April 17-23 was national volunteer week, a time to salute our volunteers and say thank you. Fond du Lac 4-H volunteers teach, plan and organize, advice, help raise funds and mentor young people, so they may have the best experiences possible. Adult volunteers are essential to the 4-H program as they put 4-H’s learn-by-doing model […]
The Lemonade Day program is about more than just a Lemonade Day stand. In the Fond du Lac Area it is a community tradition that has taken place for the past seven years. Community engagement in sponsorship, volunteers serving on committees, schools, churches and youth-serving agencies ALL coming together to teach and encourage our youth […]
Youth are great problem solvers naturally! Just look at how they navigate through Minecraft or use phone Apps to make memes and videos. There are, however, strategies and specific steps youth can learn to become better problem solvers. Knowing these strategies can help youth when they become frustrated, angry, tired or when they just draw […]
As a Division of UW-Madison, Extension is following the lead of UW-Madison leadership in responding to the COVID-19 virus outbreak, in conjunction with public health and county officials. The latest guidance from UW-Madison and local government is to limit on-site work in addition to postponing events. This guidance is in reaction to a worldwide event […]
By Ron Jakubisin, Positive Youth Development Extension Educator Just to clarify, I’m not the expert being referred to in the title! I have had a few decades of experience in facilitating team-building activities, ice-breakers, and group brain teasers but I feel I am always learning, always refining, but still working on ‘expert’ status. I have […]
By Ron Jakubisin, Positive Youth Development Extension Educator Everyone is on time, all the youth officers are present, there is an agenda. What could go wrong? Perhaps the question should be reframed: How can we make it better? There are things we can control, like agendas, room set-up, etc. Then, there are some things we […]
Empathy in children is linked to stronger relationship skills. Strong relationships help a person feel happy. Teaching children to care for others is a great way to help children be happy when they are older. There are a variety of strategies to build empathy in children. Empathy is the ability to understand and share someone else’s […]
Research shows that there are numerous health, nutrition, social, emotional, and academic benefits to gardening with young children. This may be the reason for the popularity and longevity of the Junior Master Gardener (JMG) program in Fond du Lac County, which has been around for 20+ years. JMG is a great example of a county […]
Looking for a free interactive, educational program for your child this summer? If you answered yes, then you’ll want to check out UW-Extension’s Junior Master Gardener (JMG) Program. It is a summer-long gardening/cooking program for youth, ages 8-12 years, that teaches them to “dig in the dirt”, care for plants, cook in the kitchen and […]
