singmee2sleep

This is possibly software that many of the leaders already know about but the new leaders could have not caught this information:

so heres the link:

http://www.sft-software.com/tams.htm

I know there is a tracker software avail for download online but you have to use it with EXCEL and I dont have EXCEL. Does anyone know of such a free tracker that doesn't require EXCEL?

who pays for the badges? ex. bear badge, bobcat, and wolf I'm a new den leader and have just today discovered that 3/4 of my Bears are way overdue for some acheivement recgonitions........

Well, no not to every boy in school. Just to same grade 8-9 years old. We live out in a very non crowded area and the two different schools are not close to each other. The one school has enough bears to stand alone, and the other school does not so, for two years there has not been a cub scouts pack. If we had just a few more than we could stand alone as well.

ANYWAY.....thanx for the advice

Our den is a combination of boys from 2 different school districts on account of there being so few boys. We'd like to recruit enough boys from our elementry so that we could have our own den, and not have to travel (and other reasons)

My question... I want to make up a little flyer to send with my bears so they can pass it out to the friends in their class in hopes of recruiting new Bears. Is there a certain or "set" protocal I have to follow, Is there a form we have to use, or can i make it myself?

Hello again everyone.

Hope all is good with you.

If I may, I would like to just describe my den (and all that involves) to the board and perhaps some of you can point things out that I could do better, stop doing, start doing etc. All input is very very welcome. This is for the good of my Bears, afterall.

DECEMBER 2004 ----

I was handed the Cub Scout Program helps book, the "How-to" book and a list of telephone numbers and oh yeah, my 4 Bears. I wasn't trained although loving the internet as I do, I did learn and did do the fast track deal.

Anyway, I jumped right into the theme which was December 2004, and actually followed the theme helps book to the letter for the first meeting. I pretty much did the same for the following 2 or 3 meetings after that. I figured everything was alright except the reaction from a couple parents, threw me off I guess. The reaction was A SUPRISE that I had brought the materials to follow the theme, and that I did an opening and closing ceremony etc. The comments were "wow! how cool. we actually unwrapped a framed picture of our son on Christmas!" So, I was confused. Why were they "wowing" me for doing and bringing the materials neccesary to make the crafts etc? Didn't other Den Leaders do it this way?

We meet once a week in the cafeteria of the school. I have the Bears (5 now) and at the same time we are having our meeting there is also a tiger den (3 tigers) meeting in the same room. We are both new the whole Scout scene and he knows nothing (same as me) about leading a den..etc. Is this what makes up our "pack??" (the 3 tigers and 5 bears) When "Pack" meetings happen, will this be us in the same room again like every week or will there be other schools coming? (obviously we havent been to a pack meeting yet)

OK! on the subject of achievements, the Bear trail etc.......

At the den meeting I sometimes incorporate things from the handbook, and have signed a few requirements off BUT I have no idea whatsoever on what my bears are trying to accomplish (yikes!) and how to advance them accordingly.. I want my Bears to GROWL and ROAR and I want them to be doing the things they should be doing to accomplish whatever they are trying to accomplish. Badge, Boy scout...whatever it is.

Is that what I should be concentrating on, is the Trail? or the Theme? and is there a deadline they are facing?

OMG! I'm sorry. I could rattle on forever. I ABSOLUTLY WILL NEVER LET MY BEARS DOWN but, sometimes I feel I'm not the right one for the job.

Help anyone?

If I were a cub, I would like it because we are very serious about having fun, and because our den leader laughs as loud as we do and as much.

If I were a parent, I would like it because my son is having a great time and learning new stuff at the same time, and because the den leader is very connected with the cubs.

This is a question that pops up almost daily for me. I think about the time it takes to put together the den meetings, the worrying about my bears advancements, the field trips, the consent forms, the question of wether or not I am even doing a good job or not, the "sign" for everyone's attention and the AWWWWWWWWW silence it brings about, and I think about how loud we can be (yeah!) and the intense fun we have and mostly I think about the time I spend with my son and 5 other boys his age, and how I am a direct influence on their growth and development. I am nuts, but I still give it a 10+ !

Lopsided 10 on some days but for the most part a 10+.

(got a little weepy)

You'll probably get a kick out of the way I do things with my den. You see, I'm very, very NOT financially able to buy, spend etc. on anything for my bears as far as flags, crafts, etc. are concerned. But, the good part of that is that I am abnormally creative, and can turn a rock or leaf or matchstick into things you'd really marvel at. Anyway my point of this reply was to tell you how we did ours. We did a totem, instead of a flag. I have a friend who has bamboo growing wildly on his property and so, I gathered a 5' stalk, a piece of PVC pipe that was about 1/2', and was just a little wider than the bamboo stalk, a little quik cement and a big empty coffee can. I cemented the PVC into the coffee can, to act as a holder for the removable bamboo stalk. On the stalk itself, I used my dremel and made 8 holes (not all the way through to other side of stalk) at different heights and all sides of stalk. I used dowels, the same size as the holes, (one for each bear cub) The dowels will serve as a base for each cub to hang achivmts from. The coffee can base is a real breeze to bring to the meeting and take home afterwards. The dowels pull out at the end of the meeting and are slipped into a little bag. We will be adding to this stalk as time goes by. If I remember to do so, I will post a link to a picture of our totem for you to see.

P.S. OH! I forgot to mention that for each cubs dowel, my sister, (also born creative) beaded in little letter beads, each cubs name, and for the first meeting each cub was presented with his dowel to hang onto totem.

I may not have explained this too well If you want me to answer any questions about it, post here and I'll reply.

Have a great week everyone!

I'm a new den leader and have 5 bears. There has been 2 months worth of meetings in which I was thankful enough to have 3 of the parents "want" to stay and they helped me a lot.

But, things have changed and now I have developed a bond with the boys and can pretty much run things on my own so, now instead of helping, during the meetings (which are held at the school) the parents are huddling in a group in the corner and socializing. I want to mention to them that they do not have to stay but, I don't want it to come out rudely ecspecially because if it hadn't been for them in the beginning, I would have been lost or resigned.

I'm a new den leader and have 5 bears. There has been 2 months worth of meetings in which I was thankful enough to have 3 of the parents "want" to stay and they helped me a lot.

But, things have changed and now I have developed a bond with the boys and can pretty much run things on my own so, now instead of helping, during the meetings (which are held at the school) the parents are huddling in a group in the corner and socializing. I want to mention to them that they do not have to stay but, I don't want it to come out rudely ecspecially because if it hadn't been for them in the beginning, I would have been lost or resigned.

I apologize. I completly spaced off your question.

It's everyone's responsibility.

Everyone should be 200% into this. Anyone who doesn't want to give effort towards advancing and teaching these boys, should be ashamed.

The way I go about this matter is this:

Its the den leaders resonsibilty to initiate or suggest the parts of the book and to remind the parents by note or calling them that their scout needs these to advance (?) and then the parents should take a very active role in reminding the scouts and doing the activities with their child and lastly Its the scouts resonsibilty to take the action and get it done.

hope it helps.

ultimatly, a effective way of handling the den will unfold and smooth itself out. You'll have a method of your own soon, you'll see.

Hi

Seems like we became Dan Moms exactly the same way. No one would step up and since they were going to cancel having a bear den if no one did, I volunteered. I didn't want these boys to miss out on the experience and it didn't seem like too much trouble.

WOW! It hit me all at once and thankfully I only have 5 boys. We meet at the school once a week which is great because It saves me a mess or hassle in my living room.

The first 3 meetings I was so nervous. I can't even tell you how disorganized, and clumbsy I was. I had the monthly plan guide and went about crazy gathering the materials we would need to follow the laid out plan, crafts etc. It was so wierd because the meeting seemed to go by in a minute!

well I'm on my second month (lots more confident) and lots more in control. The advice I would give to you is do whatever you want to. Each meeting just make sure certain to have an opening and closing ceremony and keep the theme. But as far as crafts , games, projects, etc. ITS ALL UP TO YOU. you decide how to spend that hour.

I have definitly become close to my bear cubs. We are forming a tight, safe, and most of all fun bond together. We are headed into our first pinewood derby soon, and we've even had an Ice capades trip and put together our own newspaper.

My email is singmee2sleep@aol.com

Please feel free to email anytime you need some help, or just need someone to talk to, because I think we're on the same page of this DEN MOM thing. LOL

my 9 year old joined the scouts and at the first meeting they signed me up as a den leader! Wow, I never saw that coming! That was in December 2004. I've only had a handful of meetings but so far everything is going smoothly (fingers crossed so i dont jinx myself) I only have 5 bears. And I'm having a good time, they are having a good time and we'll see. We are in Grants Pass, Oregon.