School projects - how much did you help your children?

DD3 is very designery (if that's a word) but useless at drawing. One homework for art was getting her really stressed out to the point of tears, not sleeping etc so DH 'helped' her. She got a really good mark but when she submitted her next drawing homework, done on her own, it was returned with 'You can do much, much better than this!'

since I'm pretty competent at sewing I was very put out to get 'C+. Neatness and accuracy are 2 skills which you must practice.'


How insulting Witzend! C+ indeed!
You should have sent the report back with a red correction.

I do remember one of DD's projects in primary school - on the Industrial Revolution. It involved travelling some distance to a museum, taking photographs, finding out a great deal of information and writing it all up, accompanied by these photographs and drawings too. It filled a very thick A4 folder.
She was about 10 at the time.

When they were younger, yes, but when they were older and doing projects for exams then no, except in a minimal way.
We still do help the DGC if necessary because some of the projects are too ambitious for a small child. For instance, one half-term project involved taking photographs of a favourite beauty spot and writing about it - they first had to be taken there by car! The parents have made their views known to the school now and some projects are done in school - which means that every child gets a fairer chance too. It shows off the child's skills rather than that of the parents!

However, making them do it themselves is the best way as they get older - we won't be going to university or work with them and holding their hands all the way through life.

I helped my children by making them do it themselves, when it would have been far easier to have done it for them.
I did explode once to their school, when they turned up on a Thursday evening with two pieces of sugar paper to use to make hats for the Christmas Party; glue, staples, crepe paper etc all at school, plus all my ideas for hats made in previous years. That day I had finished making hats with my class of 32 eight year olds.

I remember helping DD with a project she was doing in the sixth form, but it was only “cosmetic” help when she wanted something to add a bit of impact to the presentation. DS was away at school so I never got involved in his projects. As for my grandson, in his first year at secondary, he has been called upon to create various things (a nerve cell; a model of a building that has meant something in his life; in the latest he chose to build a football boot). He expands his ideas in discussion with his dad. Sometimes the results are good, sometimes they are a car crash (he’s not brilliant with his hands), but he learns from each one. I did provide a bit of guidance in a recent art project, but he did the work himself. He sent me a photo of the finished article - I was impressed!

I would encourage my children but never would I have "done" their projects. All decent teachers can spot a mile off if the work has been done by the child or parent.

Same with Grandchildren, encouragement and pointing in the right direction for research etc, but that is it.