Extension
It Starts With Us
Basic Life Skills for Youth and Adults in Scott County
Acquiring Basic Life Skills
Allen, Johnson, Flynt, Hilterbran, Simon
Health 4-H Core Curriculum
Family and Consumer Sciences 4-H Core Curriculum
Master Gardener
Real Skills for Everyday Life
How we live life is ever-changing but learning basic life skills is still as important as ever. Learning to practice healthy habits, select clothing to emphasize one’s best appearance, create and live within a budget, prepare nutritious meals safely, nurture children, create a safe and pleasant home environment, practice common courtesies, and form relationships with others—all of these skills are basic to everyday life. Many schools no longer include family and consumer sciences classes in the curriculum. Reality is that today’s youth and adults are busier than ever. Many of these basic life skills are not consistently taught to youth at home or at school. 4-H family and consumer sciences projects equip youth with these skills.
As with any other Kentucky 4-H Core Curriculum area, when it comes to development of life skills, a strong case can be made for the need to go beyond mere transfer of knowledge to giving youth the opportunity for a variety of supportive, related learning experiences to significantly increase the program’s influence.
4-H often offers basic learning activities on a topic of interest to youth but the addition of activities which support that interest (such as fair exhibits, related subject matter workshops or day camps, field trips, and decision-making judging contests) significantly increase the development of life skills in youth. In a study by Olson, Croymans and Ji (2014), 4-Hers reported that participating in 1 or 2 educational opportunities influenced the development of critical thinking and decision making skills, and participating in 6 to 8 opportunities significantly increased the program’s influence by adding development of life skills in leadership, planning/organization, wise use of resources, useful/marketable skills and accepting differences.
While many FCS skills can be learned through self-directed projects or school enrichment, it’s beneficial for youth to have the added experience and guidance of a trusted adult and the opportunity to form relationships with caring mentors. For many adults, long-term volunteering is not always possible but shorter-term volunteer roles create doable opportunities for more people to tuck volunteering into busy schedules. Special interest clubs and groups that meet for a few weeks or months broaden the possibilities. The volunteer efforts of multiple adults may be required to take the 4-H experience from club meetings alone to also include exhibits, field trips and more.
The consequences of the Great Recession and the extended period of slow economic growth which followed, encouraged Kentuckians to become more aware of their financial situation. Kentucky consistently lags behind other areas of the United States in key household economic indicators, including: personal income, population living below the poverty line, unemployment, and revolving debt. These indicators, especially unemployment numbers became more exaggerated during the period of the Great Recession. However, at present economist are cautiously optimistic regarding future economic forecasts. It is important to acknowledge the impact of current economic conditions on family financial management. The goal of the Securing Financial Stability Initiative is to help Kentuckians understand and respond to changing economic conditions, while promoting healthy financial behaviors across the lifespan.
Youth will:
? Be responsible and contributing individuals and family members.
? Gain and maintain employment through life skill development.
? Contribute to a safe, pleasant and productive home and family.
Youth and Adults will:
Maximize or extend resources to maintain or increase financial.
Number of individuals reporting improved family financial stability and economic well-being.
Number of individuals who avoided breaches in personal or financial security.
Improved the quality of their life resulting in a stronger family.
Youth will:
? Utilize and practice life skills in projects and life situations
? Project a positive image and self-confidence
? Practice responsible consumer and financial decision-making
? Practice healthy eating choices
? Make choices that lead to responsible and beneficial results
? Adopt habits and skills that contribute toward employability in the future
?Adopt one or more short, mid and long term financial planning strategies.
?Practice one or more resource management behavior(s) resulting in increased savings or investments
?Apply practical living skills to advance education or employability
?Examine personal and financial stability on a regular basis (at least annually)
Youth will:
? Gain knowledge and develop skills in Family & Consumer Sciences projects and programs
? Understand the decision-making process
? Gain skills in setting a goal and developing a plan of action
? Learn to read and follow instructions
?Teenagers and adults will show increased knowledge and skills related to managing available financial and non-financial resources. (Social marketing and Program participants)
?Participants will increase understanding of consumer rights and privacy protection measures.
?Teens and young adults will simulate life situations to recognize importance of education and employability skills.
?Participants will identify short, medium and long term personal goals and objectives related to maintaining and improving their financial stability.
Outcome: Participants learn and practice life skills
Indicator: Knowledge gained
Method: Pre test and post test questionnaires
Timeline: Throughout the year
Intermediate Outcome: Apply soft skills to attain and retain employability
Indicator: ability to successfully implement soft skills
Method: mock job interviews, soft skills curriculum
Timeline: year round
Long-term Outcome: Adults and youth will be able to practice financial literacy
Indicator: Ability to apply knowledge
Method: financial related workshops and information
Timeline: year round
Audience: Extension Homemakers/General Public
Activity: Lesson Leader Training/Seminar
Content or Curriculum: SNAP Curriculum
Input: Staff, office equipment, curriculum, materials, volunteers
Date: Throughout the Year
Audience: Master Gardeners/General Public
Activity: Classes, Workshops
Content or Curriculum: Master Gardener curriculum,
Input: Staff, office equipment, curriculum, materials, volunteers
Date: FAll, 2016/Winter-Srping 207
Audience: 4-H Members/Youth
Activity: Youth clothing, knitting & crochet project group organization and leader training
Content or Curriculum: 4-H project material
Input: Staff, office equipment, curriculum, materials, volunteers
Date: Fall & Spring
Audience: Youth
Activity: 4-H Speech Contest
Content or Curriculum: Communication
Input: Staff, office equipment, curriculum, materials, volunteers
Date: Spring
Audience: Youth
Activity: 4-H Demonstration Contest
Content or Curriculum: Communication
Input: Staff, office equipment, curriculum, materials, volunteers
Date: Spring
Audience: Youth/Adults
Activity: Training Adults, Youth Leadership
Content or Curriculum: Leadership, 4-H Camp Counselor Manual
Input: Staff, office equipment, curriculum, materials, volunteers
Date: Summer
Audience: Youth
Activity: 4-H Club Officer Training
Content or Curriculum: 4-H Officer Handbooks & Notebooks
Input: Staff, office equipment, curriculum, materials, volunteers
Date: Fall
Audience: Youth
Activity: 4-H Council Evaluation Training
Content or Curriculum: Community Conflict Resolution Materials
Input: Staff, office equipment, curriculum, materials, volunteers
Date: November
Audience: Youth
Activity: 4-H Life Skills School Club Lessons
Content or Curriculum: 4-H Growing On My Own Curriculum
Input: Staff, office equipment, curriculum, materials, volunteers
Date: Spring
Audience: Youth
Activity: 4-H Summer Camp
Content or Curriculum: Summer Camp
Input: Staff, office equipment, curriculum, materials, volunteers
Date: June
Audience: Youth
Activity: 4-H Cloverbuds
Content or Curriculum: Penn State Cloverbuds/Arts and Crafts
Input: Staff, office equipment, curriculum, materials, volunteers
Date: Monthly
Audience: Youth
Activity: Truth and Consequences
Content or Curriculum: Family and Consumer Sciences curriculum
Input: Staff, office equipment, curriculum, materials, volunteers
Date: Spring
Audience: Youth
Activity: It's your Reality
Content or Curriculum: Family and Consumer Sciences curriculum
Input: Staff, office equipment, curriculum, materials, volunteers
Date: Monthly
Audience: General public/youth
Activity: Career days
Content or Curriculum: soft skills curriculum, industry materials
Input: Staff, office equipment, curriculum, materials, volunteers
Date: year round as needed
Audience: General public
Activity: Estate planning workshops
Content or Curriculum: estate planning
Input: Staff, office equipment, curriculum, materials, volunteers
Date: annually
Author: Alison Johnson
Major Program: Family and Consumer Sciences 4-H Core Curriculum
The 4-H Sewing Project Group has always been a popular group for Scott County 4-H members. The number of youth enrolled in 4-H Sewing for various levels has always been consistent. The expectation is for youth to enroll in 4-H Sewing and learn valuable life skills. Leadership is also taught and shown by example through all 4-H clubs and project groups. Another valuable asset to the 4-H Sewing program in Scott County, is the ability for youth to take the skills and leaders
Author: Whitney Hilterbran
Major Program: Community Engagement
The Cooperative Extension Service aims to reach all people of Kentucky. With today’s fast paced lifestyle people often receive their news and information by means of social media. Newsletter mailings and newspaper articles no longer suffice for reaching the majority of the population. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center as of August 2017, two-thirds (67%) of Americans report that they get at least some of their news on social media – with two-in-ten doing so often. This inc
Author: Whitney Hilterbran
Major Program: Home Energy Management
Toaster ovens seem like an obsolete appliance in today’s world of pressure cookers and air fryers. However, this reputable appliance still has benefits and has evolved to meet the demands of today’s consumer. About 1.7 million toaster ovens are sold in the United States each year. Twenty-seven percent of households use it only for toasting foods (Energy Star Market Industry Scoping Report: Toaster Ovens, November, 2011.) Today’s toaster ovens have capability beyond toastin
Author: Patrick Allen
Major Program: Natural Resources 4-H Core Curriculum
While collaborating with Whitney Hilterbran (Scott County FCS Agent) we set out to bring an outdoor cooking class to a new audience. I have taught several outdoor cooking classes to 4-H youth and various youth conferences and events. Whitney came to me and asked if we could work together to teach that same material to an adult audience. I thought it sounded like a great way to collaborate and share information. The class took place at the Scott County Extension office on October 10th in the even
Author: Whitney Hilterbran
Major Program: Nurturing Families (general)
The University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service is committed to improving the health and well-being of families in the commonwealth. Recent evaluations of our community conducted by WEDCO Health Department indicated that 59.3% are concerned about alcohol/drug abuse and that 45.8% are concerned about poor diet/inactivity (Community Themes and Strengths Assessment, 2014). Both of these concerns may be addressed by increasing the frequency and quality of family meals eaten at home.In an ef
Author: Patrick Allen
Major Program: Leadership 4-H Core Curriculum
Success Story By: Rachel E. Noble, Ed.D., Extension Specialist for 4-H Youth DevelopmentScott County inofrmation added Research suggests distinctive characteristics of young adolescents (middle school aged youth)regarding their physical, cognitive, moral, psychological, and social-emotional development, aswell as spiritual development (Scales, 2010). Young adolescents (middle school aged youth) warrant educational experiences and schools that are organized to address their physical,intellec
Author: Patrick Allen
Major Program: Leadership 4-H Core Curriculum
Through the 94th Annual Kentucky 4-H Teen Conference, 4-H’ers from across the Commonwealth, including eight youth from Scott County developed leadership and teamwork skills, improved communication skills, became involved in civic life, expanded knowledge related to a 4-H core content area: communication/citizenship, health, natural resources, agriculture, expressive arts, family consumer sciences, and science, engineering, and technology. The participants fostered a sense of belonging thro
Author: Sharon Flynt
Major Program: Master Gardener
Planning for the 2017 Scott Co. Extension Master Gardener Lawn and Garden Expo begin in October, of 2016. At that time committees were formed and chairs appointed to those committees. The event took place in March, 2017. The structure of the event included 13 educational events focused on gardening, soil, raised bed gardening, native plants, pollinator, seed starting, composting, fertilizers, herbs, lawns, terrariums, and heathy garden food recipes. The day of the event followe
