sctmom

I just had my first Bear den meeting this past week. I was a Webelos leader for 1 1/2 years. This is what we did this past week with 4 boys. Taught them the square knot (achievement 22) Did the magic knot rope trick that is in the book (ach. 22) Did a list of den conduct rules (the boys came up with the rules, about 6 of them) Played animal charades (I gave them cards with animal names, helped them if they needed it for ideas) -- Ach. ??? Did Relay Races in Ach. 16c Talked briefly about extinct & endangered animals (ach. 5) I try to start each meeting with a flag

Oh, you need "Program Helps" It is a little booklet that costs $3.35 at the Scout store or council office. It has every den meeting and pack meeting planned out for Tigers, Wolves and Bears. Each month there is a theme. October is "Jungle Fun". A lot of what you do is NOT achievements, but some of it is. Program helps has games, songs, crafts, and other things to do at den meetings. It has suggestions of related activities for parents to do at home. It is wonderful! Also, look www.cubmaster.org for "Baloo's Bugle". This is a monthly newsletter that has stuff to do at den and pack meetings

Kittle, Not a silly question at all. It is confusing and gets more so as your son moves up. As a Webelos Leader I allowed parents to sign off on their son's achievements. Most leaders will say that is a no-no. What grade is your son? For Tigers, Wolf and Bear, most of the achievements should be done at home with the family.

We did have a single dad in our pack. Our pack didn't do the parent's pin except for Arrow of Light, so we didn't do ribbons either. At the AOL ceremony, the boys were told something along the line of "turn around and hand this pin to your parents, give them a big hug and say I love you." I think the single dad and his son sort of hugged. My son touched my arm. LOL

One more rumor: 4) Baloo trained is being revamped so for now you don't have to have a Baloo trained person for your pack to camp.

Kittle, It depends. In Tiger, Wolf and Bear, the parent should sign off. In Webelos the Den Leader or person they designate should sign off, unless otherwise specified. Such as helping with the family laundry can be signed off by the parents. The Den leader can also sign off on Tiger, Wolf and Bear if the requirement was met at a den or pack meeting. If you son goes to Day Camp, they may sign his book or may give you a list at the end of the week of what he accomplished.

Went to Cub Scout leader training today. Here are the rumors I heard from the instructor. If anyone has information about these, please respond. 1) BSA is coming out with some way for Webelos to wear something on their tan uniform to show they earned the Bobcat badge. If a new Cub Scout joins as a Webelos, he gets the Bobcat badge but has no place to wear it. 2) If a boy earns the World Conservation award as a Wolf or Bear, he can NOT transfer that patch to his tan Webelos uniform. 3) There are new requirements for the Webelos to earn the World Conservation award (said it was

Welcome Forestengr. Thanks for your addition to this thread. My son is not in Cubs anymore but I'm back as a leader. The pack usually has about 70 boys and active parents. The pack lost a lot of the core group of parents this past few months due to crossover and some people moving away. I don't want to see the pack fold. The Cubmaster is stretched thin and would like to leave in a little over a year. He wants to leave knowing the pack will keep going. I'm tyring to help by recruiting new parents as leaders. I agreed to take on a den that needed a leader. One of my goals for th

Our pack is experiencing something new -- shorter summer! Yep, our county is on a new school schedule. The kids are out of school for June and July, then we have a few one week breaks. We just had one in the middle of September. There will be another one in February. Along with Thanksgiving week, 2 weeks at Christmas/New Year's, and spring break in April. This presents challenges to Boy Scout troops doing summer camp. It also presents a new twist for Cub Scouts. It is hard in our area to have den meetings the week the kids are out of school because most people go out of town, or at least

When my son started Tigers, I was still married. My husband was the Tiger leader. He was excited as I was and our son was to be in Scouts. We got divorced during that school year. He lives only a few miles from me. We may not like each other but we are still parents. We continued to attend Scout meetings and other activities together, often riding in the same car. In Tigers, all the parents are supposed to take turns being the "leader". The other parents didn't understand that (most don't, that's why they changed the program). My ex is not a natural leader. He had no support or help from

I think air mattresses make most adults more comfortable. Hey, let's face it, our bones and body just aren't able to handle crashing anywhere at this age. Last year I got a good deal on a self-inflating sleep pad. I like it better, because even with the battery operated pump I can never get the air mattress fully inflated, they it is hard to get up off of. Like getting off a water bed. I swear my son could sleep on a rock with nothing but his blanket. He doesn't even use a pillow at home, much less at camp. When he spends the night with a friend, he sleeps on the floor. Most adu

Hey GUYS! You REALLY missed Laura's point! She wasn't calling YOU a neanderthal, she was saying that her ex-husband was. She knows there are men who are NOT and that is the men she wants being role models and leading the scout troops. She never said or implied that wanting just guys on a trip made you a neanderthal. She said "Part of the reason I got Jon into scouting was because of the opportunity for him to know good, strong male role models. (not neanderthals who talk only in sports lingo, act "macho" & are threatend by women on their turf - he gets enough of that crap from Dad)

ASM1, I apologize, let me clarify. CO's have the right to choose their registered leaders. Others can go camping that are not registered leaders. Laura, do we have the same ex-husband? LOL My 11 year old wants me to go on campouts but then I never saw him when I went. Oh, unless he wanted more money! I don't plan on going on every scout campout (if he goes back to scouts). But he was not yet 11 on his first one! He would HATE for his dad to go on the campout. He sees his dad because I make him. His dad is a big whiner when camping. He would be the one sitting in the car listening

acco40, you guys would just lose them like everything else {grin....it's a joke} (This message has been edited by sctmom)

Katrina, Welcome to the club of Cub Scout leaders. We all learn from each other and lean on each other. Sounds like your son should be doing the Soccer & Chess belt loops and pins. He has to do the requirements to the best of his ability for his age. In other words, to know the rules does not mean he has to be a professional referee, but he needs to know them as most 3rd graders would. Some of them you will find fit in with school work. If he does a poster for school, check the books to see if he gets credits somewhere else. I like to also try to use the program to introduce

Some of the stores will mail stuff to you if you are a good ways from the store. Probably worth calling about. You might be able to order the publications directly from PRAY, since they are the publishers, not BSA. My son didn't do the program but I have a copy of the books for that age group for Protestant. It is extensive. As the parents you can also do the program along with your child. You will need the child's book and the mentor book. Your pastor or other church leader will use the counselor book.

I recently asked the question about does the Webelos program prepare boys for Boy Scouting. I just found a really great page on a website for Cub Scouts. This points out things in Cub Scouts, starting from the Tigers, that carry on into Boy Scouts. http://www.wtsmith.com/rt/pbs.html

About the "if that is what the boys want" stance --- sorry, not a good one. What if the boys want the hot 20-something year old sisters to camp? Or the young 20-something year old mothers to camp? AND not the dads? Are you going to go for that? It's about what is BEST for the boys which may not be what they want. I don't like the no moms allowed policies, but I understand the CO has the right to set their policies. Most moms really don't want to camp even if you allow them. They aren't going to take over the camp and make everyone paint their toenails. I suspect most troops are tha

Bob White, I think you need to give us 10 push ups and get up in front of the group and sing "I'm a Little Teapot" for your infraction. Also, you have weekend duty at the "virtual" latrine for our "virtual" troop. hehehehe

Another thread seems to be about bashing moms because some are outragous about camping. Lets talk about all parents. Weve all seen them and dealt with them. Perhaps we have been them at times. Those other parents. The boy who yelled dont touch that honeysuckle, you dont know where its been. In an area where no chemicals had been sprayed. I knew where it had been on that bush all day long. The moms who will not family camp with the Cubs because there is dirt and bugs out THERE. The dads/Webelos den leaders who handed their boys a hotdog on a stick to put over a fire and said t

I know I will get slammed for this comment but here it goes... I think it depends on if the uniform police are at your pack meetings and how you feel about it.

You need to get the book that goes for the 3rd grade and for the religion you belong to. These should be available at your scout store. If they don't have it, they should be able to order it for you. The religious awards are actually from an organization called PRAY. Their website is www.praypub.org You can get more information from the BSA website at: http://www.scouting.org/nav/enter.jsp?s=cy

Yes he can earn the Academic and Sport belt loops and pins before he earns his Bear. He can work on Bear electives now also. He just can't receive the arrow points until he has received his Bear badge. Don't try to rush through everything. It's still early in the scouting year to earn Bear. Main points are to have him do his best and to have fun. Same with the belt loops and pins. Oh, make sure you have the latest copy of the belt loop requirements -- the book has a red cover. It just changed over the past month or so.

Yaworski writes: "If I had had a second sausage, I would have dropped it as well just to irritate her. " ROFL -- good one Yaworski. When I camped with the troop in the spring, there was a serious problem with one patrol getting the dishes clean. I was standing nearby as they went at it once again. One boy washed a spatula and as he was handing it to someone to dry, it hit the ground. A couple of the boys started groaning about having to wash it again. The ground was covered in pinestraw. The kid with the towel kept saying "hand it to me!!!". He calmly wiped it good with the towel a

"It seems funny,more than half of our cub pack's den leaders (including myself) are women..a lot of this pack filters into the troop I'm speaking of. " Reminds me of our pack being in a parade last year. The boys rode their bikes. The men drove the trucks to carry the Tigers and younger siblings. The only adults walking with the boys, helping with bike problems, keeping up with the boys, etc. were moms (some registered leaders, some not). I don't know where you are originally from, but don't buy that "it is the south" bit. I agree that you shouldn't rock the boat if your son i