.

and pour yourself a glass of wine. or 17.
 

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
Well, the oh-so-very specific directions call for 5 sheets of plain white paper, folded to make a booklet. ;) I'm asking because she's well into hour number 8 since Sunday, and she still has several pics to color. Now, she finished drawing the pics but must color them. I'm so sick of this project! I can't leave the room without her stopping work. Grr.
 
::ppassing you the whole bottle:

i so feel for you--been there done that. when is it due? if you have a few days can she take a break and color a few at a time, later?

here's hoping for a fast scribble and end in sight.

maybe you can teach her the benefits of strategic shading!
 
H

HaoZi

Guest
OMW I don't even want to contemplate this one. Kiddo would have torn the whole thing to shreds as soon as she figured out ONE little thing was wrong with it. And refused any easy fix or to start over.
 

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
It's due tomorrow... and she still needs to practice viola for her all-county audition on Saturday and shower. UGH!!!!!!
 

cubsgirl

Well-Known Member
You have my sympathy. It sounds like a BIG project for a 6th grader. I hope she does well for her audition (former cello player here - so I "get it").
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
I was going to say... 16 hours, one per page.
That's what my (depending on the day, typical teen/easy child/kinda-easy child/almost-difficult child) K2 would take.
'Cause she's a doggone perfectionist.

I HATE those kinds of projects. Busy work. NO value added for all that art stuff.

Skip "how long until 18"... how long until HS?
For K2... HS has been an absolute GIFT.
MOST of the work is "real work"... and she's not afraid of work.
 

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
See, but here's the thing with Duckie. She has been milking this project every night since Sunday so she gets to bed late. She needs to either be an easier child to parent or she neds to be in bed at 9PM. Period. She ended up leaving a mess in the kitchen, left her music scattered over the livingroom and left her dirty clothes on the floor in the bathroom. You can imagine her surprise when I unceremoniously tossed them in her door and on her bed 10 minutes ago. She's been informed that, going forward, she will be grounded 1 day for every 5 minutes she gets to bed after 9PM. What she doesn't know is that I will be layering in being grounded 1 day for not picking up her dirty clothes, for not properly clearing her dishes, for not making her bed. Each offense will equal a day. No tv, no electronics, no friends. Oops! There goes the winter dance next week. ;)
 

Sheila

Moderator
2,237 days until her 18th birthday.

roflol

Gosh, you're good. I gave up on trying to get projects done in 3rd or 4th grade..... I still have bald spots in my hair from projects and other homework assignments..... I told them not to even bother sending them home because all projects would be done strictly by difficult child, and material either had to be furnished by school or readily available at home because I was done running heither and yon for them. Yeo, I finally became a "bad" parent. lol
 

SuZir

Well-Known Member
Social Studies, not art.

Okay. Why is she getting art homework from social studies class? What is supposed to learn from all that? Other than some very ineffective and time consuming work habits and that homework is senseless busywork?
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
My question was why she is having to color it herself instead of having the computer color it for her? That is so much easier. Find the picture, select the color, hit enter. Or even cut and paste a picture. Whats the good in making her color a picture, she isnt 5. She knows how to color. Isnt the object of this project something to do the (lord I forgot now!)...lol. And what is pictionary? I thought that was a game? Not 16 words.
 

trinityroyal

Well-Known Member
TM, this brings back a horrible memory from last year, when easy child had to do a project about "What Love Means To You". A heart-shaped booklet with a sentiment on each page (and yes, a neatly coloured picture to go with each sentiment). Aside from nearly dying from the syrupy-ness, I did wonder what the children were learning from it all other than Homework is Tedious and Useless. I am eternally grateful that easy child's new school does not assign homework.

And yes, to your original question, about 17 or 18 hours. One hour per page, plus another hour for "finishing".

Honestly, the only thing I ever learned from homework during my semi-difficult child years was how to not do any homework, wear down my teachers, and get them to stop assigning it to me or punishing me for not doing it.

I'm with Sheila.
 

Kathy813

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I'm so sick of this project! I can't leave the room without her stopping work. Grr.

TM, you probably won't like my answer but I think you should leave the room and let her finish it on her own. If she doesn't, let her face the consequences. It would be better to get a bad grade in 6th grade and learn a life lesson than get a good grade now because you had to stay in the room with her to get it done.

Sadly, I didn't learn that lesson myself until it was too late. I "helped" difficult child with everything and made sure it all got done but I think I just instilled a sense in her that she was helpless and couldn't do things on her own. Yes, she got excellent grades but it didn't help develop important life skills.

~Kathy
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
In retrospect I did exactly what Kathy did. Truthfully at the time I didn't realize that it was a poor choice. There were three of the children I remember helping. My first easy child (in early elementary) and the two difficult child grandsons (one gifted and the other with some deficits) were the three. I was part of the CD famiy with difficult child#2 and decided to have his IEP include that homework would be done at school which worked well. difficult child#1 is the least academic although he had the highest IQ. My first easy child :bravo:had arithmetic worksheets one time in 2nd grade. I picked up the sheets and said "why don't you double check your answers on page one?" She burst into tears and said "that would be cheating, Mommy". I reassured her that it was not cheating. The next day she went to the teacher and said "I had help on this paper so I deserve an F." I never looked at her work again. Somehow I guess I should have figured out the underlying lesson then for subsequent kids but I blew it with the difficult child grandsons...so I guess I cheated them out of self confidence. Sigh! DDD
 

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
Well, she's allowed to do homework in the living room (so far, anyway)... so it's difficult not to be aware when she's slacking off. She came home today to find a typed document outlining the expectations of her behavior and reasonable time frames for tasks. It also lists consequences. No homework in the common living area after 5PM is one of the items. She read the document and commented "It's like a military school." I said, "No, you'd have to wear an itchy wool uniform if this were a military school.".
 
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