Programs offered during out-of-school time are important

Published 9:10 am Saturday, January 9, 2010

Like many other youth programs and organizations being offered to kids, 4-H is among them competing for participants. Just like those other programs, 4-H programs are offered during those critical out-of-school hours. The out-of-school time refers to the waking hours each week when young people are not occupied with school, studies, chores, meals and personal maintenance. It is important for 4-H youth development to offer programs that offer out-of-school-time experiences because of the growing research on why out of school time experiences matter and are important to the development of kids.

We are fortunate with the 4-H program that we have many different activities for youths to participate in. Not only do we have traditional 4-H events such as 4-H club meetings, activities for Cloverbuds and Ambassadors, and of course, county fair, we also offer some different after-school opportunities.

Currently there is 4-H after-school programming at Glenville-Emmons Elementary, Alden-Conger School, Halverson and Lakeview elementaries in Albert Lea, The Salvation Army, YMCA and Arc. The programming we offer at all of our 4-H programs help make a difference by providing the basic needs of youths, such as: having a safe place to be, having a place where young people know what the rules and expectations are, having caring adults there for support, providing a sense of belonging, a place where positive values are evident and providing opportunities for young people to make a difference.

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A recent study of youths found that those who engage in learning activities in out-of-school time have better developmental outcomes throughout high school. To assure we make a positive difference in the lives of youths, we meet with our different after-school groups and other 4-H groups on a monthly basis. This ensures that the young people are getting a supportive adult relationship and they will be in turn more likely to do well in school and become productive, caring adults themselves.

The challenges that we face by offering programs is to improve the quality, availability and impact of out-of-school-time learning experiences. It is also important to encourage choices that strengthen positive youth development, educational growth and family strength. While it is important to stress the importance of keeping youths engaged in out-of- school activities, there is growing research that also studies quality of programs — children in poor quality programs often do worse than children that do not participate in that program at all.

Look at next month’s 4-H Update for more information on why quality matters in programs.

Information in this column was taken from the “Making the Case for Out- of-School-Time” developed by Mary Marczak and Janet Beyer, University of MN Extension.

For more information or research on out-of-school time, please contact the Freeborn County Extension Office or visit this Web site at ww.extension.umn.edu/youth/.

Megan Thorson is a 4-H program coordinator for the University of Minnesota Extension Service, Freeborn County.