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community service for 11 year olds
Dec. 8th, 2022 09:51 amMy kid is in a middle school honors program. As part of the program they're supposed to do 20 community service hours a year. it has to be helping an actual non-profit organization, not just picking up trash around your neighborhood, an organization representative has to sign off on your hours. it's a challenge finding orgs that will take an 11-13 year old and absolutely nobody will take them without a parent, so pretty much yeah now marc and I have to do community service hours.
this year I had a great idea to set up a night for some of these kids at the makerspace I'm involved in, since so many parents are looking for opportunities. I got a little group together to have a night.
omg.
it's terrible. my first idea was that they could clean up the electronics lab, we've had a ton of donations but stuff is in doom piles. so go through a pile and organize stuff, maybe?
that is too difficult. I have to be VERY specific. Here is this box of cords, untangle and wrap them. "find a nice shelf for them" is too vague.
so then I thought they could label the tiny drawers. cut paper into labels, open a drawer, read the part number off an integrated circuit, google it to find out what it is (NAND gate? diplexer?) it would help us a ton.
that is too difficult. deciphering google results is WAY beyond them. the kids got distracted/hated the assignment.
"wipe off these tables" is good but it's hard to find enough tables and spots in the makerspace, we try to keep them occupied for two hours and they do such a crappy job they go fast and I have to work harder on inspections. Also you can't just say "go into the cleaning closet and find something logical to wipe these tables off with", you have to get EVERYTHING set up.
this is so much damn work for me.
now... the parents are there and the parents also help, they don't need the assignments to be quite as mindless as the kids. but googling the integrated circuit part numbers was too much for them and when the kids get distracted and can't label the drawers, the parents have to watch the kids, and everybody needs me to find perfect tasks.
one evening we scrapped protective paper off laser cut holiday ornaments. that one was actually perfect. it was mindless, I had scrapers, I had an activity set up assembly-line style. it wasn't really helping with the makerspace, they were for a charity market. but it counted.
today I'm emailing a parent back and forth because her kid lost the signature form. I sent a new form, but the date was off, they want me to correct it, this is like the fourth kid who's lost a damn form, I've seen no evidence that the school looks at the forms AT ALL, and I am so done!
Someone at this school decided that middle schoolers should Help Their Community. This idea seems like a total burden on the community. I want kids to learn about making the world a better place but I swear, when they're out in the world they're like zoo animals, and I am a parent! I love kids!
this year I had a great idea to set up a night for some of these kids at the makerspace I'm involved in, since so many parents are looking for opportunities. I got a little group together to have a night.
omg.
it's terrible. my first idea was that they could clean up the electronics lab, we've had a ton of donations but stuff is in doom piles. so go through a pile and organize stuff, maybe?
that is too difficult. I have to be VERY specific. Here is this box of cords, untangle and wrap them. "find a nice shelf for them" is too vague.
so then I thought they could label the tiny drawers. cut paper into labels, open a drawer, read the part number off an integrated circuit, google it to find out what it is (NAND gate? diplexer?) it would help us a ton.
that is too difficult. deciphering google results is WAY beyond them. the kids got distracted/hated the assignment.
"wipe off these tables" is good but it's hard to find enough tables and spots in the makerspace, we try to keep them occupied for two hours and they do such a crappy job they go fast and I have to work harder on inspections. Also you can't just say "go into the cleaning closet and find something logical to wipe these tables off with", you have to get EVERYTHING set up.
this is so much damn work for me.
now... the parents are there and the parents also help, they don't need the assignments to be quite as mindless as the kids. but googling the integrated circuit part numbers was too much for them and when the kids get distracted and can't label the drawers, the parents have to watch the kids, and everybody needs me to find perfect tasks.
one evening we scrapped protective paper off laser cut holiday ornaments. that one was actually perfect. it was mindless, I had scrapers, I had an activity set up assembly-line style. it wasn't really helping with the makerspace, they were for a charity market. but it counted.
today I'm emailing a parent back and forth because her kid lost the signature form. I sent a new form, but the date was off, they want me to correct it, this is like the fourth kid who's lost a damn form, I've seen no evidence that the school looks at the forms AT ALL, and I am so done!
Someone at this school decided that middle schoolers should Help Their Community. This idea seems like a total burden on the community. I want kids to learn about making the world a better place but I swear, when they're out in the world they're like zoo animals, and I am a parent! I love kids!