What do you do when your child comes home with a project to do.  Happily wielding a list of instructions and a topic to investigate you find yourself looking bleak and wondering how this is going to get done.  Ultimately parents should not interfere but help with the planning will never go amiss.  This is an opportunity to be involved and help set out a plan of action while you remain as a support and watch your child follow through on the planning.

How do you put a plan together?

Have a three-point simple discussion and prepare a mind map

1 – Review the title and the instructions

Look for keywords that may help with planning.  Check how much time is required and the layout of the final project.  The amount of input will clearly differ according to the age of your child and the grade that the project is for.  However, learning about how to plan is a very useful skill and even serves its purpose in adult life.  Project management, brainstorming in a business sense all need planning.

2 – List the activities required to complete the project

Include research, written content, pictures, interviews, experiments, display, references.  Use these topics to put together a mind map or spider diagram.  The mind map will have these headings with space underneath to fill in the expectations.  For example, the interviewers may list the names of people who will be interviewed for the project.  Then set goals to achieve these areas so the whole project is not a rush to finish at the end. Include a list of materials required in your mind map so you have everything you need to complete the project.  Putting together a timeline with a start and end of the project is also useful.  Draw the timeline and start with the end in mind and then work back dividing the time available for what you plan to achieve until you reach the beginning – your starting point.

3 – Consolidate and conclude

Look over the mind map and check all areas are complete.  Conclude the project with a display of the finished assignment or a presentation that might include an oral report to the class.

Planning an assignment is rather like planning a journey. When you know your destination and your mind map is clear the journey should not be too tiresome.  Remember as parents it is important to be there for the ride and not try to be behind the steering wheel.  If you feel your child is getting a bit misguided, then the mind map is always there to set everyone back on track.