Should elementary kids be forced to present things in front of the class? My 9 year old is very introverted and is freaking out about having to prevent a project…he will most likely try to skip school that day and I do not blame him as I am the same way…will the teacher skip over him if i ask?
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Teachers understand this fear and will have ways to encourage and he’ll him along. Don’t let him skip out on the experience. Better to learn at 9, then at 29 when he’s working and has to present something. It’s part of growing up and learning to deal with unpleasant and uneasy things. Good luck to him. Just tell him to try and do his best and it’s good practice and that you love him and understand it’s a hard thing.
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I absolutely disliked doing them also. I would stutter, stumble and my face would be soo red. But I am thankful that I did have to do them because it did make me more confident in speaking in front of others. If you let her skip then I feel like you’re setting her up for failure and they’ll more than likely make her do it when she returns then she’ll probably be the only one to speak that day and I feel that would be worse.
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Your child needs to do the presentation. It will help him to overcome and increase his confidence. You cannot coddle him from things that make him uncomfortable his entire life.
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I remember in 1st grade having to do math problems on the board. I remember having to read out loud and I was an awful reader. I look back now and think about all those times and how it built to help me develop skills later in life. Life and things are scary and hard, how about instead of trying to get around things we teach them how to work through things. Build there confidence, encourage to develop life skills for the hard times. Setup a family audience or stuffed animals and help them do the presentation. Think of fun ways to build and encourage of those tough moments.
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My daughter is in kindergarten and she had to present a project in front of her class and remember a short 3 sentence statement. I think just encourage him and let him know that he will do great and in life you will need to do things that aren’t always fun and things that will be scary, but as long as he does the best he can that is all that matters. I tell my daughter every morning before she goes to school as long as you are the best you today that is all mommy and daddy care about! I hope he can do it
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I don’t think the teacher will skip. But I have seen teachers allow their students present just to the teacher, not the whole class. Which I believe is a fair alternative.
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There are things the schools make us do to open us up. Kids are asked to do presentations to get them used to and comfortable with public speaking. I wouldn’t ask them to skip your child, or let him call off, cause that’s just gunna teach a bad lesson that he can skip every time he has to do an assignment he doesn’t like
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I wished they hadn’t have forced it. I did it and made it through however, that kind of stress just is not good for Anyone. This kind of project for an introvert is setting them up for failure and having the fear/stress take away from how well they may have written the work.
As an adult I’ll have 1on 1 conversations or small group conversations. But I knew from that age that I was not going to be good at large phobic speaking. So why force a child to do it!
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I feel like that would be setting her up for failure. Life is full of situations we don’t like or that make us uncomfortable. You have to learn how to face it and deal with it because people won’t always cater to you and you can’t always just run and hide from it. I think if you supported her and she overcame her fear it would boost her confidence and make her feel proud of herself.
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Give him more confidence. Have him practice at home. I took a public speaking class in college and I learned that when you present something look at your notes/board explain it then look up and look at the back wall of the classroom if your confidence is stronger scan the room.
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He will have to do this many times throughout his education and college if he chooses to go. If your able to get him out of every presentation for the rest of his life, sure go ahead. If not it’s probably better to start practicing and gaining confidence
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I was like this in school as well. I was seeing the school counselor. I had such a horrible fear of getting up in front of everyone my counselor had it worked out with the teachers that I would present my projects to the teacher alone right after class or when there was time. They also couldn’t call on me during class unless I had my hand up. It really helped me feel more comfortable and work on my fears instead of being ‘forced’ into an uncomfortable situation. You can try talking to the teacher or maybe the school counselor. I’m almost 35 now so this was many years ago, I don’t know how they do things now and obviously every school is different.
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I would have him practice at home with you. Maybe he will be confident on his project and then be a little more comfy. I hated doing them and now my job is to talk in front of brand new hires twice a week.
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Ask to allow him to present his project at home, record and have it presented in class. This type project can be detrimental to their mental health and they should not be forced to perform or fail. My granddaughter would become so sick with anxiety that she would have a migraine with vomiting. We need to understand that not ever person wants or needs to be able to speak in public, anymore than every person should be able to ride a bull in a rodeo. If they can step out of their comfort zone, that’s great, but forcing them at a young age may just make them more insecure.
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I didn’t like having to get in front of the whole class either to show the work I did when I was a kid in school, but unfortunately that’s part of why they make kids do it. Step out of their comfort zone, learn to try new things, face fears. Life isn’t going to “skip over” them when it gets tough in the future, kids need to learn how to deal with things rather than how to avoid them
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I think it’s important to let them get comfortable presenting and talking to a group. As a teacher I had kids who loved being up front talking and some not so much. I encouraged them but if they were terrified id let them present to only me while the class worked. I encouraged them and praised them and eventually they worked up the courage to be in front. I taught kindergarten though and they are still learning a lot of social skills
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I was so scared to have to speak in front of my class. I found that if I was one of the first presenters, it was still awful but I could relax and enjoy the rest of the presentations instead of being scared the teacher was going to call on me next.
I mean we all do stuff we didn’t want to do. It makes us who we are today. He could very well be good at it! I think maybe letting the teacher know of her anxiety I’m sure she will help out!
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How will he learn to speak in front of people if you never teach him? Not sure why you would want the teacher to skip him…
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In high school I had a few good teachers that allowed me to just present in front of them instead of the entire class. I would literally be throwing up all day at the fact of having to present in front of the entire class. I could dance alone on stage in front of hundreds of people, but god forbid I present in front of people I see every day.
You are doing your child a disservice . If there is that high anxiety your child needs therapy as well , nit a bad thing at all but if it’s truly thar bad time to help before it gets worse. Ask the teacher if she has ideas on how to build your child’s confidence
It’s worth having a talk with the teacher ahead of time so they can help with proper supports. I would still encourage your child to try. I’m sure they aren’t the only child feeling that way.
My daughter just had to do one. She lived in anxiety for 3 days as they kept running out of time and not getting her turn. Then she made a 94 due to points off for not good enough class eye contact. 
Teaches kids for life as an adult. Sometimes doing a hard task is very  Beneficial
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I never did projects because I was forced to do it in front of others. I failed every one of them because I refused to do a project then had to do extra credit to make it up. I didn’t like to read either.
I always allow the children not to share if they don’t want to. I will also offer to read it for them and ask if they’d like to Stand next to me. Most often by the end of the year they will participate. The kids are so good and clap and give accolades to others. They soon realise it is not a big deal and not to be afraid.
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We had to do book reports in 5th grade several times a year. We did get to pick the book. A kid in my class would throw up every time it was his turn and he still didn’t get skipped over. Sometimes we have to do things in school that pushes us.
I get it as I was exactly the same at school and looking back on it I probably needed some extra support to learn how to manage these situations. I would talk to the teacher and see what they suggest, perhaps he can go first or second or video it at home to show. At my girls school they often get the option to present in small groups or in front of the whole class so perhaps this is an option. I do think it is good to encourage kids to do these things as it is an important life skill. Perhaps looking at some sort of preforming arts could also be good for his confidence going forward.
I wish they would have forced it that young. Now my daughter is in high school and it’s so much worse.
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Yes they suck but it’s a good lesson if they ever need to do things like that in the real world with their jobs do you think a boss will skip them over? Do you think if they become a boss they will not have staff meetings and have to talk in front of them. It’s an important life lesson even if they hate it…
Talk to the teacher as an option could be to present to the teacher and another faculty member or you as being alone with students can be frowned upon or perhaps with an open door. Maybe recording the presentation on a usb could be another alternative. This allows your child to build the skill set more gently. Please talk to the teacher they want your child to succeed not to traumatise them.
My son is the same way and so was I. As his parent, you need to help him gain the confidence to go thru with it, not support him skipping the day. Some of these “my kids are traumatized” comments are crazy.
Don’t enable him and handicap him it’s not going to kill him. If you don’t like it try homeschool and make your own rules.
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It was forced on me as a kid and I absolutely HATED it. It NEVER got easier or gave me any confidence. I doubt they’ll skip him though. Practice with him and see if that helps.
When I was teaching 3rd grade, students had to present projects because the state mandated it in the curriculum guidelines. I always tried to help those who struggled with this task.
Yes to your first question. Any teacher worth her salt wouldn’t let him slip by without meeting the requirements.
I don’t think they should force kids to do that. So many kids get anxiety over it
No the teacher won’t skip over him. Public speaking is part of what he is supposed to learn. The earlier he starts the easier it will be.
I struggled very bad with being the center of attention as a kid. I never told anyone but I dispised projects for that reason. I have since been diagnosed with anxiety and I’ll tell you that pushing myself through through situations like that gave me the ability to handle the anxiety now and push myself through it.
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If the teacher knows this they should keep it to 60sec presentation.
Oral representation was part of our grade growing up in school.
Maybe you can talk to the teacher and ask if you child kan stay after the period is over or after school. And do it only for the teacher alone 
I always took a zero in school. I just couldn’t ever stand there and present lol
As long as it’s a requirement for the whole class then your child need to participate.
My sons teacher lets him do it just to her at break time or after school.
You need to help him work thru this fear instead of trying to shield him from it. You can’t just skip parts of life because your scared. If he does skip this time what is he going to do next time? It will be even worse next time because you didn’t make him face it the first time
Yes. Many of us have the fear but it is something we have to face as it will come up again
Personally I say no. I hated doing them. I have a stutter at times and it made it difficult for me to do it. Then kids would start laughing at me. Which made the stutter worse. I couldn’t finish the project and always failed.
Having to learn public speaking is a good thing, its just another lesson in life. You pulling Him out wont let Him learn about it. Because of a hortific home life i was so shy i would cry if anyone talked to me. It was hard to learn to talk in front of other people. But was a valuable lesson and skill i needed to learn.
No they probably won’t skip. It’s good and important to do this kind of stuff specailly when anxiety is a factor
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Yes. They are skills that kids need to learn as much as it can suck for an introvert. Instead of coddling, PRACTICE with your child to build confidence.
Nobody likes it. Everyone does it.
writing an excuse for your child to get out of a class project is just going make them think they don’t have to do things they’re uncomfortable with. It’s learning process.
No all schools do it I had to I hated it but just went and got it over and done with
When I was younger, we had to do public speeches and I hated it. My anxiety would shoot through th roof and I was terrified!! When my kids went to school, they didn’t do that sort of thing. I always told them we had it rougher in school than them.
Not sure… really depends how bad his anxiety is. I blacked out Freshman year speach class my heart rate in 180’s i didnt do anymore speaches in the class only infront of the teacher. Thats was extreme!
Kids have to make presentations throughout their entire school experience. I had to do presentations, and I survived. I am a high school teacher, and all of my students have to make speeches and other types of presentations. It’s part of their curriculum to be the presenter and an audience member. Throughout my career I have had kids struggle at first, but then they became very good presenters. It’s a learning process, and all kids need to do these presentations. If they are always allowed to skip things they don’t like, they will expect the same thing throughout their lives. In reality, that isn’t going to happen.
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Kids need to be taught young how to deal with uncomfortable situations it’s part of life Live and grow
Years ago i it was hard to do all thru school but i think it did help me to respond to my class mates , They did not like it any more than i did. It will make him a better person.
Will make him a better student and person. Yes.