Van Buren County relaunching its 4-H program for homeschooled students to accommodate a growing population of families seeking alternative education options.
UT Extension 4-H Youth Development Agent Shelby Boyer said the interest meeting will take place at the Van Buren County Learning Center in Spencer. Boyer said the initiative aims to restart a program that previously existed in the county but had fizzled out over the last few years.
“I personally want to ensure that these students have a good equal opportunity to do the same thing that our kids in school do,” Boyer said. “And I think that this’ll be something that’ll benefit all of the kids that are homeschool greatly in our county since our population of homeschool kids are on the rise.”
Boyer said the meeting will include a hands-on STEM activity designed to encourage teamwork among the participants. Boyer said the August 20 session will also provide families with printed handouts regarding specific project areas and upcoming events.
“The STEM lesson is just to kind of get our brains and just not only that but just kind of get them to work together as a team which is one of the systems that 4-H really pushes,” Boyer said. “And so we’re trying to just do both with kill two birds with one stone, basically.”
Boyer said the program will offer monthly club meetings where students can participate in various contests. Boyer said these activities include public speaking, poster competitions, demonstrations, and the Clover Bowl.
“It gets them integrated with new people to meet new people at judging events and participate in things such as public speaking and demonstrations and just honestly just add more to their normal day-to-day curriculum,” Boyer said. “It honestly just it expands their horizons and just broadens the honestly just kind of broadens their perspective on just like things outside of their homeschool realm.”
Boyer said the program allows students to participate in seasonal activities such as poultry judging in the fall and livestock events in the spring. Boyer said the extension office also plans to offer day camps and project groups focused on sewing, cooking, and STEM topics.
“This will just be something I think that’ll also benefit them to learn new life skills and new skills that they can take outside of the homeschool class like a homeschool classroom or a homeschool online or however they’re doing it,” Boyer said. “But they’ll be able to learn new skills and just have obtain knowledge that they will not get through the homeschool curriculum that we can provide for them just like we do when we go into the schools on a regular basis.”
Boyer said families can contact the UT Extension office or visit their social media page for more information.
