Laura,
Great question, and one that I've wrestled with. I don't have the timing issues you have, we plan to get all of our boys at the same time. But I can see where it would be possible for that not to happen. (I've got a new troop which started last March with 7 brand new Scouts, and two Tenderfoot Scouts who had dropped out during the middle of their first year).
We are trying to get all the boys to FC by May. That's actually 14 months from when they started. But coincides with the "scout calendar" which tends to run along with the school year. The "goals" we set out as adul