Keeping Track of Merit Badges

[Basementdweller 608]

Keep his blue cards tucked in his BSA handbook. And/Or get a handbook cover and put the blue cards in a zippered pocket in the cover. The completed requirements should be initialized on the card.

Yes it is and it is meant to be.....

[King Ding Dong 540]

Keep his blue cards tucked in his BSA handbook. And/Or get a handbook cover and put the blue cards in a zippered pocket in the cover. The completed requirements should be initialized on the card.

Would you also suggest to them they keep all their savings tucked away in their handbook as well ?

[Basementdweller 608]

The lesson is responsibility. Honestly I could careless where my scout stores his partials. He is the one going to have to pay the price if he loses them. I will not micromanage my sons scout career lime the OP. Seriously scanning your sons advancement for him.....what lesson is in that....mom. and dad will make sure I am covered. So when I screw up even a little bit there in no consequences

[Scouter99 265]

If your troop uses TroopMaster, then he can ask the Advancement Chair to input the information there.

[Second Class 49]

If your troop uses TroopMaster' date=' then he can ask the Advancement Chair to input the information there.[/quote'] Asking someone to do your work isn't a plan, it's a dodge. Work three or four badges at a time, and get them done. That's the best way.

[fred johnson 936]

Keep his blue cards tucked in his BSA handbook. And/Or get a handbook cover and put the blue cards in a zippered pocket in the cover. The completed requirements should be initialized on the card.

It's a lesson in many ways. A lesson in keeping track of their own stuff. A lesson of working with others to fix situations when problems occur and how they should help others when problems occur. Sometimes an error prone solution is a good solution because we are not looking for perfection. We are looking for learning opportunities.

 

KDD - Money is a different but similar. If the kid is carrying around $10 and loses it, then fine. The world won't end. If the kid is carrying around $10,000 then I'd want him to find a better solution. Heck, it seems that a good number of scouts every summer are dealing with lost money and learning to take care of their things.

[Baseballfan 32]

The lesson is responsibility. Honestly I could careless where my scout stores his partials. He is the one going to have to pay the price if he loses them. I will not micromanage my sons scout career lime the OP. Seriously scanning your sons advancement for him.....what lesson is in that....mom. and dad will make sure I am covered. So when I screw up even a little bit there in no consequences

if you meant "like the OP", I would like your opinion on how I am micromanaging his Scout career.

[King Ding Dong 540]

Keep his blue cards tucked in his BSA handbook. And/Or get a handbook cover and put the blue cards in a zippered pocket in the cover. The completed requirements should be initialized on the card.

Suggesting to a youth that he use a poor method of keeping track of his stuff so he can learn a lesson is cruel.

[Basementdweller 608]

Keep his blue cards tucked in his BSA handbook. And/Or get a handbook cover and put the blue cards in a zippered pocket in the cover. The completed requirements should be initialized on the card.

Cruel????

 

No it isn't.....It is a lesson in responsibility.

 

KDD I understand your scout doesn't have his crap together, he's only 11 doesn't work, and your going to make sure he doesn't lose his partials, so he will never learn this lesson with something unimportant as a Blue card, so he will learn the lesson in 5 years his smart phone or car keys or wallet.

 

So the discussion with your son should go, he son, keep your unfinished merit badges in the merit badge book on your shelf or in the front cover of your scout book.

 

Not, son give me your blue card because you will just lose it and I have worked too hard for you to lose it and have to do it over.

[Basementdweller 608]

The lesson is responsibility. Honestly I could careless where my scout stores his partials. He is the one going to have to pay the price if he loses them. I will not micromanage my sons scout career lime the OP. Seriously scanning your sons advancement for him.....what lesson is in that....mom. and dad will make sure I am covered. So when I screw up even a little bit there in no consequences

my bad, it wasn't you. is was yooperscout who was scanning blue cards. Completely over the top.

[King Ding Dong 540]

Keep his blue cards tucked in his BSA handbook. And/Or get a handbook cover and put the blue cards in a zippered pocket in the cover. The completed requirements should be initialized on the card.

My point is it is cruel to tell a youth a poor way do to something. Tell him a correct way. It is up to him to follow your advise or not and learn his lesson.

 

Do you want your son to trust the advise you give him or not ?

[Baseballfan 32]

The lesson is responsibility. Honestly I could careless where my scout stores his partials. He is the one going to have to pay the price if he loses them. I will not micromanage my sons scout career lime the OP. Seriously scanning your sons advancement for him.....what lesson is in that....mom. and dad will make sure I am covered. So when I screw up even a little bit there in no consequences

oh okay thanks fro clarifying. I also replied to you a while ago when you took exception to me camping with Webelos in my backyard, but you never replied (to my knowledge). I don't think I formatted or replied in the right spot because the site was acting up, but if you could take a look and answer I would appreciate it.

[fred johnson 936]

Keep his blue cards tucked in his BSA handbook. And/Or get a handbook cover and put the blue cards in a zippered pocket in the cover. The completed requirements should be initialized on the card.

KDD - You're assuming it's a bad solution. Keeping the blue cards tucked in the scout handbook is a good solution. I know many leaders who would do the exact same thing for similar items. Heck, when I get an oil change or car repair, I tuck the receipt into my car's owner manual. Plus, the scout handbook is the one item scouts are supposed to bring to every meeting. Plus if the parents buy a cover with a zippered pocket, then the scout has a zippered pocket to use.

 

The absolute worst solution would be to have a parent or a troop advancement coordinator organize and keep the merit badge cards safe. A close runner up is a over emphasized, over engineered solution.

 

The blue card is a simple tool and needs a simple solution for keeping organized. If the scouts lose them, we shouldn't put them on a guilt trip as much as ask what happened and work with them to recover the situation.

[fred johnson 936]

If your troop uses TroopMaster' date=' then he can ask the Advancement Chair to input the information there.[/quote'] Asking someone to do your work isn't a plan, it's a dodge. Work three or four badges at a time, and get them done. That's the best way.

Fully agree. Our troop records "completed" achievements. In progress achievements should be managed by the scout.

[IM_Kathy 32]

my son used a 3 ring binder. Front was calendar. Next was tracking campouts and positions and such. Then merit badges....

 

printed out workbook even if he didn't use the workbook for every part of the badge. If didn't use workbook for that part he'd write done on that part. He had a pencil pouch at that part of the binder and would put the blue cards in there. Once completed he'd turn in his blue cards.

 

in the back is all of his rank and mb cards kept in a ball card sheet. He has the ranks from Tigers all the way up and is waiting to hear on his eagle. Then his mb cards with the completed blue card that he got back behind it all in order of earned.

 

While I got him the stuff and made suggestions as this was done when from the get-go he made it his own. He's even had to get a new binder once because it got beat up and wasn't closing right. With the 2nd binder he got one that zipped closed so he could put his book in there too