I can clearly remember walking into my oldest child's second grade science presentation. All of these wonderful projects were on display representing all the grades in the school. Moms, dads, siblings, and grandparents were all eager to get a look.
I gazed admiringly at my daughter’s project. Her stick figures, a beautiful sun, and a colorful flag adorning a poster board were hand drawn with as much expertise as a second grader could muster. I didn't quite understand the intent of the display, but I did appreciate that it was decorated with about 100 stickers. Like the other moms and dads, I took pictures of my child proudly standing next to her work.
And then I began to walk around the gymnasium. I was awestruck by the other students' presentations. I mean, I was literally blown away by all the volcanoes and three-dimensional creations. How could it be that so many elementary school children were talented and skilled enough to build such magnificent projects?
At this point I mosied up to the teacher and shared my observations about the quality of work her students had produced. My child certainly does not posses the creativity gene that so many others do, I said. The teacher whispered that all those stellar projects were actually the work of parents. I never got that memo! I guess my daughter bombed this project, I said. She laughed and explained that teachers award grades knowing that the students did not do the projects on their own.
Dona Zappulla is the mother of four school-aged children in Easton. Based on her experience working with at-risk teenage girls, Dona is writing a book and contributes to HamletHub on parenting, education, and child development. Have a question on those subjects? Write to Dona at questions4dona@gmail.com.