Tuesday 2 June 2015

Parenting through Yr12 Folio Subjects


This is our second year in a row of Year 12 Studio Art.  The second year of a stressed out teenager with too much to do and not enough time to do it.  Folio subjects require a great deal of time in a way that the more academic subjects just don't seem to.

Miss Mischief and I spent six hours at school on Saturday, working on her folio.  I cut, put double sided tape on hundreds of printed photos.  She placed them, I unpeeled said double-sided tape and stuck them down.  Ten combined hours of hands-on work time. Now there are about 30 pages of annotation to be completed.  And a proposal for potential directions for next term to be written.  Between English essays and Biology SAC's.

So how do we manage this stressful time crunch?  Gently.  Carefully.  Compassionately.  I hope.
  • Miss Mischief has a dishes reprieve for the week.  The other two will either wash or put dishes away instead of splitting the putting away between two of them.
  • I get to rub Miss Mischief's back before bed - I have no idea what I'm doing or how to do it, but she seems to like it and thinks it's special.
  • Encourage her to keep going when she'd love to just collapse in a heap.
  • Help prioritise annotating those pagse and studying for SAC's.
  • Nag Encourage her to phone her Food Tech teacher (distance subject) and ask for a small extension.
  • And pray.  Pray that she gets that annotation done; that she can write like the wind.  That words would come easily and quickly.  That her writing would be clear, succinct, intelligent and address the subject matter, aesthetics and materials appropriately.  That time would slow down and that she would be able to use every single spare moment to the best possible effect.
Last night when I popped quickly into Safeway I was served by a beautiful young man I have known since before he was born.  He said he has lost the will to study and that it just all feels too hard.  He's doing a folio subject too - not Studio Arts.  Before he had to serve another customer all I could do was encourage him to remember the big picture.  There are just four or five months to go.  Keep going, run your race.  You can do it.  Don't stop now!  I could see him inhale my words to bolster him for another step or two.

How are your Year 12 students faring?

5 comments:

Jo said...

I am hearing you on Yr 12 art. Brutal. And requiring constant dedication and application. I had one who was good at that, and one who... wasn't. Oh the stress for everyone. I am feeling for you:)

RJ Bowyer said...

Hmm. I have to disagree on the academic subjects not taking as much time. My yr 12 maths was a massive time suck, closely followed by the massive amount of research I did for my history subject. Yr 12 is definitely stressful for everyone involved. Thanks for linking with #TeamIBOT.

EssentiallyJess said...

Year 12 is so stressful, and that's just my experience with it. I hate to think how hard it is to be a parent going through it.
I love too, that you encouraged the young guy at Safeway. What a blessing that must have been for him.

Left-Handed Housewife said...

Is Year 12 the last year? Jack just finished 10th grade (today!) and what I'm not looking forward to is all the testing he'll have to do next year--SATs, ACTS, Advance Placement testing, etc. That's what's going to stress us all out.

You sound like you're doing a great job, though! Good luck getting all the way through!

xofrances

Tracy said...

Frances - Yr12 is the last year of school in Australia. It is generally accepted as brutal, and it contributes to the tertiary entrance score that determines whether or not you get into Uni.

RJ - my girls have both done highly academic subjects as well...maths, sciences, English's. Studio Art requires far more hands-on than any of the others. Not to say the others don't require their fair share, but S/Art, and folio subjects in general, just seem to be more time consuming because practical work takes a different kind of time than the other subjects.

Jess and Jo - thanks for your support...this impacts the whole family!