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Paula in MN
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Sorry, wasn't sure quite where to post this question.
Does anyone belong to 4H? Anyone NOT on a farm?
I would really like to know of pros and cons.
Thanks!
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 Paula
A Catholic Harvest
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momwise
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Hi Paula!
We have been involved in 4H for about 6 yrs, through an Urban club (albeit w/farm animals) and now we are in a thouroughly non-agricultural club.
Our dc started out with Shooting Sports (.22s) and have all gone to practices once a week from Jan-July with my dh.
Over the years they have picked up many projects and I've found the project manuals to excellent sources of information, instruction and yes...curricula (I use 4H projects as school courses).
They've tried Cake Decorating, Baking, Modelcraft, Vet Sciences; this year we signed up for Photography, Shooting, Baking, Modelcraft and CLoverbuds (5-7 yrs.non-competitive).
PROS: When there is a meeting it is for the whole family. No seperate dates and times. The club meets once a month and except for shooting, all projects can be worked on at home if desired, then add'l help can be found at the club and county levels. The .list of projects is enormous and it's good incentive for some dc to work on science, art, lifeskills, etc. (Just google the name of your county and 4H to find more information.)
CONS: County Fair is really fun but it is an intense time of preparation and competition. Once again, the whole family goes together. If you are showing animals, you'll be at the fairgrounds every day all day. If not, you'll probably have to be there for most of one day to enter projects and have judge interviews. We also have another day of competition for shooting and then if you go to state, that's a whole day plus a day of driving (if it's not nearby). But all that is just a few days out of the year. The days leading up to fair are busy with preparing projects.
I hope this addresses what you were looking for!
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Gwen...wife for 30 years, mom of 7, grandma of 3.....
"If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life." JPII
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momtomany
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My kids have been involved in 4H for years. We have a horse club. It's been a positive experience. All 4H events emphasive good conduct and sportsmanship. They are also very strict about no alcohol at any event and any overnight event is very strictly supervised. The kids have to complete some kind of educational project.
Oh, btw, we don't live on a farm. But we do have chickens 
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Mary Ann in PA
wife to MIchael, mom to Elizabeth, Becca, Tim, Peter, Andrew, Sarah, Matthew, John, Leah and Joseph
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momtomany
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I second Gwen on the family part. And the time consuming "states" experience. But we make going to Harrisburg each year a family mini-vacation. We had a great time last fall with all the kids, even the big ones coming down to support their sister at her riding events.
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Mary Ann in PA
wife to MIchael, mom to Elizabeth, Becca, Tim, Peter, Andrew, Sarah, Matthew, John, Leah and Joseph
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Paula in MN
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| Posted: Jan 17 2007 at 2:21pm | IP Logged
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Thank you all so much!
My dd7 joined this year (not a full-fledged member due to her grade level) so she isn't really in any projects yet. Everyone else lives on a farm so they are all involved in pigs, goats, cows, etc. and my dd is not sure yet what projects she wants to undertake. When I questioned our leader today I got a blank stare! I just don't think the subject of a non-animal project has ever come up!
Gwen, you commented that there is time and help available at the club level? Is that just your club's wishes or are all clubs supposed to be like that? All we do is have a meeting once a month (and it involves the whole family) but when the meeting is over everyone leaves. There truly is no discussion about projects, etc.
Maybe we need to be in a different club?
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Paula
A Catholic Harvest
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JennGM
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I noticed at the Cambria County fair in Pennsylvania that the Rabbit category was the largest, and I had a theory it was because rabbits can be done on non-farms, and less people do have farms.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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marihalojen
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Paula, it really depends on your area. In northern California when I was a kid the meetings were well run, a good place to learn how a meeting should be run. Moved to MO and the meetings were awful, painful affairs that were very worthless. The CA club had regular meetings for the projects, I remember taking sewing and driving at night to the sewing leader's house for the lessons. In MO unless you were in the horse projects Mom was declared leader and alot of times she never received the books, so that led to my being disqualified from cake decorating, for instance, because I used a real cake, not styrofoam.
Really look around at fairs too. Does everyone have a blue ribbon? I hate it when everyone receives the same rating no matter the effort/quality of the project. I tend to think that is a sign of a bad club. (My opinion remember!)
I recommend doing a bit of shopping around if at all possible, visit different clubs if you can before you sign on to one. If all else fails, you can always do your stuff on your own.
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~Jennifer
Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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momwise
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| Posted: Jan 17 2007 at 11:05pm | IP Logged
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PaulaL wrote:
Gwen, you commented that there is time and help available at the club level? Is that just your club's wishes or are all clubs supposed to be like that? All we do is have a meeting once a month (and it involves the whole family) but when the meeting is over everyone leaves. There truly is no discussion about projects, etc.
Maybe we need to be in a different club? |
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We just changed clubs this year, partly because our old club was by our old house, but also because they did not have a lot of project leaders. The meetings weren't too bad; mostly business but the dc did give project reports for goats, sheep, pocket pets and dogs.
Actually, I did have to do a lot of my own legwork and project leading because that club didn't have a lot of projects. We made some mistakes with cake decorating too Jennifer! 
I found out that if you want to do projects your club doesn't support you can usually find people at the county level who are offering workshops or can at least answer questions on the phone. Start with the 4H liason at the County Extension office and then go with their leads. If your county doesn't do 4H very well, go to the next county over. We have never participated in our own county.
And yes...you could look for a new club. The advice about visiting several is good. The other thing is that it's not that hard to start a new club. Another mom here just started a very small club of her own with a couple other Catholic homeschoolers; they mostly show rabbits.
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Gwen...wife for 30 years, mom of 7, grandma of 3.....
"If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life." JPII
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