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Does anyone have any insight into why the lengths for the hiking merit badge were increased? I've been trying to get myself in shape to be up to that 15 mile hike, but I guess I'll be hanging back at base camp when they go do the 20 mile. I hope there are enough other leaders available with joints fit to accompany them.

Our pack had just started using CheddarUp for payments in fall of 2019. I liked it, but then the pandemic hit and there wasn't much to pay for for a while, then most of our leaders' kids (including mine) aged out. I was looking at it again to possibly help the pack start using it again, but it looks like they've removed the option of bank transfers as a way around most of the fees?

That's what I've been doing but it's not as easy as the Trax sheets were.

I think another fun orienteering-based activity would be to take a hike and do a scavenger hunt along the way for features that would be listed on a map: old stone wall, streambed, large rootstock, lone tree, reentrant, etc. If you can get a trail map, even if it isn't a topo one, they could draw in the symbols that correspond to those features. Or even without a map, just have some large copies of the symbols and when they find something that is represented in the list show you the symbol.

My first time through cubs, I used the CubTrax spreadsheets to track advancement. This time, I've been trying to use Scoutbook, but having to have an electronic device open during the meeting just isn't working for me. I really miss the way that I used to print out selected pages of the spreadsheet and use it as a paper tracker. Went to go try to grab the Tiger one and the link no longer works. Any chance someone has one of these kicking around that they could remove all identifying info from and share with me?

I haven't even started planning it, but here are a couple of resources I have: https://www.floridaorienteering.org/tutorial/littletroll.htm - this is a progressive program that we did with my kids when they were little. It no longer exists, but explains what it was like while it was supported. - another good progression with additional information on setting up training sites, preparing to go to a meet, etc

Mind if I private message you for some tips? My husband has been asked to become an Orienteering MB counselor and is totally new to any MBC role or even observing how such a thing works. And I've got writing a cub-level (or just "beginner" for any age) orienteering lesson to offer our camp on my list of things to do as soon as I finish my Woodbadge ticket. Why did all the ideas of things I really want to fix come to me AFTER I filled out that ticket paperwork?

This reminds me of a hike we (family) went on in Hawaii. We had a printed guidebook that told us where it was and to ignore the no trespassing signs and just climb over the fence. Sounded sketchy, but you could see that the grass was well-traveled, so we did it. Followed the path around the bend and as soon as we were out of sight of the road, there was a clear sign saying "waterfall 3 miles" and showing us the way to go. After going to the waterfall and back, I understood why they'd try to avoid liability for hikers, though. Had to cross a stream that was a trickle on the way there and w

I think the map only piece is an excellent GUIDELINE. Our local camp has a permanent orienteering course and they have camp rangers available to teach kids how to use map and compass to find the controls. Cubs are welcome, but it's the same explanation whether you're in 1st grade or 10th. Explaining how a topo map works and maybe using a compass to orient the map if there aren't clear enough landmarks to go by, then trying to follow the map alone would have been far more age-appropriate. That said, as a member of the local orienteering club, I would argue that it's also how you should start

What is "little guy stuff"? The crafts that people always complain about when they say how awful cub scouts is and that everyone should just skip over it and wait until they can start real scouts? Our area has a youth activities fair at the school open house and we're able to have a recruiting b table there. I see a LOT of disdain there from former cub scouts who don't see the point of signing up for their kid to sit in a church basement and do crafts. If they stick around long enough for us explain that we DO camp and have campfires and hike then sometimes we get a really great leader

This sounds a whole lot like permission from @RichardB to ignore the entire g2ss, because harm only comes from your beliefs and not your actions.

Thanks. The charter org is pushing us to just make a google calendar to reserve the space, but it's hard enough getting the correct time on things in ONE calendar. I guarantee we'll have things in the troop calendar at different times from what the room reservation calendar says and that when things get canceled or rescheduled they'll end up staying on the reservation calendar much longer than necessary. Our units rely on the eBlast feature of our website to communicate upcoming events, so using JUST Google calendars seems like it would be unpopular. If troop web host can help with th

Our 3 units (B/G troops + pack) are fortunate to have a dedicated meeting space all our own. Not too long ago, this was the exclusive domain of the boy troop, so tracking who was using it when was a simple matter - just look at the troop calendar. Then they granted more access to the pack, and then added a girl troop. The girl troop was originally set up in the website as a patrol. Then two patrols with a separate "group" to denote the entire troop. While they had a joint committee, this sort of made sense. Now it's time for them to stand on their own. They have their own separ

It sounds like you're using the mixed-age plans - me too! I would have probably been right there with the people saying we don't need to rush through everything if I were only working with one rank, but if you streamline two or more ranks then put them back together again, it starts to fill out again. We're mixing lions and tigers and there's no way we would have been able to pull off the shared leadership model if I didn't have these pre-made plans to hand the parent off the week. Streamlining also means we can get to electives sooner or have time for a swim party when our af

This seems like something we should probably do even if they do reach Eagle.

This piece makes sense to me. Webelos can camp with a Troop, just not at a camporee with potentially a thousand unknown people. But then, that's a council-run event, right? Why are the council-run Scouts BSA events considered more risky, but council-run Cub events are enough safer to be the only acceptable two-night option?

I'd like more information about the "adventure fee". That seems a pretty typical cost for most of our council run events. A little bit lower. I wonder if they're trying to improve attendance at their council events by making people pay for them whether or not they go. If that was meant to cover a full year's activities, it wouldn't be a bad price. If you still need to pay 5 dollars for this and 50 for that all year long, that's a different matter. Bigger concern to me than the price is the idea that the council might be planning the annual calendar instead of the youth. Raising the

Unfortunately, protecting the organization is also the route to protecting resources like our camps. Future scouts have lost so many treasures in my area over the last two years to pay for crimes of scouters who are long gone. I'm glad they take youth protection seriously. I just wish the way they do it seemed a little more well-reasoned.

Is ours less than 90 minutes these days? It seems so much longer. I thought it was more like 2 hrs. I've been told that a switch to annual is coming for us, too. I don't mind doing some sort of ypt annually, but it would be nice if it weren't the SAME ypt every year. Maybe have a long initial one with shorter refreshers annually? Then do the full one again the next time it's updated.

Not a problem. Lions don't earn bobcat, so presumably, neither would younger scouts. Planning ahead, maybe?

We actually have seen the opposite - membership requirement to attend summer camp and no training requirement except YPT to be Unit Scouter Reserve status has resulted in our troop having nearly as many adults registered as youth. Since we traditionally cover the adults out of the troop/pack budget, that's a lot more fundraising we need to cover. I know the "easy" answer to this is to expect parents who aren't actually helping to lead the pack to pay for their own membership, but cub summer camp is already a tough sell for those who aren't as invested in the program, and it's really set up

I would really love to know what the incremental cost to council/national is to add another adult. There's the background check - do they repeat that annually? I doubt it. Insurance - Insurance to cover physical harm to the adults makes sense to be per-adult, but if it's to protect against abuse lawsuits, more adults doesn't mean more opportunity for abuse to happen. Training - more adults does mean more training, but it seems like most of the cost of that would be development and that doubling the number of people who access it would be a relatively small increase in cost.

I don't think those two are mutually exclusive, and I think that if we could entice parents into signing their kids up for a character building opportunity by offering it as an afterschool program, that would be worthwhile in its own way. Everyone benefits when we build character among the next generation. With the exception of urban Scoutreach programs, though, that's not something that can happen under the BSA name. That's actually one of the big reasons that we see families choosing girl scouts for their daughters. The girls just stay after school one day a week and get picked up w

A MBC might also be a cub parent. I agree that it wouldn't be right to have a den leader or pack committee member claiming that their MBC registration covers them, but if their role within the pack is just as parent, I think it would be reasonable to count them as a second registered adult in a pinch. MBC have to go through the background check and fulfill ypt requirements - same as Unit Scouter Reserve which does count.

We probably have about 10 minutes of "instruction time" too. Some weeks as much as 15-20, maybe, but not all at once. Fun and games are how kids engage at this age and besides gamifying the lessons outlined for the adventure, games are one of the best ways for learning the skills of listening, understanding, and following rules, and provide opportunities to work on emotional regulation when the game doesn't go the way they want. And kindness when it DOES go how they want and someone else is the one upset. And, of course, training in cleaning up after themselves. Don't fight the fun and gam