JeffD

im interested as to why you are not a fan of the pay/go for cubs? i understand for financial hardship - but i could argue my wife causes financial hardship with her shopping our pack had about 65 scouts and about 30 or so scouts didnt sell anything. a handful of those 'bought out' with the remaining just in the pay/go group. to me , thats a pretty large percentage. agreed that some kids didnt have the support to go out and sell, but i dont think the pack would remain financially fit with about 30% selling the minimum to get by (earn the pack $50) and a handful selling more

our pack has required that each scout sell enough candy to earn the pack $50. (this year we're switching to popcorn - so i dont know the effort required to earn this amount) if a scout chooses to not sell candy, they can pay the pack $50 and 'buy out' of fundraising - or just 'pay-as-you-go' for everything. they buy beltloops and rank and any scout awards. the amount they pay is usually the actual price rounded up.. so a belt loop at the scout store that sells for $1.49 - sells to the scout for $2. granted those that dont sell or dont buy out are usually the ones who dont earn as many awa

our pack is jumping into the popcorn business this year. last year was our first year and we sold $1 candy bars - with 1/2 proceeds going to the pack. each scout had to sell 2 boxes ($100 of candy) or opt out of selling and give the pack $50 for yearly dues. it was nice b/c many would give $1 "just because" and not care about what candy it was. i am all for the scout working their way to 'help the pack go' - i just wonder what sort of luck we will have with a much higher priced product... and the competition with school fund raising, soccer-baseball-football fund raising (yes, in Fl

{quote]Of course, it's only good for a year and we'll have to make a new one next year when they're wolves. geez - it sounds like they will just have a terrible time doing this AGAIN thanks - this is something i may have to try with our wolves

here's a link to our district's packet - http://www.timucua.net/files/R2S/sample-parent-guide.pdf

+1 to what was said above...and I would also like to add one more thing to this mix. I know things were very different from when I came up as a scout and today. It seems that many parents are very protective of our kids and some are even a bit over protective. My son is starting 2nd grade and will be a Wolf this year. He truly loves scouting and loves to go camping and on the many outdoor events. In all of these events, there is often a need to use a knife. And though I dont let him carry one I would rather he know the proper safety techniques and how to act around a knife. The w

with our crossover coming up - i was trying to find something different than what our apck has done in the past. (it was a somewhat loosely structured - boy walks over bridge and gets face paint ceremony). any ideas and what has been good for your pack? our meetings are held indoors and at the school - so any of the cool ideas with fire are likely out of the question

as another touch - they could write something for the pack newsletter - maybe like "why i like scouts"

Lisabob - you may be on to something there. i know one of her scouts has a brother in our den. he always tells her how he wants to be with the tigers because they always do cool and fun stuff. though i smile when i hear this (.. the MIF part of the KISMIF equation) i also realize that theres other challenges to her group than mine. i know that we work hard to provide a great program for our scouts. or, like you said, maybe it isnt that she is trying to make them do somehting theyre not interested in - maybe its the way it is presented. though i have not seen a den meeting of theirs - it c

A W1 leader in our pack has had problems getting the scouts to complete activity badge items (or other requirements) at home what advice would you offer to her? Some of the things I can do as a tiger leader, and things that have worked well for me, may not apply to the older scouts. Thanks in advance

dejavu all over again.... i am a tiger leader and we started the year with 20 scouts. the plan that was set up encouraged all of the boys to attend the meetings and, assuming they attended at least 3 of the 4 per month, they would earn their rank by our blue/gold as we would be finishing up sometime in december. after the first week in december, we had 1 tiger who had completed the requirements; 2 tigers who were 1 requirement away from their badge; 9 that were 2 away... you get the idea. 1 boy received his in december, all but 3 received theirs at blue/gold. 2 of the boys realized

our pack had EXCELLENT luck with a rocket launch - and theres a way you could even turn this into a small money making effort for the pack (depending on the size) 1. rockets - i like tower hobbies as their prices are very good. look for educator packs, they come in a package of 12. this is one of the rockets we used this year - http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXF422&P=7 - 12 of them were $35 2. engines - we purchased the smallest engines to launch and they still went quite high. 24 engines were - http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXF436&am

well - my son and i had the best time building his car - and a bonus is he is going to district. (though honestly - he could probably care less about going to district, and just wants me to build a track at home so we can build cars and race eachother). no extreme-lathed poly/moly/bolly wheels or special axles needed - the $3.50 for the kit provided us with a giant return on our investment he was also voted "scouts choice" for tigers from all of the other scouts there. enough of my fatherly gloating - so, what could be aggravating about this you say??? a dad who doesnt use the

thanks for that kurtb. what you posted is what i had thought was true - but since i was so close to the subject, i felt it necessary to see if thats what you were referring to. the rules your pack has about tool usage seem very reasonable to me. i also read online where some national training didnt like the idea of ripping corners from the card as it will humiliate the boys - so they decided to just take the card away for any infraction. i just hope my son's 'dremel chip' is valid for when he builds his PWD car thanks all - and continue the input

i know you didnt mean to foil our pun kurt... It is not within the power of the pack committee to disallow a scout from earning the chip at all. care to discuss this more?

just get to the point.. i like that.

thanks for the advice. i am sure to put my nose to the grind and sharpen my skills. afterall - if i do not hone my skills - the scouts will surely become dull to the program. i just hope we arent shaving off the parts of the program that will help the scouts later on.

i agree about the tigers. i really wasnt sold on that from the start. the one bringing it up had asked for where it said 'bears and webelos only". i just figured if the G2SS and leader books say it is fine for wolf and above - then we should be able to make the decision to offer it (assuming their akela's also participated in it). yes - a trained leader cannot ensure safety under all situations, and i would rather have all leaders trained on how to act safely. thanks for the insights

I started the other thread and have the following to offer up. First, our boys are required to read 4/5 books per week in school. My son usually reads more especially when his little sister asks him to read a bedtime story (enough of the cute family stuff that I will remember always). He has completed 25 different electives and has told me he wants to do them all. My son, as well as a small group of our tigers, are very eager to learn and complete as much as possible. I can count on them to really learn something and help others when they want to learn. As a father and a leader, I truly

We had our leader meeting tonight for the pack and all present voted to not allow it for anyone under the rank of bears (and the W1 leader says she didnt want any of hers having it either) I am disappointed because of how I voted versus how I perceived everyone else voting. I used the G2SS and the Cub Leader handbook while the arguments against (and boy were some vocal) were that they didnt want a bunch of kids running around with knives chasing each other. Maybe I am wrong and completely off base, but this is why I thought we, as leaders, are trained: to enforce the rules and execute th

spongebob - if the adult asking were not another tiger leader, i would think that would work better. if he were to get it - i would think he would be under so much scrutiny that he would be bound to have corners torn off easily and very quickly it makes you wish national would say - "the whittling chip can be earned by scouts at the following ranks...."

nldscout - i agree. people find something onthe net and take it for the truth. i felt myself being as diplomatic as possible when i cited the guide for safe scouting and a cub scout leader handbook - and not some random page that may have been updated in 1994. thats why i appreciate the input here from those who can also offer real life experience.

i figured out the reason for the differences. it seems that the .pdf file was updated, while the .html version is different. (or is it the other way around? ) http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/resources/18-260/ links to both are at the top of the above page

thanks - the funny thing is that the 'age appropriate' link that cubmaster randy posted is different from the one i had found.. and they are both hosted on the same site. http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/resources/18-260/chart.html shows that tigers are 'allowed' to use knives. i have 1 tiger and his dad (who is also another tiger leader) and the kid is gung ho to carry a knife to campouts. for what reason i have no idea.

i had the parent of a tiger tell me that his son wanted to earn the whitling chip so he could have a pocketknife at campouts. most all of the leaders were there and it was mentioned that we thoght it might be something for the rank of bear and above to be earned, but i mentioned i would look into it. i was given the following as 'proof' that only bears can earn it. http://www.geocities.com/~PACK215/whittlin-chip.html http://www.macscouter.com/CubScouts/PowWow04/classes/knives.doc http://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/award/award-434.asp i disagreed and tried to use actual BSA