Both of these reactions are important in helping the child's brain to develop normally. Infants' scores on some measures of mental and physical development are higher if a father has been actively involved in the first six months of the child's life. Fathers are important in their children's lives. It's appropriate that we take time to honor them during the month of June. For many 4-H youth, summertime means show time.
Summer usually marks the beginning of the livestock show season.
In July about 600 youth will show beef and sheep in the Tennessee Junior Livestock Expositions. One of the activities at the shows is the skillathon, which gives youth the opportunity to showcase the skills and knowledge they learned from their beef or sheep projects. Skillathons are a series of learning stations where youth demonstrate knowledge about livestock management and products. Youth learn critical thinking skills by solving problems and interpreting medication and feed labels. The information is available from 4-H project manuals, supplied curriculum and information from junior livestock conferences.