Tampa Turtle

As you probably know we do not make boys "repeat" scouts. Both my boys had to repeat but kept going in scouts. The older one benefited from advancing even though he missed some friends; he took more pride in his scout "career" than his scholastic one. My younger son did not repeat in scouts and eventually became disenchanted with his current den as he was not in class with them; so it does depend on the situation. If it was Tiger I might repeat; they are pretty young. But repeating can get pretty boring. My younger son did stay in it; mostly I think for the Daddy time. He is now in B

Boy does this hit close to home. In the case of parents who don't admit it I don't know. I have had this happen also--when my kid was in the same class, too. It is not fair to the boy... I like to think achievement in cubs is process and boy scouts is product. There is no requirement police in cubs but I think they need to make their own individual best effort. For swimming they need to get in the water even if two adults swim side by side; it may take awhile. Parents may need to make additional work at home--I would let them do it if they are amenable and honorable. My son who has s

We have doubled dipped on a few requirements like the endless CPR ones for aquatics if the MB (like Motorboating and Small Boat Sailing) were done concurrently AND if the boys could demonstrate upon request. If there was a time delay I would not. I know at Summer Camp of a boy doing 3 aquatics and only doing the CPR once (but it was a bit of a MB factory). In general I do not like double-dipping. I think repetition is good. We have a boy who joined early got Totin Chit instruction. Lost Chit was made to a 2nd time. Went to Summer Camp and was in 1st year program did it a 3rd time. It

Seattle, "How is that working out" One or two --naturally not my own sons. Seriously over the years I have had 1 or 2 boys tell me they thought about what I said and acted differently. I take that as a small victory. I would say your breakdown of the population seems about right.

Maplescouter Congrats for taking your job seriously, You may be over analyzing things a bit. I have managed teams for years and have always felt my span of control broke down after 5 or 6 people. A patrol of 6 just feels right. I managed 14 and broke them into sub-groups but it was a lot less fun. I think your sections will be less optimal even if you make them work. I would heartily concur that you spin off 2 new brother patrols. The new PL's can "conspire" with you on additional outings--I think you will find you can get more accomplished that way. Basic leadership-mentor new

I am not sure what special needs you may be including. I know with ADHD (the real cases) they seem to be disproportionately represented in scouting... I have a special needs son (Tourettes, Asbergers, OCD, you name he got it) and have had some asbergers, downs syndrome, and blind boys in cubs and scouts. They are, more or less, mainstreamed in with the units. It has been great for son who is a 1st class Scout and a great camper. The outdoors has been great for him. His younger brother who is fairly normal followed him so you should expect a mix of boys as siblings are likely to join

Life is full of regrets... Like the girl I should have asked to the prom but was too shy; years later found out she really liked me and I was too dense to notice. Or not joining Boy Scouts when my dad actively discouraged it. (and he was a former scout - Life I think) I should have found a way...even then I knew it was an important decision. I have a problem with procrastination and have paid the price in lost opportunities, missed jobs, relationships, extra work, and financial penalties. I counsel my boys to not make the same mistakes I did; to take a chance and also to n

The Harvard KSG faculty even has Republicans-they just never get tenure! Also I am scared of rain and still a democrat. It makes campouts scary with the wet socks and all.

Come on guys its academia --that's how they talk. I used to be an academic. I attended the Kennedy School and thought it was pretty good; however Harvard is it's own little universe all it's own. And yes I am a Democrat and a liberal. I must add I also always display my flag, attend patriotic celebrations, and have family in the military. I mean you CAN be a Democrat, go to church,and love your country. Besides SOMEBODY had to teach the American Labor MB!

To get back to the original topic thread... I do not think 1st year parents should be offended with the idea they have stuff to learn. It would be the same if your kid started band, football, or robotics club. (To say nothing about church congregations) All groups have norms and cultures and strive to pass those along. You can go against those norms (I do frequently and we home school)but be willing to pay the price. The last two years I maintain a Troop email group for New Scout Patrol parents to help them with the cubs to scouts transition. Really a supplemental bunch of info to th

I think I started all this awhile ago. I still think Small Boat Sailing is pretty good for $5. It's a good start. Wilderness Survival is pretty suspect. At Summer Camp the counselors insisted on using the BSA Shooting MB Book for all answers verbatim. So if you used other language to say the same thing they rejected it. Stupid. Yes you can skip the MB Books but at least they are a common base and relatively cheap. Color seems to help. I would be happy if our boys would look at them. Most don't; they just get the meritbadge.org sheet and start filling in the blanks. I told a boy

I too enjoy reading the older literature, if nothing else they capture "the spirit" of we are trying to achieve even if some things are different. I like Eamonn comparison to old cookbooks. I have been reading some old of my late Mother-in-laws cookbooks collection (1920-1960's) and while nutritional needs (anemia, malnutrition) and preparation (lard, long preparation times) have changes there are often some great lost ideas to be gleaned. It is great to have the old scout literature to get ideas from --some of our boys really like to learn something "old-school" now and then. As for foll

Sorry SMT, Dihydrogen monoxide sounds dangerous. Probably something in one of those home-made stoves.

I used to look the other way when there was a late night sip of "Boy Scout Juice"; however more recent experiences make me think the prohibition is probably best enforced. The loss of inhibitions seems to at best result in an increase of loud cussing and inappropriate gossip/sex talk that appear a bad example. Other times I have observed, I shall say, rather "vigorous political and religious discourse" that disrupted the usually harmonious adult area. Finally I must agree on the need to respond in the middle of the night to unforeseen circumstances. I agree the negative parental feedback

I fail to see how a water gun is a "simulated firearm".

I love this stuff. I did the plastic lemonade container with foam scrap cozy for ultra-light mess kit. It works great and cost pennies. We did a caving camp out and instead of buying knee-pads I just took an old folding chair back fabric, foam, and duct-tape and made my own. It was ugly and worked. The trend seems for Americans to "professionalize" and get the optimal gear for every recreational activity. Boys need to show thriftiness. I get discouraged by Boys Life in general -- the old issues used to show a lot of gear you could whack together. I must admit that my wife has observe

1.Does your Troop actively recruit 2nd year Webelos Cub Scouts? Yes, but it is pretty casual. We do two camp-outs where we accommodate them. A nearby troop is very aggressive and we have had to step up our game. 2. If it does what methods are used and what is the approximate success percentage per method? The most effective is when the Scout Master talks to them personally. I would say that was 70% effective. The Webes got to start fires and work with saws at their campout. That was 50%. 3. On average how many Cub Packs does your Troop recruit? 2-3. We ha

Get the Cub Scout How-To Book. Has many games, inside, outside, noisy, quiet, equipment, no equipment. Balloon stomp was always a big hit.

I am rather fond of those awful canvas tents. Hot and leaky but certainly dark enough. Like the room. My little tent would get old after a few days.

Have to agree w Eagle92 Trained Service Dogs fine, they usually are used to large groups of people. Can't really keep em out anyway. I had a Sheppard/Greyhound mix. Beautiful dog, loved everyone, was a "Gamma Dog" submissive to a hamster if need be. Yet she was big and if she saw a squirrel might lunge and knock a kid over. Also some kids were just terrified. I would have loved to have brought my dog to the Pack campouts but it just seemed like too much of a complication. If I was in a real small unit I might feel different. The problem of other irresponsible owners remain.

I do not think this is a horrible reason; if you are proud to wear the uniform and get recognition for it OK. My son was a new Wolf years ago and was photographed in the paper doing the Memorial Day flag thing. Got picked up by AP and went national. He was pretty sharp looking in his new uniform. He had a serious look on his face which was why I thought it was picked up --was actually because he was having fun and all the gravestones had flags and he had to bring them back.

As I revisit this I found Small Boat Sailing and Rowing pretty good.

My 12 year old (1st class) son last night: "I know what I want to for my Eagle Project! A public service video." me: "what about?" "How Boy Scouts isn't all boring community service projects--it's exciting dangerous outdoor adventure!"

I saw the presentation. Overall I like it. I would move a lot of the wordy parts to your comments section and say it--it will still print out on the notes. Then cull, cull, cull. Use pictures to describe activities. The difference between a good presentation and a great presentation is the great one is distilled down. IMHO.

Assuming you know how and have access to the equipment I would do Dutch Ovens. Can also do a Garbage can Turkey.