I’m learning when to stand down, but it's hard.
I have nightmares and cold sweats just thinking about school projects. We homeschooled the triplets and we were not really sure what “traditional” school projects would require. The triplets’ first school project in the 4th grade was a Native American Project. The kids got to pick their project. Nick picked wickiup. What? Hannah picked a pueblo and Sam picked Indian shirt. We began our Native American Project early which was lucky because they take a lot of time. I was unsure just how elaborate these things should be. A wickiup is a mud hut. Thankfully, Nick was given instructions for the wickiup. He used a cool whip container upside down and covered it with masking tape and painted it brown. Not too difficult. Hannah’s Pueblo required attaching several size boxes together, making ladders, painting it, and adding figures. This was ok. Sam’s Indian shirt was another matter. We cut it out of felt and I had him sew it together using the blanket stitch (sounds Indian, right?). We added a fringe collar and fringe on the bottom. Then we decided it need buttons/bones to place on the fringe. A nightmare. We had been working on them for about two weeks when the triplets’ were invited to a birthday party. At the party, I was talking to one of the Mom’s and asked about their Native American Project. She said they hadn’t started yet. I said, “Really?
We’ve been working on ours for a couple of weeks.” She said her daughter had picked headband. What! A headband! I decided to have a long talk with the triplets about projects and how to choose a simple one or at least let me see the list. We could have banged out a headband no problem. The big day finally arrived. I was pleased to see our efforts were pretty normal. Everyone’s was about the same. Of course there are the over achievers, parents who created the project, and some that showed less attention. It was a relief to have the first one under our belt and we knew what to expect more or less.
4th Grade Projects
American: George Washing Carver, The Golden Spike-Railroad and Coonskin Cap (Daniel Boone and Davy Crocket)
State Project: Kentucky, Hawaii and Colorado
Country: Japan, Israel and Spain
Topic: Horses, Guitar and Basketball
5th Grade Projects
(This was Jay’s Project to help with, but that’s another blog!)
State Project: Vermont, Minnesota, California
Sixth Grade
wait to see what’s coming down the pike over the next few years.
Anyone want a supply list, dimensions, instructions, dollar
requirements on any of the above projects just leave me a comment.
Also, anyone interested in helping me start a website/support hotline leave your name, email, phone number, and I’ll be in touch.