Extracurriculars....

One extracurricular activity that we enjoyed for years is 4-H. Although you might think of this as only for farm and ranch folks, projects are available for everything from Electricity and Rocketry to Cooking and Photography, as well as livestock.

Excited by the huge variety of choices, I WAY overestimated on projects that first year. By the second year I had realized that we needed to choose one or two and finish those. It wasn't until doing livestock projects that my children were interested in competing at the fair.

They put huge amounts of work into their livestock animals, and for the most part it was a great experience. We learned SO much about why the Lord refers to us as "sheep", not particularly a compliment, by the way. Sheep need care, they are silly, foolish, comical, and very lovable. They truly do know the shepherd's voice.

This summer may be a great time for you to check out a 4-H club (there are county rules that are common to all clubs, as well as club charters that specify rules for that individual club). Talk the leader, some of the parents and members, maybe attend a meeting. This is a busy time of year as members work on their books and do all the last things required for their projects to be ready for the fair.

Good questions for you to ask might be how often and what time are the meetings, are there project meetings in addition to club meetings, is there a project leader for the project of your child's interest, or will you be doing it yourself, does the club have requirements for when the project books are finished (the county does, but individual clubs might have additional rules). Become familiar with what the club might require in terms of time commitment.

This research will pay off in a good "fit" between your family and the 4-H club. Meetings often start up again in September or October and the sign up deadline is usually by Dec 1st.

Check it out!