funscout

Excellent ideas from LisaBob! If she's not careful, her old Pack will have her signed up as a Webelos leader again! You could also get specific ideas from the troops in your area. My older son's troop does NOT expect the newbies to know how to use a compass, be a good cook, be proficient at knot tying, etc. They appreciate exposure to these activities, but personally, I wouldn't want to over-teach my Webelos, so that they end up bored with the rank requirements for Tenderfoot, Second and First Class. One troop in a near-by town tells their local Packs that they prefer that the cubs NO

Oops! My older son camped with his future troop at Klondike Derby in January of 2004 when he was in Webelos II. We had all the necessary equipment, he tented with his Dad, and had a great time. Nobody told us we couldn't do this, and obviously I didn't look it up. I hope my younger son doesn't remember that his brother camped at Klondike when he was still in Webelos!

I think consequences work best in teaching a lesson, when they are natural consequences. When my son was a first-time Den Chief at Cub Scout Day Camp, he was almost "punished" for forgetting his Den Chief hat. The Camp director was going to make him clean up all the litter around the entire camp, but this wouldn't have taught him to be better at remembering, it would have taught him that this woman was MEAN! Now, if my son had been littering, then I would have naturally expected him to pick up any litter in the vicinity. At Boy Scout camp, when my son forgot an item, he got better

I don't know of any parents who are not leaders who have stayed at summer camp. Any adults who do camp are assigned jobs, so there would not be an opportunity to "shadow" their own son. Some of our leaders split the week due to work committments. Others camp only part of the week due to family committments. A married couple will often split the week, so there will always be a parent at home with the other kids. This works out well, since the husband can simply move into the tent that his wife had used for the first part of the week. The last few years, we have probably had an ave

I guess I should have known that a simple request for information would end up being political! I used the term "shacking up" because I wanted a short, but to-the-point title. I guess I should have written a very lengthy title, in order to make it politically correct! Thank you to the following for answering my question: SR540 Bearver, Sweetspiritpamh, Troop_Dad, ScoutNut And thank you Fuzzy Bear for your humor! I love it! Trevorum, I didn't intend to get into a discussion about the morality of unmarried adults co-habiting. We both know we disagree on this (and many othe

I don't have daughters, so I'm not familiar with Girl Scouts' policy on unmarried men and women sharing a tent. My brother kept his daughter home from a camp-out last summer when he discovered that the leader and her live-in boyfriend were going to share a tent. My brother and his wife asked the leader to tent separately from her boyfriend, but she insisted that the sleeping arrangements were none of their business. Does anyone know what GS policy is on this? My brother is also involved with Boy scouts, so he knows this would never be allowed at a Boy scout campout.

I can't believe a Scouter would encourage a Scout to lie! I don't know much about Wiccan, but if they believe in a higher authority, then that should be okay with BSA.

We just had an outdoor den meeting on a warm day, so I provided a cooler of water in case the boys got thirsty during our activities. A few of the boys complained that it was only water, and not Kool-Aid or juice! I've learned that my family is in the minority for drinking lots of good old water.

Our council does this, too. The requirements have changed over the years. Some years free rank badges were given to all quality units. I think this year units have to qualify according to the FOS formula. When the Advancement Coordinators pick up badges and awards, they are asked if they are a Gold Card unit. This is verified on the computer when they check out.

My favorite gift was an "autographed" framed photo of all the boys in my den. I had no idea that my asst. leader had done that, and I was amazed that the boys kept quiet about it. It didn't cost much, but it sure means a LOT to me!

Our Council encourages Webelos to attend Fall Camporee with a troop. Saturday morning is specifically set up for Webelos to work on acivity badges. The Webelos then choose to participate as dens, or tag along with the Boy scouts in the afternoon activities. This is often the ONLY camp-out that our Webelos bother to go to. I encouraged my 1st year Webelos to attend Camporee this Fall, because I knew that some of them would be in football next Fall, and wouldn't be able to go. My son was the only one of our 12 boys that went to Camporee (along with four Webelos II scouts.) I'm worried that

My dens have always included a snack at the end, partly due to hunger, and partly for an incentive. Sometimes if they were goofing off too much, all I had to say was, "boy, I don't know if we're going to have enough time for snack tonight" and they settled down right away! We used to rotate snack/drink responsibilities through all the den members, but we had too many instances of forgetting, or the "snack boy" not making the meeting. So, now my assistant den leader is in charge of snacks for every meeting, and the parents were agreeable to using den dues money to help cover the cost.

Thanks so much for your replies. I got a lump in my throat and my eyes teared up while reading each of your messages. The boys do have both grandmothers and 2 aunts who live about 45 minutes away, and another aunt in a different state. They are closest (emotionally) to their maternal grandmother. Also, with the boys all being 2 years apart, it worked out that the younger two both currently have a teacher that their older sibling had at the time of their mother's illness and death. So, these two teachers were already aware and remembering, before I had a chance to remind them.

One more thought... I thought it was illegal for minors to use tobacco products. I know it's illegal to sell tobacco products to minors. Oh, the gray areas of rules and laws...

GTSS page 28 says, "Adult leaders should support the attitude that young adults are better off without tobacco and may not allow the use of tobacco products at any BSA activity involving youth participants. Some in this forum take "may" to mean "it's your choice." Now, in my family, if I tell my kids that they MAY NOT do something, it means that the activity is NOT allowed. If I tell them that they MAY do something, then they DO have permission to do so. It seems obvious that the Scouter in question knew he was doing wrong, since he kept his troop numbers covered up and waved awa

You show great character in claiming responsibility!

A friend's 3 son's will be getting through their second Mother's Day since their mom died of cancer 2 years ago. Last spring, the middle boy, then in 4th grade, had a really rough time, and missed a lot of school around the time of Mother's Day. The teacher for the youngest boy encouraged him to give the gift (that he'd made in school) to his father and he was okay with that. The oldest boy was in Middle school, so no Mother's Day gifts were made. The younger boys go to the same school as my younger son, so I'm going to remind their teachers to be sensitive to the fact that these two

Thanks, Cheerful Eagle. Some of the boys already have the khaki shirt, but that is a good idea for future Webelos 1 dens.

Although parents with both cub and girl scouts might like a combined awards ceremony, I don't think anyone else would like it. As it is, in our Pack, the younger boys get fidgety listening to the other den awards. Also, since it's usually on a school night, most parents would not want to have an even longer Pack meeting, in order to accommodate the parents who also have girl scouts. My Webelos 1 son just looked at the computer screen and let me know his feelings about girls in cub scouts. With a really disgusted look on his face, he said, "No Way!" He started to complain big time,

At our May Pack meeting, we are planning on having the parents "award" their son with his new neckerchief, slide, and handbook. The Tiger parents will stand behind their son, take off his Tiger neckerchief, and replace it with the Wolf neckerchief. The Wolf and Bear parents will do the same when it's their turn. We have the parents pay the Pack for these items (unless boys will use older brother's gear), and one leader purchases everything, so we know that all the boys will have what they need for that night. My question is if there is anything special we can do for the (current) 1st y

I hope Patrick Kennedy gets help for his addictions before he has a more tragic accident like his father did. And, why didn't he have to take a breathalizer test?

I hope I'm not in trouble for using "back pack mail" at our local schools! When any of my scouts miss a meeting, I find it more convenient to simply drop a note off to their school, for them to take home to their parents. This saves me a bunch of phone calls in the evenings when I am busy with my own family. I know my situation isn't like the bulk "back pack mailing" that the article talked about, but it got me thinking!

I'm in my second go-round as a Webelos Den Leader. I wasn't able to attend Webelos Specific training with my older son, but I did go to the training this Fall, now that I'm Web. 1 leader for my younger son. I wish there was a way to be considered "fully trained" without taking the Specifics course each time. I didn't learn anything new, due to my previous experience as a Webelos Den Leader. Also, I had already taken Leader Specific for both Tiger and Cub (Wolf/Bear). My first time through Leader Specific training taught me a lot and was very worthwhile. The paper work/record k

After reminding your Asst. Leader that the girls need to do the activities, not the adults, maybe you could ask her to help you get a feel for which girls are showing good leadership, teamwork, etc. You could give her a clipboard, pen and chart, and give her the assignment to observe the girls, but not to interfere, because you want to see what the girls can do on their own. Maybe this would help her realize what they CAN do, and will help remind her that she shouldn't be doing the work for them.

Our Pack "graduates" the Webelos II den towards the end of February, and they go to their first Boy Scout meeting the beginning of March. At first I wasn't crazy about my 10 year old being in a group with teenagers, but he loved it, and he has matured SO much since he crossed over 2 years ago. I'm glad he had March-June to experience Boy Scouts, before going to Summer Camp in July. All but one of his patrol-mates went to summer camp that first summer, and the one hold-out couldn't wait to go the next year (it was his mom who wasn't ready for him to be away from home!) LisaBob, our