His First Project
Today my son’s first at home project was due and he presented it to his class this afternoon (he told me he was very nervous!). They had to present a book they read this month and pick one of the assignments to complete. He chose to complete a poster with pictures and 1-2 sentences about each of the pictures (all of which related to a just right reading level book they read). It was assigned at the beginning of the month and he got started the very first weekend (with some encouragement to get it done and out of the way). As soon as he started he loved the process. It took him 4 hours over 4 days to put it together. He then spent another hour combined practicing over the last two weeks and making a “cue card” (really it was a sheet with his level of printing!) for his 2 minute presentation. Turns out today he didn’t use the cue card either!
Many of his friends left it to the last minute (yesterday) and last night he was counting how many hours it would take them if the spent as much time as him and how late they would be up. At that exact moment it was evident to him that leaving it to the last minute was not likely a good idea (mommy win for a lesson in time management!).
ctions as they are riddled with improvement. We shopped to get supplies and he picked out the board (I would have picked a different colour!) and stickers. He chose the colours for construction paper. He drew the pictures. He asked for help with drawing his flag but I told him it had to be only him as it was his project and to just do his best. He stuck on all the stickers even if they aren’t perfectly aligned or symmetrical. I helped with glue – I forgot how awful white glue can be – and he smoothed them out. We measured together as the board filled and made a plan for the remaining space.I think he learned a lot from this project. He learned time management skills. He learned pride in a product he produced. He learned that assignments can take a lot of work. He learned the basis of assembly (how to put on a board with some help) which will help him with all future projects and give him the ability to do it on his own. He learned speaking in front of others can be nerve wracking even when you’ve practiced lots. He learned creativity. Freedom to make the poster his own with loose guidelines. We all need guidance and support our first time, I can remember such guidance from my mom.
The best thing of all is the reason he chose this book. He loves WWE (wrestling) and some of the wrestlers he likes are Mexican. He made this project his own for this reason alone. He also now knows a lot about Mexico! Tonight he asked if he can do another project, on India. This weekend we are going to head to the library and do some research online and he can make another – for fun! His teacher gave him a lesson in so many things over just creating a poster and I’m a proud mom.
Well done the project yes, awesome, but you too mom for getting him to fully embrace it .
We have to teach them early right? 🙂 Thanks for reading!