4H

This is our second year with 4H. I am really appreciating the club more and more. With every thing I learn, I realize as much as the time commitment and requirements seem to be a hassle, they have HUGE benefits.

Here are some things that last year and even at the start of this year I have come from being annoyed to actually appreciating:

1. Parent involvement. I fought this one. I mean, it's a club that the kids are in--not me. Or so I said. But even the little bit of involvement (bare minimum) we have done to get by has been good for both us and the kids. It's making us more community minded and getting us out in the community more. With work and church both taking us away from Clay City we do very little with our "community". I think that is starting to change and as much as I fought it at first, I am really starting to like the idea of doing more and being a more positive presence in our small town.

2. Kids work. The stuff the kids have to do for their projects (at least some of the projects) seemed rather involved. I wasn't sure that they needed to spend all that time working on genealogy, weather, computers...BUT I have seen growth in both kids because of the time they have spent on the projects. They are learning things/skills that they are not getting in school.

For example: Nicky is learning to have more attention to detail with her genealogy. It's stretching her a bit more than she likes, but I think will help her in lots of areas of life, once she applies this skill. Layout/thought. For both her book for genealogy and her poster for weather, she has to think about what presents well. How to do things in a way that they are appealing to look at, to not only draw attention to the poster, but to be specific. Her artistic eye wanted to draw extra "stuff" around the photos for weather, but she researched (another skill she is learning) what the winners posters looked like and she said the "cleaner" less cluttered ones that were specific to weather were the ones that did better. Again, another skill to learn. How to apply your artistic eye to have an appealing display that is not too distracting. She also learned that she needs to choose wisely. She blundered into "peer to peer" computer project that was beyond her scope right now. So she did not finish it. But she did work on it until she hit a wall that was tough to get past. So, next year more thought will be placed into what she wants to take for projects too. Nicky also got to present to the club her genealogy project and talk about what work she had done for it. Which gave her a chance to speak to a group of people younger and older (including adults) and answer questions.

Chandler on the other hand was taking 4 projects. The first two...no brainer...art and Lego. He put together a Lego kit and drew a picture. But in addition to that, he had to list what he bought for the project and how much it cost. He had to demonstrate how to draw the picture for his 4H group. So he learned some skills on thinking about the cost of things that you do and got the opportunity to talk in front of his club (including older and younger kids as well as adults) about how to do the drawing. The other two projects Chandler did was Computers and Weather. Again, the skill of attention to detail came into play with weather and all the things he needed to do for it. Lots of small science experiments with this one. The computers, he took his book and worked through the whole thing. It was a little tough, but he enjoyed it and got help from us when needed. Then he found out that he did 3 years worth of work! (The book was 3 levels in one). At first he was frustrated, but then he said, "I don't mind, I had fun and learned a lot." The next two years, all he has to do is the projects for the fair, the book work is finished, so he's also ahead for this one too. He has to "present" stuff throughout computers and weather and now when he hears the word demonstrate he immediately responds with "well..." and will talk about whatever it is, in a fun and confident way. I am amazed at how he is responding to the idea of public speaking. He is even considering doing a demonstration on the county level next year for computers.

We are learning to be better prepared and understand what is expected of us and the kids with their projects, but they are learning valuable lessons that will stick with them for life. I have had to step out of my comfort zone with people, but even I have grown through the experience. I am looking forward to the future 4H being in it.