Bl4—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 4,1984
BY KIMBERLY HERR
OREGON Four-year-old Andy
stands on a kitchen chair, at
tentively stirring a pan of hot
chocolate, while his mother
watches.
“You have to let it cool,” Andy
warned a visitor.
Allowing Andy to help her in the
kitchen is just one of the concepts
expressed in the Family Time
program, according to Lois
Hamish, Andy’s mother.
Lois and her husband, Jim, who
live on a small dairy farm in
Oregon, agreed last October to
pilot the Family Time program for
the Lancaster County Extension
Office. They have been par
ticipating in the activities
suggested and will evaluate the
program upon its conclusion.
mu *•**'
Andy Harnish and his mother, Lois, work on the GEO
board, one of the many activities suggested in the Family
Time program, sponsored by the Lancaster County Extension
Office.
Lois Harnish works on a pine cone and peanut butter bird
feeder, which will be used on their Lancaster County dairy
farm. This is another activity suggested in the Family Time
program.
' Family Time 1
The program, according to
Michelle Rodgers, Extension home
economist, is a three-part, leam
at-home program, featuring
reading, activity boxes and ideas
on how to spend quality time with
the family.
“I was looking for good quality
ideas to use in working with my
children,” Lois explained. “I also
needed good ideas for nursery
school.” Lois helps out Thursday
mornings at the Millersville
Mennonite Church’s Time Out
program, which allows mothers to
spend some time on their own.
In addition to Andy, Lois has a
six-year-old daughter, Sonya.
Saying that she highly recom
mended the Family Time
program, she outlined the four
basic strengths that research has
Program Works for Homish Family
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Making family traditions can be fun and rewarding for a family. The Harnish family
started the tradition this year of setting up a train set at Christmas. Above, Lois and
four-year-old Andy enjoy the train.
shown families to have. They are;
appreciation, commitment,
religion and communication.
“It is important that we know the
strengths, and then we can build on
our strengths,” Lois said.
In keeping with the idea of
strengthening the family, Lois
showed one of the activity boxes
that is included in the Family Time
program. There are two such
boxes, with each family allowed to
keep one box for two weeks. Ac
cording to Lois, there are 26 ac
tivities in all.
The box includes such things as
matching cloth bears to help learn
about textures and size, a GEO
board and rubber bands, for
making designs, and sandpaper
letters and numerals to feel and
identify. There are also items for
dress-up play, such as a cape,
poncho and wand.
“I liked the paper cups best,”
Andy said.
The game he referred to, ac
cording to his mother, was one in
which paper cups had numbers
marked on them and he had to read
the number and put that many
buttons in the cup.
“Some of the games are geared
to young children and some to
older children, Lois said.
“I can give my children in
dividual attention as we do these
activities,” Lois said. “It is good
quality time that we can spend
together.”
Another phase of the program is
reading. According to Lois, there is
a list of 12 suggested books, which
deal with concepts important to
children, such as loneliness,
dealing with death, jealousy and
family conflict.
To aid in the understanding of
the books, there are suggested
activities to follow, such as pan
tomimes. “Children love to act out
pantomimes,” Lois said.
“This (the reading) has really
helped children understand why
we act the way we do,” Ixiis said.
“Reading is good time spent with
children,” Lois said. “It is a time
to be close, a time to have good eye
contact with your children.”
Why eye contact 7
“It lets them know I care and
that I’m listening,” Lois explained.
The third phase of the program
deals with family activities and
creating family traditions. A
tradition which the Harmsh family
began this year was setting up a
train set at Christmas.
They have also enjoyed some of
the other suggested activities, for
example, making animal-shaped
pancakes and measuring each
family member’s height.
Another activity was pretending
to go for a drive around town. Ixiis
gave Andy and Sonya a pie plate on pretended to be in the car with
a broom handle to pretend to drive. Sonya.
Andy explained that his father “We went hunting and we went
pretended to be in the front seat to McDonald’s,” Andy said, using
with him, and his mother (Turn to Pane B 15)
Computer Age Families
Bytes...Bits...Booting Discs!
That’s the latest lingo at the Ex
tension office. Our office is finally
catching up with the computer age.
I imagine the race has only started
as this fast paced technology
changes and advances everyday.
Not only is technology speeding
ahead but this new “guest” in the
office has had some side effects.
Extension agents not only par
ticipate in the county-wide
workshop run, the farm visit
marathon and the two hour P.S.U.
120 mile race, with the newest
event being the “Apple He Dash”.
Competition is keen for computer
time as we each excitedly unlock
the potential it provides in our
educational program efforts.
The computer age has not only
entered places of work but our
farms and homes as well.
Christmas day found software
programs tucked under the tree.
And I found myself spending part
of my vacation rearranging to
make room for our new “guest”
and its hardware! Hours later
found me pouring through manuals
and making Syntax errors
How has the computer age af
fected your family? What is the
effect of this computer madness on
our families’ It is too early for a
“pnnt-out” on long term effects
but present information is positive.
Dr. James Van Horn, Extension
family specialist, indicates a
computer can enhance and
strengthen the family. At the very
least, it encourages family
members to work together and
cooperate to solve various
problems. And unlike the T V., the
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By Michelle S. Rodgers
Lancaster Extension
Home Economist
computer is not passive. The
computer provides new challenges
one after another and the user
receives immediate feedback.
With all the positives, there are
still some considerations for
families to keep in mind. Recently,
while visiting friends, we spent the
entire evening taking turns at
computer games only to realize as
we drove home that we really
hadn’t had much conversation. All
we remembered saying was
“hello” and “good-bye”.
If you have a home computer or
are just looking into purchasing
one for your family keep these
ideas in mind.
—Locate the computer in a place
that is not a major traffic pattern
but provides close proximity to the
room where your family spends
time together.
—Have seating for several
people to encourage family
members to work together and
share information together.
—Develop some ground rules
Decide how long each family
member will be allowed to use the
computer and how programs will
be shared.
—Decide if homework and
chores get done before the com
puter is turned on
With or without invitation it
appears that computer “guests”
are going to become permanent
members in many families for
years to come. The computer has
caused our Extension family to
work and learn together
Hopefully, as computers enter our
homes we can utilize them also to
strengthen our families.
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