May 6 2009
Diorama dilemma
The fateful note appeared in Nathan's Friday Folder. No it wasn't a "please contact me about your child." Instead, it was about one of those homework projects parents fear -- dioramas.
"Build a diorama of an animal in its habitat," the teacher wrote. "Please use a small shoe or tissue box. Also, write two sentences about the animal and its habitat. Your child will present this project to the class."
As a child, I remember struggling to make dioramas with the limited supplies I could scrounge around the house. I didn't get any help from my parents since they felt that I should do my homework myself. (What a unique concept!) Still, I felt since Nathan's in kindergarten, he needs a little assistance from me.
First, I got the dialog started. I gave him an animal book to look at, and we discussed various animals and habitats. Then I asked him what animal he wanted in his diorama. Nathan immediately suggested deer. This was not a surprise since my husband hunts, and we eat venison on a daily basis. So I did a web search, found some easy to color deer and woodland habitat cutouts, and printed them out.
I set Nathan up at the dining room table with the printouts and crayons, and told him to color while I finished putting laundry away. A few minutes later he announced that he was finished. When I went downstairs, I wasn't surprised to see a few scribbles and only a corner of each sheet colored in. Arts and crafts bore Nathan and he only has the patience for a few minutes of coloring at a time.
I told Nathan to color in all the trees and grass while I cut out construction paper for the background. Nathan declared he was done several more times. Then I'd point out things he hadn't colored, and nagged at him to color them in properly.
Finally, Nathan finished and it was time to cut and paste. He cut out the animals and trees, and put glue on the backs of the construction paper I had cut out. I placed in the sky and grass pieces, and then looked over at what he had done. Like any six-year-old, his cutting was jagged and rough. OK, no big deal, I told myself. Everyone else's in his class would be like that, too.
Then Perfectionist Mama reared her ugly head, and neatly trimmed everything he cut out. Honestly, I couldn't help myself. I wanted his diorama to look good and to have a nice 3-D effect. I told myself I was just cleaning it up a little. After pasting in the last pieces, Nathan and I were very happy with the results.
After Paul congratulated Nathan on the nice diorama his mother made for him (thanks, hun) I wondered if I crossed the line. Embarrassed that I had helped too much, I confessed to his teacher about assisting and pushing Nathan to complete the diorama. Amused at my dilemma, she assured me that what I did was fine. The point of the assignment was to introduce the children to the diorama concept and to have them work on larger projects, she said. She had assumed that parents would be working closely with their kids.
Assured that it does take a village to make a kindergarten diorama, I felt a lot better. However, I hope the next time Nathan gets a diorama assignment that he'll be old enough to work on it alone without Perfectionist Mama's interference...uh, help.
