WLC & The Role of Parents and Projects

Parent’s Role in Independent Projects

One of the most important and unchanging features of Woods Learning Center has been its emphasis on independent project learning and presentation. There are many kinds of projects that happen at Woods, but each pod does at least one large-scale, independent research project during the year. These involve individual research, written work, a visual display, and spoken presentations to their class and to the class parents.

The staff at Woods revisits these major projects every couple of years as a school to make sure that levels of expectation are appropriate to ability, up-to-date with regards to technology, and are following a logical progression from primary to middle school.

Students should feel challenged by these projects. They should push themselves farther with each one. If they’ve mastered a display style, they should try something new the next time.

If students have followed instructions, met all the assignment deadlines, and asked for help when needed at school, then they should not feel helpless and overwhelmed.

The goal of these projects is not only the end product. Many students learn a great deal by taking a few risks and finding that it didn’t work out well. The process of learning how to learn, how to speak, how to write, and how to construct a display is more important than a “perfect” product turned in.

The role of parents in this process is crucial. How do you help your child do this work without it becoming “your” project? Some of the ways parents can help their children are:

¨ Read the assignment to find the deadlines for each step of the assignment. Help them manage their time, and keep to the schedule.

¨ Discuss the possibilities of project topics when your children receive the assignment. Help them make an informed choice that takes into account your resources, contacts, and family interests.

¨ Help your children do research by leading them to a variety of resources. Take them to the library and help them find books. Monitor their Internet searches. Help set up interviews with family, friends, or community members. Look for the resources that the teachers may have given them.

¨ Have conversations with your children during the research phase about what they’ve found so far. Ask questions to take them further or to make connections. Help them deal with conflicting information or questionable sources. Make the topic part of dinnertime or car ride conversations. Point out relevant mentions in the news. Keep the interest and awareness going.

¨ Have your children read their papers or speaking notes to you. Offer advice and suggestions, but make sure they use their own words when revising. Many times they will hear a way to make it better just by reading it out loud. Their papers and their spoken presentation will be more important to them if they remain their own work.

¨ Help proofread papers and displays, but don’t make the corrections for them. Choose priorities instead of overwhelming them with their errors.

¨ Discuss the display with your children, but make sure that it will feel like it’s “theirs” instead of “yours.” Offer ideas, but let them make the choices.

¨ Help your children to make as much of the display as they can. They should be doing most of the work themselves. You should be a resource and an extra pair of hands. Talk about your budget and available resources. Talk to your teachers if cost becomes a concern. The most effective displays are not necessarily the most expensive to produce.

¨ Provide a place to research, to write, to construct displays, to store materials, and to practice speaking at home.

¨ Listen to your children practice their spoken presentations. Give them some questions they might expect to be asked. Offer advice, but expect them to take it or leave it as they develop independence.

¨ As students develop this independence, they may not let you help them as before. A dip in quality is a natural part of this process. Let go and let it happen. They will learn from it.

¨ Help them with transportation of their project materials to and from school at the appropriate times.

¨ Check project presentation night as early as it is known, and make sure that it remains a priority. It is an expectation of all students to be here. If conflicts come up, let your classroom teachers know so that they can make alternative arrangements for a special presentation to another group of adults.

¨ Come to project presentation night. Presenting to a group of adults is one of the most important (and intimidating) activities of a Woods Learning Center student, and it’s best if at least one of those adults is in that child’s corner. Presentation nights are important milestones in a Woods education, as well as an expectation of those who choose this school. As such, it is not considered volunteer time.

Many parents of Woods graduates who have gone on and grown up tell us that their children have had an advantage in life from the research, writing, speaking, design and presentation skills they learned doing projects at Woods. We believe that they are some of the most important work we do. Thank you for your support.

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