assigning a project right before Spring break

[lunarprancer]

My kids don’t do projects over breaks and that’s something I always make clear to teachers...or did when mine where in school.

Breaks are very important for kids (and adults), no way are they doing school work.

This.

[RedBottoms]

I agree with you the book she mentioned is a book geared toward 8 - 12 year olds (so age wise he is at the top of it). It is also a Canadian author, so it may be a stretch for the requirements.

My son is 11. Amazon says grades 6-8

Our school book system ranks this book in the 8 - 12 age range. If you want to have something with this author maybe look at Underground Soldier, our school book system ranks this on 10 - 14 age range, these are companion books, along with Stolen Child.

my son is 11. He is well within the age range. And Amazon again says grades 6-8. He is in 6th grade. No way the teacher can try to pull a stunt here. We are definitely within the parameters. The author is a Ukrainian Canadian and the book takes place in Germany and Ukraine. Totally fits the parameters.

If the teacher is going to be picky he should have given us a list of books to pick from. So far he has not been picky as long as you meet the parameters. My son found a very short easy book to read for one of these but it technically met the parameters so the teacher didn't say anything. Work smarter-not harder.

[CotterpinDoozer]

I'm very against projects assigned over breaks. It's called a break for a reason. It's not like a kid has a lot of say if their parents decide to travel or makes a lot of plans for them. My friend from down the street was extremely frustrated over the amount of work her 5th grader was expected to do over Thanksgiving and Christmas break. She went to the school and demanded a meeting with the teacher and the principal. She told them that since the school expected parents to plan trips and such outside of school time, the teachers needed to respect that and not assign work over the breaks then, otherwise why should she respect their wishes if they won't respect their time with the kids.

[PoplarGrove]

Unless this project could be done well in one week (March 25-29) then I'd be contacting the teacher and asking him how much work he expected my child to do while on VACATION. I have a real problem with teachers assigning work over vacation times. Even telling my kids they need to read a certain book over vacation is pushing it. On THEIR time my children should be able to read whatever book they want to.

[RedBottoms]

Unless this project could be done well in one week (March 25-29) then I'd be contacting the teacher and asking him how much work he expected my child to do while on VACATION. I have a real problem with teachers assigning work over vacation times. Even telling my kids they need to read a certain book over vacation is pushing it. On THEIR time my children should be able to read whatever book they want to.

It can't be done in one week realistically. Maybe if you stayed up all night and neglected your other classes and didn't do their homework etc and if you actually do it well enough for an A.

He even wrote on the paper that "You need to read the book over Spring Break". I think he is thinking read the book and obtain book over Spring Break. Then when school starts back-write and practice speech and present on Friday.

My son has no time to do stuff during a regular school week as he is at dance till super late on Mondays and Thursdays. So he is going to have to read the book and write the speech at least by next Friday a week from today. Then if done, he can go to my mom's and practice the speech there. I trust her to be able to make sure he practices his speech at least and then we can practice some more when he returns. He wants the speeches pretty much memorized so you have to practice.

I agree that I prefer kids to read what they want. I think forcing kids to read stuff promotes a hatred of reading and we don't want that. He likes this book so he is happy to reread it at least. He is mostly pissed he had to stop the book he was currently reading because he was almost at the end and start rereading this one. Then spend all that time writing out a 2 minute speech and practicing it.

[Anonymous 2]

We are on spring break vacation and DH has spent several hours on conference calls. Most successful, senior-level execs spend parts of their vacations dealing with work issues. It’s just part of life.

[cellomom26]

Too bad all the parents won't band together and have their kids refuse to do this project. Then possibly the principal would see how ridiculous the teacher is being.

Kids should have zero homework during school breaks.

I would want to email the teacher and principal and ask them what time they will be at the school during spring break, so my child can be in their class. Learning is so important, right? Never give the students time off, the world will end!

Of course the school staff won't be there during the break, they need time off to recharge. But....not the students!

Cue the people who say teachers work full time during all breaks.

Kids are not adults. They need their well deserved breaks.

[Anonymous 3]

I happen to agree with you on this. What is the point to a break if not to relax and do no work?

That said, though, I think this practice does occur often. And, if the kid is in gifted or advanced classes (as I think Redbottom's kid is), he will need to assume that this will most often be the case. Hell! I don't think my kid had a break at all between grades 8-12. She worked through all breaks including summer.

We can all debate as to whether or not it is right or it is wrong that a kid would have to go 4 years without a break. But in our district, that is the way it is for students who elect to take the advanced route. The student who chooses the advanced route knows what will be expected of him. If he doesn't like the idea of never getting a break, he needs to choose a different route...one that gives him the break he wants/needs.

For my kid, taking the no-break route worked best. She loved having her face in a book all the time. It relaxed her. It was what she was good at. And it made her feel good about herself. If taking advanced classes makes a kid feel accomplished, that she has a purpose, and it doesn't stress her out, I say take that route. If taking advanced classes deprives a kid of other valuable aspects of life or causes him undo stress, he should lay down his pursuit of the advanced classes.

Personally I think that teacher should not assign anything during Spring/March Break. This is unfair to many families that decide to travel during the entire period of the break. The same can be said for other holidays. Now, if the assignment was given much prior to the break but the child left it to the last moment, that is one the child, not the teacher.

Its not an advanced class.Its the regular 6th grade Language Arts class. But its an advanced school. They push the kids super hard there. The school has super high test scores and wins awards all the time. So its way harder than the average regular middle school my other son goes to. A lot of kids fail out and drop out of this school because they either get fed up with the high standards or they just can't actually make the standards and get Fs.

My son is not dropping out. He wants to be at this school. The Social Studies and Science and Math teacher don't assign that much outside school work and what they do assign is reasonable in my opinion.It never takes that long. But the Language Arts teacher is freaking nuts.

It's a prep school or a school for advanced studies?

[Conweis]

I do not see the big deal. If mine have a project over the spring break so be it. In yours I would get get something by Alexandre Dumas (like The Count of Monte Crisco or The Three Musketeers) and be done with it. Hey your son is a ballet dancer get E.T.A Hoffmann and Alexandre Dumas - Nutcracker and Mouse King and the Tale of the Nutcracker

It is a big deal if your family has plans. I know a plenty of Military families that travel for school breaks. The assignment should had been given the week before school break and not the day of.

[Pjmm]

Too bad all the parents won't band together and have their kids refuse to do this project. Then possibly the principal would see how ridiculous the teacher is being.

Kids should have zero homework during school breaks.

I would want to email the teacher and principal and ask them what time they will be at the school during spring break, so my child can be in their class. Learning is so important, right? Never give the students time off, the world will end!

Of course the school staff won't be there during the break, they need time off to recharge. But....not the students!

Cue the people who say teachers work full time during all breaks.

Kids are not adults. They need their well deserved breaks.

They get summer. I've got to work over my kids break so my viewpoint is like yeah it sucks.. yeah the teacher is sadistic or whatever.. Do it anyway it won't kill you. I mean I'm a horrible mom anyway because i ask them to do extra chores while they're home so there's that. Even if we're going away they can bring the book with them. I'd prefer teachers NOT do this but I wouldn't protest over it either.