hide2art

Hi Joe. I am a new member to this site and it is encouraging to see so many out there are involved with the 4H kids; as I. We do not have a set corriculum and I am interested in seeing what you are teaching. I am the only 4H leather leader in our county. Do you have a link to where you get your material from? Regarding your article, I have classes for 12 weeks starting in Jan. We have two classes a week. Everyone learns the basic tools and I put them in their hands. We go over how to hold and use each of them. Everyone is on the same page with the same tools and I work with each of them; not moving on until everyone gets it - to a point. One thing I stumbled on was to make sure the kids' elbows were level with the top of the tool. I think that with the kids thinking about where their elbow is keeps them from whacking the tools. Not to mention the surface of the mallot in flat with the tool; using more wrist action. Just a thought. My favorite projects are the ones that the kids come up with on their own. I try and explain to them that our projects have to serve some kind of purpose otherwise it is junk. Art is a purpose too. We don't make any junk, but make a good bit of art! ) This year I had a young man make a miniViseGrip holder for his dad. We fashioned the holster in the shape of a blue jean back pocket. The ViseGrip slips into the form fitted pocket. His dad does not wear a belt, but he runs holes in the bottom of his back pocket by sitting on the ViseGrips. Really cool ORIGINAL idea. I'll be posting some pictures of the projects soon. Please send me a link to your corriculum and BTW what state are you in? Thanks for your post. At least I know I am not the only one out there facing similar issues.