Nurturing

1. Quality Counts -GOLD Nurturing

2. Objectives • Understand the stages of youth development. • Learn how adults can help young people gain confidence through positive reinforcement. • Understand how setting goals can help young people grow.

3. In a poll entitled “What Matters Most,” Newsweek asked 506 parents with children ages 0-3 what their most important goal was as a parent. Forty-eight percent of the parents who responded said they wanted their children to grow up with high moral values. (McDaniel, 1998)

4. Why is character education important? • Children learn good morals early in life. • As society becomes more complex, it becomes harder to teach good character traits to young people. • 4-H and FFA focus on character education. • The Six Pillars of Character are fundamentals of character development. • Trustworthiness – Fairness • Respect – Caring • Responsibility – Citizenship

5. The Stages of Youth Development • Erik Erikson’s eight stages of youth development describe how individuals develop their personalities in different stages of life. • Success is determined by how well one progresses through the stages of development. • Physical, emotional and intellectual growth vary at different stages of development. • The more adults understand about youth development the better character education they can provide.

6. Erikson’s Stages of Development • Oral – Sensory • Muscular • Locomotor • Latency • Adolescence • Young Adulthood • Middle Adulthood • Maturity

7. Oral - Sensory • Age – 1 to 1 ½ years • Adult roles • Gain trust from individual • Provide a loving and safe environment • Mother is typically the most important in achild’s life • Help the child feel safe inhis/her environment

8. Muscular • Age – 1 ½ to 4 years • Adult roles • Provide a balance of freedom and protectiveness • Support children as they experience trial and error in activities • Be firm but tolerant so the childwill develop self-controland self-esteem

9. Locomotor • Age– 4 to 6 years • Adult roles • Support initiative and exploration • Allow children to use imagination and avoid an excess of formal education • Help children learn they are no longer babies, but are growing up

10. Latency • Age– 6 to 12 years • Adult roles • Keep a balance between letting kids be kids and providing formal education • Help children begin to “tame the imagination” • Encourage children to keep trying regardless of their success • Social sphere becomes much broader • All people in a child’s life havean influence • 4-H can begin at this age

11. Adolescence • Age– 12 to 18 years • Adult roles • Be a good role model • Gain young person’s respect • Provide information about career options • Society plays a big role in a child’s life • Teach good character traits

12. Young Adulthood • Age – 20s • Adult roles • Encourage teamwork • Support cultural and gender differences • Encourage involvement with friendsand the community • Help young adults weigh decisionsbased on the effect on society

13. Middle Adulthood • Age– 20 to 50 years • Adult roles • Role reversal begins as youngadults start their own families • Help others at each stage of development • Be a mentor and role model

14. Maturity • Age– 50 + years • Adult roles • Share wisdom with young adults and children • Be a mentor • Grandparents can giveexcellent support to grandchildren

15. Never Stop Learning • We sometimes forget about the why’sand just concentrate on the how’s! • Teaching young people why they should do something a certain way gives them a better understanding of how to do it.

16. Building Confidence Through Positive Reinforcement • Positive reinforcement encourages continued behavior by offering attractive consequences (rewards) for desirable performance. • It is very effective in helping young people progress through the stages of development. • Successful character education does not depend solely on giving rewards to promote good behavior.

17. Proper Use of Positive Reinforcement • Emphasize the positive first, then talk about things that can be improved. • Examples: • Chris, you set up the back legs of your steer very well, but the front legs could be a little more square. • Jenny, you swept up the aisles in the barn well, but the pens could use some more cleaning. • Christy, your showmanship skills haveimproved greatly, but there are still afew things we can work on to makethem better.

18. Goal Setting • Goal - the result or achievement toward which effort is directed • Goal statements are written by individuals, 4-H clubs and FFA organizations. • Goals should be • Specific • Challenging • Attainable • Committed to by the individual • Goals must be written down!

19. Goal Setting (continued) Adults should: • give feedback to help young people write goal statements • help young people develop a vision for what they wish to accomplish • help young people identify their strengthsand weaknesses • have the following traits • Respect (Let young people set their own goals.) • Patience (Give them time to make decisions.) • Encouragement (Support their decisions and recognize their initiative.)

20. Goal Setting (continued) Setting goals • increases attention to the immediate task • increases the effort expended on activities • increases persistence because there is less temptation to quit once a goal has been clearly established • increases motivation and performance by encouraging the development of specific task strategies

21. Summary • Understand Erikson’s Stages of Development. • Be able to identify the stages people are in. • Never stop learning. • Use positive reinforcement to teach young people. • Writing goal statements is an important part of youth development. • Goals statements should be: • Specific • Challenging • Attainable • Committed to by the individual • Written down