Iowa 4-H Clover Kid's Connection

The National Guidelines for K-3 youth groups recommends a ratio of 1 adult to every 6 children in Clover Kids. This adult-child ratio is important to providing the best possible program for the children involved. I know meeting that ratio is very challenging - but here are a few reasons to consider trying:

1. Opportunities for individual attention - and interactions/bonding within the group are increased. Children experience A POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH A CARING ADULT.

2. Supervision/safety is increased. Children in grades K-3 are still learning to associate choices and consequences. They might not think through the results of their actions, so increasing supervision is important to provide a SAFE ENVIRONMENT.

3. Adults can provide the framework to actively include everyone in the process regardless of their individual skill levels. The 1 to 6 adult - child ratio provides the framework needed for an INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT.

4. Children are more likely to get and stay ENGAGED IN LEARNING when there is an interested adult involved in the process. That can be difficult when the ratio exceeds 6 children to every adult.

5. The OPPORTUNITIES to experience MASTERY, BELONGING, GENEROSITY, and INDEPENDENCE are increased when adults are involved to encourage, engage, and educate children.

6. Adults can create opportunities for children to evaluate their experiences, experience service to others, and build on successes for future learning.

WHAT STRATEGIES HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL FOR YOU IN WORKING TOWARD THE 1:6 RATIO?

Posted by Joan at 08:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Children's Day is a great opportunity to advertise the wonderful merits of the Clover Kids program. Here are a few quick ideas you can do during the fair to create interest/spread the word.

1. Using the motors from Funtivities, do spin art. Just index cards into about 2 inch squares. Poke a pin through the center. Gently, poke the point of the motor through the hole. Attach the alligator clips and use markers to decorate the square while it is spinning! Glue that to a piece of construction paper - add a label that says "Clover Kids Electrifyling Art, ___County Fair (with a clover of course!). Attach a small magnet piece in the back and you have a great refrigerator magnet as a constant reminder about the program!

2. Set up stations using your county council as leaders - let the children experience a different CK theme at each station - one might be string painting, one might be taking apart fabric or weaving felt placemats, etc. Let children come and experience sample activities while the leaders talk about Clover Kids.

3. Have people handing out Clover Kids fliers during the different shows - the kiddie tractor pull - etc. Use those activities to your advantage - have a booth right there!

What activities do you do in your county?

Posted by Joan at 09:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What are ways you involve parents in your Clover Kids program? The more parents are involved, the better the experience is for the children! Parents are a valuable resource we need to tap! Sometimes I think we think parents have to be at the meetings to be involved in the program - but that's not entirely accurate! We need to help them get involved with their child's Clover Kids experience in whatever capacity they can! Here are a few ideas - let us know what you do!

1. Have a volunteer survey for parents to fill out when they enroll their children. On the survey, you can list areas that parents can help the group - like gathering materials, contacting other families for special events or meeting changes, donating snacks, helping with meetings, suggesting ideas for meetings, presenting activities and more!

2. Send home a note after each meeting so they can get involved with their children at home. There is a template for a meeting card on the CK website. You can use that to let parents know what you did at the meeting. Give them sample open ended questions they can use to talk with their children. That helps with the whole experiential learning process and helps the children build language!

3. Delegate! Put parents in charge of different aspects of the program -

Remember to have parents complete the child protection process if they are working directly with the children. The Extension Office can let you know who has to have the screening done!

Posted by Joan at 08:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I know everyone is busy getting ready for the fair, but now is the time to make a comprehensive plan to help Clover Kids make the transition into the Club program!

Here are a few more ideas from the State Leaders Retreat:

• Assign older 4-H'ers to a CK group to show them around the fair.
• Talk about the 4-H pledge during meetings - during meetings you can point out which of the H's are being used!
• Give CK's who attend the fair a free 4-H Club t-shirt for completing a tour.
• Plan a 4-H Family Event during the fair - let the Club members volunteer to help with it - you could have a meeting in the food stand for those interested in finding out more about 4-H!
• Send all CK's a postcard inviting them to the fair and letting them know some of the great events they can visit!
• During meetings, relate what they are doing to future 4-H project areas.
• Let the CK groups help with the food stand - they can clean tables, sweep, and find other ways to help the 4-H clubs who are working!
• Let CK groups participate in Share the Fun. NON-JUDGED of course!
• Have a CK activity booth where children can do hands on activities during the fair.
• Specifically invite all CK's to the Working Exhibits. Those are fun and a great indicator of the Club program!
• Let CK's decorate their own display booth.

  Continue reading "Transitioning Ideas - time to make a plan!" »

  Posted by Joan at 05:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What does your county to do help recruit Clover Kids into the Club program?

As I travel across the state talking to leaders and county staff, I hear so many great ideas for activities, transitioning, recruitment, etc. This site is the perfect opportunity for you to share your ideas! The best ideas - the ones people like the most seem to be the most simple ones - the ones we dismiss as being too common or simple to share - but those are the ones people need! So - what does your county do?

Posted by Joan at 08:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My son Patrick wants to drive so bad he can taste it! But, he doesn't get his permit until next month - so he has to wait. Does that bother him? Yes. Is it going to hurt him? Absolutely not! It gives him something to look forward to and gives him time to study the situation and learn what is expected of him when he does start to drive.

In my Group Management Workshops I make the point over and over that we never want to make a group of children wait. But that isn't entirely accurate - there are times when we WANT them to wait.

When?
When they want to do something that they aren't developmentally ready for....like waiting to exhibit competitively in the fair or waiting until they are physically, mentally, and socially ready to exhibit animals at the fair. It's not only OK to wait - it is critical to wait until the children are ready for those experiences.

Quite often, we feel pressure from others to let CKs experience things we know they aren't ready for. We want to make sure we are educating those families, fair boards and other stake holders about the CK program.

CKs have to wait because they don't have the basic physical, social, cognitive and emotional skills to adequately deal with the situation....and like my son Patrick and driving - waiting gives them something to look forward to in the future!

Posted by Joan at 08:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Transitioning is a hot topic these days! We all know that the longer we get to work with youth, the greater the chances for positive impact on their development. Clover Kids leaders have the unique opportunity to help CKs and their parents understand the benefits of continuing their 4-H experience by joining the Club program. But, we can no
longer just cross our fingers and hope the children will chose to join a Club. We have to be intentional!

Being intentional means we need to develop a plan of attack for introducing CKs to the Club experience. As we plan our meetings, we can also plan ways to help CKs see the benefits and fun involved in the Club program. Plan how you can bring up the Club program during your meeting! Of course that doesn't mean we are going to copy activities from the Club program - but what that does mean - is that we can point out how the activities we are doing can be extended during the Club experience. For example, if you are making pizza during a CK meeting. You can point out how they can compare different types of pizza for nutritional information, or how they can compare the costs/value of different pizza brands. I'm sure there are lots of different ways to extend that activity in the Club!

Another way to be intentional about transitioning is to plan to use the Club members in your CK program. We can have Club members do mini hands on workshops for CKs at our meetings to expose CKs to project areas they can look forward to in the Club. Club members can also just help at CK meetings for "crowd control". We can also have Club members show CKs around during the fair. The point is to make the Club visible for the CK members in a positive and fun way. Plan ways to get the Club members and CKs involved with each other. Again, duplicating the Club experience isn't appropriate for CKs and it isn't the best way to prepare CKs for the Club. We just want to keep the option of joining a Club in focus.

Posted by Joan at 09:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The longer we work with youth, the greater the potential impact we can have on their positive development. Clover Kids leaders have a unique opportunity to help children grow and develop after they leave the program by helping them transition to the Club program.

Clover Kids leaders often want to help members prepare for the club experience by adding Club experiences to their program. However, research indicates that isn’t the best way to prepare youth for the next step in 4-H. Doing Club activities – even “watered down” club activities isn’t appropriate for the Clover Kids experience because the children do not have the background skills to be successful in those tasks. The best way to prepare Clover Kids for the Club program is to provide a hands-on cooperative program based on the developmental needs of the children. This allows children to build the foundational skills and background experiences they can “draw on” later.

What that means:

In the Club program, youth need to follow parliamentary procedure, work on committees, and follow along during the meeting.
Skills needed to work in a group setting are best learned through the cooperative activities in the Clover Kids program. Providing Clover Kids with cooperative small group activities allows them to practice those skills in a safe setting. Those experiences lay the foundation for working on committees, being part of a team and even parliamentary procedure.

In the Club program, youth need communication skills.
The best way to help Clover Kids develop the communication skills that will help them feel success in the Club program is to provide them lots of concrete hands on activities and opportunities to share what they are experiencing. Children develop a good communication skills when the language they are using are based on concrete experiences.

In the Club program, youth need to do record keeping.
The best way to prepare Clover Kids for record keeping is to provide verbal opportunities for them to describe the concrete experiences they are involved in.

Providing a developmentally appropriate program by following the National Guidelines in the best way to ensure that Clover Kids have the skills to feel successful in the Club program.

Continue reading "Transitioning means being developmentally appropriate" »

Posted by Joan at 08:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here are a few ideas you could include in a transitioning plan:

• Have a 4-H Club member personally call each 3rd grade Clover Kid and invite them to a meeting – that same person should greet the potential member at the door and sit with him/her during the meeting.

• Invite 3rd grade Clover Kids to visit county events like project fairs.

• Make sure Clover Kids families get a copy of the 4-H Club newsletter

• Work with the Clover Kids Leader to develop a meaningful transition ceremony at the end of Clover Kids – have the community club involved and invited to attend.

• Provide the 3rd grade Clover Kids with a copy of the club program and invite them to visit a meeting as a special guest.

• Down load photo cards from the Clover Kids website, personalize them and send them to Clover Kids.

• Download Club recruitment fliers from the Clover Kids website, personalize them and send them to Clover Kids.

• Send Clover Kids a congratulatory note when they graduate and invite them to join a 4-H Club.

• Invite Clover Kids to bring a NON-JUDGED exhibit to the fair. When they arrive, have Club members greet them and ask them about Clover Kids –What they like, what they made, how they made it, etc. Then, let the Club members share their Club experience and show the CK one of their exhibits!

• Follow up with Clover Kids when they enter the Club program to see how it’s going and to offer support for the family.

  Again - just a few ideas - and we'd love to hear what is going on in your county!
  

  Posted by Joan at 07:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)