Scouter Dad

I had always wondered about the Lion program. In our pack we always welcome younger siblings to come to den meetings and participate. There's been a few issues with siblings distracting the scouts or leader but in general it has worked out well.

I have found that even in first grade some of our tigers are a little young for scouting but it's been a blast watching them grow up. I hadn't heard of a pilot pack and what their experiences were but I wondered how well it would work. It must have gone pretty well or they wouldn't have approved it. Too bad my son will be in Boy Scouts by the time it comes around. I'd like to see what the pack does.

I'm a Cubmaster, Webelos Den Leader and a dad of a Webelos 2. I have run into this sort of thing on several occasions and den leaders have asked me what to do in these instances. My first question to them is did they adhere to "Do Your Best"? Sometimes given learning disabilities or family situations call for being a little less stringent when the effort looks to be there. That's been my belief but I have also run into the type of family that doesn't do a thing and expects to get something for no effort. that usually doesn't fly.

I hated the Bear year because it was tough to make a themed den meeting toward the end as it seemed the electives are so different from one another. It was also confusing because the requirements were vastly different from the wolf year. Instead of doing a set number of achievements you had to do a certain number from each section. For a new Bear leader/parent most of us found it confusing at first.

That being said, we always made sure we covered in the den and assigned homework so that each scout had the opportunity to get their Bear badge by the B&G in February. Yet we still seemed to award them in the May pack meeting for those that fell behind. Some never got it.

The way I explained it to my parents was that from Tiger year to the time they cross over to boy scouts they grow and work more independently. To give the badge to a scout who did 58% wouldn’t be fair to the others who did the work.

But I have to ask, in keeping with the theme of “Do your best†what’s the rest of the book look like? If you take BearTrax out of the equation did he do a lot of achievements and electives? I remember it was confusing for one of our den leaders. She had set up a whole curriculum of den meetings and in early January realized that no scout had earned a single progress bead because they did random achievement s from different sections. I’m not suggesting that you cut them some slack because they didn’t follow the requirements correctly. As you indicated they weren’t there and you gave them many chances have help and told them exactly what to do.

I don’t know their situation but I have had a few grandparents who had to take custody of their grandchildren and scouting is sometimes a way to keep some normalcy in their kids’ lives. Maybe if the book looks like it’s been filled out you give them a “Nice effort†and explain that given the communication and warnings previous to the end of the year it wouldn’t be fair to award their scout something he didn’t earn.

Things will certainly get harder in the Webelos year for sure.

Every summer as part of our summer activity pin our Cub Scout Pack goes on a family camping trip. We usually get about 20-30 families. This year it is this weekend and the weather calls for showers all weekend with potential thunder storms. Obviously in keeping with the hazardous weather guidelines and training we had to take we will not put the scouts in any danger and we do have a lightning plan as well. This is especially important in light of what happened just north of us in New Hampshire this past weekend where a few dozen scouts were treated because they were in the vicinity of a lightning strike.

It’s hard to predict the weather but many of us have a hunch it won’t be constant storms and we jointly agree that scouts will not melt in the rain. We certainly wouldn’t do anything to put them in harm’s way and will watch the weather at all times.

That being said, we have had 2 families cancel out already and we are wondering at what point we try to make this happen or call it off completely. There is a facility on the ground that will allow us to take cover indoors and use classrooms to hold activities. There is also n indoor pool. It’s great to have these options but at what point is camping no longer camping? Side note: It’s not supposed to stop ringing in Massachusetts until next week sometime. That could be a problem for airing out wet gear.

Any advice you could give would be great.

Thanks,

Thanks to all the responses you left. I used this page at our last council meeting to present the program and we will vote on it next week. I got much positive feedback and I think we're going to move forward. Our Pack used to do the Sports and Academics program a few years ago but it was dropped when fund raising efforts diminished.

I've been able to secure some money from the local K of C and a few bites from other organizations. We also plan to sell ad space in the monthly newsletter to help pay for it.

We are going to start the program in January this year and at first will limit the boys to 1 academic and 1 sports belt loop per month. If a scout works toward the pin as well we consider a 3rd and 4th belt loop opportunity. We want to push the nature of the program of learning new skills and do our best to avoid just handing out belt loops because a scout also plays baseball or soccer.

The big factor for den leaders to say no was that their programs keep them pretty busy and they didn't want to have to track it. I stepped up as advancement chair and took that burden off their plate. I figured it was only 1 hour a week so how could it be? ;-)

Thanks again and wish me luck.

Thank for your responses. It's good to get a view of this subject outside of our on den leader meetings.

I think the big sticking point is going to be where the money comes from. If I am to introduce a program that costs the pack money I'm going to have to tell them how we'll pay for it. It sounds like $30 - $40 per scout is about what it is. I have my work cut out for me because our pack is currently at 95 boys before the fall recruitment drive. Looks like the friends of Pack 22 might be working overtime on this.

This is a great forum and I've found some awesome stuff here that's going to be helpful over the next four years. I very much appreciate the feedback. Your comments and suggestions will certainly go a long way.

Hi Everyone,

I'm a second year leader and a parent of a wolf scout. Last year I learned that our pack tend to do things a little different than what's outlined in the scouting program. The pack is very strong but sometimes for a newbie leader it's hard to figure out how the program works.

We have never had a belt loop and pin program and I'm looking into the possibility of starting one. I'm not sure about the costs and how well it goes over as I have never witnessed it before.

I'd be interested to know how your pack does it and how the belt loops are paid for. I have many naysayers shoot down the idea right off the bat because it's never been done before. Some feel it's unfair for the bears and Webelos who have been around for the last 3-5 years and that such a program would diminish the credibility of the work the Webelos did toward their activity pins. Others tell me it's unfair to tell parents to go out and buy a belt and that it's just another piece of the uniform the parents have to remember.

How does it work for you?