Pesky Projects

What do M.C. Escher, Emperor Penguins, and Lord of the Flies have in common? They are driving my family bonkers!

It's the end of the trimester. Do you have your school projects done? I'm asking all the moms out there because you know that, ultimately, this falls under your responsibility. Who's the one that's going to be sent out to buy poster board at the last minute? Who's going to be handed a foreign recipe and told that the French class really NEEDS Sengalese Chicken on Friday or your child will get a zero participation grade? Who's going to be hunting around for miniature houseplants to fit in a homemade terrarium to illustrate how the rain forest works? (Notice that no names have been mentioned here. The past has been forgiven; it's the present projects that remain to be judged.)

Ah, these are the days when my roles as mother and teacher collide. On the one hand, I applaud teachers who allow their students to express creatively what they have learned. On the other hand, I think, why can't they take care of this at school? Teachers know that every assignment sent home becomes the parent's responsibility as well as the student's, which adds a whole new dimension to the assignment because it reflects on the home. Yikes! Having been a teacher, I wouldn't allow my child to take some half-brained project to school any more than I would allow them to wear shorts in the winter. But guess what? It happens anyway, despite best intentions, warnings, or mothers watching over shoulders as children hunt and peck to type every letter of a neat, presentable report. You just can't guarantee that your children will do the job that you know you are capable of.

So here's the damage this trimester:

Rachel's made a "woodcut" by hacking a design into corrugated cardboard to simulate MC Escher's technique. She's assembled a comparison of Escher to his cronies, Picasso and Warhol. And she's made her own Escher-like original out of foam shapes.

Jason wrote a report on Emperor Penguins, made a salt dough model to show how body coloring helps protect them on the ice and water, and created a hypothetical "Indiana Penguin" complete with corn holder claws on its green flippers.

Bryce did a write-up on Lord of the Flies, wrote a modern day version of Antigone, and a few days ago was using my blow dryer on some Kleenix that he had hand-dyed in order to make a "stained glass window" representation for art.

It's been a long, hard winter with many a snow day spent working instead of playing. If anyone deserves a bail-out, it's my overworked kids. But the projects are finished and they seem to have done their best. What can I say? Either they're all brilliant, or their mother is one creative genius. I hope the teachers think so too.