blw2

I'm a new Assistant Den Leader.

Where would I find the "official" requirements for the various awards, I'll call "Extra Curricular"..... such as Emergency Preparedness, etc...?

Some are in the handbook, but I can't find a "complete reference", except for

http://meritbadge.org

& I don't get the idea that this is the official source.

I asked the scout store when i was kitting out my uniform, and she sold me the Insignia Guide, but that turns out to be only a catalogue of part numbers. No requirements are listed, only the occasional blurb about how to wear some of them.

Is there an official guide someplace that lists all Cub Scout awards, requirements for each, how to award, how to wear, etc....????

I'm searching for some additional awards to keep my son and the other boys in my tiger den active.

According to

http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Emergency_Preparedness_Award

There's a form to be filled out and submitted to council for approval. Where would I end such a form?

I don't get the idea that our pack has been active in these, what I'll call extra curricular awards, so I'm starting here first.

Wow, great program you've got going SeattlePioneer!

Yes, they all have their Bobcat, although my opinion is that it was pretty much a gloss over for most of them at a Den meeting. My son might be the only one that worked on it at home and has it all memorized.... and it wasn't like i forced him into it. He wanted to do it and more. All I did was guide him to the idea after the roundup.

We'll be moving up to Wolf with our sons next year. I figure I'll have a discussion with the new Tiger Leader soon after they sign up, so i can help get them started at least with what i have learned. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be prepared to lead by example quite like you.... As far as I know, we don't have a summer program like that.... yet.

Great idea about the multi-stop / multi-achievement hike. I'm planning to dig into the wolf program soon, and I'll keep this idea in mind. Maybe you've hit on something for me.... I am much more of the go-see-it and camp out trips leader, where DL excels at the regular meetings. maybe I can step up and help her for the go-see-its, or at least most of them.

I honestly don't know what the pack does for recruiting, beyond the scout roundup in the spring. My bet is that that is pretty much it, with some sort of announcement or flyer going home with the kids from our church's school and maybe the church buletin.

thanks DG98 and future responses.....

That's exactly what i'm asking for.... suggestions to aide. I really didn't mean this post as a critique. Really menat as a little background and understanding of what i need help with.

You said, "Asking the parents what has been done, might be a problem if they are not "with the program" and the Tiger DL is winging it. I'd track what they have now since once recognition is awarded its awarded."

The problem with tracking now, is that the year is almost done.... I stepped up too late. Asking the parents at meetings and through email is the only way I could think of to point them to the direction of the book. I did it of course with some coaching and description of the acheivements, and how the sign off works.... (also, spurring along work on electives and belt loops in the same way).... but reminding them that the activities are to be done as a parent scout team with this scout activity as the purpose is contridictory when the DL is kind of saying just count it because they've been outside lots of time and seen 'weather'....

I figure it starts next year with the Wolfs. My concern is that now they have come to expect this....

In the end, no matter. My son will get more out of the program I think. I'm just worried that his excitement level will wane even more than it already has. He worked hard on this stuff early in the year and really had a lot of excitement and drive, but his pace has really slowed to keep up with the den.....(This message has been edited by blw2)

I'd like to throw something out for feedback.

My son is a Tiger this year.

DL is a mom of one of the Tigers &volunteered at the roundup because the rest of us looked like scared animals when the CM asked for volunteers for Tiger DL. None of us really knew what would be required.

Our DL has done a great job with activities, keeping it fun, etc... but has had little guidance from the more experienced re the "program". (No fault to the committee, I don't think she has asked & her schedule hasn't allowed her to attend committee meetings). Still, I know she has done a lot of work and I'm appreciative. She really is trying to make it fun and educational; I just don't feel that she's trying to follow the program. She really has done a great job at what she's done.... and she has done it all herself, without asking for help or using the scout/adult partner to lead meetings...

Since I have volunteered to be Assistant DL, we are just now getting caught up with the "instant recognition beads". Anyway, great job but she's only loosely following the program in the book.

We have only done one go see it. The others were either talked about in den meetings or just blown off as something that the kids have likely already done or seen before. ditto for activities when the boys missed meetings, electives, etc...

Oh, and she doesn't uniform.

I was asked to do the paperwork for the den, so I started using the Tiger Trax spreadsheet. I have asked multiple times for the parents to respond with what has been signed off on. Basically, No responses, except form one dad who agrees that we need a higher standard of excellence. In going through the books with some of them at the meetings, it's clear that some haven't even opened them. Regardless, our leader has given full sets of beads to all of the boys in preparation for Tiger, when I know for a fact that they haven't cracked the book.

I feel like the program is getting blown off.

And to make matters a little worse, our current CM's and another DL's sons are in the den. They are both great guys and they don't seem bothered by it. They both have older boys and they've been at this a while, and honestly think that they are just getting a bit lazy. "Don't sweat the small stuff", you know....

My personality tends toward what I think is called "uniform police", but I really don't want to be so rigid.... I know that can take away the fun if not done correctly....I just want them to Do Your Best!!

I get that if the parents sign off, that's that. Not for me to question.... but they aren't even trying.

I just don't think that blowing off or "giving the patch should be encouraged.

After following this forum for a while now, i think that I will plan on wearing my full uniform to den Meetings, even though the pack only requires the activity T-shirt and non uniform pants.

Also, I figure I can do a better job of suggesting and reminding about looking in the book at home, at each meeting's wrap up.

And I'll try to keep better track of progress at each meeting, and use the "instant Recognition beads" as intended.... but I guess those are a bit different for Wolf, eh?

What else can I do to drive to a higher standard?

.... or should I just kick back and not worry about it?

Coming to the end of my son's tiger year, and we know nothing of a card....

Yes, hot and humid.....

Washington DC as mentioned before, but not likely 'slow paced'. Not too far from DC is Williamsburg, VA. Good for a day or even seven days or more. It offers the history of Jamestown, Willimasburg, and Yorktown. An amusement park for a rollercoaset ride, water park for water slides, shopping....

I also recommend Charleston, SC for some fine southern food, history, tours...

Mountains - Asheville, NC with excursions to Chimney Rock and other nearby locales. Or Gatlinburg TN is nice, and you can day trip over to Pigeon Forge for some amusemnet parks and tourist trap stuff...

Orlando FL if you want to hop across several amusement parks and hit some serious tourist trap shops and resteraunts.... Not high on my list of suggestions

I checked. My new thermarest is 2inch thick Trailpro. I've had no complaints.

And made in USA!

OK, so I understand that sleeping diagonally in the hammock is flater and better for old spines....

But doesn't it still sort of wrap around you folding shoulders together, preventing rolling over in the night, etc?

I'm a side sleeper so i wonder how well they would work for me?

Also wondering if anyone has tried one of these hennesee hamocks (or similar) with some sort of portable stand

similar to one of these

http://compare.ebay.com/like/200735787862?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar

A lot of state parks have restrictions about tieing anything to trees...

I had an old thermarest (1"?) from my younger days, but at the prospect of tent camping again now that my son is in scouts, I bought a thicker thermarest. Don't recall the thickness now, but guessing in the ball park of 1-1/2" or 2".

No complaints, but I wish I'd known about that neo air .

I always figured that a hammock would be murder on my back..... Sort of like falling asleep in a chair.....

I found that link re the history of the necker posted above by SSScout very interesting.

I had no idea that there was supposed to be a "Good Turn Knot". I wonder what happened to that custom?

I also enjoyed the statement by the then scout Chief Scout Exec.......

Wearing It Right

James E. West, Chief Scout Executive, says: "We are anxious to have the co-operation of every Scout and Scout Official in making

effective the regulations covering the Official Uniform, Insignia and Badges. To tolerate a conscious disregard for requirements, even in simple matters, breeds disrespect for law and order. When I have found boys wearing the neckerchief under instead of over the shirt collar, it developed that invariably the Scouts, and indeed their own Scoutmaster, did not understand the correct way of wearing the neckerchief. I am anxious that every Scout and Scout Official study the diagram, wear the neckerchief in the right way, and that he invite the attention of other fellows to the right way when he finds them wearing it wrong."

I love that statement "To tolerate a conscious disregard for requirements, even in simple matters, breeds disrespect for law and order. ". I'm reminded of the thread currently running on the scout pants......

Ok i guess i'm getting old and i'll admit i care about fashion only a little bit.... ButI don't get the 'out of style' concern.

It's a blue collared shirt.

Blue cargo pants, which by my estimation are very fashionable and in with youth....

Apart from the regalia of patches and necker, what's so out of style about it?

I'd guess doubtfull that they couldn't find a us supplier if they tried, but if they couldn't, I'd rather buy from the Canadian outfit for sure, before the Chicoms!

I think I'll pick up a leader necker the next time I'm at the store..... Even though none of the other leaders wear them in our pack.

Pardon me for be rude, but this thread is, well....irritating and I have to chime in.

Scouting is in UNIFORMED Organization.

The reasons are explained in the handbooks and elsewhere.

If you don't like uniforms, why did you join, or encourage your sons to join?

It's like buying a house next to an airport, then complaining about the airport!

Agreed. If I had the right person's ear, I'd ask them to push for made in U.S.A.

a good link someone posted on an rv forum I visit....

http://www.americansworking.com/

Some of the choices look useful, but mostly it makes me think that an official 'hoodie' uniform is not far behind. A bit too 'gangsta' for my conservative taste..... just my opinion, your mileage may vary.

I don't know if this question belongs here or not, but it seemed like the best fit given the topic choices....

Is there a way "mark all threads read", and then when checking in a choice to view "unread" conversation threads?

The closest thing I have found is the option to view posts from the last 24 hours, but this doesn't really help me to catch everything that is being discussed....

Not a fan of sleveless here. Perhaps some T's made form that 'high tech' sportsware (coolmax, or whatever...) But from what i am learning these are all unofficial anyway so I suppose the pack could go get what they want.... I do like the idea of having an official "activity uniform" as opposed to leaving each pack to do what they want....with a defined shirt, pants, etc... Maybe something with a colar to look a bit more respectable than just a T.... maybe a nice coolmax 'golf' shirt.

Official uniform light jacket is good idea, maybe also a sweatshirt choice... (not just pick one of the non-uniform ones form the scout store...). At cuboree, most folks had their unit T-shirts covered with a sweatshirt. Uniform shirts would have been my preference, but even still they would have been covered up too. This is Florida so we don't need anything heavy.

I also like the idea of hard bound books. I'm just getting into the leadership role, but I am really disliking the loose leaf pages. How about an iPad/tablet download version of the whole library.

The train of the conversation has bounced around quite a bit. Not sure who Scoutnut's questions are directed to.

If to me (the original poster)...

There's realy no problem, exactly, but more of a concern about not following the program. And it certainly isn't about spit and polish. It's simply just a desire to follow the program. As I mentioned in my original post, "Without the uniform, the whole bead thing flys out the window (which is ok by me since I don't like the plastic holders) and I think the benefits of the uniform are lost (such as unity, self respect, and even individual accomplishment)."

The activity uniform doesn't cut it for this purpose. For a sense of belonging, yes. It makes sense for "activities". For receiving the beads/awards, for showing pride in accomplishment, etc..... no.

I'm not sure that I really care about it, but a part of the scout program is instant recognition with the beads. If the boys aren't wearing the uniform shirt to the meetings, then giving them beads doesn't hold the same level of importance. They aren't seeing that the other boy has more beads therby driving them to accomplish more. They aren't able to take pride in what they themselves have accomplished, etc.... It doesn't remind the parents to work in the book and sign things off.

My son't tiger leader this year wasn't up to speed on the whole bead thing, and we only recently started handing out the beads. I wonder if we had been doing it all along, would the boys have been more driving or interested in staying current? Would the parents had more incentive or reminder to keep up with it? Would the boys have been given some sense of pride with a new bead getting tied onto their uniform each week? Now that I have gotten envolved as assistant, and trying to get the advancement 'paperwork' caught up, I can say for sure that confirming that the boys have been signed off by the parents, who I can tell haven't in some cases looked at the book, isn't really according to the program. Giving them a baggie full of beads to take home and put on their uniform isn't much of an encouragement.

I'm not convinced that the bead thing is worth the trouble but I'm trying to keep an open mind about it. It's certainly not worth the eye sore of having that awful lookinig plastic thing on the uniforms, restricting movement and really making the official uniform not suitable for activity..... but that's just my opinion from what I have seen so far. Even still, I want to follow the program as best as we can.

And your other question re. leader's uniforms. Not completely. Our tiger leader doesn't uniform. The other leaders do for the most part, at least with the proper shirts. most of the time, but the T-shirts are used and encouraged by them. I'm tempted to have my son start wearing his "class A" to den meetings, etc... but he wouldn't fit in with the rest of the crowd so that may not work. Now that I am coming on board in "official capacity" , perhaps with me weraing my uniform it will encourage him to do the same....

I was wondering how others use this uniform.

I did some searching but didn't see any threads I would call current. I do see that the class B terminology is contentious, but that is what our pack leadership calls them.

Anyway, our boys hardly ever wear the official uniform it seems. Our T-Shirt is worn at den meetings, at camping trips (but sporadically -one shirt for multiple days doesn't work), etc... The only times that the real uniform has been worn is at regular pack meetings, pinewood derby, & blue and gold. I personally think that it should be worn at den meetings too. Without it, the whole bead thing flys out the window (which is ok by me since I don't like the plastic holders) and I think the benefits of the uniform are lost (such as unity, self respect, and even individual accomplishment).

Is our pack practice common?

I did see mention of suggestion for BSA to develop some official activity uniforms that are more fitting to activity and weather. I really like the idea, in theory at least.

When sewing mine on, I found in the uniform guide mention that the crest patch is supposed to be centered between the top of the pocket and the shoulder seam. That's pretty high up, and plenty high for a lot of square knots.

I didn't have this book when we were assembling my son's uniform so it is placed quite a bit lower, more like most of the "official" scout pictures and drawings show it....

My point really, is that this uniform thing is not really uniform without clear standards.

Sort of a side track gripe I guess, but if this patch is required for all, why don't they come pre-sewn onall new shirts, just like the U.S. flag and BSA strip?

Is that 'kosher' to make your own? Seems that it's not official uniform..... but I like the idea.

Would make a great project for the 1st den meeting, if simple enough so that the boys could make something that looks presentable.

Wolfs and Bears also have some sort of plastic bead hanger too, don't they. Could we get away with making something for that?

Well I don't think we did nearly as much back in those days (early/mid 70's) as we do now.

Acording to my memory, and my mom (she was my den leader), we did a bunch of go-see-it kind of stuff (tours of a bank, burger king, etc...), but i don't ever remember going camping or any big pack level trips..... well maybe one to the zoo or something....

My son is a tiger, and we've already been on several pack level camp outs. One was the cuboree, and he got his first & so far only temporary patch for that.

I have put him in for the outdoor activity award, and we have worked on several belt loops.

I for one absolutely DO NOT like the imediate recognition emblem and beads. I think that big hunk of plastic looks cheap on what would otherwise be a respectable looking uniform. The bead concept I understand, but not sure it's necessary. Maybe it would be better in my eye if it were a little leather string with very simple attachment.

With the class B T-shirt uniform that I don't remember having, the boys don't wear the uniform all that much anyway, so I guess it doesn't really matter all that much.

Tiger dad here. This touches on something I am seeing already, and heard another dad refer to it by saying that we need a "higher standard of excelence".

I've had friendly /informal conversations with the leader and even the CM around this. The problem seems to be, at my son's level anyway, that it's up to the parents to sign off. If they sign off, then that is that. We all know the cub scout motto, at least those of us parents that have cracked the book...... which I'm starting to think as I start my new status of assistant den leader, is very few of them....

Not sure how the parent sign offs work at the OA level, but I'm wondering if it's not a systemic problem