4-H Teaches Life Skills

4-H isn't just for raising livestock. I was in 4-H when I was a kid from the age of nine all the way up until 15 and I should've stayed in longer. Yet, contrary to popular belief, I never raised any livestock.

COMMUNITY MEETINGS

I did learn how to participate and a formal meeting. Roberts rules and all… As a parent, having children in 4-H also learning the skills, can be painful to watch, but what a valuable skill it is to give them the confidence to participate in community meetings in the future. To know they bring their opinion to the table and have a confidence to speak in public. Just this year when beach junior guards was threatened to be canceled my daughter stood up at the city Council meeting and asked them to keep the program in place. Without 4-H, I don't know if she would've been confident enough to take that podium and speak in front of that room full of people.

They are asked to create an agenda, come up with event ideas for each month in advance of the meeting as well as keep notes on what happens in each meeting so that they can proceed based on those agendas and notes.

PROJECTS

In a time when home economics is no longer taught in schools, 4-H gives you access to old craft traditions. My children are learning how to sew, knit, cook, wood craftsmanship, leather work, etc. they have confidence in each of these areas that they never would've had and they are more creative having the experience in creating things from scratch, not a kit.  They learn to use new tools and confidence in many different areas. I learned them as well when I was in 4-H.  As a parent, I learned to give them the space to create their own things and not to make sure that everything was straight and perfect. 

PRESENTATION SKILLS

They have the ability to organize their thoughts on what they've learned by teaching others as they get older and becoming junior leaders and in presentations to their peers and others as well. They learn public speaking skills as well as the importance to organize presentation boards and props and demonstrations.

CAMP

Our county participates in a winter snow camp as well as hosting a summer camp. Some of my fondest memories as a kid was participating in summer camp and now I get to take my kids to this same camp with the same procedures and games. It is so much fun! The older kids to choose a theme and plan a variety of activities as well as guest speakers. The older teens are leaders of groups of kids which is a great way to have amazing role models and participate with different age groups.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

One of the things that has surprised me the most is this category of 4-H. It is so amazing to me to see what each of the kids are passionate about and how they want to be involved and participate in their community as well as the things they learn from the community service that they sign up to do: from beach cleanups, feeding homeless and sitting with them and talking with them, nursing home visits, bake sales, and running petting zoos for community fairs. It gives them real life experience with parts of our community that they might not ever otherwise connect with.

LIVESTOCK

Yes, this is the category that most people think of when they hear 4-H. But, again it's not cut and dry. Learning how to handle an animal gives you confidence. They can be big and hard to get to move where you want them to. Many children don't live in an area where they can raise an animal. Being involved in a club I can give you access to learning about the parts of an animal showmanship and skills that give you confidence around animals even when you cannot raise one yourself. This is often a big draw for children who are interested in animals. If you do raise an animal yourself this gives you access to learning showmanship skills they being involved in the club. Homesteading has become very popular recently and raising your own meat is interesting and healthier in a lot of ways and buying it through the store. Having children understand different types of feed and how it affects the health of an animal and then meet in which you consume is a truly valuable lesson. 

I, on the other hand was a vegetarian, and was never interested in raising animals for the purposes of meat. As a kid, I did not participate in these projects but still learned many other great skills by being involved in my local club. My children, on the other hand, are loving the hands on experience with animals. My daughter walks our neighbors goats as well as visiting other neighbors animals.

Some animals aren't raise for meat at all for example pygmy goat's or dairy goats.  And yet you still learn showmanship parts of the animal and about the cost of raising one. It's a huge responsibility to take care of a larger animal.

FINANCES

No I am not talking about how much it cost to have membership in your local 4H club. The cost is very minimal compared to other sports and children's activities. It is community run so there are usual minimal fees as parents will lead to projects and teach groups of children. The finances I am talking about are the costs of a project how much did the materials cost how much time do you put into it and how much can you sell it for. 

The same goes for animal projects:

• how much your spend on purchasing
• tracking the costs of feed
• the weight of the animal and it's leanness and mass is what is judged at fair and affected by the feed
• Finally, how much it goes to market for 
• What your profit is 
• Repayment of the initial expenditure of the animal

This is an AMAZING life lesson that they can use for multiple things down the road when budgeting how they will spend their money in the future.

FAIR

The items that they create all year long they enter into the fair every fall. It is so fun to see their excitement as they run through all those demonstration buildings to find their items and see their ribbons.

If they have raised an animal it can be a difficult time as they show it for the last time and it would go off to market. But again, not all animals are raised for meat.  Don't let this deter you from checking out your local club.

RECORD BOOKS

The University of California puts together a book that needs to be filled out every year to track the projects each child participates in. The act of completing this record book itself teaches children how to fill out applications and write a resume, even skills in filling out a college application and write about experiences you have had that shape who you have become.  There are different categories of events and so many hours of participation required in each different category. The kids are truly proud of their accomplishments at the end of the year when they can flip through all of the things they participated in and created by recording in this book.

I will conclude this post with the 4-H pledge:

I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service, and my health to better living for my club, my community, my country, and my world.