Weekly 4-H Update
Communications >> 4-H Update >>Volume 12, Number 7....................................... February 29, 2008
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Attachments:
:: 4-H Consumer Sciences and General Projects Judges Training
Reminders:
- March 3: CWF application deadline
- March 6-9: WRLF, Boise, ID
- March 29-April 3: National 4-H Conference, Washington DC
- April 22-24: CAE4-HA, Estes Park, Colorado
Youth Fest Lost and Found
The following items were left behind at Youth Fest:
- MP-3 Player (please describe it when you call to claim)
- Black knit ski cap
- Red, aqua and blue polyester sleeping bag
- Old foam bed pillow – no case
- Grey and black Kamik snow boots
- Lime green plastic water bottle with black grip and top
- Six hand-painted T-shirts:
- Small – Dots & “Ritter” (?)
- Small – “4-H Youth” and a maze-like swirl
- Medium – “Who Rocks” and two guitars on front
- Medium – “Git cha some” on back
- Medium – “Cheyenne B.” on back
- Large – “Nick” and “Cody” on back
To claim your item, please contact Sharon Gale at sharon.gale@colostate.edu; or call 970.491.7879. We will hold the items until Friday, March 14, after which they will be donated or pitched. Thanks! — Ellen Butler
4-H Consumer Sciences and General Projects Judges Training
The Southern Region 4-H agents will host a 4-H Judges Training for Consumer Sciences and General Projects on April 5, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., on the CSU-Pueblo campus. The registration fee is $25 and includes lunch and multiple handouts. The early bird deadline is March 21; after that registration will be $35. The general sessions will cover judging e-records, filling out score sheets, Danish and American ribbon systems, and judging multiple projects. There will be specific break-out groups to cover judging: foods/baking, shooting sports/natural resources, heritage arts, fashion revue, cake decorating, and photography. Attached is a brochure along with a registration form. Please contact Brooke Matthew, Southeast Area Extension agent, at 719.267.4444 (ext. 7) for further information. — Ellen Butler
CYFAR 2008 Registration Open
Registration is open to the public (both CYFAR and non-CYFAR audiences) for the CYFAR 2008 Conference, May 7-9. The preliminary agenda and information about the conference is available at: http://www.cyfernet.org/cyfar08/.
When you register for the conference, remember to also pre-register for the Pre-conference, May 6, and/or the 4-H Military Partnerships Post-conference, May 9.
You can also sign up for one of the military tours on Wednesday, May 7, to nearby Lackland AFB or Fort San Houston Army Base for a tour of their school-age programs. Or sign-up to volunteer for the third CYFAR/KaBOOM! Playground Build at El Carmen Society for Community Advancement in San Antonio.
Early Registration Fee: $225.00
Includes all conference materials, three breakfasts, two luncheons, all breaks and hors d'oeuvres during the Program Showcase.
Regular Registration Fee: (after March 3) $275.00
To register for the conference, pre-conference, post-conference and military tours:
http://www.register123.com/event/profile/form/index.cfm?PKformID=0x49835226cf
CYFAR 2008 will be held at the Hyatt Regency on the Riverwalk, San Antonio, TX. The CYFAR room rates are: single $169; double $179; triple $189; and quad $199 plus applicable tax.
To make hotel reservations and secure these great CYFAR 2008 rates:
http://www.sanantonioregency.hyatt.com/groupbooking/cyfa2008
— Jan Carroll
Playing By Lloyd J. Thomas, Ph.D.
“I found the following poem on the wall of an examination room in a pediatrician's office:
I tried to teach my child with books.
He gave me only puzzled looks.I tried to teach my child with words.
They passed him by often unheard.Despairingly, I turned aside.
"How shall I teach this child?" I cried.Into my hand, he put the key.
"Come," he said, "Play with me."
Playing is practice made fun! Playing is the primary method that children practice all kinds of personal and social skills. We program our unconscious minds with thought patterns, emotional habits, and behaviors that we have repeatedly practiced. In English, we call that "learning."
Children love to play. Interactive playing with others is fun. It is also necessary for socialization to occur. When children play with others, they learn to: "take turns;" wait for their turn; share with others; give and receive; hold hands; consider others; imitate what they observe; follow the leader; play by the rules; and many other socializing behaviors.
Today, playing by interacting with others has been minimized. Kids play with television screens; wireless phones; video games; internet postings; chat rooms; and very little direct personal interaction. The process of playing...so important to the psychological and social health of children...has been confined to interacting with inanimate objects, fantasies, and "pretend" people and situations. Is it any wonder that we have generations of adults who are unskilled at positive, satisfying interpersonal skills?
In many schools, the fun has been taken out of learning. Learning seems to have been paired with "work," not play. "Homework." "Schoolwork." "Labwork." "Fieldwork." On the second day of kindergarten, my son came home with a note pinned to his shirt. It read, "Todd refuses to sit down and do his work." From that day forward, I began to see his excitement diminish about going to school. Work is not conducive to learning. Playing is. What ever happened to "P.E.?" What ever happened to playing a musical instrument? Whatever happened to playing educational games with other people?
If we want our children to develop positive character qualities such as honesty, responsibility, dependability, compassion, attentiveness, creativity, enthusiasm, gratefulness, generosity, honor and initiative, we must engage our children in play that requires these qualities to be practiced. As adults, we need to interact with one another in playful ways that allow us to be an example of these character qualities we want our children to playfully practice. If we try to teach them only by words and books, they will never learn them. If, however, they observe us playing, and we engage them in our play, the next generation might learn positive interactive skills that will serve them very well throughout their lives.” — Submitted by Dale Leidheiser
