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It doesn't appear as though National Camp School teaches the outdoors skills that leaders need. Maybe the old Woodbadge did but of course that's not an option. So apparently there is no other course that teaches these skills currently offered.

 

The reason might be that there is generally among the adults no interest in learning these skills. Or maybe they already know everything they think they need to know. After all how much do you need to know to take a bunch of kids out to a campground for the weekend?

 

Some of the subjects I'd like to see taught:

Advanced backpacking skills including lightweight methods.

Orienteering and advanced map and compass use.

Campfire cooking, utensiless cooking.

Make your own gear (remember the old Boys Life articles on making your own gear like backpacks?)

Canoeing (I'll bet there's a lot of leaders who don't know to do a J stroke).

 

Any other ideas?

 

 

Nature! - ID plants and animals in your local woods. Bird calls, crush a sweet gum leaf and smell it, Sassafras tea made from roots along the AT.

Survival skills - shelter, fire building, what critters you can eat, how to find and collect water.

Simple Games that teach Scout Skills

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Before "leadership skills," the purpose of Wood Badge was to train Scoutmasters to how teach the best Patrol Leaders how to physically lead their Patrols into the backwoods. Scouts learned their skil

So I went digging thrue storage. Wont copy the entire thing (1,000 pages LOL) but wanted to add some bullets points: a bit out of order, sorry. Any specific questions just ask ^o^

BSA Northeast Region

National Camping School

Cub Scout Camping

 

-Camp Health and Safety (64 pages)

-Day Camp Administration (130 pages)

-National Standards for local council precamp and operational accreditation of cub scout/webelos scout day camp (12 pages)

-Outdoor Program Guidelines (8+12 pages)

-Annual Health and Medical Record -Belt Loops/Pin Certification

-Cub Outdoor Activity Award/National Summer Time Pack Award

-OA

-Campfire Program

-Fireguard Plan

-Safety Afloat/Safe Swim Defense/Safety Afloat Training Outline

-Duty to God

-Cub Scout Character Development -

age appropriate guidelines for scouting activites

-Scouts with Disabilites and Special Needs

-OSHA laws that affect camps and conferences

-Leave no Trace

-Cub Scout Visitation Team Training Guide (administrative guide for local councils)

-case study workbook Day Camp Administration -Camp Program Ideas (81 pages)

-Guide to Safe Scouting, unit leaders guide for current policies and procedures (80 pages)

-Day Camp Staff Training (45 pages)

-Camp Program & Property Management (probably 200 pages)

-Shooting Sports for Cub Scouts (52 pages) -administrative guide cub camps, (55 pages)

-budget sheets, cash receipts, check request,

-Unit and Event Log

 

That, in a nutshell, is NCS/NDCS.

I think the cost was not much at all, considerung so much paper and all the food was included.

Learned a bunch and met a bunch of cool scouters - what more do you want to ask for?

Clearly all the twirling was causing undo risk of eye injuries and potential circulation issues in the index figures of guards.
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So I went digging thrue storage. Wont copy the entire thing (1,000 pages LOL) but wanted to add some bullets points: a bit out of order, sorry. Any specific questions just ask ^o^

BSA Northeast Region

National Camping School

Cub Scout Camping

 

-Camp Health and Safety (64 pages)

-Day Camp Administration (130 pages)

-National Standards for local council precamp and operational accreditation of cub scout/webelos scout day camp (12 pages)

-Outdoor Program Guidelines (8+12 pages)

-Annual Health and Medical Record -Belt Loops/Pin Certification

-Cub Outdoor Activity Award/National Summer Time Pack Award

-OA

-Campfire Program

-Fireguard Plan

-Safety Afloat/Safe Swim Defense/Safety Afloat Training Outline

-Duty to God

-Cub Scout Character Development -

age appropriate guidelines for scouting activites

-Scouts with Disabilites and Special Needs

-OSHA laws that affect camps and conferences

-Leave no Trace

-Cub Scout Visitation Team Training Guide (administrative guide for local councils)

-case study workbook Day Camp Administration -Camp Program Ideas (81 pages)

-Guide to Safe Scouting, unit leaders guide for current policies and procedures (80 pages)

-Day Camp Staff Training (45 pages)

-Camp Program & Property Management (probably 200 pages)

-Shooting Sports for Cub Scouts (52 pages) -administrative guide cub camps, (55 pages)

-budget sheets, cash receipts, check request,

-Unit and Event Log

 

That, in a nutshell, is NCS/NDCS.

I think the cost was not much at all, considerung so much paper and all the food was included.

Learned a bunch and met a bunch of cool scouters - what more do you want to ask for?

Qwazse, any background on that ? Some pools the guards are a little whistle happy and it diminishes its effectiveness. You still need a method of alerting the down guards to issues. I haven't seen the BSA use turtles or other electronic alerts.
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COPE, Climbing and how to run a camp. All nice skills to have but that does that teach the skills that make a better Scoutmaster?

 

What were the outdoors/scout skills that the old Woodbadge taught?

 

Before "leadership skills," the purpose of Wood Badge was to train Scoutmasters to how teach the best Patrol Leaders how to physically lead their Patrols into the backwoods. Scouts learned their skills from a "Patrol" Leader, not a "Troop" Guide!

 

Here is a Wood Badge participant's official "Wood Badge Training Notebook" from William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt's Wood Badge:

 

http://inquiry.net/traditional/wood_badge/index.htm

 

 

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This story is so sad but it is true:

we spent time talking about the rule that no scouts are to be carried on the outside of vehicles,

as in not hanging on the (out)side the SUV/Jeep and standing on the side step/floorboards, sitting in the open pick up cargo space without seatbelts

and my favourite which is outlawed by BSA but I have seen this done in another country

towing scouts in tailers.

 

This is not Woodbadge material. Campfire story maybe.

Seems BSA got sued so often for scouts not following safety rules let alone common sense and falling off or out of vehicles while driving,

and some scouters led the way.

 

Getting one Troop to a site is one thing, moving around an entire camp something completely different.

 

Teaching Woodbadge skills to 20-30 boys is a big difference to teaching basic skills to 400 boys or 2,000 scouts.

 

Thats where the BSA is a lot like the army: the larger the camp the larger the logistics and admins.

More geeks and nerds runnging around with clip boards. And whistles. ^o^

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COPE, Climbing and how to run a camp. All nice skills to have but that does that teach the skills that make a better Scoutmaster?

 

What were the outdoors/scout skills that the old Woodbadge taught?

 

Before "leadership skills," the purpose of Wood Badge was to train Scoutmasters to how teach the best Patrol Leaders how to physically lead their Patrols into the backwoods. Scouts learned their skills from a "Patrol" Leader, not a "Troop" Guide!

 

Here is a Wood Badge participant's official "Wood Badge Training Notebook" from William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt's Wood Badge:

 

http://inquiry.net/traditional/wood_badge/index.htm

 

great link, thanks a lot :-)
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So I went digging thrue storage. Wont copy the entire thing (1,000 pages LOL) but wanted to add some bullets points: a bit out of order, sorry. Any specific questions just ask ^o^

BSA Northeast Region

National Camping School

Cub Scout Camping

 

-Camp Health and Safety (64 pages)

-Day Camp Administration (130 pages)

-National Standards for local council precamp and operational accreditation of cub scout/webelos scout day camp (12 pages)

-Outdoor Program Guidelines (8+12 pages)

-Annual Health and Medical Record -Belt Loops/Pin Certification

-Cub Outdoor Activity Award/National Summer Time Pack Award

-OA

-Campfire Program

-Fireguard Plan

-Safety Afloat/Safe Swim Defense/Safety Afloat Training Outline

-Duty to God

-Cub Scout Character Development -

age appropriate guidelines for scouting activites

-Scouts with Disabilites and Special Needs

-OSHA laws that affect camps and conferences

-Leave no Trace

-Cub Scout Visitation Team Training Guide (administrative guide for local councils)

-case study workbook Day Camp Administration -Camp Program Ideas (81 pages)

-Guide to Safe Scouting, unit leaders guide for current policies and procedures (80 pages)

-Day Camp Staff Training (45 pages)

-Camp Program & Property Management (probably 200 pages)

-Shooting Sports for Cub Scouts (52 pages) -administrative guide cub camps, (55 pages)

-budget sheets, cash receipts, check request,

-Unit and Event Log

 

That, in a nutshell, is NCS/NDCS.

I think the cost was not much at all, considerung so much paper and all the food was included.

Learned a bunch and met a bunch of cool scouters - what more do you want to ask for?

Took it in 2010 and some copies where from 2008 so in 2013 some might be outdated yes.
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  • 2 weeks later...
It doesn't appear as though National Camp School teaches the outdoors skills that leaders need. Maybe the old Woodbadge did but of course that's not an option. So apparently there is no other course that teaches these skills currently offered.

 

The reason might be that there is generally among the adults no interest in learning these skills. Or maybe they already know everything they think they need to know. After all how much do you need to know to take a bunch of kids out to a campground for the weekend?

 

Some of the subjects I'd like to see taught:

Advanced backpacking skills including lightweight methods.

Orienteering and advanced map and compass use.

Campfire cooking, utensiless cooking.

Make your own gear (remember the old Boys Life articles on making your own gear like backpacks?)

Canoeing (I'll bet there's a lot of leaders who don't know to do a J stroke).

 

Any other ideas?

 

 

The Skill Set you're requesting is NCS's Trek Leader course which has been part of the NCS program nearing about 5 or so years which covers those topics....over a year ago the program was split into a dry and wet side as a pilot course to separate backpacking and canoeing as the two didn't mix well. As such we instructed the first Trek Leader - Swift Water course providing the student with instructions such as reading water, running rapids, two days of ACA level 1 fast water rescue training, and etc.... For the 2014 NCS training season there are only, as I recall, 3 Trek Leader training courses being offered this year.....
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  • 2 weeks later...
So I went digging thrue storage. Wont copy the entire thing (1,000 pages LOL) but wanted to add some bullets points: a bit out of order, sorry. Any specific questions just ask ^o^

BSA Northeast Region

National Camping School

Cub Scout Camping

 

-Camp Health and Safety (64 pages)

-Day Camp Administration (130 pages)

-National Standards for local council precamp and operational accreditation of cub scout/webelos scout day camp (12 pages)

-Outdoor Program Guidelines (8+12 pages)

-Annual Health and Medical Record -Belt Loops/Pin Certification

-Cub Outdoor Activity Award/National Summer Time Pack Award

-OA

-Campfire Program

-Fireguard Plan

-Safety Afloat/Safe Swim Defense/Safety Afloat Training Outline

-Duty to God

-Cub Scout Character Development -

age appropriate guidelines for scouting activites

-Scouts with Disabilites and Special Needs

-OSHA laws that affect camps and conferences

-Leave no Trace

-Cub Scout Visitation Team Training Guide (administrative guide for local councils)

-case study workbook Day Camp Administration -Camp Program Ideas (81 pages)

-Guide to Safe Scouting, unit leaders guide for current policies and procedures (80 pages)

-Day Camp Staff Training (45 pages)

-Camp Program & Property Management (probably 200 pages)

-Shooting Sports for Cub Scouts (52 pages) -administrative guide cub camps, (55 pages)

-budget sheets, cash receipts, check request,

-Unit and Event Log

 

That, in a nutshell, is NCS/NDCS.

I think the cost was not much at all, considerung so much paper and all the food was included.

Learned a bunch and met a bunch of cool scouters - what more do you want to ask for?

Now the just give you a jump drive with everything on it. The course syllabus was overhauled about two years ago and sorta shoe-horned into the new camp standards last year. Of course some of the publications which are distributed are updated that often but then some are.
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COPE, Climbing and how to run a camp. All nice skills to have but that does that teach the skills that make a better Scoutmaster?

 

What were the outdoors/scout skills that the old Woodbadge taught?

 

Before "leadership skills," the purpose of Wood Badge was to train Scoutmasters to how teach the best Patrol Leaders how to physically lead their Patrols into the backwoods. Scouts learned their skills from a "Patrol" Leader, not a "Troop" Guide!

 

Here is a Wood Badge participant's official "Wood Badge Training Notebook" from William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt's Wood Badge:

 

http://inquiry.net/traditional/wood_badge/index.htm

 

This was a really interesting comment on our culture as well. How much of those hand written notes and sketches are now simply distributed as a hand out or on a CD/USB? Or worse, "Just go the www.xyz.ourcouncil."
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