SagerScout

At 10, they are Junior scouts, and yes, lots of Junior scouts camp. The suggestion to get some training and volunteer to go is a really good one. In my council, you must have both a Troop Camp Leadership trained person and a trained first aid person to get a camp permit, and they cannot be the same person. If the leader doesn't have that second person lined up, with signed training card in her possession, her hands are tied. She CAN'T take them camping. The most worrisome thing in your post to me is that it sounds as if the leaders are planning the meetings. At Junior level, the girl

Viperatx - Congratulations on your initiative and planning ahead for reaching your scouting goals! I'd go ahead and listen in on the information, if it's ok with your SM, so that you can be aware of how much time to allot for your work. But I don't think I'd sweat actually doing the paperwork until you are actually a Life scout. The hardest thing in my opinion isn't really the paperwork, it's making a good choice of project - one that you can enjoy and that is really a contribution - and then executing it. You already have shown that you're not going to sit around and wait on someone els

It sounds like you're doing well with your son. Homeschooling was not an option for us for many years, either, the circumstances that allowed it now were so unusual as to make me feel they were heaven-sent. Even so there have been many days I've worried that I'm NOT doing the right thing by withdrawing him from school. Then I look at my other son and feel the other way. Go figure. Julia

IN the Girl Scouts, there seems to be a bigger emphasis on progression being a step-at-a-time type of thing. Girls might start with a sleepover and then backyard camping and so on, by the time they're going to week-long camps they're pretty gutsy. However, since the week-long camps do start quite young (sometimes 1st or 2cd grade) it still can occur. For these first aid emergencies, camp staff have official homesickness medicine, in an official looking bottle. It tastes oddly like snocone syrup and works extremely well. You tell the young patient that you know that the pain in her chest

Good luck in middle school. They were not good years for either of my sons, but your experience may differ - you're in another state entirely, and one that I think is a bit above mine in educational success. Actually, it would be difficult to be below it. I cannot believe Bush sold the nation on the 'Texas Miracle' in education because trust me, very few people here think it's been miraculous. The test scores have indeed gone up, on an exit exam given in 10th grade that any reasonably bright 9-year old without test anxiety should be able to pass. Of course, since the stakes are so hi

Sctmom - In answer to "How long does it last?" - it lasts as long as you can keep him in an environment that expects that behavior (camp); rewards that behavior with respect (camp staff and scoutmasters and 4H leaders that treat the boys with respect); and he is treated with common courtesy, as I am sure he is at home simply from the tone of your posts. I think you said in other posts that he was considered ADHD? Or maybe it was just he acts like that sometimes...I don't recall, I no longer have much faith in diagnoses so try to forget them as soon as I hear them. It will m

I'm like Laura, quite overweight and with torn cartilage in my knee, and slogging after those kids at summer camp was hard on me. No reason not to do it, but it was a lot more effort for me than my slim husband. On the other hand, he's a smoker and I had to talk him in on the last 25 yards of the swim test as he was really wheezing. I'm with Quixote though, I strongly believe everyone should learn to swim, and swim well, whether or not they become water sports enthusiasts. It's a survival skill, and no fair saying "I just will avoid the water." Boats overturn, rivers rise, kids fall

At Camp Karankawa, meals are served family style with two scouts acting as table waiters for each table of 10. The food is on platters and all scouts wait until to sit after the grace is said. Then "please pass" and "thank you" are heard all over the dining hall. A new troop showed up mid-week and I was horrified to see the leaders begin serving themselves and the troop while standing up, DURING grace...with examples like that I'm not sure how to proceed with instruction. Start with the adults going back to Etiquette 101? Like, when in Rome, at least wait to see what the Romans do?

I loudly second KoreaScout's take on this. It does seem very likely to be related to anxiety and fear of failure, and the private lesson, personal support approach sounds like a very good one. Speaking as a parent of an E.D. kid who was Tenderfoot for 2 years because he couldn't bring himself to complete the 30 day physical test in public, reassurance is key.

Wow, does dirty underwear really run off the ticks? How did MY son get them then? LOL. In our climate, the boys didn't fight the showering much because it was so blasted hot and humid. We did have an emergency town run for cornstarch and a pair of shoes that didn't hurt MY feet (don't ask me how I bought the wrong size shoes but I did). Other than that, we were oversupplied and no one forgot anything of consequence. One of our boys got a whopping heat rash in a sensitive area from walking around in a wet swimsuit. It's a mistake that is self-correcting - once experienced, they

Boy, I sure can understand why you want to quit. Sounds like it's a drag, not having your buddies around you and feeling left out in the troop. What are your friends that quit the troop now doing with their extra time? Playing sports, in the band, swimming at your local pool, or what? If it's "or what," meaning not something your dad would want you to be doing with them (hanging out with kids that cuss, smoke, drink, use pot or other drugs, spray-paint walls....) you are in a real pickle. He's not going to want to give you the extra time to get into trouble, and honestly as a parent I'd hav

OK, so I only convinced one other parent about summer camp and ended up going with my son and the neighbor kid. My husband was our second adult (couldn't get the scoutmaster) and off we went. Tally between two boys: 7 merit badges and two nearly done. The "Best Shot" award for archery and "Most improved" for shotgun. Campsite imspection award and camp achievement award. Neighbor boy met almost all his requirements for 2cd class, his next rank. A total of 17 ticks, about 70 mosquito bites, and two very proud and pumped up Scouts. My husband took Fast Strt and YPP. We both added Saf

I'm sorry you're having a crummy time in Scouts. It's not supposed to be like that. But if you're the ASPL, you ARE in a leadership position so you ought to be able to do something about it. What they said above is right - the scouts should be doing the planning. So, you found this forum so you know how to use a computer. Can you use it to find all the Scout camps in your state, and see if there's one that offers a different program from the one you always attend? Then, look at how much the new one will cost, to see if it's about the same - if it isn't, figure out how much extra money yo

Lord Baden-Powell felt swimming was an essential skill for a scout. Being a confident swimmer with respect for the water but no fear of it is empowering for a Scout, and not incidentally might save his life or someone else's near him someday. Assuming no physical disability, I think you need to try your best to impress on the parents how essential this skill is for their son, and offer whatever information or support you can come up with to help the boy meet this requirement. I think speaking to the parents directly might be warranted, although I don't usually like to take the boy out of t

Well, I thought I had them convinced - 6 weeks ago I had 8 on the summer camp roster. But due (I think) to the fact that because of a million things happening in June to both me and the Scoutmaster so we did not have regular meetings to get a "countdown to camp" prepared, and also due to the fundraising not going so well (see "assault by scout") - six of them have now cancelled and I will be going with my son and one other Scout (new, not yet Tenderfoot). I'm tickled that the other scout is enthusiastic, mature, and well-behaved so we're anticipating a very pleasant time. My husband is als

Vivid memories of my first campout (in cabins) with my Brownie troop.... Pancakes over our campstove were served at about 11:30 am, after a 3+-hour ordeal. Cleanup extended to 1 pm. We didn't need our lunch food that day, just fast-forwarded to dinner. Mind you, these were 3rd graders. Two years later, the same group did pancakes with bacon and juice in about 35 minutes, and could cleanup all dishes and pots in 20. Two more years pass, and oddly, we're back to slower performance because there's more horsing around. But now we have wiser girls who might say in the menu planning ph

As a female ASM, I find myself in the odd position of being on both sides of this debate! I would be delighted if our tiny troop had another male leader, or two or seven, and I'd be a MB counselor and maybe hang out with the TC with the rest of the wimmenfolks. But right now, we don't. We have a wonderful SM with years of experience hanging around troops but not much SM experience, his wife who is the COR , and a bunch of parents who know somewhere from NOTHING To A Little about scouting yet. So since I am trained (in another troop) and pretty willing, I signed on as an ASM so we could make

Both boys are white and Christian, so I don't think there is any real-world basis for issues between them. On the other hand, I'm not at all sure that the aggressor is working in the real world so there's no telling. The victim's response was to ask his mother and our troop to pray for the aggressor so that no one else would be injured. I was very OK with that. The COR tried to tell his mom that he needs help but I don't think it connected; the boy has been home-schooled for 3 years and somehow I think I have an idea why. He reminds me a bit of my schizophrenic step-daughter at t

A new boy in our troop assaulted another boy. The two boys - and a few others - had been watching TV, taking a break from their labors in setting up a garage sale. Adults were in the front yard holding the fort while the boys cooled off a bit from all the unpacking. One asked the other to move out of the way of the TV, and apparently unhappy with the speed of the resulting action, leapt off the couch and grabbed the other boy around the neck, lifting him off the ground and pounding his head on the door. Other scouts intervened, it took two good-sized teen boys to break the grip. The victim

OK, I usually try to keep my voting record to myself but I find myself and OGE in complete and total agreement on Jimmy Carter. Too bad humility, decency, and a personal dedication to service to God aren't much in the way of political assets. I'd vote for him again in a heartbeat but I think he has deduced that the presidency was NOT his most effective way to serve his Lord. HIstory may or may not treat his presidency kindly but IMHO no president in this century (whoops, I mean the 1900's - showing age there....) has ever conjured up as much benefit to humanity out of the post-presiden

we don't use the feature-of-the month from the magazine, but our meetings improved and our SPL's stress level was greatly reduced when he and the PLC started utilizing the program feature guide. julia

I've seen it many times too. I lost a girl from my Brownie troop because she couldn't keep her grades up, so her mom took her out of Brownies. That girl was card-carrying ADHD if I ever saw it, and loved Brownies because she knew her energy would be welcomed and channeled rather than scolded and punished. I've often wondered what became of her, trapped into only doing what she is not good at and prevented from doing the activities at which she could legitimately excel. Julia

ScoutMom, JmcQuillan - would it be helpful if I observe that I think both of you are right? I can see how each of you might have felt the other's post didn't accept or honor the other's experience - but from this thread and others I think both of you are trying hard to be good scouters with I hope tremendous success. IT looks like JMC hit a real nerve for Scoutmom - and possibly vice versa. If I had oil to pour on troubled waters I would since I think you both clearly have the good of your respective troops in mind and I don't think either meant offense. I must add that I see some re

We have a problem in my council that there is NO available list of merit badge counselors. Small troops have no choice but to have parents sign up as MB counselors, and our kids are outa luck if they don't have the skill set needed and it can't be covered at camp. We've begged, pleaded, and cajoled, they have been "working on a list" for two years now. Julia

I absolutely agree with jmcquillan that the scoutmaster needs to be there for the whole troop. I'm an ASM so in my troop I would be the logical one to help with a disruptive boy. The key thing to realize, though, is that after you've cut your deal with the boy it is much less time-consuming to deal with his disruptions, because you only have to say a few words. Once he realizes some success in the group he'll be highly motivated to keep a lid on it and will welcome your help. I guess it goes without saying that when he IS working well the right kind of praise goes a long way. R