<p>OMG, jonri! Bahahahahaha. Oy, Romani needs a nap time…</p>
<p>Wasn’t there a cheesy 80’s movie where a guy borrowed some kids for a company picnic?</p>
<p>The dreaded Inventor 4th grade project.
DD was in a self contained special ed class.</p>
<p>I’m guessing she was slow on the draw for choosing…and ended up
assigned to research Igor Sikorski. You know, helicopters???</p>
<p>DD couldn’t pronounce his name, could not have cared less about helicopters and couldn’t even fake interest. Luckily, her 7th grade brother was fascinated.
Oh, what I wouldn’t have given for Edison!!</p>
<p>My big responsibility during HS was to peel my kidd off her textbooks and paper re-writing and remind her that there is life outside of her homework. Well, she was very involved, her sport practice alone consumed about 3 hours, including Saturday and many meets and she had other ECs. But it drove me nuts sometime to see her slaving over those papers…to the point that I have called the principal and asked for an advice. She said, I was the only one in her career that lasted for few decades who approached her with such a question, she had no answer. Doing homework past 10pm was prohibited in my house, where I had very very few rules, practically none. This ws the only input to the academics on my own initiative. However, if D. was seeking help, we always provided it. We never initiated it, but whenever she asked, her questions were answered all thru some in college. You do not need to know academics, if we did not know, we found the answers. There are textbooks and internet, information is plentiful.
Checking her homework after she has checked and re-checked bazilions of times was absolutely useless. BTW, she is currently in a class with the products of the "tiger’ moms, yes, more than 50% of her Med. School class are Chinese. She has absolutely no academic problem there. The same is for my granddaughter in her Middle School class. Again, no problem…more so she got accepted to the very selective HS with about 75% Asians. We believe that she is very well prepared for this.</p>
<p>Atomon: NO NO NO! The Mission project is (and was) a sugar cube rendering of the missions, including (but not limited to) the church, the steeple and the other buildings that were part of the California settlement/conversion of and abuse of the Indians…now known as indigenous people. In addition one had (for my kids schools) to understand that the missions were 25 miles (a day of walking) apart…so your family had to research the El Camino Real to fine the two closest missions.</p>
<p>The wikiups, tents etc. were a separate, but equal part of schooling.</p>
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<p>And in our multicultural area, cook something from your heritage! All sides of our families have been in this country for 100+ years, intermarrying, so our kids don’t have a distinct “heritage.” I always blew that one off–or had my kids bring store-bought muffins (since they told me those were better than the ones I made from scratch).</p>
<p>How long has California been doing the Mission project models? I lived in California in 4th grade, and I remember studying the Missions, but I don’t remember any models. Looks like I dodged a bullet on that one.</p>
<p>I love this thread (and romani’s typo)!</p>
<p>buenavista–I believe my older brother had to do the Mission Project, and he would’ve been in 4th grade in approximately '88? (according to my math, which is not in any way reliable.)</p>
<p>I am as old as Hades. I believe that we did the mission project in the 3rd grade. The Yang Na Indian tribe lived in the Brentwood/Westwood/Beverly Hills area. And they had wiki ups…and a poem that we all learned (memorize) about “our” Indians that today…well, there would have the local media would have a field day with many firings.</p>
<p>Where we walk to school each day, Indian children used to play. All around our native land Indian people used to stand. there were no buildings at all…not a church and not a steeple…only trees and Indian people…Then we triumphed that we “civilized” the Indians…Yep.</p>
<p>Ugh, those projects. </p>
<p>With my older brother, my mom made the most incredible projects. He had to make an adobe village, which was a work of art courtesy of my mom. She also sent him to school with a life-size mummy.</p>
<p>I was kid #3 and for the most part my parents were more hands-off with our projects. As a child, I had a bad habit of telling my parents about projects two nights before (if I was being generous). Usually I just had to make due with whatever art supplies were in the house. In fifth grade, I had to make a shoebox diarama based on some book about Native Americans. They ended up having red christmas bulbs for heads (think of the ones that went in the electric window candles) with tan construction paper clothing. We didn’t have anything to use for hair and had no money, so I ended up getting a hair cut from mom and taping my real hair onto the bulbs. My teacher must’ve thought I was really strange. </p>
<p>I think the worst one was in fourth grade when we were studying the colonies. We were supposed to make a model of the colony from the country we were assigned to (Spain, England, France, Netherlands). I ended up making a very small version of the wrong colony because I had nothing to make it and only had a reference picture for English colonies (I was assigned to the Netherlands). I ended up getting a 2 out of 4, and I remember being really upset. Most of the other students had elaborate models that were clearly completed by parents, but mine had no means of helping me with it.</p>
<p>The wonderful “who were your ancestors cooking project”…try Norway…sardines, lutefisk, pickled herring and bleu cheese are not exactly kid friendly. Or even adult friendly in most cases. We finally found some cookies or other that I figured were “close enough”…</p>
<p>Celebrating my heritage with . . . boiled mutton.</p>
<p>bevhills???(its atomom)</p>
<p>Perhaps I’ve been misunderstood. Of course each state studies its own local history.</p>
<p>We don’t build models of the California missions in Kansas (KS). But I understand that that the study of the missions/construction of a model mission is a big project schoolkids in CA do when studying their state history. (I am familiar with the history of the southwest and have visited some of the missions in CA and TX.)
Did I say/imply that CA students don’t also build model Native American dwellings? </p>
<p>What I meant was that the “Native American Dwellings Project” is a “school construction project” as familiar to KS parents as the “Mission Project” seems to be to CA parents. (Though obviously, it is nowhere near as large or notorious a project 
. . .)</p>
<p>You seem upset about abuse of Native Americans at CA missions, but I can’t figure out how this relates to my post. We were discussing/joking about despised/funny school projects. I mentioned a project that Kansas schoolkids do. Not sure why you say NO NO NO to that.
Can anyone explain? Because my purpose is not to offend other posters.</p>
<p>Buenavista and gouf, I completely forgot about the multicultural cooking! The most recent immigrants in my kids’ ancestry were also over 100 years ago. They had to look up recipes for traditional foods, since I am certain the red and green jello molds that appear at every family gathering did not originate in the old country. </p>
<p>Now, with D1 taking French and D2 taking Spanish, you can guess what the assignment is. D1 loves to bake and her friends with tiger moms can’t cook at all, so she brings them here to make the required French foods. D2 is very popular when she makes tres leches.</p>
<p>Yumm. Tres leches is my favorite cake ever.</p>
<p>QuantMech: That is hilariuos. Though I actually like boiled mutton.</p>
<p>As a student I always love the multicultural cooking homeworks. I have no artistic skill, but I love to cook and eat.</p>
<p>I did the California Mission project (with paper mache) in 1969. My mother used sugar cubes, but that was in 1948. She was in Catholic school at the time. My dad went to California public school, and he did not remember doing the mission project which would have been 1943, but some of his younger brothers and sisters did.</p>
<p>Atomom: I am SO sorry. I wasn’t intending to attack you in any way. I have a sardonic sense of humor. It didn’t translate…I am so sorry Our history (world/nation/local) has become so pc that if one says anything (at least here) that vaguely relates to one group or another one has to start with, “In all due respect…Please excuse me…but”</p>
<p>Interesting that the Mission project’s been around so long, UCDAlum82! I was in 4th grade in the mid-60’s, but we moved to California mid-year, so maybe I missed the model segment. I only remember a written report with lots of pictures. </p>
<p>But it made enough of an impression that a few years ago on a DC trip to the U.S. Capitol Building I recognized the statue of Junipero Serra right away. My kids had never heard of him (or the Missions, probably); they grew up in Massachusetts with Wampanoag projects.</p>
<p>OMG! I am having a bad day. Please note: at least here is NOT CC. It is Southern California.</p>
<p>Don’t worry, ellebud, I “got” it that you were joking and that you were talking about the PC level of conversation in southern LA.</p>
<p>Poetgirl…Thank you.</p>