LUMBERTON – I love when a useless fact in my head becomes something useful. Did you know April’s Fools Day dates back to the 1500s?

Apparently when the Romans changed calendars from the Julian to the Gregorian, the start of the New Year changed from April to January.

As you know, back then there was no mass media, just word of mouth to get the information out to everyone, so just like today, folks didn’t get the message.

For years they continued to celebrate the New Year in April rather than January. These folks were considered foolish and they became the butt of jokes hence April’s Fools. Over the centuries, that has morphed into playing silly pranks and jokes, on the first day of April.

I went through all of that to say, what follows is not an April’s Fools prank; it is the opportunity of a lifetime for you to help your child “accidentally” learn over the summer and help them not fall into the summer slide. That slide is losing more than 40% of what they have learned during the school year because they are not engaged in activities that challenge them.

I’m not saying they need to be in a classroom, quite the opposite in fact. I’m saying they should be in day camps and activities where they can explore, use their reasoning skills, and be in safe and nurturing environments to allow them to learn.

If that sounds too good to be true, let me introduce you to 4-H Summer Fun.

On April 1, 4-H Summer Fun will open to the public. What does that mean? It means if you have a child between the ages of 5 and 19, you can register them for our day camps, or overnight camps and leadership opportunities.

For our 9- to 13-year-old’s, we have a slew of day-camp programs, from Junior Chef where they learn about their food and how to cook, to Biotech where there are fun science programs for 5 days, some as part of field trips and some in our office.

Everyday is an adventure.

We are excited that Millstone day camp will be available again this year; our traditional day camp for campers who want to explore archery, swimming, arts and crafts and more. For those who want to step it up, we have our week-long overnight camp.

We travel to Betsy Jeff Penn 4-H Camp in Reidsville for a week that they will never forget. For our teens we have 4-H Congress which is a week-long leadership event on NC State University’s campus. For our 5- to 8-year-olds, we have our weeklong Cloverbud camp to get them into the spirit and schedule of school prior to the school year starting.

We love giving children a leg up for the school year.

Well, this sounds amazing, but what is the cost? Thanks to Lumber River United Way funding, we are able to offset the cost of these camps to make them affordable; especially when you consider the cost of each camp includes snacks, lunch, and supplies.

Space is limited and it is a first-come, first-served situation. You can learn more about our Summer Fun program by going to our blog, and you can register on the Eventbrite link that is part of the QR code provided. Don’t worry, it’s not an April’s Fools joke.

https://go.ncsu.edu/robeson4-hsummerfun 4-H blog

For more information, please contact Shea Ann DeJarnette, 4-H Youth Development Agent with North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Robeson County Center, at 910-671-3276, by E-mail at [email protected], or visit our website at https://robeson.ces.ncsu.edu/. Shea Ann is also licensed by the Emily Post Institute as a child etiquette teacher.

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North Carolina Cooperative Extension is a strategic partnership of NC State Extension, The Cooperative Extension Program at N.C. A&T State University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA), and local government partners statewide. Extension delivers research-based education and technology from NC State and N.C. A&T that enriches the lives, land, and economy of North Carolinians. Extension professionals in all 100 counties and the Eastern Band of Cherokee provide educational programs specializing in agriculture, youth, communities, health, and the environment.