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Scouts Retaining Information


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The behaviors that some people will associate as immature, are actually an indication of budding maturity. Lack of retention is one of them.

 

Children start puberty earlier than they did 50 or 100 years ago. Behaviors that are associated with stages in puberty, like retention difficulties, which used to be seen mostly in freshmen and sophomores in high school, are now being displayed in middle school.

 

When I was a kid, it was the underclassmen in high school who were the airheads. People told jokes about it. Kids usually grew out of it by junior year.

 

When you have been in this game for a while, you come to understand that not all behaviors in children are a matter of personal choice.

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I'm a middle school teacher. Welcome to my world.

If they want to advance in Boy Scouts, they kind of have to.

My troop is extremely strict on if you learn it that week, you can not get it signed off for 1-2 meetings so it helps you remember it.

It comes down to if someone cares about what they’re learning. If they don’t care they won’t retain it.

 

Nope. Retention has nothing to do with caring.

 

Kids who are experiencing retention difficulties are just as likely to forget things that they care about, even in their favorite activities, like scouting and sports.

 

It drives coaches nuts.

 

This is why some exceptional athletes, like Michael Jordan, could do poorly as underclassmen and then blossom by senior year. 

Edited by David CO
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If they want to advance in Boy Scouts, they kind of have to.

 

The -1 was a mistake.  Sorry.

 

You are absolutely right. I wasn't suggesting that leaders should disregard the advancement standards. 

 

There is no rule saying that scouts must earn their eagle in middle school. If they are experiencing problems with retaining info, they can simply wait a year or two, and put off advancement until they grow out of it.

 

Our job as scout leaders is to reassure the boys that they will grow out of it.

Edited by David CO
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The -1 was a mistake.  Sorry.

 

You are absolutely right. I wasn't suggesting that leaders should disregard the advancement standards. 

 

There is no rule saying that scouts must earn their eagle in middle school. If they are experiencing problems with retaining info, they can simply wait a year or two, and put off advancement until they grow out of it.

These are freshmen in high school that I am dealing with. Haha.

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I guess it depends on your unit. Instructors in mine would not sign off unless you could literally teach the skill back to them.

My troop is extremely strict on if you learn it that week, you can not get it signed off for 1-2 meetings so it helps you remember it.

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My troop is extremely strict on if you learn it that week, you can not get it signed off for 1-2 meetings so it helps you remember it.

 

I am not aware of any waiting period in the merit badge requirements. We sign off right away.

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I've been assuming these are trail to first class skills (e.g., two half-hitches).

Although 11 is the ideal age for instruction of such things, there is a WIDE bell curve in terms of mastery.

Son #2 could light fires at age 4. Catch a ball? Maybe by grade 12? (He still blames me for that last one.)

 

Although we want all boys to master 1st class skills, the fact is there will be a cluster for whom those skills will elude them into adulthood. For some, it's lack of attempts/practice; others it's poor spatial coordination; others poor memory; others lack of confidence. Some years, you have a variety of boys who face these challenges. The next year's boys are so quick on the uptake it makes your head spin. Yes volition is a factor, but it can be more than that. So, you will need to be a persistent but patient coach.

 

Although I learned to be dead on with archery (with a 20 lb wooden recurve at 50') with backyard practice the spring before I took the badge at camp, sighting in a rifle with tight scatter eluded me until I was 40. Something in my brain took that long to gel before it just clicked. I remember one summer church camp, the priest who drove me there spent a lot of time at the pool because the director was an Olympian, and he wanted her to help him finally master diving. It was my first object-lesson in "you can teach an old dog new tricks."

 

All that is to say, don't give up on these scouts. Expect more. Challenge them to use the handbook as a reference. If that's not working for them, find them a knot guide, draw a diagram on their arm, or find them different color rope to practice with. And if they are still having trouble, keep challenging them to try, and try, and try ... and let them know that even if the don't master it by the time they turn 18, this nation needs them to keep trying!

Edited by qwazse
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