4-H Books, School Grades.

This year was busy by our standards. We were part of two 4-H clubs and the girls had two projects in each club (including dog which met once a week). Each project requires it's own section filled out in their 4-H books. The past month was spent finishing off their books which need to be turned in by June 10th.

The books are a glimpse into the school world I left behind long ago and one the girls have never had to put up with. There are so many sections to fill out - leadership, public speaking, community service. This year we had a flood of emails along the lines of "here's a community service project, it will look good in your books!". Not, "here's a community service project, wouldn't it feel great to do this and help out your community/these people". Like grades in a class, "better study for that test so you can get a good grade", not "better study so you can learn the material and know more stuff".

Ay least since we unschool, the bureaucratic aspects of the 4-H process touch us, but do not change us. The kids (especially H) have always wanted to help people, to help people. The grade is irrelevant.