koolaidman

I am completely shocked and alarmed that cub scout leaders are doubling up and fudging AOL requirements! Does your council have a Scout Fair? Would the outside portion of your Scout Fair count? Our district has WTSE, and Troop Fairs. In WTSE our Webelos can join scouts in outdoor activities at the event. Giving full benefit of the doubt, they may be going to other activities where you aren't. Generally you are correct though. There's the den visit, then after (often overlooked) completing reqs 1-5 there is the SMC. I had the hardest time convincing parents to actually read requirement number 6 to understand that the SMC has to come after everything else.

I'll be going out to get my father's day present tomorrow and I'm thinking of a lightweight small compactable camp chair with a back. Preferably I'd like one that weighs less than 2 pounds and packs small so that it will fit in my pack and is $100 or less. Must support 210lbs Something a little off the ground with back support. I'm looking at the Rei Flex Lite, the Alite Butterfly and the Alite Mayfly. The Mayfly looks less prone to sinking into the ground because of the crossbeams on the legs. Of course it all depends how hard they are to get out of as well. Any suggestions?

Just a couple of things to think about: "Under the radar": Your troop is part of your charter org. How much money does your charter org pull in? HOA of a community with 1,000 homes x $500 = $500,000, school, church? The charter org gets audited, you get audited. Something to consider. What is fair: PTOs/PTAs don't ration out playground equipment based on how much wrapping paper Jimmy sold. Church doesn't give you extra God because you put more in the offering plate. Allocating funds based on anything other than fundraising production will always be perceived as "unfair" to the guy who sold a lot. Then again, how fair is it when a home-schooled scout can be carted off mid day to sell when others are in school. The scout that has mom and dad sell for him has an unfair advantage. I'm not sure when or how ISA's got started, but I bet it was the parents of the #1 fundraiser in a troop that first thought of them. I don't think it is morally unethical to put a small percentage of fundraising results into an ISA. It is against the tax code though. Personally, I think it would be a better use of a scout's time to mow yards or do odd jobs to pay for his activities than sell popcorn. More buck for the bang... Participation can be a factor when allocating funds.

To further clarify, his budget should list sources and uses of his cash. sources: allowance, wages, birthday money etc uses: food, dates, clothing, iTunes, phone bill If he can compare his actual transactions along the same lines, I'm good with it. But honestly it is much better to have the budget and actual transaction totals side by side. That's when the light bulb turns on.

Does his iphone software allow him to characterize his expenses, or is it just a list of his transactions? If he's able to characterize his transactions with his iphone to income/expenditures analogous to his budget, I consider that tracking. If it's just a list of transactions from his bank statement, then yes I'd say he has more work to do. Including tracking any cash outside of his bank account.

KDD, Honestly, half the time I think your trolling. A small handheld mirror should be enough to check the parts no one else should be looking at.

We do it this way because it's what the boys want. (also valid for youth sports)

just wow. What everybody else said. As long as the people who did the signing off had authority from the SM. She has absolutely no authority to do any of what you mentioned (whether she is right or wrong). Get her trained or replaced by someone who is.

BD: What awards did you settle on, and how is it working so far?

Welcome to the forums CherokeeScouter! It took me a few camp outs to get used to the ground again. Hope your Scouter career is as rewarding as your Scouting career was.

I need the needles so I can l can literally be a thorn in someone's side.

Boy Led Update: Last weeks meeting with another boy to take the lead in skills introduction (to prepare for orienteering course FC#2): Boy must have heard that a couple of scouts were going to be pulled out to complete TF 10a/10b and single-handedly decided that the meeting was going to be all about fitness, despite what was agreed on by the PLC. Inquiries as to how the idea got in his head were fruitless, so I proposed: You have an orienteering activity in one week that requires being able to use a map and compass, being able to walk off a required distance, estimating the height of something and estimating the distance across something. I have not seen anyone practice estimating the distance across something, so tell me, do you think you should be working on a requirement that most of you have been signed off on, or do you think you should be preparing for your orienteering course? Further went to use the white board to draw a picture of a possible scenario. One scout starts flipping through handbook. They agree that they don't know how to estimate distance. I tell them its all in the book. They take turns reading aloud how to do it. I ask them which method they think would work best. One scout replies the compass method, another prefers the salute method. I invite them to go outside and try them both out. I asked the boy in charge of the skills introduction to teach them how to do the compass method, (with my help when they didn't quite understand it). They all took turns and I could see that they were struggling, but I did my best not to interfere. After all had taken turns with the compass method, I asked the other scout, what method was it that you preferred? He said he liked the salute method, and I said "Why don't you work with the other boys on that?" They all do. After practicing both, I asked them which they thought may be the best one to go with for the orienteering course, and they all agreed the salute method was probably the best choice for the course. I'm sure everyone here will be glad to hear that I returned my stash of thimbles to Wally World the next day.

The Pack we just crossed over from was about 120. Lots of energetic volunteers. Fun activities. Camp twice a year. Patches for all the events. An entertaining CM helps a lot. Raise the cash and spend it.

There's always the special project assigned by the SM too.

I'd start by ensuring I, my CC and COR are all on the same page. Making sure you have each others backs. Next a good parent orientation explaining why you do what you do, really explain the difference between when a scout learns and when a scout is tested. A good strategy is to not authorize the "teachers" (adult or youth) to sign off. Only non-teachers sign off. Separate the learning from the testing that way. All legal per G2A....for now.

Welcome to the forums Dreya!

I agree with everything Basementdweller said here. Personally, I'd start shopping Packs.

I've seen an old tennis shoe used instead of a strip of rubber. We made one for our Tiger den about 5 years ago using the plans like in the Bear book. Went to district push mobile and saw many made of pvc, metal (not sure what kind) and some made of wood. Best advice I can give is do not omit the chocks that limit steering. We omitted them and our little Tigers were all over the place!

Why make it arbitrary? Have the parents confidentially ask the boys if there was one boy he wanted in his den who would it be? Ask the parents if geography or meeting night matters and go from there. If there is a chance to make it better for everyone, I say take that chance. Splitting up arbitrarily with no rhyme or reason doesn't make sense if the boys have bonded and want to be with their friends. Its also OK for it to be a 8-6 split vs 7-7 if it makes for a more convenient and meaningful program.

Just spitballing here: Perhaps a petition, or suggestion to the advancement committee that as part of cub scouting, say Bear rank, boys learn some hygiene/home economics skills? So many lessons to be learned besides cooking and feeding yourself: How to iron your shirt, how to do laundry, fix a hem in your slacks, sew on a button. G2SS doesn't yet say a boy do these things. We need to strike while the iron is hot. (pun somewhat intended)

dedkad: the answer to your question is yes. Further comments are below. others are correct in the WEBII "rank" just designates the boys who are in their second year Webelos. Now is a good time to get with the parent and layout what they can expect as far as rank achievement. If the boy is interested in crossing over to boy scouts, let the parents know that the arrow of light is required if the boy is still in fifth grade and under 11. If they don't care about rank, then I humbly suggest your efforts would be better spent planning for the other boys. If, out of the blue they become concerned about rank, you may wish to get together with a WEBI leader in your pack to see if he can attend some of their "remedial" meetings. Maybe a day hike for him and "for the fun of it" for the rest of the den. If he is more concerned than his parents, maybe an ADL can spend time with him on the remedial requirements while the rest of the den is working on super 20 gravy. While were on the topic of super 20 I also suggest using den time (when not visiting troops) to really hammer home the AOL requirements, Outdoorsman and Readyman. Have contests with cool prizes for the boys to inspire them to retain the knowledge and skills in these areas. It will go a long way towards Tenderfoot and Second Class.

topshot: Can you please post the link to the Wildlife Management? I guess I'll use these three as a start.

Hypothesis: Facebook effect? Troops trying to outdo what they've seen other troops do?

Is your CO a school? Do they have old copies of yearbooks? Any folks in the neighborhood been there a long time?

Sam Houston Area Council has announced that it will not be in favor of the new policy. Have any other councils declared their voting intentions?