Every semester, eighth grade students who take the Child Development class have a project. At the end of their first marking period in the class, they have a big decision to make!

Their first option is to take a fake baby home. Students take it home for a total of two days and will be taking care of it the entire time. Now, this isn’t just an average baby doll. This baby can cry! The baby won’t give students a warning, and it doesn’t matter where you are.

“My favorite part of the whole experience is seeing their faces when they walk through the door,” said eighth grade Child Development teacher Kristina Rose.

The second option is to do a project on children’s illnesses. Students may make a slideshow presentation on an illness, and then, they will present it to the class. This option is an alternative if they don’t want to take the the baby home.

If a student does decide to choose the baby, they will run into some sticky situations. Dogs could think the baby is a toy, maybe a little sister wants to try a new makeup design on it or it could even start to cry out in public. These babies are a lot of work, but teach the students the important life lessons of having a baby.

“I want to drill into their brains that it is not easy being a parent,” said Rose.

The dates for when students take the babies home will be out shortly!