Social Studies Project

Second grade is notorious for assigning projects that seem to grade the parents rather than the children. Projects that no second grader could possibly successfully complete by themselves ;) The notorious project when Ben was in second grade was to construct a working musical instrument that had to be able to play multiple notes and couldn't be glasses filled with different levels of water and hit with a mallet ;) The assignment was given when Caroline was around a month or so old, and I was entirely otherwise occupied and sleep deprived. After looking on Youtube for a bit I told Ben to bring home a straw from the school cafeteria and we would cut holes in it to make a flute. When Ben presented his project -- which he couldn't get to produce a note when asked to demonstrate -- the teacher asked him, "How long did it take you to do this project?" And my poor Ben, not realizing this wasn't a speed contest, proudly replied, "About five minutes!" He -- or should I say I -- got a D. Yes, they give letter grade assignments on these projects.

In subsequent years the musical instrument project was scrapped in favor of making a model of a community building as part of a social studies unit on the different types of communities (urban, suburban, rural). Rebecca was assigned a police station. I would like to say that this time I spent considerably more than five minutes on the project, AND I BETTER GET AN A. I mean, Rebecca better get an A. 

Here is my sleep-deprived child, ready to head to school this morning with her project.