Family 4-H

For years the 4-H program has been praised for helping young people develop skills and self-confidence through hands-on learning projects.

Now, the 4-H model, which emphasizes hands-on activities, group cooperation, and plain old fun, is being used with families.

Family 4-H brings family members together for projects, activities and sharing sessions, just as 4-H groups bring kids together to learn about the world and each other.

"The project came about because we were hearing about families who spent very little time together and had a hard time communicating with each other," says one of the University of Illinois Extension educators who developed the program. "Family 4-H brings these individuals together to share activities and learn about each other. They spend more time together, and hopefully, they become a stronger family group whose members can communicate and cooperate with each other."

In Family 4-H, the family-defined as two or more people committed to caring for one another-functions as its own 4-H club. With the help of a facilitator, the families discuss a series of topics over six weeks and take part in activities that reinforce the topics.

For example, the first week's topic is Who is our family and how is our family special. At the Family 4-H group meeting, a trained facilitator will lead a discussion about the importance of meeting together as a family, of taking part in family activities and the definition of a family. Family 4-H groups then participate in activities that reinforce the discussion, such as interviewing family members to develop family history and drawing pictures of the family. Activities and family meetings take place throughout the week until the next Family 4-H meeting.

"This is a wonderful program because it brings families together, and so many things today pull families apart," said Arnulfo Vasquez, coordinator of the bilingual program at Hitch School on Chicago's northwest side and a trained Family 4-H facilitator.

Vasquez was trained as a Family 4-H facilitator in early fall and was so impressed with the program that he organized a group of Spanish speaking families into the school's first Family 4-H group. Those families "graduated" in early December.

For more information, please contact:

Gonzalo Escobar
Extension Educator, Prevention
Chicago Extension Center
216 W. Jackson, Suite 625
Chicago, IL 60606
Phone: (312) 578-9956 FAX: (312) 578-9957
E-mail: escobarg@mail.aces.uiuc.edu