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4-H Record Book Information

Completing a 4-H Record Book is a process where you record your project and club work using a standard format. 4-H Record Books are not required for membership or participation in 4-H activities. It is an optional program that improves your skills in record keeping, goal management, and reflections on when you had to switch gears in order to meet your goals. You can submit your record book for evaluation at competitions at the club, county and state levels.

The Record Book and the Achievement Program are OPTIONAL and SEPARATE programs.

We highly recommend you take advantage of both programs to maximize your growth and learning through 4-H.

Benefits of completing a 4-H Record Book

  • Practice Records Management - Track your activities, events, profits and losses, skill development and learning experiences. In this competency skill you identify, create, classify, archive and preserve records.
  • Reflect on your yearly work - Document your skill development and learning experiences in a written report.
  • Measure your achievements and growth throughout your years in 4-H.
  • Set goals, pursue strategies to meet those goals, and record how you may have had to shift gears in the face of challenges and obstacles.

SLO County Achievement Information can be found at https://ucanr.edu/sites/slo4-h/Club_Forms/4-H_Achievement_Program/ 

Record Book Review and Evaluation - General Instructions and Forms

2023-24 Record Book Manual New Achievement Program (PDF) - This manual is for all members, parents, volunteers, and staff. It outlines all parts of the Record Book and how to organize it. The Record Book Manual and Record Book Forms are separate documents. This manual applies to:

PLEASE READ before accessing Google Forms
Copy to your own personal Google Drive. Please open a free, personal Google account to access the Google Record Book Form templates.
NOTE: Do not use the Google account you were assigned from your school.
Most school districts block access from outside of your school district. Please be aware that if you are trying to use the Google account assigned from your school, you are likely to get a denied access/request permission request. It is also likely that they will not grant you incoming access by your school account administrator.

SLO COUNTY RECORD BOOK RESOURCES GOOGLE DRIVE FOLDER: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17UnDgAd7Pl-bfnDC4y1jxEmSZUQ6hS8w

Type of Record Book:
 
A 4-H Record Book is organized into the following sections:

Generic Record Book
(aka No Achievement)

Spark Achievement

Emerald Star I & II

Impact Stars

Cover/Title Page (one 8.5 x 11 inch page)

  • Full Name
  • Age
  • Birthdate
  • 4-H Unit (club, camp, etc.)
  • County Name
  • Program Year
  • Graphics/artwork is acceptable, not required

X

X

X

X

Table of Contents

  • lists the order of the 4-H Record Book sections
  • Include the titles of the section headers and page numbers

X

X

X

X

Specific Achievement Forms (worked on during that year)

 _

X (Google)

X(I)(II)

X

My 4-H Story

Your 4-H story is an opportunity to reflect on your 4-H experiences that focuses on the current 4-H year.

X

X

X

 _

Annual Project Report + Expression Page

X

X

X

X

ONE Leadership Report

  • You will complete the Leadership Report on only one APR if you are a junior or teen leader or have another youth leadership role.
  • Complete this section if you hold any leadership position in the categories listed on the Leadership Report Form, even if those roles are not related to the Project in that APR.
  • Insert the Leadership Report immediately behind the Expression Page of the first APR in this section.
  • Include all leadership roles on one Leadership Report by checking the appropriate boxes and discussing those roles in your entries to the prompts.

X

X

X

X

Activity Summary (Optional)

  • List the dates of your 4-H activities in a new form each year in calendar order. Use the
    dropdown menu to indicate the category of the activity using your primary reason for
    participation. You can use a printed copy of the 4-H Activity Tracker App instead of the
    form provided.

+

+

+

+

4-H Resume (Seniors Only) (Word)

X

X

X

X

 

Primary Members

Primary Members can start learning the skill of Record Management. Note: Primary Members are not required to complete reports forms to receive their annual stripe and pin. Only this General Primary PDR is to be used across the state:

Primary Member - Personal Development Report-basic (DOC) 

Primary Member - Personal Development Report-basic (PDF)

Record Evaluation and Competition

4-H Record Book competitions measure your leadership development, civic engagement activities and personal growth, as well as project involvement. 4-H Record Books may be evaluated at the club, county and state levels.

The Purpose of Record Book Competitions:

  • Provide an incentive for you to record your project work and personal achievement.
  • Receive feedback and encouragement on your 4-H project skill development, leadership and civic
    engagement development and record-keeping skills.
  • Get recognized for outstanding 4-H work!

After completing your Record Book, you can submit your book to review, evaluation and competitions at the club, county and/or state level. Club and county level competitions are not required for State Competition.

Club Review and Evaluation: Record Books are usually reviewed and may be evaluated by 4-H adult volunteers and/or parents (this varies between units). If books are evaluated, it must follow the
State guidelines for evaluation. All Achievements are awarded at the unit level and may include a county review and verification process, which could be a different process than County Competition. An administration guide and forms are available to unit leaders from the County 4-H office.

County Competition: This level of competition is not the same in all counties so check with your County 4-H Office to find out what your county does. The State 4-H Incentives and Recognition Advisory Committee requires the use of the County Record Book Evaluation Worksheet, posted on the State 4-H website.

State Competition:Only Senior members(ages 14 to 19) may enter their Record Books to state competition. Members do
not need to compete at the unit or county level to enter state level competition. All guidelines to enter state competition are found on the state resource webpage.

Paper vs Digital Record Books

Purchase a Record Book cover using this link. 5% goes back to California 4-H!

Both paper and digital versions of the Record Books use the forms and links listed in the table above.

If you choose to do a Paper Record Book you may Purchase a Record Book cover using this link. and 5% of the money goes back to California 4-H!

We recommend creating a digital Record Book for submission to competitions.

Effective 2024: San Luis Obispo County 4-H will not accept paper Record Books for the County Level Record Book competition. 

If you need assistance converting your paper record book into a digital format please contact Kelsey Dugan at kdugan@ucanr.edu