unreasonable school project?

I agree with others this is ridiculous for a 5 year old. There is no way my (very bright but also inclined to be anxious) 5 year old GS would be able to do this without considerable adult input. It is just putting more pressure on the parents. I can't see the point of it and can see how it could lead to a lot of anxiety for children and their carers.

My two 6 year grandchildren were more than capable of drawing an outfit when they were five. They would have loved doing that knowing it was going to be made. Children are capable of more than what they are being given credit for here. Stapling and sticking is not beyond them. Just a bit of help with cutting if needed. My children used to love this sort of thing.

"the project idea will have to come from me as she will probably dream up a Cinderella outfit if left to herself"

and that would be wrong because...?

If you are determined to do this project for her you should contact the school for advice and instruction.

As a child, I had parents who would not help me as it would be cheating and so I often experienced the bitter frustration of seeing fellow pupils praised for work that even I could see they hadn't done at all.

I would contact the school. and ask what lessons they want learned - that adults lie? That cheating brings rewards? Do they want the pupils to work alone?

anxiousgran
Here's a Cinderella dress - very easy for a five year old to run up in an evening from a couple of old bits of fabric:

A joke surely for a five year old. Whatever happened to making pottery dogs and bits and pieces with material scraps...for goodness sake refuse to do this!! Get together with some other parents /grandparents and just say ‘NO’....what can they do. If pushed stand firm and give your reasons. 5 year olds need to be playing after school and when not playing they should have a bath / book/ bed . Just say NO!!

Good point janipat re recycling old items.
How many people have spare bits of fabric and haberdashery lying around in a craft box too?

For all those saying use old clothes, towels, pillowslips etc maybe some families are actually wearing or using these. Not every family has the spares to just give usable items for a homework project, or indeed the resources to go buying such items from a charity shop. As to the "encouraging parent/ grandparent participation" why not leave families to decide their own fun things to do in the very limited time some have together? Any homework project which requires substantial adult input is unfair to those children who for whatever reason do not have this.

Perhaps let slip it is being debated on GN?

I think it’s ridiculous for a child of that age and will obviously be done by a parent
I would tell the school about all your concerns re the making and dangerous scissors iron etc and get the other mums to agree. It has not been thought through properly for a child of that age.
May be better done by sticking paper on a cardboard model.

It's ok saying use 'pinking shears/velcro/cut up' .... etc but these children are 5! Sharp scissors - cannot imagine some blunt rounded end ones are going to do the trick unless making it of paper, so it is obviously a project for parents/grannies and not the child!

Some parents work during half term anyway to keep the wolf from the door and their children are in child care - am sure the clubs or child minders are going to be delighted spending 1:1 time with just one child!

It’s NOT about which parents/grandparents can come up with something, it’s about the child’s learning. If parents or carers do it, the child isn’t learning!

Many years ago, when we were on holiday, I made outfits out of newspaper and plastic bags. Eldest in in the plastic bag outfit went as keep Britain tidy. I didn't have a machine with me...all stapled and celotaped. Bin bags are usually recycled plastic. Use black and white. Colour could be brought in with ruffles around hem and neck using orange Sainsbury's bags or similar. I am sure you could come up with something using these simple readily available materials.

I think this is ridiculous. No five year old could do this without considerable help from an adult. I’m not sure what the learning objectives would be. Is this an EYs child or a KS1 child? Either way it’s unsuitable for a five year old, and since the child couldn’t possibly carry this out without help, I’m unsure what the child will learn. I speak as an ex EYs/KS1 teacher!

A beach dress to cover a swimsuit - two towels tacked together.

However, I still of the opinion that the parents should get together and let the school know that these projects should be tackled in school not as homework assignments - particularly for that age group.

I think that is what the parents at the DGC's school did because the number of assignments expected to be completed in the February half-term was ridiculous - so now most of the work is done in school instead.

Are you sure they have not been talking abut it in class too? If not they should have been!
Ask for clarification if you are unsure! The school will see this a 'fun family' project so kids can do something with parents which is a good thing and more fun than dull pages of sums! Remember it is not a competition!

Newspaper, bin-liners, old towels or bed linen laced together with old shoe laces or strips of fabric , glue masking tape etc!

Agree with all of the above. Utterly ridiculous project for a 5 year old. This started to happen back in my day. The school would send a note home saying one of my boys would need a model of the Taj Mahal or something by the following day. I would be scrabbling around for used loo rolls and washing up liquid bottles. Now, older and wiser, I realise the sky wouldn't have fallen in if I had hunted around for a couple of things and left them to it or sent a note back in their contact book saying it was too short notice.

I've always had a problem with homework full stop. But that's for a different thread.

The sinister side of this though, is, we are seeing an increase in young adults who are spoiled and have unreasonable expectations from their parents. All this teaches a child is that your mother will end up doing everything for you. Thereby encouraging this attitude in later life. There was a good example in a post earlier this week. The school should be assigning small and fun projects that the child can manage themselves. Giving them a sense of achievement and encouraging them to think for themselves. A bit of colouring or seeing how many birds they saw in the garden/park at half term. Not a flipping catwalk project. Like others, when I was reading I thought it was for a GCSE project! I also dislike that a 5 year old should be thinking about fashion parades. There's plenty of time for clothes and makeup and so on when they are older. 5 is the age for fresh air and fun.

Is there an old woolly jumper (adult size) that could be shrunk in the washing machine? It will become felted and child sized. Cut off the sleeves (or shorten) , cut up the front if it’s a jumper to turn it into a jacket or waistcoat. Decorate with old buttons etc. With a darning needle and contrasting wool, sew a bold running stitch all around the edges. The felted garment won’t fray.

Any decent school will have set the task with it being accessible to ALL children (ie those in overcrowded or temporary acommodation, those with working parents, those with disabilities, etc) if you think they haven't tell them! But the important thing here is that, rather than buying Velcro, ribbon, etc. etc, the garment is to be made from RECYCLED materials and so a successful submission would have that as its main constituent. How about clothes made from newspapers or vegetable bag sacking or making patchwork from cutting out squares of plastic? Old clothes can be adapted or just decorated with things like magazine cutouts, pot pourri, buttons etc or printed using paint and plastic or card shapes from egg boxes, lids, boxes
Don't be put off by other people's competitive natures - just have fun with your children - after all it's not part of any assessment and it is probably supposed to just support the school's science curriculum.

Some really good ideas here but I am staggered by the projects 5 & 6 year olds are supposed to do and especially in the holidays.

Good luck with it :-)

This project sounds more apt for a teenager who loves sewing rather than a five year old. My suggestion would be a simple wrap-around skirt or poncho-type top, or maybe a shawl.
A square shoulder bag could be useful.
Best of British anyway, sounds like you're going to need it.

What makes me angry is giving young children of that age homework that’s more for year 7 in secondary school.
Ridiculous young children should be enjoying school not having to do something like that.

How sad that young children are not able to go home and play outside like we did ,after school.
A lot of these projects given to children are done by the parents so if your mum is handier than minestrone has more free time or your family is better off than mine your Project will get higher marks.
What then?
Will the class be given a new Project to do?
As you may gather I do not like "Projects"

Anxiousgran, it is not as hard as it sounds. You are probably thinking of a proper outfit. This outfit only has to last one day. Get a large piece of elastic about 2 inches thick that will go around your dgd chest. To this staple lots of strips of material hanging down. I would make each strip of material about four inches wide and however long to rest just above her knee. Then just staple on about three layers all overlapping each other. If you did different colours it could be a rainbow dress. Send her in with a sunhat and sunglasses on and flip flops would finish outfit off. Get your dgd to staple on material strips as teacher is sure to ask her how it was made.

Frankly the project OP describes is ridiculous at the age of five. It would be appropriate for a class of fifteen year olds IMO.

The trouble is the child will feel it badly if her project is poorer than her classmates, so I hope the ideas here prove helpful.

I would mention to the school just how much work and stress this unsuitable project (age wise) is causing the entire family.

Utterly ridiculous and undermining. As a professional fashion designer/maker I would shudder at the thought of doing this with my very capable 10yr old DGD. It is more suited to a 15 yr old that is actually interested.

Furthermore as many of these creations will not come up to expectations then it will put the children off dressmaking for life, which is a great shame. Instead of learning to make clothes from good quality fabrics that last, they will be buying cheap throw away garments in cheap nonrecyclable fabrics made by cheap labour in 3rd world countries and is doing nothing for the planet.

Some teachers should have been drowned at birth.