School projects impact pocketbook

I don’t mind helping my grandson with his school projects, but sometimes it becomes quite costly going after the ingredients to complete these projects.

The other day, helping him with such a project meant we had to go shopping.

Oh yeah! The teacher told the class they could be creative and use whatever was around the house.

Well, short of baking a cake with no cake mix, I didn’t have any other decent ingredients to work with.

Off we went to the big arts and crafts store downtown.

My grandson instructed me as to what this project needed to look like and simulate.

Okay, I got it, but this wasn’t going to be easy.

It was a good thing the end result netted him an A grade.

However, I took the real beating right in the pocket book on top of the time, gas and frustration involved.

The kid did the work on the project with a few suggestions from the wise one.

Wisdom comes with age, remember.

The outcome included a conglomeration of Play Dough, a slice of apple, slice of potato (for the oblong shape), pieces of balsa wood, a grape cut in half, M&M candy and pipe cleaner sticks all blended in true form.

Oh, yeah, and the whole thing sat inside some Styrofoam, cut in pieces making it appear to have great dimension. I know about shortcuts.

The day it was graded, he couldn’t wait to tell me this magnificent work of art had earned top honors.

For nearly $25, a few gallons of gas and two hours out of my evening, it should have, I thought.

The good part was this kid knew what he was doing, academically speaking. As for the hands-on part, a bit of guidance served well to see the project though to completion.

We have made historical Mexican Missions for a Spanish class, maps and countrysides for a history class, Roman culture for an English class and now this biology project.

Yes, this pea green substance called Play Dough, the apple and the rest of the food and other items strategically placed in the muck replicated a plant cell.

Until it was finished, complete with toothpick flags identifying each part of the cell, I wasn’t sure what this creation was teaching.

I couldn’t spell half the parts of the cell. They might as well have been written in a foreign language. In fact, I think some of them were in Latin.

But, I was amazed at the final details that taught my grandson something significant if he continues in upper-level education after high school.

I’m sure it has meaning for applications such as medicine or an agricultural profession.

Now that I think about it, we could use a doctor in the family.

At least the project did bring us together as a team. I was glad that I could offer the support that a student needs these days to be successful in school.

Too many parents, it seems, aren’t involved enough with their child’s school work to make a difference in the child’s academic achievements.

It’s not easy being a grandparent and still dabbling with school-age projects. It can take a toll on a senior citizen’s brain.

On the other hand, it can also be inspiring, keeping one sharp and with the program.

I was in my 40s when I went back to college.

I passed the class I was enrolled in, anyway.

Now, if I could find some way to make the school district pay me back my $25, I’d be as happy as I was seeing my grandson get the A.

Education these days isn’t all free, however. I guess I’ll just have to bite the bullet and get over it.

So bring on the next project.

Actually he did, but fortunately he had to do it with a schoolmate. They spent one day on a weekend searching the web for materials to complete a class history project and then assembled it all into a book, the basic requirement of the assignment.

I guess it’s a matter of making the not-so-fun projects a family event. Where there is a will, there is a way, my dad always said.

Whew, I’m exhausted, though.