harmony

My son chose to sign up for 4-H. He likes going to the meetings, he loved entering things in the fair, he chose the projects he wanted to be in.

Here is the problem: Each project that he signed up for has certain requirements. He did all the easy ones and then didn't want to finish. None of them are too hard for him. 4-H is all or nothing, to finish it you have to complete all your projects that you are signed up for. He has completed 8 or 9 and only has one to go. He wants to continue in 4H, but he complains about doing one last project. Do I make him do it? Do I let him quit? I try to talk to him but he just gets mad and says I just can't do it. He always gets mad if something is not easy and he has never liked taking his time and working on something or doing something that is not really easy. He has always done things fast and sloppy, not matter what it is. Any suggestions?

Sandra Dodd

-=Do I make him do it? Do I let him quit? I try to talk to him but he
just gets mad and says I just can't do it. -=-

Help him do it.
Do it for him.

If the learning and participation are the important parts, there's no
such thing as cheating.

Sandra

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Angela Shaw

<<4-H is all or nothing, to finish it you have to complete all your projects
that you are signed up for.>>



Are you sure those are requirements? I know it must be different by state
but I'm a 4-H leader and there are no such requirements for our kids unless
I set up the rules to be that way. Would the teacher work with you so he
isn't required to do as many as he signed up for?



Angela Shaw

<mailto:game-enthusiast@...> game-enthusiast@...



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harmony

They said to complete your year of 4H you must complete all your projects. He could have added or dropped projects a month or so ago, he dropped 4 and chose to keep the rest.


> -------Original Message-------
> From: Angela Shaw <game-enthusiast@...>
> Subject: RE: [AlwaysLearning] 4-H
> Sent: Sep 06 '07 6:29pm
>
> <<4-H is all or nothing, to finish it you have to complete all your
> projects
> that you are signed up for.>>
>
> Are you sure those are requirements? I know it must be different by state
> but I'm a 4-H leader and there are no such requirements for our kids
> unless
> I set up the rules to be that way. Would the teacher work with you so he
> isn't required to do as many as he signed up for?
>
> Angela Shaw
>
> <mailto:[LINK: mailto:game-enthusiast%40roadrunner.com]
> game-enthusiast@...> [LINK:
> mailto:game-enthusiast%40roadrunner.com] game-enthusiast@...
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>

Angela Shaw

<<They said to complete your year of 4H you must complete all your projects.
He could have added or dropped projects a month or so ago, he dropped 4 and
chose to keep the rest.>>

I guess our 4H programs are run VERY differently. What is the project that
he has not finished? Maybe we can give you some ideas on how to help him
complete it. It sounds like a very rigid program for small children. Have
you looked into it to see if those requirements are just for the club you
are in or if it is a state rule? There might be a way around it. They don't
want to lose children in a program like this. It's government funded. :-)



Angela Shaw

game-enthusiast@...







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Angela Shaw

I meant to add that maybe he could enter something that doesn't meet the
guidelines and just be disqualified on that project at the fair. It
happened to one of our kids. Nothing happened as a result except they
didn't get a premium for that project. As a program 4H is there to serve
children.



Angela



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harmony

He has already entered his projects in the fair. He loved doing that part of it and he likes the hands on stuff, but then he has to do his workbooks. He loved the rabbit, pocket pals and entomology workbooks. He did his poultry, fishing and woodworking. He liked rifle and archery at the beginning, then got bored with it. He dropped out of cat, dog, and big game. And he did most of aerospace. That is the only one he has left. He has made rockets and airplanes and has finished most of his workbook. Then he decided he wanted to be done. He gets bored with things very fast, unless it is animal related. The only reading he ever does is related to animals. The kids is obsessed with animals. Our house is a zoo! But he chose to do aerospace and last month when he chose what projects to add or drop he wanted to keep aerospace.


> -------Original Message-------
> From: Angela Shaw <game-enthusiast@...>
> Subject: RE: [AlwaysLearning] 4-H
> Sent: Sep 07 '07 5:43am
>
> I meant to add that maybe he could enter something that doesn't meet the
> guidelines and just be disqualified on that project at the fair. It
> happened to one of our kids. Nothing happened as a result except they
> didn't get a premium for that project. As a program 4H is there to serve
> children.
>
> Angela
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>

Heather

What happens if he doesn't complete the workbook?

heather

On 9/7/07, harmony <harmony@...> wrote:
>
> He has already entered his projects in the fair. He loved doing that
> part of it and he likes the hands on stuff, but then he has to do his
> workbooks. He loved the rabbit, pocket pals and entomology workbooks. He did
> his poultry, fishing and woodworking. He liked rifle and archery at the
> beginning, then got bored with it. He dropped out of cat, dog, and big game.
> And he did most of aerospace. That is the only one he has left. He has made
> rockets and airplanes and has finished most of his workbook. Then he decided
> he wanted to be done. He gets bored with things very fast, unless it is
> animal related. The only reading he ever does is related to animals. The
> kids is obsessed with animals. Our house is a zoo! But he chose to do
> aerospace and last month when he chose what projects to add or drop he
> wanted to keep aerospace.
>


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Sandra Dodd

-=I meant to add that maybe he could enter something that doesn't
meet the
guidelines and just be disqualified on that project at the fair. It
happened to one of our kids. Nothing happened as a result except they
didn't get a premium for that project. As a program 4H is there to serve
children. -=-

Oh!
Right.
When I suggested helping him, I didn't mean if it was an item for
entry in a competition of any sort, but there are ways parents can
help even there.

I did crops judging in 4-H (and some other things, but that was our
club's regional contest-winning skill). I needed help studying.
Other kids helped me, but my parents could have potentially done that.

I could also have used going to feed stores and looking at the seed
in the bins, but I didn't get that. I didn't think of it. I wish
someone else had. I was studying from samples in little pill
bottles, but it would've been fun (and more realistic) to go to look
at feed and seed in its natural (well, at the feed store <g>)
environment. We lived in an apple-growing town, not where feed was
grown (not counting alfalfa).

If you want to talk about particulars of the project, I bet people
here could brainstorm some good ways to approach it to make it a good
and interesting learning experience instead of having the feeling of
a dreaded checklist.

Sandra

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Nancy Wooton

On Sep 7, 2007, at 7:48 AM, harmony wrote:

> The only reading he ever does is related to animals. The kids is
> obsessed with animals. Our house is a zoo!

Has he read "My Family and Other Animals"?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Family_and_Other_Animals

I can't vouch for any of the film adaptations, but the book is
wonderful -- the author spends much of his time trying not to be
schooled, except by the critters surrounding him on the Greek island of
Corfu.

Nancy (mom to an animal-loving family, with a current count of 17 pets
between the four of us)

Sandra Dodd

-=-He loved doing that part of it and he likes the hands on stuff,
but then he has to do his workbooks.-=-

"has to" why?

Please be careful with the phrase "has to." Never use it when you
can avoid it. It fools you into thinking you and your child don't
have choices.

http://sandradodd.com/haveto

-=-. He gets bored with things very fast, unless it is animal
related. The only reading he ever does is related to animals. The
kids is obsessed with animals.-=-

Then 4-H should be great for him, and you can help it to be great by
remembering the "have to" is probably arbitrary and likely avoidable.

=-But he chose to do aerospace and last month when he chose what
projects to add or drop he wanted to keep aerospace.-=-

You could tell the leader that as an unschooler you'd prefer your son
be able to try things and drop them without penalty, maybe. (That's
what I would do, I think.)

Sandra

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