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 ceremony, pledge of allegiance. I want to close each meeting with the living circle for now. Next week I plan to make bird feeders (ach 5). Found online somewhere one where you nail 2 alum. pie plates to a dowel. Hang this from a tree. One plate is the "roof", the other holds the birdseed. Will also do some of cutting a grapefruit in half, pulling out part of the pulp and filling with birdseed, punch holes in the side to hang from a tree with string. Have printed out some coloring pages I found on line about endangered and extinct animals. Will have them color those as they gather for the meeting. (ach. 5) Will discuss this again. Will also play some sort of simple game. Hope that helps.

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 related to the theme. You don't have to do the theme if you don't want. Baloo's Bugle goes back a few years. Browse through there and you will find hundreds of ideas! You may also be able to find old copies of Program helps from previous years. Sometimes the stores have the ones that didn't sell. These also are helpful for 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 on the national website, but I can't find it).

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 the year is to have 2 of the parents of that den want to be leaders for next year. I hope I can talk it up and identify at least 2 to step forward and be the leaders. The more tips I can find about what we can do to be successful, the better. We do have an active pack. The pack does at least one activity outside of regular meetings practically every month. Some months we are scouting every weekend. I personally disagree with the 2 den meetings a month. Our pack has all den meetings on the same night, same place. Once a month we have a pack meeting on that night. By the time the boys are in Bears, I think they should meet every week possible. For us that is 3 times a month. Then when in factor in not meeting on school holidays, you have some months with only 2 meetings. Don't be married to Program Helps, but it is a great place to start. I pick and choose from the options. We have not traditionally done the themes. Winter time fun for us in the south does not normally include snow --- the theme for December seems to think we are all in snow country. My Bears will build tool boxes that month. As I said in another thread, our kids start back to school the first week of August. The theme assume you start school in September. So, some adjustment is necessary. We don't do den meetings in the summer because so many people are out of town. Also, that is when a lot of kids go stay with grandparents, non-custodial parent or other relatives.

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 the kids do. I send my son off to the grandparents for that week.

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 the other pack leaders. He was so lost he had no idea what to ask. The other adults thought he was supposed to be gung ho about the whole thing. That summer the other parents in the den decided one of them would be the den leader of a new den. All the parents followed that one guy. They never discussed this with my husband, never offered help, etc. Waited till a pack meeting to tell him of their decision and tried to pretend it wasn't personal. It was. At roundup, they gave him half the new kids, even though their den was now large. My son didn't understand why he couldn't be in the den with his friends. End of second year, my husband had had enough. He quit. We all quit. We were all burnt out. I had tried to help him plan things, he was doing his best, but was in the dark and is not one to search out answers. The beginning of Webelos I didn't like the direction that the other den was heading (my son was now back with the original group). The people who had take over control had begun to realize "this is not easy, this takes a lot of time". The den suddenly had 15 kids, I saw my chance and stepped forward to take my son, his friend and 3 new boys into a new den. My ex doesn't like to camp, he went but wasn't happy. He sees how much I love scouting. He knows he missed the boat. He never caught on that he was also a leader of the parents in the den. He is not very good at adult relationships. He complains about things that intefere with watching sports. His idea of bonding with the kid is to take him to a movie. He did continue to attend pack meetings for the kid and attended the cross over, even though it was very difficult for him. Some people still think we are married because we do attend functions together. Honestly my son sometimes doesn't want dad there. Dad can be very critical. He also has been known to throw temper tantrums in front of groups. Like as a baseball coach he threw his hat on the ground and stomped off at a game for 6 year olds! My son knows there is a risk that dad will embarrass him. My ex had the chance. I made sure not to take over at first. I wanted scouting to be their "thing" together. He blew it. He knows it. I don't tell him that and I don't tell my son that. That is still his dad and dad has never been so mean that we should push him out of the picture completely. I have volunteered with the Cubs again because I want every family to have a chance at scouting. Cub Scouting meant a lot to us. Gave us a chance to be with other families and have fun. I got to talk to adults, he got to play with the kids. It was like a big extended family. I want my son to see not all men are like his father. There are many types of people in this world and my son can choose what type of person he wants to be. I want him to see what a strong, brave man looks like. Perhaps if my ex had seen one growing up, he would be one also.

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 adults I know will do without everything else EXCEPT the air matrress.

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) " If you inferred something else from that, back up and don't take it so personally. We want the positive male role models and male bonding. But so many times we see the guys who don't want the women around because they want to talk dirty and have farting contests. Also, amazing how when you make generalizations about moms, that we are all supposed to take it in stride. Yet when Laura comments on a specific type of man, you get all in a huff.

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 to the football game during the campout. I also want my son to see some good male role models. Men who keep their jobs, who do work around the house, who do what has to be done, who admit when they are wrong, etc. I don't do Scouting to be with my son. I volunteer to make sure there is a scouting program available to my son and all the boys in the area. I camp to encourage my son to camp.

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 them to rules they may not know --- like the rules for marbles or ultimate. As a Bear leader this year, I plan on using Marbles as a gathering activity at some meetings.

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 that way because the men want it so they don't have to deal with the problem moms, not because the CO has some great goal of providing positive male role models. No women on the committee? Now that is ridiculous. Where is the harm in that as long as they understand their role (i.e. are trained)? Personally I hestitate about being a merit badge counselor for some of the badges more so than about camping with the boys. Why? Let's take stamp collecting for example. If I'm a stamp collector, the first and only one the boys have ever met, they may think stamp collecting is a "girl" thing. Same with the cooking merit badge having the boys talk to a chef. I would not have them talk to the nice little lady in the lunchroom, I would want them to meet a male chef/foodworker. That way know that this isn't just for women. Nothing should be happening at camp that can't be said in front of the women. If there is, then I don't want my son there. Remember character is what you do when no one is looking (especially your mom). Want to have male bonding? Great. But the few scouters I've been around did not allow the boys to bond with them. They keep them away from the "adult area" by barking at them. Yep, that's bonding.

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 the boys cooked dinner for their requirements. The mom who made her sons put on a jacket when the sun went down because they may get bit by a bug. She also wanted her husband to check on them in the other tent during the night to see if they needed to be covered. This was NOT a scouting campout and the boys were over 10 years old. She also made them take a bath after being in the clean lake. The mom who showed up at a Boy Scout campout to see who wanted to go home with her because a storm was on the way. Oh, this one happened in the 1960s when women were not allowed to be Boy Scout leaders and they were camping on the military base where they lived. The dads who would not let the 4 10-year-old Webelos walk around the Scout camp without an adult. The dad who walked around behind his son with the kids jacket for 2 hours until the son put it on. What have you seen or heard? We want the dad stories as well as the mom stories.

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 and put it away. I had to walk away and laugh. The statements that have been made as to why moms should not camp are generalizations. Quit attacking Bob White because he states the rules. The BSA does not require you or even encourage you to have female leaders in Cub Scouts or Boy Scouts. The pack or troop should be meeting the goals of the CO. If the CO has a goal of a male only mentoring program, then that is what they can have. About women not liking dirt or body noises or certain subjects--- some dont', some can hold their own with you guys. I had those "oh no, not dirt" moms in my Webelos den. Their boys NEVER camped. They also did not go on to Boy Scouts. They had their sons afraid of dirt. Such a shame. I'm the type who knows the first rule of camping is that you get dirty, your food may get dirty (10 second rule applies), males pee on trees (just not near the tents and cooking area please), we all make body noises, boys will be boys, men talk about things I don't, etc. Also, some women talk about things I don't care to talk about. Someone made a comment about men at Tupperware parties and baby showers. Uhhhh, men are Tupperware salespeople now days. And lots of wedding and baby showers are for couples. The adults should not be hanging out in the patrol areas on campouts. When with the troop, I didn't walk up on the patrols unannounced. Also, I let burbing contests happen in my van but no other body noises contests in the van.

"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 is happy. It is for your son. Go volunteer for Girl Scouts! You don't have to have a girl to volunteer.