kari_cardi

Our pack traditionally has a meal as part of the annual pack planning meeting and covers the cost of the entree. The entire pack is invited, too. I think that is reasonable. Meals at every meeting along with paid babysitting? Not reasonable. I'd skip Roundtable before hiring a sitter, too, but maybe other roundtables are more compelling than ours... Ichandler, is it common for churches or sport leagues to provide food and childcare at meetings in your area? I doubt it and I'd make that point along with the others presented here.

KDD, I don't really care. I'll do what I think is right and everyone else can do what they think is right and scouting marches on.

I don't agree, I'd rather see BSA clarify and amend the Summertime Activity Award to be more consistent with the rest of the program.

We have spring Tiger recruits who earned the Summertime activity pin this last summer. I don't see how I can do anything but award pins based on rank as of June 1, nothing else makes sense in this context. I know that it means the Webs will earn the same pin twice, but most of them won't care nearly as much as the new Tigers if they don't get a pin or the current Wolf scouts if they get a Tiger pin.

I do almost no 'crafty' stuff with my dens, whatever rank. We build things or invent things or create things or make useful objects, but no crafting. The closest I usually come to crafting is making neckerchief slides, and we do those to spare parents the cost of the slides at the scout shop.

I find sanding things to be a great activity when I need to read or talk to the scouts. I also try to serve it up in small doses. Our pack's goal is to cover every requirement for rank advancement short of the God requirements. Our scouts come from a variety of faith backgrounds so we feel that religion is best handled at home.

Final count is in for our fall recruitment, we have 3 times as many new boys as returning scouts this year and 4 times the usual number of new recruits. I wish I had a crystal ball to predict how many will actually stay, I need to decide if I want to split some of the dens or not. I'm very excited that some of the parents have already stepped up and volunteered!

No, you don't have to go. You have to find an appropriate replacement for yourself to be responsible for the Webelos. I'd clear it with the Scoutmaster first, he may have preferences that should be respected as well. Is the activity overnight or a day trip?

First you do realize that B-P explicitly stated several times scouting is not the Military, right? Second, all for seeing someone develop a new award. But if your going to call out an organizations uniform standard as not high enough and then intend to implement "shoulder cords" in contradiction to those very standards I think your a hypocrite. I also need to observe that this program is about Knot tying, a skill so basic to scouting that not being able to tie them means one does not advance in rank and you think people should be given uniform decorations for that? Third, If you like

The best way to ensure that scouts know the skills they used to earn their rank is to provide frequent opportunity to use those skills. Set up real challenges to use those knots and they will stick through scouting and beyond. A game is fun for a while but isn't a substitute for real-life application. Does your troop/patrol have stringent behavior standards as well as uniform standards? Because what I see here is someone who is focused on appearances and not on character. Chiding your elders for not staying on topic on a message board that has no 'on topic standards' is disrespectful. Going

I don't understand how you would like to enforce uniform standards? Kick out scouts and scouters who do not meet your standards? You understand that what you are proposing is a matter of taste and local culture and that not everyone agrees with your view of 'sharp'? I personally think that the uniform standard should be more relaxed and practical as befits an organization that focuses on outdoor pursuits.

Our council now puts the registration fee on the flyers that go home with interested boys. At first it was a problem as it was a LOT less than we were asking of new families. We adapted and it isn't a problem any more. We ask just for the amount to register at this point in time with the application. This increased the number of boys who sign up on registration night. We present the cost of our pack dues and when payments are due - end of September. We used to ask for all of it up front with the app. This way works better anyway. We show in detail what the pack dues cover, and emphasi

My recruitment is up, it's been going up since last fall.

I would love to be a 'paid adult volunteer or leader.' Where do I sign up for that gig?

We've solved the young children issue by meeting in a location that has a playground for the kids, and using a couple of teens to oversee them. Our high school requires service hours and I've found a couple of teens who think this gig is an easy way to earn those hours. We've also held many meetings where a few kids are in the corner doing homework, reading books, playing Nintendo or watching movies on a portable DVD.

Taking off patches that are sewn by machine is 1000x easier if a zig-zag stitch is employed. I like to use invisible thread in the top thread, tan to match the shirt in the bottom, and the machine set to a zig-zag stitch that is wide enough to sew from one side of the embroidered edge to off the edge. Not only is it easier to unstitch, the edges never curl and it looks nice.

FWIW, the scout mentioned in the original post is autistic, not ADHD. If it weren't for all the ADHD boys who can't handle sports, we wouldn't have a pack and for that I am grateful. Keeping a strong, active program is the best solution for ADHD kids.

Hueymungus, help me out here. Do you have special knowledge of how BSA insurance works for all the councils in the US? Or are you of the 'can't be too careful' persuasion? I found this on the BSA website which suggests that my council is, in fact, following national guidelines. http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/HealthandSafety/TourPlanFAQ.aspx Since my council doesn't exceed 500 miles in breadth in any direction, it seems that our unit outings are covered without submitting a Trip Plan as long as we are within the council boundaries, barring the exceptions listed. The seco

In addition to your criteria for 'family camping', Hueymungus, I'd add that no unit money was used for the trip and that it was not advertised through the unit. Basically, if someone might think it was an official unit outing, then it's more than family camping. When my family goes camping with friends from scouts just because we like them, I consider that family camping. Anything else and we follow G2SS and all the other rules. As to the tour plan issue, here is a cut and paste from my council's website. With this thread in mind, I asked my DE about it a couple of days ago and the policy

I agree, it doesn't seem right but that's a great description of how my council does it. I'll take it if it means we get to camp. My personal theory is this practice evolved as the number of training opportunities declined due to a lack of volunteer trainers.

I'd transfer my son to a new troop and let everyone else know where we transferred with an invite to come along. Your current troop is a mess and if no one is willing to stand up and do the right thing, it's giving the CC permission to continue. If you feel the need to take some action and it is appropriate, you could approach the COR and explain what you've shared here. The boss of the DE was wrong. Resignation is not the end of the matter. He should have accepted a report of the incident with the youth and the leader and followed through with an investigation and resolution, with the l

Ok. I didn't think of having the kids award themselves. BD, I've used similar systems when I think that my child needs frequent and immediate recognition for his/her behavior. It can help reset expectations for me and for my child. For this purpose, I think having the parent make the award/recognition is key. I also think in general it is more appropriate for younger kids than older kids. Kind of like how BSA runs its scout program, in that the older the scout, the more work and time into the award for recognition.

I think you will find he is a pleasure to mentor through the Camping merit badge.

Christine, do you find you spend a lot of time talking about beans? When I've tried similar systems I've been hounded by questions about what counts and what doesn't count and have I put the bean (or in our case, marbles) in the jar yet and how many do I need to do x and so on. I've switched to a different system that requires less input on my part. My kids have a list of chores and responsibilities to complete daily. There is also no tech time before a designated time, right now it is 3pm but I vary it to fit our schedule. If the list isn't done, no screen time. And if you ask for screen time

It seems crazy to me that he has a den of four other boys he could do the work with, but can't...I understand that it is politics though. I'd let him do the requirements with his family or another Webelos den just in case, but repeat them with his den if the situation straightens out in time for his AOL and crossover. This feels like the best compromise for the situation you have here. Have you been given any sort of timeline for resolution?