cajunrose Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 We don't have any groups in our area with young Clover Buds. I inquired about it and apparently we can start a group here if they have a leader...and yes, you guessed it, if I'm the leader, then we can start a group here. There is already a regular 4H group here for homeschoolers, I would just tag along with them...not WITH them, but in another room. I know nothing about 4H...only that it's important to me that my daughter is involved. I have lead brownies in the past and did well...so I know I'm capable, but I don't know what's involved. I need to know more about it before I email the lady back..don't want to commit to doing something that I shouldn't do. What do the Clover Bud's do? What kind of projects are involved? I know they can't compete. They meet once a month. What kind of time commitment is involved outside of the meeting? Thanks!! Stephenie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amydavis Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 :lurk5: I'm interested also, and figured I'd give a little bump... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simka2 Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 Do you mean Clover Kids? Maybe it is just called something different in our area. I think it is a great idea!!! THe way we did it was to start off with the main group for pledges and games...then we went on our own...learning the pledge, simple crafts, things like that :) We also tagged along for cetain field trip type events...and exposed them to Fair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K&Rs Mom Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 Here it's pretty lame. They do stuff like put a puzzle together or put some toys in a shoebox to enter in the fair. My girls are cloverbud age, but enter stuff in the open class so they can really compete. As far as meetings, our group is pretty small so all the kids are combined: cloverbuds don't meet separately and they all work on the same lessons. It can be as big or small of a time commitment as you want - they're not really working through a project book like the older kids do, and there are really no expectations for accomplishing a certain amount in a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajunrose Posted September 12, 2010 Author Share Posted September 12, 2010 Thank you for the info. I need to email the lady and see what she has in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 (edited) Funny you should post this today. My two Cloverbuds are working at the 4-H food stand at the county fair right now. My oldest two are Cloverbuds, and they are in the regular 4-H club. We don't have a separate Cloverbud leader. They participate just like the older kids. Sometimes one of the parents takes them out of the meeting for a craft or learning project, but not always. I have enjoyed Cloverbuds b/c it is easing us into 4-H with lowered expectations. Is that bad to say? My kids do projects, but our projects haven't been extra work at all. Their projects are things we do anyway - building bird houses, planting gardens, taking care of their pets, drawing science pictures, etc. They have their projects displayed at the fair, but Cloverbuds isn't a competitive category so they just get participation ribbons. The county 4-H coordinator does have special Cloverbud after school sessions every month. They go for 1.5 hours, have a snack, and make crafts all related to whatever the educational topic is. I like being able to "test" out 4-H without a huge commitment since I have a house full of littles. My 3rd grader could be a regular member this year, but I think I'm going to keep her a Cloverbud since this is a baby year for us. She will probably take an animal to the fair next year, though. ETA: I really, really like the idea of 4-H. In our county, it is family orientated. Both mom and dad go to the meetings and events, and usually all siblings in a family are members. I love that the whole family participates while the kids have individualized projects. It seems like the best of all worlds, at least for our larger family. Edited September 12, 2010 by 2squared Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 Just wanted to add that I wouldn't want a separate group just for Cloverbuds. It would be a pain if you had your older kids in the regular group and then had another group for the younger kids. If it was separate like that, then I wouldn't have my younger kids in Cloverbuds. I would wait for them to hit 3rd grade and join the regular group. But, then I'm not a fan of running my littles around a lot. 4-H is our one extracurricular b/c all the kids (age 0-18) attend the same events and meetings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuvToRead Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 Our Clover Bud group meets at the same time, but in a different room as the regular 4-H'ers. Our Clover Buds don't do the projects. They stay for the first 15 minutes or so of the meeting, then shuffle off into their own little group. One week they discussed fire safety, one week they did a craft, one week they sat around and read books. I think one week they just played outside. We missed several meetings. Personally, I was not impressed, and my 2nd grader at the time was bored. I think Clover Buds can be a good thing, but the leader was very scattered. This year, DD8 will be a full fledged 4-H member, while my youngest will be a Clover Bud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 We have a large 4-H group, and we have a separate program for Cloverbuds. It's not quite as involved as the primary members, but we still do quite a lot. This year we have a Nature Crafts project, a Cooking project, a PE & Games project and a Gardening project. We also offer a couple of extra projects for Cloverbuds that come early or stay late because of having older siblings. We have one Cloverbud club leader, and then we have one or two parents who volunteer to lead each project. Usually one parent will lead the project for the entire year, but some projects might have a rotating leader. If you want more info, PM me and I'll be happy to help you out. This is my 4th (and last!) year of being a Cloverbud project leader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlebug42 Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 My kids will be doing 4H starting in January and I will have one Cloverbud. The group they are joining actually meets at a local sustainable, organic farm and the Cloverbuds gather eggs and do some farm chores at each meeting. They also work on a group project to show at the fair but they are not judged. They do some things with the bigger kids also. We are all really looking forward to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vettechmomof2 Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 Every state and sometimes even counties do 4-H differently so we will mostly all have different answers. My son(cloverbud age) is in 2 clubs. The same as my daughter. Our dog club he is too young to actually use a dog so he goes to all of the meetings and assists by being a post and a ribbon runner at the ceremony/judging this year. He also does all of the book work just like a an age 4-H er. Our other club he does whatever project he wants(within the age guidelines). Last year was pet care on gerbils, this year he wants scrapbooking and hiking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 Here in our area Cloverbuds have their own clubs. My kids are older so I have never been to a Cloverbud meeting but I know they are active because there are blurbs about them in the newsletters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajunrose Posted September 13, 2010 Author Share Posted September 13, 2010 Thank you for your input! I emailed the director and we'll see what comes of it. It can't hurt to try right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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