ScoutNut

What - Like never whack someone on the back when they are choking??

All first aid is "realistic". Some you will probably use more than others. Boy Scout first aid is pretty basic stuff.

We only have 1 den (5th grade Webelos) which meets at the leaders home. All of our other dens meet in our parish school's Scout Room and hall. It is actually more convienient that way. We have a couple of large cabinets with all of our craft supplies and misc "stuff", we can use the hall for games, the stage to pratice skits and flag ceremonies, and we can go outdoors if we wish. Our Pack meetings are held in the school/parish hall.

As my son went thru Cubs we never had the parents stay unless one stayed for a particular reason. We had 3 leaders though. There was 1 den that had only 1 leader and she would usually have a parent stay and help.

Now, there is only 1 den (besides my Tigers) that asks that all of the parents stay and I don't think they get all of the parents at each meeting. The other dens all have 2-3 leaders and sometimes a Den Chief.

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Try your council. They might be more agreeable to hunting thru various years of records.

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"I was asked to do Venture Scouts and Boy Scouts, however it worked out that cubs scouts are all that showed up at the roundup."

What were you asked to do and who asked you?

The only den where parents are required to attend all meetings is the Tiger den. That is BSA policy.

In the other dens it is strictly up to the individual den leader. Some dens have the parents stay, but most do not. Most dens also have at least 2 leaders.

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(This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

Where is your Unit Commissioner? He should be able to help you too.

What you need to do is ask your Cubmaster or Pack Treasurer for a copy of the Pack financial report. It should be available for any family who asks.

"I haven't seen anything come back to the boys in terms of equipment and supplies...not yet anyway." "The school's PTO pays the sponsorship fee for the Pack, and so I'm not sure what the scouts are getting in return for popcorn sales effort. Scouts had to pay for their own day camps last summer."

Wow, you have been in your Pack for a little over a year and have not seen any money spent on any of the boys?

Have you had to pay for your son's Tiger Totem? Did you purchase your sons's Wolf Totem? Did you buy the beads that went on any of the totems? Did you pay your Pack for any and all badges your son received since he started? Did you purchase your son a red patch vest? Did you purchase decorations for use at Pack meetings? Did you purchase your son a pinewood derby car? Did you provide snacks at Pack meetings and food for the Blue & Gold celebration? Did you help pay for your Pack's pinewood derby track? Did you pay anything towards the speaker, entertainer, or whoever it was who came to your Pack meeting and presented some kind of program? Did you pay full price for every member of your family who went on outings with the Pack? Did you purchase your son his handbooks? Did you purchase your son his scarf? Did you pay your son's national reistration fee? Did you pay for your son's Boy's Life subscription? Did you pay for any holiday treats given to your family members at Pack meetings? Did you purchase all of the paper, crayons, paint, sissors, tape, glue, and markers used by your son? Did you pay for your Den Leader's training fees?

You state you had to pay for Day Camp, but that you did not have to pay the sponsorship fee (whatever that is). What have you paid for besides camp? Chances are, you may have answered yes to a few of the above questions, but I would bet that most of them returned a no answer. For most Packs (& other BSA Units) the popcorn sale is their main source of money. With out the popcorn sale (or some other fundraiser) your answer to EVERY single one of the above questions, and probably many more, would be YES!

Another idea - If your school allows you to send flyers thru school, invite the boys in grades 1-5 to your next Pack meeting.

Make sure it's full of hands on stuff, songs and audience participation. If the families have fun they WILL join!

It is never to late to hold another recruitment night. Talk to your Cubmaster and Committee Chair. Have them contact your DE. I'm sure your council could still have flyers printed up for you. My DE is more than happy to do classroom talks (if the school allows them) at anytime, I bet yours would be too!

Good Luck!

EF - Talk to your Charter Organization and your COR again to let them know this individual has gone to your DE. Make sure that they are behind you 100% because they are the only ones that can request you step down as SM.

At your next committee and/or leaders meeting let everyone know that there has been "some concern" that your plate is too full right now. Let them know you are doing fine and plan to continue as SM. Make sure your CC & COR backs you up with assurances that the CO has no problem with you as SM. That should shut down the mini revolt.

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"Studio 2 B is what the girls want it to be."

Actually Studio 2B is what National and your local council say it is.

"You dont have to use the S2B books or earn the charms."

True, unless of course you want to earn one of the Silver or Gold level awards. Then you are forced to take charms (unless your council shop is one of the few that still have some of the old leadership and career pins and badges left) and use S2B Focus books.

True, the girls can still earn the IP's, which are still embroidered badges, the traditional way. For now. National is in the process of re-doing the IP book. Unless enough GIRLS write and/or e-mail National and tell them they want the IP's updated, but NOT changed, National will change the IP's to match the rest of the S2B, "do only what you want" Focus book style of awards. Unless enough GIRLS write and/or e-mail National and tell them they want the IP's to stay badges, National will change the IP's to S2B style charms.

Unless enough GIRLS write and/or e-mail National and tell them they want the CHOICES that they were promised, National will take away the choices and give them only Studio 2B.

Even if girls write there is no assurance that National will listen. However it seems, from the backpedaling and minor changes, that they are listening a little. So, in order to have any chance at all of being heard, girls NEED to let National know how they feel.

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Welcome and Congratulations on taking on the job of Cubmaster!

Halloween parties are always fun. We are having a halloween themed Pack meeting this Tues. Each Den is doing a game station and the boys will go around to each one after the award presentation portion of the meeting. At the end of the meeting all of the boys participate in the "Mummy Wrap". They get to wrap their Mummy (or Dad, or both!) mummy style in toilet paper. The kids love it!

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Singing is very much hazing.

My son is ADHD and forgetting things is just part of who he is. All singing ever did was :

1)Teach him not to tell anyone if he was missing something

2)Resent the Scoutmaster - A LOT

One day when told to sing, he simply looked his SM in the eye, told him no, and walked away. There has not been any singing for lost/forgotten things in his Troop since.

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"But trying to come up with a winning strategy for keeping Tiger Cub's is a little hard when that isn't any general consensus to its direction."

Sure there is. Follow the Tiger Handbook and the Program Helps book. Work towards Tiger rank. Work on electives. Work on Pack meeting activities. Have fun!

The Tiger program is one of shared leadership, but you are the Den Leader. Make copies of the Program Helps book and give one to each family. Have each family sign up to lead, by the meeting or the month. Before it's time for a family to take on the Den, sit down with them and help them come up with a plan. Make a list of Go-See-It resources and give a copy to each family. Be there at each meeting ready with SOMETHING(s) in case emergancy help is needed.

Make sure the boys are advancing and both the boys AND their parents are having FUN and you will not loose many Tigers.

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As noted previously, get the Webelos Leader Guide, and use the Webelos Handbook. You have 18 months (or more) for your boys to earn their Webelos rank and then their Arrow of Light (AOL). Don't push too fast or too hard.

First concentrate on the requirements for earning the Webelos Rank badge. You say you are working on Fitness. Much of this activity badge can be done at home. For the "tell an adult member of your family about tobacco, alcohol and drugs" part take your boys on a field trip to the local hospital and have them learn about it first hand. If you know someone who works at the hospital (one of the boys parents?) maybe they could help set up a tour for you. Then at a different meeting have the boys put together posters and/or other displays illustrating what they learned. Last, have the boys do a presentation at a Pack meeting using their displays. Hands on, fun, interesting and they actually will learn something!

For Citizen consider having the boys earn the Silver version of the United States Heritage Award.

http://www.nationstrails.com/awards/awards_USHSilver.html

Many of the requirements parallel those of Citizen, it is a nifty medal they boys will be proud to display, and they have some nice adult helps.

Webelos is a bridge between Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. In Cub Scouts everything was able to be signed off by their parents. In Boy Scouts only the specific Merit Badge Counselors can approve work on merit badges. In Webelos the parents can do some of the things with their scout, but most should be done with the Webelos den. That does not mean that YOU have to do everything. Use your community resources.

Get on the internet and check out your local museums, nature centers, botanical gardens, quarries, county parks, sewage treatment centers, power companies, etc. Many of these will have scout badge programs that are already set up and waiting for you. Also, even if they do not already have something in place, many will be more than happy to work with you to fulfill badge requirements.

Use your parent resources. If one of your parents is a doctor, nurse, or even a dentist, have them work with the boys on Readyman. Do you have a woodworker in your parents? Have them demonstrate different tools and help with Craftsman. Librarian or someone working in the media field? Someone Disabled or not native to USA? Communicator. Someone in construction? Engineer. A die-hard camper? Outdoorsman.

Last of all, take a trip to your local council office. Meet your District Executive and find out first hand what is going on in your council. Pick up a council calendar and training shedule. You do not have to attend only YOUR district's training. Check out the trainings in other districts (and other councils if you are near to your council's borders). As others have mentioned, Roundtables can be a great source of information. When you talk to your DE find out when & where they are held. Some councils/districts have e-mail newsletters that are much more current than their websites. Find out and sign up if they have one.

There are people and resources out there to help you. Use them and HAVE FUN!

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Tiger Cubs is the time for both the boy and his parents to learn about scouting. I like the shared leadership. Tiger partners are not supposed to just sit in a corner and watch. They are supposed to be doing everything that their Tiger is doing. Weather it is reciting the pledge, singing a song, playing a game or doing a craft. They should all be doing it together.

It's hard to be bored when you are trying to stomp on balloons, protect your balloon, yell and laugh all at the same time!

The Youth Protection rule to follow in den meetings, and any

How many boys do you have in the den? Were they this wild last year or is this new behavior for them? If this has been going on for the last year it might be a little tougher to nip in the bud, especially if you have a lot of boys.

Consistant actions is the key. The marble jar is a good idea because it rewards good behavior not punishes bad. Try a meeting with both leaders and tell them what you plan on doing. Let them know that there are better ways to handle disruptive behavior then what they have been doing (or not doing!).

BTW - SM Ron had a GREAT idea of getting a Den Chief. A Den Chief is a leadership position for an older Boy Scout. They are part of the Den leadership team and can help in many ways. They can plan and lead the gathering activites, games, and songs. They can teach the boys about first aid, knots, nature and lots, lots, more. Also, they set an example of what a Scout is, and can be, for the boys. They are a living example of what is waiting for them when they get to a Boy Scout Troop. Ask your Cubmaster to contact your local BS Troops.

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You say that your UC and DE are OK with this?

I would contact your Council's Scout Executive and let him/her know that your Unit is planning to violate both Youth Protection and BSA policy and is doing so with the blessing of both your UC and DE.

You could, if you wish, first contact your COR and IH of your Charter Org and let them know that there is the very real possibility that their charter could get pulled because of this ceremony. If they still insist on going thru with it you can then go to your SE.

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to last 3 years!

I would not suggest buying shirts too small as they have t

All of my guys have found shirts. I would not suggest buy

You might also look at the Den Activity portions of the Tiger rank achievements and the Tiger electives.

For games, we just did the one where everyone (remember to include adult partners!) ties a balloon to their ankle and then tries to stomp and break everyone else's balloon while keeping his own ok. They all had a blast! Relay type games go over well also.

How about a scout who helped at his council's Show & Sell return for approx 12 hours. He helped unload and count returned popcorn, count and load popcorn picked up from returns for take order and load up left overs at site and unload at council offices. He did not get prior approval from his SM because his shedule for that day got freed up unexpectedly. He did get a note confirming his time and activites which was written and signed by the council DE in charge of popcorn.

Same scout asked at at least 2 or 3 troop meetings if any of the scouts would like to help out at an upcoming district Cub Scout event. He told his SM he was going to be there. I am not sure if this consitutes "prior approval". He helped run games and serve lunch for about 5-6 hours. The District folks in charge took his name and unit number and wrote a note detailing his time and activites.

For helping with popcorn his SM gave him 4 hours. Because he was then still short he asked about the Cub event and was given 2 more hours. The reasoning behind this was that he was only there because his parents were. The fact that these were totally volunteered and not forced service did not seem to matter.