Leaderboard

Or as my grandad used to say, you can take a horse to water but a pencil must be lead. I’m here all week

I wish I could edit more as I bet I could come up with many or refine my thoughts. Here are a few that I like. "Keep the outing in scouting" ... My interpretation --> Focus on doing. In doing, we create opportunities to teach and make a difference. "Teach at all times. Use words if necessary." ... My interpretation --> Our actions are our greatest teacher. Flip side, too many "teaching" words kills the scout spirit. ... Quote is often attributed to Francis of Assisi, but it may be a pairing down of their religious rules and not a real quote.

I’d always say never criticise another person till you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. That way when you upset them you’re a mile away. And you have their shoes.

How about this variant: Never let them smell the fear! Truth. YP doesn't even allow for older boys acting like older brothers anymore.

From BP's Aids to Scoutmastership p. 3 "The Scoutmaster guides the boy in the spirit of an older brother."

My feeling is that, as a Scouter, I "guide scouts to find their own path" towards the aims of Scouting. My $0.02,

I agree. First, most boys (girls?) of this age and maturity are more than ready for an advanced maturity program. I believe most Webelos Dens are just coasting their last couple months waiting to get in the troop anyway. Second, the few Dens that do wait a couple of months longer are typically doing it for the adults who want the boys to get more advancement. That advancement a year later will mean almost nothing to the scouts. For those Dens who are waiting, we asked that they send their Scouts to our troop just to get used to being a Scout (even if they hadn't committed to our troop). I would advise Pack leaders learn the standard crossover timetable for their district so they can help the troops. Late crossovers are a burden on PLCs just trying to place the new scouts in the right patrols, so they can ease the struggle of the change. Troop election cycles can challenge the PLCs just in recruiting and training Troop Guides. I've said before, the BSA looses more scouts in their first year of a troop than any other time. Packs can help a little by fitting into the troop schedules. Barry

Just goes to show you that there's always 2 sides to a story, and the hyped up emergencies you hear about in the media are often nothing of the sort. No biggee, no harm, no foul. Yeah, a couple canoes flipped and it sure was great that the sheriff deputies came to help get that done. In the end, a good trip was had by all. Happy ending. I LIKE it!!

Another: "Never let them know that you can hear them."

An indoor Wood Badge course is pretty bad. An indoor Wood Badge course AT A HIGH ADVENTURE BASE is just nuts. What's the adventure, trying to avoid getting a splinter from the seat?

Just what were these highly trained folks planning on doing with their training?

We think we know everything about how to coach scouts, until that next scout! Then we start posting here!

Whatever we all disagree about, I think we would all say that it's monumentally stupid to take Camping at your first summer camp. The Scout won't have the camping nights, and won't have any of the 9B requirements. What you're left with is a partial that probably won't be finished for a year or more. There's no point in bothering with this one until the Scout at least has the camping nights. Once he has the camping nights, he'll likely have knocked out one or more of the 9B requirements as well, and can focus on figuring out ways to get the rest.

Knowing how much work can go into an Eagle project, I'm sure that this was very discouraging. However, we must keep in mind that the project belongs to the beneficiary. While we always hope that it will provide a long lasting legacy to the Scout who completed it, the needs of the beneficiaries change over time. I have a relative who has a really hard time with this concept as well. This relative will give a gift, but will get quite upset if the recipient does not keep and use the gift. Once that gift is given, it belongs to the recipient/ beneficiary to keep, regift, or otherwise dispose of as they desire. It would have been great if the state had reached out to the Scout first and maybe they could have helped to resolve the issue without destroying it though.

It can happen and has a special patch that says ... "Proud son of a super mom!"

Not very realistic or desirable in my opinion. I considered this for my own sons, but after two years found that they are somewhat neutral to earning belt loops/pins. As long as they get to participate in recognition events, they seem happy. They would rather run around playing tag on the playground with their den than doing an adult led activity for the sake of earning an elective. It turns out that earning electives was more important to me than it was for them. Another hint for me was that only one other scout in my den completed any of the optional electives on their own, although I encouraged parents and the kids to look in the book and find something that interested them or attend electives at the council center. I even put up the advancement chart at several den meetings so they could put stickers on the new electives they completed. I now find it more valuable to try to repeat certain things with my own boys rather than teach them something new. For example, they "got credit" for tying a square knot and two half-hitches as wolves and bears, but quickly forgot how to do it. So every few months we practice to try to keep these skills fresh. If they can start boy scouts knowing how to setup a tent, tie a few knots, start a fire, cook some food, take care of minor injuries, and work together in a team to plan and implement something (anything) without arguing, I will be a proud dad and den leader.

The requirement says: "To recognize youth members who recruit a friend into Scouting." It does not specify that it must be his unit. (Though I think it once did). If he wants the award have your son talk to his Scoutmaster (with the requirement in hand) and see if he will award it. If not, you could talk to the other unit, but it could be a bit of a rub with his Scoutmaster.

As many as are needed. And, make sure each one has a job, as mentioned by others. I came up with seven key areas of focus for ASMs: Overall Program, New Scout patrols, High Adventure, Regular scouts patrols, Special activities, Service projects and Camping planning. The bigger the troop, the more it would need separate people to focus on these key areas. A good Scoutmaster should always be able to ask for help when needed.

I am posting this here to possible help new scouters get the troop going on the right path. These are personal observations from years of working with hundreds of troops develop strong scouting programs. I hope they will help you evaluate where the troop you serve is functioning and where it can improve. Tis board would be a good tool to help you change for the better, but the resources of the BSA are probably your greatest source of scouting methods and information. Hope this helps, Bob White Some Common Traits of Successful Troops Currently trained adults Leaders wear correct uniform Scoutmaster concentrates on training Junior Leaders, and knowing the needs and characteristics of each scout. They use the Patrol Method for everything They follow the contents of the Boy Scout Handbook The committee supports the decision of the scouts, they dont make decisions for them. They have at least 2 Assistant Scoutmasters They recognize scouts 3 times for every advancement They DONT use troop meetings as merit badge classes. They plan everything in advance and put it in writing (The difference between a wish and a plan is a plan is written down) The only rules they have are that scouts and leaders follow the Scout Oath and Law. They get outdoors once a month (even if just for a day event) Troop meetings are filled with hands on activities New scouts make First Class, First Year They keep in contact with Webelos Dens year round They select leaders they dont recruit them. They participate in District and Council events They attend Roundtable Adults smile and play nice together. (If you are not enjoying yourself then neither are the scouts.)

A lot of units have a higher than average number of Eagles. Many have a lower than average, that's how we come up with an average. What's more important is how they are getting to Eagle not how many you have. Eagle factory is a term used to describe troops who put the achievement of rank over the personal character growth of the individual scout. With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy You might be an Eagle factory if.. If your troop meeting plan is based on merit badge classes then you might be an Eagle factory. If the majority of merit badge sashes in the troop look the same you might be an Eagle factory. If scouts are told which merit badge they are learning next you might be an Eagle factory. If everyone moves to the next rank at the same time you might be an Eagle factory. If you define the success of your program by the number of Eagle Scouts you might be an Eagle factory. If you think the advancement method is the most important scout method you might be an Eagle factory. If you give blue cards to scouts before they ask for one you might be an Eagle factory. If you tell scouts how many, or which, merit badges they must earn at summercamp you might be an Eagle factory. So don't worry about what others say, worry about what you are doing. If the actions above seem familiar to you in the unit you serve, then you are not following the the scouting program or giving the youth the best possible scouting experience even if they receive Eagle, and that is what is important. Bob White

Due to the recent annoyance of online advertising networks and the diminishing value of advertising revenues they offer, SCOUTER has cancelled all contracts with advertising networks. The pop-ups, surveys, and blinking youve won! messages just became to much for us all (SCOUTER Staff and visitors) to tolerate. At SCOUTER, we know as well as anyone that advertising can be an unwelcoming experience on the web. To ensure that SCOUTER can continue to provide thousands of grassroots resources to the scouting community, some level of advertising is absolutely necessary. Effective immediately SCOUTER will only be accepting online advertising from individual companies. The ideal company would provide additional value and resources to the scouting community. Thank you for your continued support as we work to ensure your visit here is a pleasant experience. Luke For more information on SCOUTER Advertising, contact SCOUTER at http://www.scouter.com/contact.asp

My scoutmaster seemed to have believed, "If you hear 'em after lights out, shout at the top of your lungs."