ScoutLass

I grew up in Campfire first, then later Girl Scouts, and I always found it odd that you had to wait until first grade to be a cub. I've been a around the cub block with a couple of dens, and the Tigers are a dream, it's the parent's behavior that can get a bit trying! I personally find Wolves to be the most challenging year behavior-wise. Even then, it's not that bad and just boys testing the boundaries. It's what kids do and it just takes a little bit of a firmer hand to keep them on task. Why does starting them early mean they'll get bored and quit before they get to Boy Scouts? I don't

Not everyone is of an Abrahamic religion -- in America or scouting. And not everyone with those religions feels the same way on the issue, either. There is nothing in Hindu religious texts that bans or even mentions homosexuality, so not sure why you mention Hinduism. Just like Christians, Buddhists, etc, some Hindus oppose it and others don't. But that's okay. If my moral roots, which go back 3,000 years, are shallow in your eyes, so be it.

Good for the UK! Now if only we could leave our puritan roots behind and do the right thing.

I've never been divorced, don't plan to, and am not a child of divorce, but I also don't have the ego to paint all divorce with the same broad brush. I've seen children hurt by divorce and I've seen damage caused when parents who shouldn't stay married do. I've heard the stories from women of my grandmother's generation, and the marriages they stuck with because that's just what you did back then. Abuse, cheating, disrespect -- you stuck it out. Fortunately, I don't have good values or morals because of a fear of being judged when I die. I have them because I want to make the best impres

This works well outside or inside, though you might not have the space in the sanctuary. You use marshmallows or some other theme-appropriate candy (we did this for Valentine's and used sweetheart candies) The boys hold a plastic spoon in their mouth, hands behind their back. The boy behind the first in line place a candy on the first boy's spoon. He races to the finish line, where there is a can, and has to drop the candy in the can without taking the spoon from his mouth, then races back to the line. Once he gets back, the next boy races forward and tried to drop his candy in the can. This g

Never heard of earning one each for Wolf and Bear. It says right on the award application "Dates of Service used to earn this award cannot be used to earn another key or award." So yeah, one of the cub scout years technically counts toward the Cub Scouter award, but one doesn't and the Tiger year doesn't. How I understand them to work (though the combination for Cub Scouter can change): Tiger Leader: 1 year :Tiger Leader Knot Wolf Leader: 1 year :Cub Scout Leader Knot Webelos I Leader: 1 year: Webelos leader Knot Bear Leader: 1 year :1/2 Cub scouter knot earned Webelos II Le

I'm RT commissioner for much the same reason -- was supposed to cover for a couple of months, now it's been a year. One thing we did was hand out a list of topic ideas to participants at the beginning of the meeting, and picked it up at the end. The leaders ranked topics by how interested they were, then had a line to fill in anything else they'd like to see. We used that to plan the year. Some things on the list that ranked high: Webelos cross over and cub ceremonies B&G planning the perennial behavior problems topics Winter activities for cubs Geocaching and letterboxing Summ

Great ideas! We already do a couple of pack and den conservation projects each year. Unfortunately, this year a large number of our boys can't make summer day camp because of other obligations, so to make it up to them we are doing the nature day as sort of a one-day day camp. We aren't scheduling every minute, but want one game and one craft. I'm thinking of combining the game with the hike, and making it a scavenger hunt hike. Encourage the boys to actually stop and look around instead of racing each other back to the trail head! There will be unstructured time around a couple structure

I'm working on our summer program. We have June and August covered, with our year-end picnic and our August campout. For July, I was thinking of a "nature day" in a local park that has hiking trails, gardens and a picnic area. I'm thinking of a 4 or 5 hours day with both activities and hiking. Probably a bring your own brownbag lunch sort of thing. I need a couple of inexpensive crafts and activities that appeal to all the den ages. Anyone have any nature-themed craft or game ideas to share? Hoping to get about 15 to 20 boys and siblings to show up.

Our pack had adult volunteer issues for a number of years. The current CM, whom I taking over from this summer, managed to finally get enough volunteers to step up for next year that we finally have all the major bases covered. A few pointers, I'll try not to reiterate what others have said: 1) I'm going to guess the pack doesn't have a strong summer program. This will likely result in more boys dropping over the summer. The good thing--you get to start over in the fall with all new families and set the expectations for adult involvement right from roundup. The bad thing--you are fully de

I've had a long day today. Cleaned out my office here at home. I have a small desk I actually work at, the rest had become a catch-all for pinewood derby cars, stomp rocket launchers, construction paper and glue, chunks of wood, leather working tools and all the other flotsam and jetsam that makes our pack go. I got everything organized and inventoried for next year, packed away in the basement storage room my husband sat aside just for the scouting things. On my desk sets two forms I must drop off at the scout office tomorrow. The first registers my youngest son in scouts as a brand new

I don't know anything about this pack beyond what's stated in the article. If the article is factually correct, my guess is this is a one-off due to special circumstances. As for a Bear in a tan shirt, that could be finance thing. Why buy a blue shirt when the boy is moving up to the tan in a couple of months. Maybe he had already outgrown his blue so they just stuck him in the tan since they had one in his size. Maybe all they bought were tan shirts and got them last year when they were on sale at the scout shop for $7. Don't know, so not gonna judge. The kids depicted likely were not in

I have extensive experience working with those of the Islamic faith, just not in a scouting context. As said above, it all depends on the family and how strict they are. The traditional food restrictions, halal, are similar to the kosher restrictions in Jewish fare. Like those of the Jewish faith, Muslims follow the halal restrictions to varying degrees. Some just avoid pork products, though others only eat fully halal meat (raised and slaughtered in a specific way, then blessed in the name of Allah). In my experience, those that follow the strictest halal diet usually supply their own food. B

I actually find it kind of shocking. I thought it was required knowledge from kindergarten on up. We had to learn and recite the info each year beginning in kindergarten. They still require it in the schools here. It's not just important if the child gets lost. My husband has seizures as a result of migraines. Usually his migraine medication handles the issue before he has one. They are very rare, in fact he has only had one as an adult. unfortunately, he had this one when my oldest son was only 4 years old and when I was not home. My son called 911, from a cell phone (our only phone at t

I'm personally not willing to go so far as to say they are adult run or a Webelos III troop. I just don't know. Our area of Spokane has a few troops, and there is one in another part of town he is also interested in. When it comes to HA, I think his main fear is joining a troop where they do the exact same thing every month and every year. We've tried to explain that it's up to the boys to come up with outing ideas and as he gains more responsibility in a troop he can start proposing and organizing things, but his fear is if the troop already does the minimum, it could be because adults

Neil, those were my thoughts, too. We brought up with him the chance the DL could one day be SM. We think that is another thing making this a hard choice for him. He's torn between loyalty and his needs and wants.

Scoutnut, that's exactly why I advised a second troop visit to the DL's troop. He was mainly upset that it appeared they were doing MB work in a meeting. My thought is maybe several boys had decided to do the same MB and the boys in the troop had decided to dedicate the time in the meeting to letting the boys meet a requirement or some such. I think part of him expects chaos, because he has read so many things from scouters stating the hallmark of a boy-led troop is controlled chaos and not the orderly behavior of adults! Lisabob, yep, he's thinker and planner. It's a challenge, because h

I've run into a few parents, sometimes moms, sometimes dads, that did everything for the boys. It's hard weaning the boys off that kind of support, but it can be done! Once I identify a perfectionist parent, I always have a job for them during the meeting. My favorite is to put them at a separate table to man the hot glue gun. By the time the boys get to the gluing stage, the project is nearly done in most cases. They bring it to the parent to glue. The parent is positioned away from the other craft materials and is dealing with a line of cubs -- no way for them to run over to the materials an

You are my Rock Star, 83Eagle! That is exactly what I was looking for. Previously we handed out the BSA parent guide, but it basically just says what's in the front of every single handbook. We need something pack specific. I made up leader books last year when I saw our "old guard" was starting to move on, and they ended up being a hit with the new leaders. I think they are what lead to the parent guide idea.

Forgive me if I ramble.... My Webelos son takes scouting seriously, sometimes maybe a bit too much. He took every cub scout patch he earned seriously, no fudging on requirements and being disappointed when he felt his leader short changed him and gave him a patch he hadn't quite earned yet. He decided a couple years ago which troop he was going to, mainly because that is where his friends are going and because his den leader is also an ASM in the troop. Lately, though, he's been doubtful. My son is smaller than the other boys and just not that interested in sports stuff. He's

I guess I should clarify. We won't be handing them out at roundup, but at the first parent meeting when we welcome the new families to the pack. We will know how many are needed since these are registered boys. Email and a website are excellent, we have both. But only about half our current families are online. Some of our families don't even have reliable phone numbers. We email out the newsletter to everyone that has one and handout paper copies to those that prefer communications that way. An online-only packet just doesn't serve our pack well. I wish it did, as I prefer online commu

I'm taking over as CM in a couple of weeks. From talking with the other parents and leaders, one of the greatest complaints was how lost they felt for the first few months after their boys joined. We also have a group of fully dedicated parents willing to put in the time and effort to make the pack successful and fun for the boys. It's been decided that a family guide, handed out at the first parent meeting after fall recruitment then to each family that joins thereafter, would help make adjustment to the pack easier. I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel here. I've perused some similar gu

Very few people can write well, it's not a new problem. It doesn't matter if they are 12 or 52, it's a skill that only a few are truly proficient at. The writing I see from both kids and adults drives me mad, but I bite my tongue because I'm in a fairly unique situation. I am a professional writer, it's how my family earns its bread and butter. Yet, even I need an editor to write well enough for publishing. Add on all the styles to choose from for proper writing -- from MLA, AP, Chicago, AMA and Turabian, to name a few -- it's a miracle any adult can put together a sentence. One thing I r

I'll be first to admit I know very little about the Jehovah's Witnesses, but I was close friends with a girl that was one throughout elementary school. When we had school birthday parties, she would share in the cake, etc, but wouldn't sing the birthday song. For herself, she wouldn't bring in cake on her birthday like the other kids did. I would say keep doing things as you have done them. If you do a cake with the boys' names on it, ask if she'd prefer you left her son's name off. Other than that, it's up to her to decide how to handle the singing, etc. She may prefer to take her son o

I don't think the gender of the WDL/SM as any bearing. It's about the quality of the individual, not the gender. There are excellent female SMs out there.