IM_Kathy

I've enjoyed this thread and has really given me something to think about bringing up to my son (currently SPL) to bring to the PLC and Committee meeting. His troop has always been that the SPL/ASPL eat with their patrols, but they are never cooks or cleaners because they are expected to help all the patrols that need it. This is one part of the SPL job that he has HATED... his patrol is all past 1st class so they aren't having to have members needing to cook for rank work, and so he was cook most of the time. When he is the cook his patrol eats just about as good as the adult patrol,

I don't think that scouting is part of the overscheduling craze... I think a lot of it has to do with parents thoughts of making sure their kids do more than they did. add into it the changes that have come along in the years... I'm only 37... when I was a kid we didn't start baseball/softball until 2nd grade - here they start at preschool or kindergarten depending on the parents... when it came to basketball it didn't start until 4th grade - now it's kindergarten here... band didn't start until 6th grade it now starts in 4th in our school. Now add in the fact that we didn't have "tou

"using the same (troop-supplied) tents" troop supplied tents - all scouts use them. The boys do NOT get to bring their own. The boys all have the same rules with using troop tents: no cots, only water allowed inside for drinking, etc.... leaders are allowed to bring their own tent or use a troop tent, but if they use a troop tent they must follow the same rules as the boys do. A few of our leaders have tent-cots. I bring my own tent because I need a cot with my back and I hate water (gotta have my dt. coke) and those tent-cots are just too small for me. as to if all our troo

troop campouts the boys are responsible for their meds unless their parent comes to us and says "here are his meds make sure he takes them at X time" meaning their son doesn't want to take his meds so we have to make him. at summer camp we follow the camp's rules - each medication is turned in and the troop is given a lock-box for them and unless they need refriderated they can bring the lock-box back to camp site - those needing refriderated have to go to director/nurse office to take their medication. our permission sheet lists all the boys when we sign up and has a spot where a pa

my son spent a year working as a Den Chief and loved it and the Den Leader loved having him. It was for a Webelos I & II den. my son led opening and closing games so the DL could get things set up and cleaned up, talk to parents, etc... he taught all the scout skills for outdoorsman dealing with starting a fire, tying knots, pitching tents, etc... he also taught 2 other activity pins. the next year the new Web II joined the new Web I den and they already had a Den Chief that was staying with them so my son moved on to doing other positions with the troop. My son worked

very bad... BUT, one way we have gotten around this issue is stating on our flyers that our event is at ___ and will go from #:##-#:## and we will be doing ______ if your family would like to explore the campsite and the other activities they offer then they are free to do so before or after our event. this means that my family can show up a couple hours early and go canoeing on our own and totally seperate from the scouting activities and it's totally onto the parents for safety and liabilty

thank you all... learning a lot. I know the crews are going to be doing several practice treks this fall and then again next spring before they go. much of the gear he actually already has as he loves camping and hiking and adds to collection every xmas and birthday. I already told him that since he's 14 right now and still growing that we aren't getting him set up with shoes and clothing until it gets closer. The troop has others do the trek a few months ago and they recommend wearing hiking boots and packing lighter weight tennis shoes. And I know he'll need a new sleeping bag

ok, while yes almost all alcohol is cooked out when cooking as a member in recovery I do not use alcohol for cooking... 1) in case it doesn't cook out 2) just having it my house can drive me nutso so I never use it with cooking, and I never eat anything that has used alchol when cooking. now loving to cook and trying lots of different things I've learned to make substitutions... the site I turn to often when wondering what to use is.... http://whatscookingamerica.net/alcoholsub.htm

my son's first troop we went on their winter cabin trip as webelos. after cross over we had summer camp, 1 camporee, and 1 campout and that's it during about a year. VERY disappointing... and would've taken these boys forever to complete their camping MB we switched to a more active troop that also had better bahavior and rules for behavior... we camp once a month. 1 each year is for sure indoors when we have the new scouts just crossed over in the winter. The others are typically outdoors, though it depends on what the boys have chosen for activities. We did a climbing night where t

not required, but very helpful. my son's troop has a sign-up for each campout. it's all two sheets since boys are listed with their patrols and adults are listed as well... reason it's helpful is we ask for emergency contact numbers - while those are on the yearly form, some times your "normal" person is going to be gond and need it to be someone else. We also ask any medical concerns - things can change within a year... Johny now has a broken arm and is allowed to camp but is now taking X for pain. Plus it's all on those 2 pages - and our adult listed on trip sheet has those so d

the ones that never "kicked in" probably ran into the issues many of us have had... they cross over in 5th grade - then 6th grade comes along and for most that means middle school.. it's amazing the things that are not "cool" in middle school that they all enjoyed in grade school. Add in more sports, band, choir, and more after school programs (newspaper, yearbook, conservation team, astronomy club, student council, etc...) and these are no longer the pracitice during a class and performing twice a year for band/choir and for the sports it's no longer the practice a couple times a week

My son will be going with members of his troop the summer of 2011. He is already starting to prep himself working out at the gym until it warms up. Once it warms up other than working with his group and their prep-trips what would you recommend? For those that have gone before I've heard some different suggestions on degrees for sleeping bag - so what would you recommend? also he has never used hiking poles, would you recommend them and if so does he need 1 or 2? we've gotten a lot of info from some of the members of the troop that have gone before, but would love to get all t

I find this very interesting... let's change the discussion away from scouts to let's say "driving" here a kid can get a learner's permit when they are 14 which means they can drive when they have an adult in the front passenger seat. The kid then takes driver's ed and when that's passed can get their licence at 16. If they do not take driver's ed then they can't get it until they are 18... so simply change that back to scouts........ a boy get's his permit by being a webelos, he learns from an adult and prepares for boy scouts... he then takes driver's ed by working on and p

ok I know it's all basically and done with, and my son's troop has not had this issue at such a level. But with reading all this I've put some thoughts together... typically there are at least 3 adults on our campouts and while sometimes 1 is the SM or ASM the rest are usually committee members. So right when this were to happen in the future you need to stop it as soon as possible, and then seperate the boys to get them calmed down. Then have them each have a turn to come before the adults and the SPL or ASPL that is camping there and explain what happened. From that I would discuss

my son's troop has camped on "farm" land owned by one of our adult leaders. we simply made sure it met all of the rules for camping facilities and filed all the necessary forms. biggest reason we went there was the boys were wanting to do some hiking that was not trails which around here that's about all we have.. they wanted to get out and explore with just a basic map and compass and really try planning out different routes rather than always have to go the same way everyone else always goes. boys had a lot of fun - even got a little fishing in too.

when working with my son's den we did have summer meetings... as wolf/bear we worked on electives for our new level that way if a boy missed he didn't missed a "requirement"... as webelos we worked on pins that weren't required for webelos badge or AOL except for outdoorsman but we worked on it during a time when we knew all the boys would be there. summer is a great time to get the group together and hit the zoo, take a hike, fly some kites, etc...

parent and community involvement is a MUST in my opinion. I had 1 parent who is an electrician - he led the engeneering pin. I had 1 parent who was great with tools and wood working and he helped with that part of craftsman. I had 1 parent that also had a sewing machine and she worked with me and my machine as well to lead the boys in making a bag as one of their craftsman crafts. We used a local wildlife center for earning naturalist and forester. we used a county park program for earning the geologist. some of the pins were just not something I could lead and

living in snowy Iowa when my son's den became webelos we did meet once a month in the summer to do outdoor activities. One was the art one where they made frames from nature and painted scenes from the neighborhood park. that first summer they went to summer camp as a den (I told them I would go once. the next year was up to the individual families) We also went with the Webelos II to work on our Natrualist pin at a nearby wildlife refuge. once school started we started working on activities for the webelos badge - our pack goal was November/February for that. We then continued to

My son's troop is a well rounded troop. We have a HA trip every-other summer. Last summer they went to boundry waters, but my son was too young. 2011 they are headed to Philmont and my son is signed up and already working out at the gym until the snow melts and he can do a lot of hiking to prep himself. We camp every month including the fall and spring camporees and summer camp. In the winter some of the trips are tents and some are cabin just depends on the boys plans. They have had a trip to South Dakota in the past, but nothing like that since my son has joined. but t

to be involved without being overly involved... I would suggest doing that new parent training online. I would also recommend doing the committee member training that is online. Heck, take all of them that available online - like the youth protection, swimming, boating, and weather. I'd also suggest picking up the merit badge book that lists all the merit badges and the requirements for them - and pick out some that you could instruct. For the ones I do with the boys I then got the actual badge books for them. Then when you do cross over into boy scouts you already have a good u

glad to hear my son isn't the only one that has issues with tying shoes... and he's 14!!! He just doesn't care to mess with them for normal daily use - when he's play sports or hiking then he'll take his time and get it done right and continue to re-tie if they come loose. the 1 knot I have issues with is the bowline - I can tie it one handed around my body with either hand, but to stand there and use both hands and show how it goes around some tree and through some hole --- nope, can't do it that way! So I leave that to others and will teach the one handed method

T2Eagle, council my daughter is in requires participation in either cookie or fall product (candy/nuts) for the younger troops (Brownie & Juniors) to do a troop fundraiser and for older troops (Cadette, Senior, Ambassador's) to have another fundraiser they need to participate in both. BUT, participation is not defined. which means if just 1 girl from the troop sells 1 item for sale(s) they have participated and can do another fundraiser. Cookies is the biggest fundraiser for the troops in our area. Last year my daughter's troop did 1 additional fundraiser for our SD trip,

since it is a sign of respect - if I were there and not in uniform to salute back I would simply say "thank you, you can now take a seat"

great ?'s Beevah 1) Do the youth leaders sign off on advancement requirements? the boys teach the skills to the younger boys, when the younger boy has it down the other boy tells them they then come show off their skill to an adult to get it signed off. 2) Does the PLC set the calendar? calendar in days we meet or camp - no we have set dates for meetings based on school schedule and how our troop works... and we camp 3rd weekend of the month except when camporees don't fall on that weekend and summer camp. but they do fill in the calendar - they say what is going

my son just joined OA this past summer/fall... right now his loyalties are first to the troop especially since he is SPL. He was sad that he has to miss out on the winter OA campout because the troop has a campout that same weekend and his ASPL is booked with a band concert so he felt his duty was to the troop first. Having just joined OA he doesn't know all about it and the special things they do... he is still working on getting his brotherhood and hopes to have that completed by summer camp. Other than performing the ceremonies our OA members don't have a special privledge at