The Department of Education requires that the learners do one project per year per Learning Area or Subject.

The project is one way of assessing knowledge (content and concepts) and skills. In a project the learners should be able to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in an integrated manner that is unique to each learning area or subject.

Remember projects are a time when your child has to plan, write, summarize, layout information, collect pictures, possibly draw and time manage. These are only a few of the hundreds of skills that can be learnt. The project is really one way in which learners can complete a task using their own individual learning styles. Your child may not be an academic but may be a layout artist. The project must be done, he may not do fantastically on the academic side, but will impress with layout skills. He would have learnt something!!

GUIDE FOR PARENTS ON MANAGING PROJECTS

I would like to repeat one thing.....

DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO DO THE PROJECT FOR YOUR CHILD, ASSIST YOUR CHILD TO MANAGE THE PROCESS! NEVER UNDERESTIMATE WHAT YOUR CHILD IS CAPABLE OF

When the teacher sends home that project, the first thing you need to do is look at the assessment criteria. In simple terms, the assessment criteria are the guidelines the teacher will use to mark the learners work. There has to be an assessment guideline. This guideline will tell the learner

• how long the project must be,
• how it should be completed,
• and what should be included.

This is where the parents are unsure because the guidelines are often vague.

 

At this stage, you should consider what your child will learn if he/she completes the project or you should consider what the benefit would be of completing the project. If you can sit with your child and decide on this, the first bit of learning has taken place.

Remember that teachers are only human and when they sit down to set up the project they cannot possibly include all the information parents will need to understand the rationale behind the compiling of a project. The curriculum is comprehensive and a project covers a wide variety of key function areas. Trust me you do not want the whole bang shoot. They attempt to put the instructions in a manageable format. If you feel you need more guidance make that appointment and sit with the teacher for a few minutes to clarify issues. What often happens is the parent gets the project the day before and crisis management kicks in. This is a sure recipe for conflict and anxiety and the blame game is started.

When the teacher assesses a project they are looking for evidence that the child has benefited from the experience of doing research and presenting their research according to the instructions they have given.

YOU WORK, WHAT NOW?