Anyone in 4-H care to explain it to me?

[lauriem33]

There is a local homeschool 4-H group and we went to the first meeting this week. I've asked questions and gotten some answers but I'm still not exactly understanding what 4-H is and how it works. My youngest would be a Cloverbud, and I have a 12 year old also. Can someone explain it for someone (me) who has no clue at all what it involves?

[caij_rose]

I was in 4-H for 6 years, doing sheep. what we did, was once a month have a meeting, in which the kids would run it with the parents support. I got to be treasurer for 2 years, and it was a good experience in working with money, and with other people. we also had people come in and show how to card and weave wool. Once during the year you had to either do a speech or a demonstration in front of your club mates and 3 or 4 judges. It was the most scariest part for me, but that was where i learned to become more comfortable speaking in front of people. i still don't like it, but i have the confidence to do it. Then the fun part were the animals. I got to learn how to take care of my own lamb. I had to train it to follow my lead, and how to stand. it was challenging, but going into the show ring with your animal was fun, and winning ribbons and trophies was rewarding. overall for me and my sisters it really helped build our confidence and skills. i would recommend it to everyone.

[elizawill]

we participated in a 4-H homeschool group last year. we just had to complete booklets & we went on lots of field trips. the booklets were based on specific topics & the kids voted on what they would study. the field trips tied into the topic of study as well. this year we don't participate with the group because our co-op conflicts with the day. however, we are independent participants & still do their embryology program. we hatch chickens in the spring and quail in the fall (we actually just returned the baby quail yesterday). we also participate in 4-H camp each summer (they have arts & crafts, farm week, etc). my niece (in public school) raised animals for 4-H and won prizes. that is very different though than how we've utilized it.

[lauriem33]

Our members show their projects at the county fair each year. Does that just involve display then if you do something like photography or such? We don't have animals so wouldn't be signing up for those types of projects.

[elanorh]

Nine year 4-H Alum here, plus University 4-H and Cooperative Extension office too ....

The goal of 4-H is to help students learn how to engage in learning and in the community in an effective way -- it used to be a way to teach new farming techniques to farm kids so their parents would implement them (and new housekeeping techniques, ie safe canning methods). I think that's still somewhat an aspect of the program, but it's grown into more of a leadership and well-rounded program beyond just agriculture.

4-H is going to vary from state to state. In the more rural states, it still has a heavier focus on agriculture/animals but in urban areas there is a greater focus on urban/less agricultural projects. Everywhere, there is some sort of record keeping component, with records due at the end of the year (which coincides with the beginning of the school year). Kids keep records for their projects (costs, outcomes, etc.) as well as a general overall statement of the year too.

Many states have "pocket pets" programs where kids can learn more about and show their unusual pets - snakes, guinea pigs, cats, etc. There are rabbit and poultry projects which are more adaptable to urban areas, and some areas have projects for urban kids interested in large animal livestock (our community has a program with miniature horses for this). And of course, there's the dog project. If you're in a rural area, there are horse projects, livestock projects, breeding animal projects, and more.

In terms of 'indoor exhibit' projects, the standards are sewing, knitting, crocheting, quilting, cooking, baking (cake decorating), canning, photography, electronics, robotics, aeronautics, shooting sports, entomology, wildlife, range management, gardening, computers, woodwork, leathercraft, child development/'babysitting', leadership, etc.

There are also self-determined projects, where kids can develop a project (for a year or for long-term) on something they're interested in. I saw a great one a few years ago, where a kid started with refurbishing old lawn tractors and was moving on to rebuilding automobiles as a teen. Very cool.

4-H members have a monthly club meeting of kids of all ages, 9-18. Meetings are run by the kids, kids plan what they're going to do, they learn parliamentary procedure and officer/committee responsibilities. Parents are obviously involved. Clubs usually have at least one civic project that they do each year (help clean a highway, or visit elderly at the resthome, or whatever). Most clubs require each member to do a speech and demonstration for the club during the year, usually related to their projects; and some counties have this as a county competition and a statewide competition as well. Many counties have a camp in the summer, sometimes combined with other counties but in larger counties, it might be just the 9-11 year olds, then just the 12-14 year olds, etc.

Some (most) states have a county and state fair during the summer where students exhibit their projects. If you place high at the county level, then you can compete at the state level, whether you're 19 or 9. The county fairs have interview judging (kid sits with judges and discusses the project, what s/he learned, plans for next year, etc.). Parents can't participate in the interview judging. There are usually county and state-wide fashion reviews for kids who sew or do the buymanship project to model their clothes and talk about them with the judges too.

As kids get older, they have the opportunity to join Junior Leaders (13 and older) who work on a county level to plan events and coordinate beyond the county level with other teens. Also, once kids are 14, they are usually eligible to compete in regional and state-wide competitions, and to attend national events too. I was lucky to attend one of the last National 4-H Congresses; they canceled it awhile ago but I think they're starting it up again. The teen years are really great in 4-H.

Kids learn record keeping, time management, how to plan ahead, how to communicate effectively with others, interview skills .... I think 4-H did a great job of preparing me for life beyond school. It gave me an edge over other kids while applying for scholarships and doing interviews.

Some of my closest friends from my childhood/youth are friends I made through 4-H.

I didn't mention Cloverbuds - I think this is even more subject to local differences, but usually it's kids 5-8 years of age. They usually meet once a month, do a fun crafty educational project. My sister is the Cloverbud leader where she lives; she's had the kids sew fleece lap quilts for the local nursing home, they've made bread together, done field trips, had a Christmas cookie exchange, etc. She tries to have an educational or civic component to each activity but I think for the kids, they're just fun. My dd1 starts Cloverbuds here this year - here, it's junior leaders who run Cloverbuds and it's more social/crafty.

Leaders have to have a full back-ground check (I didn't mention that - usually parents help kids with their projects, but there are also projects leaders who hold meetings and trainings and practices for the kids too - they had a great Sewing Camp here for the sewing kids this past year, for instance).

[lauriem33]

elanorh, thank you so much for all the info. That gives me a much better idea. It seems most people here assume you know at least something about 4-H, but I truly didn't, so I really appreciate your explanation!

[bobandjess99]

It can vary so much. I was in a "crafty" 4-h where we sewed and did stuff like that, whereas my best friend, whose parents owned a farm, was in a famr 4-h where she showed her rabbits and stuff. honestly, except fo rthe name, you 'd have no idea this was the "same" organization, it was compeltely different, but that is one of the great things about 4-h!

[prairiebird]

I started 4-H with my son last year, but I knew some basics about it because my aunt was a leader. We recently switched from a night group to a homeschool day group, and the only difference is that one meets in the day. (And the homeschool kids tend to enter more projects into the fair.) I have two Cloverbuds and one who is in the main 4-H group. elanorh's post covered most of the main details about the set up of the club, and that all sounds familiar to me.

In my state and current county, (some of our counties differ in how they're run too) my son attends his meeting while the Cloverbuds meet in a different room in the back. The Cloverbuds do a little project like make lemonade or learn about soil or something that is self-contained in their little meeting. My older one has the actual 'business' meeting portion where they read minutes/go over finances, discuss future choices,- stuff like that. It doesn't actually take as long as that sounds, but both clubs I've been in followed meeting protocol to the T! It's good for them to see that happen, I think. Then they do a little group project or craft or listen to someone give their presentation that might relate back to one of their personal projects. (And then they have snack, which I'm sorry to say seems to be the highlight of the kids' visit since it's usually a brownie or cookie or something )

At the beginning of each year, he chooses a number of projects (in booklet form) that he might want to work on and eventually enter in the fair. Some kids just want to work on the project, and some enter. These are things he does on his own, not in a meeting, though if some other kid is doing the same project, they might get together a few times to help each other. In our state, there are many homeschoolers that use these project books as part of their homeschool curriculum. I haven't decided yet. He can't qualify for the State fair until he is 10, so he has certain projects he is waiting on in case he can go to State for them. (He also earns a few dollars for each ribbon he wins, so that's a nice bonus.)


We're actually in the process of choosing his books right now. Our state has had massive budget cuts, so things are running a little behind right now. But also, he just can't make up his mind. We're urban, so we do a lot of the non-farm animal projects. The other ag ones are easier to do in an urban setting, like the corn or soils. (And we have a ton of tech and Natural resource projects as well to pick from.)