Merit Badge and Eagle question

Do you have to inform your scout leader of your work on a merit badge prior to talking wth the counselor. I know you need to get the blue card but do you need to tell them before you do it.

Also, can you start your eagle project before completing all your merit badges?

Answer to second question, yes..They can complete the Eagle project any time as a Life Scout and do not have to have all the Eagle required badges earned before they do it. As long as they get the other requirements done, the project signed off through the council level and the SM's conference done before the scout turns 18.

sue m.

The answer to your first question is a bit more complicated. The way the system is supposed to work is that when you want to work on a merit badge, you approach your scoutmaster and ask for a blue card. The scoutmaster helps you identify a counselor, and then you go to the counselor and begin work. But let's imagine that you talk to a counselor before you talk the scoutmaster, and you begin work on the badge. Then you go to the scoutmaster to ask for a blue card. He can still give you the blue card, and the counselor can accept the work. If the counselor is approved for that merit badge, I can't see any good reason for the SM to refuse you the blue card--although he may point out to you the way it's supposed to work. A related issue involves whether the merit badge counselor can count work done before you obtained the blue card, or before you contacted him. The answer is that it's entirely up the counselor. In some cases, the requirement calls specifically for the scout to do something after obtaining the counselor's approval, and most counselors would probably insist on that. For other requirements, some counselors think the requirement should have been done while the boy was a scout, others may take different approaches. In some cases, it's pretty obvious that it's OK for some of the work to have been done before getting the blue card--for example, the requirements in Music to serve for six months as part of a school band or other musical group--I don't think many counselors would require you to wait six months after getting the blue card. Another example would be the requirement in Citizenship in the World to study a foreign language for a year. You may find some difference in approach among counselors, on the other hand, when it comes to something like the nights of camping for the Camping merit badge.

thank you both for your help