Today I spent about 5 hours doing a 12th grade project for economics. Most of the time I kept thinking “I am reasonably sure I already passed economics”. I started to wonder where the line between “helping” and just doing the work so he will get it done and pass the class and hopefully graduate, really lies. I can remember my mother helping me with reports in school but back then we had to actually write everything out on paper and look up definitions in a dictionary. We did not have a set of encyclopedias at our house but my grandmother did. I had to go to her house to look up stuff for my work. I had to take a bus to get there, write down with pencil and paper the information I needed and make sure I had all the reference material to list at the end of my report. When I got home I would have to type everything out and hope I did not make a mistake because I did not have correction tape in my typewriter. White out??? Yeah right, I think that came out about the time I got my first computer. (I was well out of school by then.) I was a senior in high school when I took my first intro to computer class, on the Apple 2E.
What did I start ranting about? …… …….. ………. Oh yeah The Boy-Child’s homework. So we; like that “we” had to do the Abc’s of economics. Write an ABC book using terms found in his economic s book. It amazed me how I was able to set it all up and input photos from the internet while sitting on my couch watching a CSI marathon. Tell me again how these kids have it so much harder than we did?? I experienced the law of diminishing returns. Remember what that is?? (I relearned it today.) The more of something you have the less you want it. Yeah well 26 letters is a lot! We had to get a little creative in the end. I did Google economics terms and found a list of them in alphabetical order. Now there is something I never would have found in Grandma’s encyclopedias. I was just corrected by Microsoft Word, Google needs to be capitalized. Again not found at grandmas. Ok so we got all 27 pages done, oh yeah did I forget to tell you about the title page. Went to print and we are out of ink the first 3 pages came out green. Guess I will be making a run to walmart this weekend.
I believe I had a point at the beginning of this, homework - I really am not sure where that line falls. Where do we as parents help them just get it done and where do we let them fail to learn a lesson? I guess with graduation looming only a few months away I am less inclined to go with the let him fail route. Am I setting a bad precedent by bailing him out? Maybe, but I really want to get to graduation and not have to do another economics project next year. I also know that there are 580 words to this point in today’s entry. Something else I would not have had on my typewriter. Cool huh?? Oh well enough ranting today, I need to go look over the Algebra homework that is also due on Monday. Dad will have to check that over cuz that one is beyond mom! Ohh ohh up to 598!
