Lisabob

Looking for a little guidance here. We've got a boy who is interested in working on the chemistry mb. He's a smart kid who seems to enjoy science a lot. However, he's 11 yo, in 6th grade, with limited prior exposure to chemistry. Last year he did the soil and water mb with a small group of older scouts, thinking it would be exciting (related to environmental science). It was pitched over his head and he ended up being bored. Although he finished the requirements and earned the badge, he seems to have been turned off to other environmental science type badges from this experience. I'm c

OK I've seen some discussion of these MB fairs (generally not positive) but they're new to me so please allow me to ask a couple of basic questions. A local university is hosting a MB fair in a few weeks. They've got a laundry list of badges offered, some of which seem both pretty interesting and difficult to find MB counselors for. They have also made clear that there are pre-reqs that won't be covered at this event for some of the mbs. I can see where going to one of these and "doing" a whole bunch of badges in one day is a bad idea. But what about just signing up for one? I'm a li

I don't think you will find it in writing anywhere that someone cannot hold both of these positions (and they are actually separate units - cub pack and boy scout troop - not one unit). However, I personally cannot imagine doing both at the same time, let alone doing them both well. So you may have better luck framing your argument in those terms, rather than BSA regulations. Lisa'bob

Lots of Dems I know would vote for McCain (though Romney? that's debatable). Sad thing is, McCain probably can't win his own party's backing in the primaries and he sure isn't about to switch parties. Then there's Elliot Spitzer from NY...maybe he's the guy to tackle big oil? Lisa'bob

Dan - how about going to a den meeting with each den? Even better if you can work it out with the dl so that you can participate with the boys - like playing a game or something - at the one you attend. I know that helped me when I was trying to get to know our new Tigers last year. (just make sure you are clear with the DL about your motives so they don't think you're "spying" on them or something equally ridiculous.) Lisa'bob

Semper I had that same reaction. Yes I think it is important for the CM/SM to know the names of the boys in the unit. If s/he doesn't then that suggests that they aren't spending much time with the kids and thus they aren't getting a chance to really do the job. Perhaps that's because they're busy doing 101 other things that someone else in the leadership really ought to be doing instead, and they simply need more volunteers to lend a hand. For those who are bad with names, by all means use name tags if you need them - though this is largely a skill that can be learned with practice fo

Eamon obviously I can't speak to your council's situation but I can tell you that around here, the argument that cub leaders don't want to travel really misses the point. Not that this stops certain district and council folks (usually old salts who haven't had contact with the cub program in decades anyway) from trotting it out anyway. In fact, most cub leaders I've talked to are so busy just trying to figure out their basic job and do it well (including getting the basic training under their belt) that they haven't had time to seriously consider doing WB - if they've even heard of it, whic

I've agreed to help organize paperwork and mb sign-ups for summer camp this year and I noticed that the summer camp we'll be attending provides a list of merit badge pre-reqs that scouts ought to have done if they expect to complete the mb at camp. I've got two questions. 1. How much guidance/nudging do you engage in, in terms of getting scouts signed up for appropriate mbs? I know that there are no age/rank limits in the vast majority of cases (at least, not technically) but there are several mbs that this camp does not recommend for younger or less experienced scouts. In most cases

EagleinKY writes: "When I look back at partials from Summer Camp, I'm amazed and dismayed at how many don't get finished." OK I admit that this makes me a little crazy too. Half the time it seems like, with another 20 minutes of work, they could be all done. Without crossing the line and pushing too hard, what (if anything) do you do about this? Does anybody do a sort of periodic check in with scouts in their troops to see how (or if) things are progressing? If you're a MB counselor, do you ever contact scouts with whom you had been working to see what's going on? And if you're a pa

Ed, first and foremost, you made my point for me. Yes, to all those "non liberal" types out there - whether you're conservatives or what have you - I do agree that all of us probably care deeply about the first amendment. Or anyway I certainly hope so. My point was that the basic ideals of the BSA are not limited to any particular political persuasion; despite persistent insinuations that liberals can't/don't/won't support BSA ideals, we liberals support all kinds of values that fit nicely with the BSA's professed beliefs as indicated in the scout oath and law. As for your other ques

Jerry, what sorts of things were you told differed from one council to the next? Perhaps with some solid examples of the types of things you are talking about, we can have a better discussion. Lisa'bob

BrentAllen, personally I think we could all do with a little more amusement and laughter in our daily lives. So if I've provided that for you, however unintentionally, I know I've made your day better and I'll graciously accept that as a compliment from you. I don't know very many liberals who view "the L word" as a pejorative. I certainly know some people who have attempted to re-define "liberal" to have a purely negative connotation. I think it is the job of liberals, though, to stand up for ourselves. If efforts to turn the word "liberal" into a smear have worked, it is in part b

OGE, whoever posted (previously) that OPEC sets prices was misinformed. What OPEC does is set a price goal that they'd *like* to see their oil selling for on the world market. They then establish a quota for how much oil each OPEC member should be producing, in order to meet that price goal. However, they do not have any direct control over world prices. Non-Opec members (Russia, NIgeria, others) may decide to produce more oil and thus increase global supply, driving down price. Hurricanes may hit off shore rigs, thus (apparently) driving up price. Not to mention that OPEC members regula

I think it depends a little on whether families of the younger boys are likely to want to do resident camp and the strength of the program in both councils. One advantage to a webelos-only resident camp is that you can have somewhat more involved activities that younger scouts would have a harder time with. On the other hand, a well-run pack level resident camp program (including younger and older cubs) can be structured to provide a challenge to the webelos while not losing or overwhelming the younger boys; it is just a little more difficult to do. So: if you are comfortable with th

Oops...typo.. I said: "Now if the Dem Party wanted people to think that they were embarrassed by the fact that *some* of their delegates, at their convention, spontaneously (probably) booed a bunch of young men, then they shouldn't have apologized." I meant to say: "If the Dem party wanted people to think they WEREN'T embarrassed...." Don't know why I can't get the edit funtion to work! It keeps telling me I'm not authorized. Lisa'bob

I think the Dems should have apologized too. Yes, you have a broadly defined right to freedom of speech and so you may say things that others find offensive. That doesn't necessarily protect you from adverse consequences though. Among others: you will likely lose friends if you insult them too often; you may lose respect in the eyes of others; if you run a business, you may lose customers; you may even lose your job, if your speech occurs on company time and/or appears to be representing the company you work for (depending on what sort of thing you say, of course). The first amendment guar

Sure. Can you make the game into something that revolves around scout skills though? I like one of the previous poster's examples regarding teaching timber hitches, for example. Alternately, the mb portion of the meeting should be so cool that everyone wants to participate. A while back a county sheriff came to one of my son's troop meetings to prep them for a rifle and shotgun camp out. He brought several guns with him (unloaded of course) and did a hands on kind of talk. Guys were hanging on his every word. First Aid mb is another - after teaching the basics the guys were splinting an

Owl62 I'd agree with a lot of what you said. Just one question: whom do you pay to sew on all those patches? Sewing ranks right down there with cleaning toilets on my list of things to do in my free time. I don't own (and don't want) a sewing machine, and when my son was in cubs there was a lot of sewing to do (they've got patches for everything!) between him, my den leader husband, my various pack positions, my woodbadge shirt, and district stuff. Actually I did resort to velcro for the unit #s and position patches on my shirt because I couldn't afford to buy a bunch of different shir

Seconding what Neil said about coming up with a ticket from that list...you can absolutely do that. Obviously you're looking at some short, intermediate, and long term goals here. No, you wouldn't/couldn't/shouldn't be able to do all of these in the 18 months that you have to "work your ticket" but so what, units (and personal goals) are always works in progress. You can start some things now, work on some things as part of a wb ticket, and continue working on other things after wb is done and you've earned the beads. Nobody ever said you had to stop helping the unit once your ticket

Have you considered going to training yourself and volunteering to help in a more official capacity? It sounds like you enjoy working with the boys and your current den leaders would almost certainly appreciate the help (heck, they might even go to training too if you propose it to them - you can point out how much easier their job would be, since training also includes ideas for running den meetings, etc.). If you want to find out when the next training session is, check with your pack committee trainer (if you have one) or your committee chair, or your local council (many have web si

Welcome to the forum Wiseskier, My son's troop is doing a "CSI" campout this weekend that the have been building up to for several weeks. As part of it, they've had local police come to a few troop meetings to do presentations and teach the boys about crime prevention and finger printing (ah, both merit badges). At the campout they have several local, county, and state units including a mobile forensics lab group working with them (wish I could've gone, sounds like a lot of fun!). Many of the things they've been doing in the troop meetings and at this camp out will count toward those

This is one of those things I do that I know makes my husband slightly nuts. Hey, by the time you get to the bottom of that opened box of cereal (crackers, bisquick, whatever) it is probably already getting a little stale. That brand new box, on the other hand, is fresh. So we compromise. I open the new stuff and he finishes up the old stuff. Gern, need to get those extra boxes out of the cupboard before they make you batty? Find some cub scouts and show them how to make dough boys! That'll use up the bisquick right quick and then your wife can buy (another) new one and you can st

Semper: I've been accused of having alter egos on occasion (and usually not in a good way...) but ah, no, I can't lay claim to Bob White-hood. Only bobwhite-hood! - Lisa'bob

If you care to tell us a little more about the kinds of projects and changes you have in mind, you may be surprised at the many ways in which things can be evaluated (measured). Also, you might find it helpful to think about individual pieces of a project, rather than the entire picture all at once. Tickets are meant to be manageable and more than once my troop guide had to help me rein in my soaring plans and come up with something I could realistically do. In the end I found he was right, darn it. I understand what you're saying. I chose to become heavily involved with our pack be

We took the approach that boys should wear the appropriate clothing for the activities that we would be doing. I agree 100% that it is problematic to expect boys to stay neat while painting, etc., and those darn cub shirts are expensive. So for activities like those we made sure to alert parents that uniforms were NOT required, and we always had an extra set of play clothes on hand in case anybody forgot. Frankly, many parents would've had a fit if their boy came home with paint all over the uniform. A couple of people had a real bee in their bonnet about this and would send their child to