December

With COVID cases on the rise in Liberty County, please continue to follow the governor’s guidelines and recommendations; wearing of masks, social distancing and groups no larger than 25. If you are interested in having virtual meetings call the Extension office and we can help with that. 

Jesse is quarantining so if you need to contact him directly, he can be reached at 406-399-2092 or jlf@montana.edu. 

Project books are in. Organizational Leaders will be picking them up to hand out at your next club meeting. If you ordered a book, please make arrangements with your club leader to pick up. 

Shooting Sports

What’s Up with Shooting Sports?  Good question. We had hoped to be up and running by now but under the circumstances have had to postpone. We will send an email out as soon as we have more information. 

Wilbur-Ellis is generously allowing the use of their building for shooting sports again this year. 

Are you thinking about taking a small animal project but not sure what to do? Taking part in a workshop might help you with that decision.

Small Animal Workshop

Glacier County leaders will be hosting a small animal project day January 18 at 2 p.m. in the old JC Penny building in Cut Bank.  Members are invited to learn showmanship and about each animal with presenters:

• Dayne Barbie – Cat
• Hadley Barbie – Dog
• Lexi Stubbs or Beretta Winkowitsch – Rabbit
• Jed Winkowitsch – Poultry
• Ken Winkowitsch – Pocket Pet 

Please RSVP to the Glacier County Extension Office (873-2239 or glacier@montana.edu) by January 13.  Session will be available via Zoom as well for anyone who isn’t able to attend in person.  Members do not need to bring their animals. 

4-H Record Books

4-H members are required to turn in their 4-H record books before the end of each 4-H year (September) in order to complete the year. Now is a good time to get started. Keeping records is a great way to develop your skills in communicating, organizing your time, documenting events and actions, evaluating your own efforts, setting goals before you begin your project , solving problems and keeping track of expenses. It is a lot easier to write things down as you go rather than try to remember everything at the end of the year. 

Full members need to include the following in their book:

• My 4-H year
• My 4-H Non-Animal Project Journal and Financial Record

                        (one for each non-animal project the member is enrolled in)

• My 4-H Animal Project Journal and Financial Record

                        (one for each animal project the member is enrolled in ) 

Members have several options for filling out record books.

1. Use the record book option in Zsuite. When you login to your account, the record book option is to the left. You will still need the same forms as listed above, so be sure to select all that are needed. You will then be able to update each of the record book pages by logging into your account from any device that has internet access. At the end of the year you can print all your forms to turn in to the Extension office. 

2. You can find the forms online at http://www.montana4h.org/resources/index.html then scroll down to Record Books section. 4-H record keeping forms are interactive Adobe PDF files. They can be saved to your computer for electronic use throughout the year (you can type your record information right into them and they include calculating functions). YOU MUST Save each file to your computer or to a flashdrive FIRST to use form functions.  Do this by right-clicking and using the 'save link as' function. If you choose to save them for electronic use you must have version 10 or higher of Adobe Reader.  

3. Paper forms are also available at the Extension office upon request. 

Check with your project leaders to see if they are having members fill out pages after meetings. If not, members will need to fill out the project sheets on their own. 

Setting Goals  

Setting goals is simply deciding what you want to learn and do. Having goals is like a road map. It is a tool that helps you plan how to get to where you want to go. In 4-H we talk about setting both Personal Goals and Project Goals. These goals should be written at the beginning of the 4-H year and recorded on the appropriate 4-H record keeping form.

Personal Goals

Personal Goals help you think about what you can do to become a better person. They should be written on the first page of “My 4-H Year” under “These are my Goals”.  When writing Personal Goals, consider such things as: 

• Meet new friends
• Attend 4-H Camp or State Conference
• Learn the 4-H Pledge
• Be a better listener
• Give an educational presentation

Project Goals

Project goals should be written for every project area you are enrolled in under “This is what I plan to do in this project”. Project Goals help you think about what you want to do within the project area. Some examples could be: 

• Visual Arts - Learn about the Elements of Design and Art Principles
• Food & Nutrition - Learn how to run small appliances
• Photography - Learn about the rule of thirds
• Beef - Train your market beef to lead
• Woodworking - Learn about different types of wood 

How to Write a Goal

Goals have three parts that can be measured or checked. Think about the three parts of a measurable goal:

1) the action: how you are going to do it;
2) the result: what you will do;
3) the timetable: when you plan to have it done.  

For example, for the goal, "I want to train my 4-H market heifer to lead before county fair," 

1) I want to train = the action – how you are going to accomplish the goal.

2) my 4-H market heifer to lead = the result (What a 4-H'er intends to do)  

3) before county fair =. the timetable - When or the amount of time it will take to complete the goal 

Control Test

If you are not certain that you can carry out a goal easily, you can give it a control test. Do YOU have control over what you want to do? Does the action part of your goal tell what you will do? You have control over a goal such as "I will learn to put in a hand sewn hem." However, if the action mentioned in the goal is what someone else will do, it does not pass the control test.

The goal statement, "I will have a champion steer at the Marias Fair does not pass the control test because the judge provides the action that decides whose steer will be the champion.

Do your goals pass the control test?

Sometimes goals change during the year. That's okay! Maybe you couldn't go to camp like you wanted to because your family was on a vacation. Or maybe it wasn't possible to take your dog to obedience training because she had puppies. Just write about why your goals changed. Not everything we plan turns out the way we had planned. Explain why and set some new goals for next year.

Club Meetings

Prairie Pals 4-H Meeting

• Sun., Dec. 6th via Zoom at 4:00 p.m.

Tiber 4-H Club Meeting

• Second Sunday of the month at Wicks Hangar at 2:00      Check out Facebook

Sweet Grass Clover 4-H Club Meeting

• Members - Second Tuesday of the month after school at the Liberty Co. Ext. Office.
• Cloverbuds - Third Tuesday of the month at the Liberty Co. Ext. Office, right after school. 

Calendar