grmaerika

I could not help myself from expounding on this topic of communication and language.There is a very cool website called Hand Talk: American Indian Sign Language. Scouters should find it very interesting. It tells about a conference that was held by an Anglo that brought leaders from many different Indian tribes together who shared no common spoken language. They did share one common Sign language. Plains Indian Sign Language. It was an attempt to record and preserve this common language. There is some great video on there.A must see for any language nerd and just a fascinating story.Languages go extinct just like animals.

I think you are going to just have to get over the language thing. I like the language belt loop idea.Engage them with teaching the Den some Polish. It will probably be alot of fun.And have them bake you some Polish cookies,yum! Then you could even go one step further and have the whole Den learn some ASL. Very useful, and that will be a language that will cross alot of barriers.This is America, and people come in a steady stream from elswhere.It seems there could be something positive to come out of the situation.English only never works. I've had a couple employers that that tried to enforce that.People are going to communicate in the language they are comfortable with, unless necessity dictates otherwise.(or the boss is hanging around).

You'll probably have to put up with hearing foreign languages spoken at your Den meetings. We are in an area with many languages also. If these womwn are loud and disruptive it's a matter of manners. If they are actually being disruptive, why not address them like a kid and ask them,"excuse me, (name), is there something you'd like to share?". They'll probably get the hint that they are too loud, or maybe they really do have a question.Some people are just loud. It's good for their kids to be in the program and that English is the main language spoken.The moms probably just use it as their own personal time to connect with each other.I've worked in situations most of my life where I'm in the minority as a native English speaker. You get used to hearing all those languages buzzing around after awhile. This could just be plain old rudeness.

Ok. This is a little bit off that topic, but since it took them so long to get my registration number, does that mean it took that long to do a background check? That concerned me, because I felt like if they didn't really process my paperwork, yet allowed me to be Den Leader, that is not very good security. Do people that don't pass the background checks pop up right away when they turn in the apps?

I thought I had to take those two Pow Wow classes to be fully trained. Guess not. Anyhow all my on-line trainings are showing up. Cubmaster says I need to take the Wolf online training now.How do I get the TRAINED patch? Does the CM give it to me or do I just go out and buy it?

Has anyone ever read Charles Eastman's books? I read that he has a connecton to the early BSA. We use alot of Native American imagery in Scouts and I was wondering what was his involvement with the Boy Scouts.

All of these suggestions are helpful. I also think having our meetings outside now will help alot.I've tried not to"play school" too much. They loved it when a real police officer came to talk to them..He was just so much cooler, same for talking with the firemen.They all love to draw, and could draw for a good half hour. I find that crafts are not that successful, as of yet.They cannot focus.Maybe its just the excitement ,because we were only having one meeting a month.The talking feather might work.I'll have to find a big one. I grew up with all boys, so I think I understand them at least a little.guess that's why i was a Brownie drop-out, but am enjoying the heck out of Cub Scouts. Maybe getting more things like Belt Loops over the summer will help them connect the dots. They HATE Pack meetings now.So BORING! "why do they get all those cool awards, and we don't get any?"...at Tiger level it was mostly beads up til now.Next year we will have two Den meetings a month plus the outing, plus the Pack meeting. This might help to ground them a little more.Thanks for the pointers and advice to talk to other leaders.It's all a new adventure for me and all this advice is helpful.

Good info. Thanks all.

I've been Den Leader with the Tigers all year and organized the program to get all parents on board.That part has gone great. I'm going to move up and be with the Wolves next year. I do not feel I have the skills to be able to handle the boys discipline wise on my own. Our group is small, but most likey will grow. None of the other parents seem to be able to do much better.Does anyone have any books to suggest or maybe a special training that could help in that area? I'm hoping a Dad will come on board as an Assistant,but I need more kid skills.

and it's only gotten worse!

Sad story about four sad characters. No matter how much we try to do our best and offer kids a good program there will always be kids that ...are whacked! I know nothing really about being an Eagle Scout, but I do know that there seems to be a rise in cold blooded killing done by teens. Something is amiss in our society when these kids seem to end up as emotionless Zombies totally disconnected from reality.There is no way in the world Scouting would ever lead to THAT. A very disturbing story. Hopefully it won't lead to denying kids the opportunity for archery, using bb guns, and learning to use knives. I have a hunch that the"virtual world" is sucking our kids brains out, but alot of people consider that "safe", since their kid will have no chance of falling out of a tree if they're tied to their computers.

Thanks a bunch. I just put my ID number and Council on there today. I'm going to show our Cubmaster what I completed at the next Pack meeting. I have the lttle cards they gave me. Of course at the time I took the courses I had no ID #. It seems I got lost for awhile, but appeared after the "recharter"...and I have no clue as to what that means. Thanks again.

I just recently finally recieved my registration number from our council. I have taken all the online trainings, plus I took two classes at Pow Wow back in November.Into to Cub Scouting and Cub Scout Den Leader. They told us to go online and record that we had taken those Pow Wow classes. I do not see where I do that. I see the profile and all my online trainings, but nowhere to record those extra classes. Can anyone tell me how to do that? Thanks.

Yes, I have a couple involved right now who both work the NPS.They have been a terrific resource, and I'm hoping to get at least one of them registered.My approach this year was to give each parent a month and a requirement and the books and say here, you do it this month. I've been the steady communication person and person to keep track of what needed to be done, and the "leader"who reports to the Cubmaster,drags around the flag and scout box etc., but it has really been an all out joint effort. I figured it might help people dig into the program a bit more and maYbe come to be more involved with scouting.Like I said, I did not anticipate being the den leader when we started. The other people are more qualified, computer saavy,younger! Also, I am not good at being a disciplinarian.I am SO happy we will be meeting outside as much as possible. I try to give the boys things to do that they can actually DO, and have a good chunk of time for a strenuous physical activity...guess what ..nothing wears them out!It seems that after a full day of school and daycare they have HAD it with listening to adults, and I can't say as I blame them.It's a different world than the one I grew up in, where we had tons of time space and freedom to just run around and explore on our own.That's the best part of being a kid! Now I guess you'd say we are in the 'big city' ,with kids who are cooped up all day long.It's hard on them. I just hope to be able to help deliver a program that allows them to at least run and breath some fresh air, and spark some curiosity outside of "video games" ,you know, go check out some real rocks instead of virtual ones. i love it so far.All your comments have been extremely helpful.

Thanks for looking that up and posting it. Your words are so true. It's a great priveledge to be a part of scouting.

Thanks for the input. I defenitely want to be planning ahead. The parent involvement has been great with the Tigers, but I know that is precisely the reason we had such a low number of Tigers.Alot of people just want to drop them off and be done.

Hey, your right! Calvin and my grandson have a strange resemblance! Trouble makers being leaders,wow!We have a den of natural born leaders.My hope is that they will always have that drive, enthusiasm and curiosity...and yes even the devilishness.First grade boys are interesting characters:)

I'm glad to read this about the belt loops as we are just starting to work on these with our Tigers. I am planning to use the required activities as part of our den or pack meetings, so the boys can have a start on completeing some of them. I'm planning to have them bring in and share with the den what they complete at home, like posters,write a song,play an instrument etc..It seems like it will help strengthen our den to share with each other.Plus,as leader, I want to know that they are doing the work to recieve the award. Otherwise, what's the point? Glad to read you all's input.

Wow. I did not even realize that they will be Wolves on June 1. I had made plans to keep working on just badges and belt loops over the summer! I'm the Den leader.oops. How come we would start working on Wolf requirements now when there is a good chance we will get more scouts after recruitment in Sept.? I really do not know how different the Wolf program is from the Tiger. I was hoping to still have all the parents involved through the summer. This seems to be working great. Please someone tell me what being a Wolf leader entails.How involved are the parents with the meetings?Right now we just have one Den meeting and one Go See It per month, and all the parent participate. Small group, only 5 Tigers. I think I have to change my whole gameplan.Any hints will be helpful.

That was funny. Dad a Boy Scout? Good chance. Calvin? NO WAY!!

This is a shout out to a Boy Scout leader from Ste. marie IL., Lawrence Huber. Lawrence went to his rest a few years ago,but he is ever in my mind as I embark on this new adventure of being a Den Leader. Lawrence was a true outdoorsman who could ,track, hunt,trap, fish,taxidermy, make smoked carp, catch snapping turtles and skin giant catfish. He was a Boy Scout Leader down in south central Illinois near the Embarrass River. I'd have to classify him as a National Treasure. They had a Boy Scout camp on the river, that,well, it did not look like much...but i dare to speculate that many many useful skills were learned there from Lawrence. If you airlifted and dropped Lawrence in the woods somewhere,maybe with a knife,mY guess is he'd be just fine!He might not even need the knife! Anybody out there that knew Lawrence?

I'd like to continue on with the Wolves.I need to recruit two more leaders tho. Most likely I will have to put more time into a paying job! We recruit scouts from the public school where we meet, and there is no way I can handle a larger group of young boys without reliable support. I love their energy and enthusiasm,but I am not a master at reigning it in.I'm hoping our group will want to stick with scouting.Being Leader came to me by default...nobodY was stepping up,being last person at the meeting,a Webelos Leader just stuck the app. in my hands. And there you have it. We are so lucky to be in the DC area and there is never a shortage of things to do,plus an abundance of creeks and parks.It's hard to think about next year. I'm just trying to get through this year and keep them interested.We're working on Sports and Academics now,so they can get some Belt Loops. That will help them to work towards pins, also we will work on the No Trace patch.Now that spring is coming we'll be outside as much as possible.

Hello from Virginia,DC metro area.This is my first year as a Den Leader,Tiger Scouts. My grandson is a Tiger.I love being a Den Leader.I'm learning tons!