>  grade up.  Last year in public school I refused.  I
 > explained my situation
 >  and also told them that since this was a adult
 > participation project (because
 >  of the childrens ages) I could not help 3 kids get
 > theirs done.  Especially
Ours waited until 4th and 5th grade to make them do it.
 >  Also I remember having mandatory concerts.  The theme
 > of one of them was against our beliefs so they did not participate.  But
 > this concert was  an afterschool, actually evening thing, and I felt
 > that was wrong.  If it is part of school it should be on school hours.  It
 > was counted as a grade.
I'm not going to side with either way. As a former school music teacher, I 
can see both sides of it. The requirement to be there in the evening was 
probably to keep half the kids from not showing up. Makes it really difficult 
if you plan to have a concert with 400 kids and only 200 show up, 
particularly if any of those no-shows were supposed to do something special! 
Evening makes it easier for many working parents to come and see the show. 
Yet, daytime shows are great for those that have to work in the evening. In 
most of the schools that I've been a part of, we've sent home notes that this 
is something special, you shouldn't miss it, etc, if it's an evening show. 
Attendance was usually pretty good overall. We also did at least 1 or 2 dress 
rehearsals during the school day, so that any parent that worked at night 
could come and see it, and also the rest of the school could see it as well.
 > grade.  Plus they should  give them time in school to work on it, but they
 > don't.  This is just my  opinion.  How much can a child learn with parents
 > helping so much on a  project.  Heck, because of the winning aspect of 
his
 > I see parents doing  most if not all of the project.  I think that
We don't have winners on our projects, fortunately. The projects are 
displayed in the MPR on Open House night (which happens to be tomorrow 
evening). But you're right, too many parents try to do too much for the 
child. Or give away the answers instead of making the child find out for 
him/herself.
Here's another very simple science project that kids can do mostly for 
themselves: Question: which wrap makes bread last the longest: foil, sandwich 
bags, clingwrap, wax paper, paper towels, or nothing? Procedure: take a loaf 
of cheap white bread from the store. Wrap one slide in foil, one in sandwich 
bag, one in clingwrap, etc. Every day, check the slices for freshness or 
signs of spoilage. Take notes on each one, each day.
And yet another simple science experiment: What solutions cleans a penny the 
quickest and best? Procedure: clean pennies in a variety of mixtures, from 
Formula 409 to vinegar to salt to orange juice, etc.
I'm going to the Open House/Science Fair tomorrow evening, so I'll try to 
snitch some great science ideas for posting. :)
                                 -donna
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