Ltfightr

Yes, I know that there is no Webelos 1 and 2. But how or do you count the second summer in Webelos? If they earn the Outdoor Activity the first year, can they get a Paw Print for the second year? Or the Summertime Den Award? Do they get 2 or just 1? I'm about to have my first real den of 5th grade Webelos and I want to do right by them. How do others work these awards? Or do you? Diana Houser Cubmaster Pack 32

What about where you meet? Are you in a church? School? Can they pick up/clean up around the inside of the building?

I've started doing a "Scout of the Month" for this kind of thing. Yeah, they shouldn't need to be rewarded but they are little kids. I've noticed the behaviour of the boys being a lot better and everyone trying to go the extra mile. And it's not much.....a patch from the State Park we camped at that no one eles got...a flag cermony patch for the 2 boys who put the flag up when everyone eles forgot....this month it might be the boy who has the best sportmanship at the Debry race. Now they know we really see what they are doing every meeting and when we are out. Diana

I think I can answer your questions. I have over 500 geocaching "finds", taught it to the Cubs at our summer camp this year, in line to be the MBC when it goes live, and taught it to my own pack! LOL 1. Yes to doing it at the Cub level. I tied it into the Map and Compass BL and Pin. It's a little better if you have a little bit of time to not rush it. Give them an idea of HOW you are able to find them. Don't really try to tell them about the website. SHiow it to them if you are able but give them the bare bones basics. Maybe go into a little more details with the parents....they are the ones who will be loading the caches in the GPS. 2. Plan for at least 3 easy ones. Have them preloaded into the GPS. After finding the first "Treasure chest" they are HOOKED! LOL! When we took my Pack, I had 4 boys and 4 caches to find. Each boy got a chance to get to "ground zero" and them they all tried to find it from there. Most big parks have more than one cache hidden in them. 3. SMALL GROUPS! At Cub Camp, I was trying to take a group of 10 at one time. I only had 1 GPS. Not a lot of fun for most of the boys. On the Pack thing I only had 4 boys and it was a lot better. Geocaching is LOTS of fun. You get them hiking and they don't even know it! If you have any more questions, just ask! Diana Houser Cubmaster Pack 32

I don't know if this is the right spot for this but....... Does anyone use the Trax programs? I love them. I want to use it on my iTouch but I'm not sure how to go about putting it there. Has anyone done this? What app would you/do you use? If this isn't the right area could you move it, please? Thanks, Diana Houser Cubmaster Pack 32

We got our DS (he's a Bear this year) one of the bows from the Scout Store. I don't know a lot but I think the biggest difference is that a compond bow is easier to pull.

I kind of like the idea of the plastic patch protector if you have more than one kid and are going to pass down the shirt.

Yes thank you. That is what I meant. You can not work on 2 ranks at the same time. Sometimes my brain works faster than my fingers. I thought it when I was composing and thought I included that statement in my answer but I guess I just did it in my mind. I hate it when that happens.

Yes! (Does that help?lol) Most move up during the summer. That way if they go to Cub Camp they can starting working on the next level. BUT! If your CubMaster gives you the OK and they are really close to finishing, they can finish the last rank. BUT! They CAN NOT start on the next one untill they are totally finished with the old one. With me it would depend on the boy and how close they were to finishing it. Come all the time but just behind, OKed to finish. See only once every 3 weeks and have lots to finish, sorry time to move one to the next rank. Either way they would HAVE to move up at the start of the school year. Diana ETA: I would go with JUST the rank not the Electives. Because why work on Wolf fun stuff when you can move on to Bear fun stuff?(This message has been edited by Ltfightr)

Hum.....were the 4th and 5th graders in the same den or different dens? Did the 4th graders do anything after they rushed thru their AOL? And they did rush thru it if they got it in 4th grade. If you had 6-8 4th graders and 6-8 5th graders why didn't you have 2 Webelos dens? That would be the best. We are going to have to do this in a couple of years when my son's den get to Webs and there is already a Webs den. It's not fair to the 4th graders coming in that they have to rush to catch up with the 5th graders who have already finished most of the stuff. And it's not fair to the 5th graders to have to wait on the 4th graders to catch up. In my Pack, we only have 1 Webelos,he is in 5th grade, and this is his 1st year in scouts. He has had to work HARD to get his Rank and his AOL and I'm not sure if he is going to do it or not. Why did you rush the Webs 1 thru AOL? IMO, you did them no favors. Webelos is where you learn what Boy Scouts is really about before you join a troop. It's where you get a firm base on how to build a fire, how to pitch a tent, how to cook over a fire. You can't DO that if you try to earn your AOL in 4th grade. Scouting is not a race.

My Pack is just now getting started on this. I was wondering how should I work with the Webelos? They are all Second Year and will move up to Boy Scouts next year. Can they do half a year with Cub requirements and finish what they need with Boy Scout requirements? Or should they try to finish before the end of the "year"/Cross over? Any thoughts? Diana Houser Pack 32 Cubmaster

Love Caching! In one of our State Parks there is a whole set on the Boy Scout trail marking the 12 Laws. You can camp on the trail, too. Just look up keyword "scout" on Geocaching.com and you will find TONS that you don't need a car to do.

Here is a list of all the requirements for the new ones. Still not thrilled with Video Games but I can see it as a "they get to teach Mom and Dad something" type thing. Love the "Family Travel", "Photography" (ok it was my major in collage), "Reading and Writing" (another one who will do anything for a BL), and "Hiking". And, yes, everyone should be working on Good Manners at home but how many little boys do you know who use them all the time. I'm going to use some of these in Pack Meetings. And they will make good meeting fillers in the Dens, too. Diana CubMaster Pack 32 Benton, AR

Thanks, everyone! The patch issue has already been taken care of. And I hope for good. I think what I'm going to do is just let him hold the dues but keep updated on everything. If he ask for money for something, I'll ask about what he has been using his dues for. I have no problem with the pack paying for anything they need and/or want. I think it was just the way he came across to me when we were talking about the budget at the start. And I would never make the other leaders think they had to give any money for anything. Most of the stuff I do myself and they never know about it until it's done. I have been giving the Leader free range to do what they want. I only ask that we all meet at the same time/place unless they have something planned already. i.e. go to the park, football game, ect. The Bears last year NEVER came to anything. The Bear Leader (same on who is now doing dues) wanted to met at his house. Last year it was just his son and the asst. DL's son in the den. I told him I really didn't like the idea. Luckly, the DE and old cubmaster (now the Commette Chairperson) agreed with me. Wow, this is sounding like I have either no control OR I'm a control freak! Everything eles is working out fine, really it is! We are having fun and the boys are excited to come every week. I think I have a good program coming in the future. Thanks for all the thoughts and ideas on how to handle things so far. Diana

Thanks! As I said, we have always been a small pack. The old cubmaster, who is now CC and the treasurer, doesn't remember a time when we had more than 15 boys in the pack. It's a case of "this is the way we have always done it." We are trying some new things, like Denners this year. And this is the first time this den has had more than just the DL and Asst. DL's 2 boys in it. We have always just used popcorn money for everything but then we never really did anything as a pack either. I'll just tell him that the Pack buys the awards (he ordered Bear patches from the DE at the beginning of the year w/out telling me) and he can use the dues for other stuff. Looks like a Leader meeting is in order.

I'm a new Cubmaster. I've just started this year (last year I was the Tiger Leader). I found out tonight from a parent (no less!) that my Bear leader has started to charge Den Dues. Not much. Just 50 cents a week. But this is NOT something I should of found out from a parent. He might of said something about it at the first of the year that he might start doing it but I don't remember if he did or not. I've been a bit busy in the past month. We went from 9 boys to 14 boys to 29 boys at the last meeting! Yes you saw that right! So every week for the past month, I've been meeting new parents, tell them what we are doing, popcorn sells, help new Tiger leader, meet new Tigers, Wolves, Bears, and Webloes. You know, first of the year stuff. I was talking to him tonight and I was asking him to bring a bag of candy to the Halloween party. I said that the Leaders were doing this not the Pack (which means I bring 2 bags-DH is the Wolf leader and some door prizes). He wanted to know when this was desided and I reminded him about when we had talked about it and told him I was a little worried about the Pack budget because of the growth. Which lead him to asking if we would have money for him to take the Bears to a HS football game and I said yes we should but you know, awards....BLs......rechartering.....blah blah blah. No where in any of this did he say they started dues! Later I was talking to one of the new moms (who brought all the new boys!) and said we might have to look at dues but I really didn't want to. She said "besides the ones that the bears charge?" Yeah, not the way I wanted to find that out! I just looked at her with a blank look and she went on to say it was only 50 cents, just started, stuff like that. I talked to the old cubmaster for a miunte but she had to run and get her son so we didn't really have more time to talk. Before the meeting ended, the mom who told me asked her DS if he had paid his dues yet and he said no and the Asst. DL said she didn't have the "due jar" with her so they would do it next week. I took the minute and asked what the dues were going to be used for and the DL said basiclly awards, fees to get into places, that type thing (you know stuff that comes out of the pack budget!) SO! What to do from here? Who holds the dues? The Pack or the Den? Do I ask them to show me the money once a month? We have never colleted them before. Ignore for the momment that the DL didn't tell me that he was starting this. I have other trouble with him, nothing big just little stuff. None of the other leaders have trouble with paying for things out of their pockets. The Web leader just did something tonight that he paid for. The Tiger leader brought his project supplies last week. And the Wolf leader paid for the project that the Bears did tonight and that the Wolves did last week! I don't think they should ALWAYS pay out of pocket but sometimes it's no big deal. And if they asked to be paid back we would from the pack fund. Sorry this was so long. I just don't really know what to do about him. I don't think he is doing anything wrong but I'm a very different Leader than the old cubmaster and I don't want to be pushy. I know what I want the pack to be and I think he has trouble seeing the big picture. Thanks for any input.

Well, the shop messed up and should not of sold it to you. Let your den leader/cubmaster know they did but don't sew it on until your DS completes the bobcat and tiger requirements. Until then he hasn't "earned" them.

The big question is ........ What GRADE is he in? If Homeschooled, What school grade should he be in if he went to Public School? Remember the guidelines..... Tiger - 1st grade Wolf - 2nd grade Bear - 3rd grade Webelos - 4th and 5th grade If he is 7 and in 3rd grade he can be a Bear. If he is 7 and in 2nd grade, then he can be a Wolf. Hope this helps. Diana Pack 32 Cubmaster

I like the Reading and Writing one. I have the hardest time getting him to read or write but if I tell him there is a BL for it, he will work his booty off to do it.

Does anyone know when the BLs are going to be out? I'm excited about several of them. I'm still thinking about the video game one. Diana

As a Cacher with over 300 finds, I like the second ideas A LOT for a scout camp Caches. As a matter of fact, I would love to do that one anywhere! Is there going to be stash/trade item in any of them or is it going to be the "thrill of the find"? Be sure to remind them to make sure the boxes are closed tight and nothing is left up to miss it up for the next set of boys. Diana

Thanks, guys! For some reason I could never get the WB website to work when I would try to look at it. Thanks for the link, Scoutnut. And thanks for your part, Knight! I have been really worried that I wouldn't be able to think of anything for my ticket when I got there but that helps alot (and the video helped too). I'm going to really think about doing this now. Diana

Or maybe a better question is what kind of stuff do you do for them? I'm thinking about the future and maybe taking WB at some point. I think my CM might want me to take over the pack (her DS has gone on to Boy Scouts). But all the talk about "your ticket" and some poeple not finishing them has me worried. SO what do you DO for them? WHat ARE they really? WHY would I want to take WB at some point? What have people done in the past? Can anyone help with this? Diana Not a WBer YET, but might be soon!

I think if you can even get 2 Tigers you should slipt the Den. What does it matter if there are 6 or 1 in the Den? So if 5 boys want to be Tigers they can't because you don't have 6? What would he/them do at the beginning of the year if only 3 boys want to join? Tell them NO becasue he/they don't match his magic number? If my CM had told me I could only meet if I had 6(7, 2,9, whatever!) I would not have 4 boys almost to their Tiger and 1 who has come back. I would have 5 boys who had to LEAVE Scouting because of this "magic number".

We have. We are a small pack. 5 Tigers (I'm DL), 2 or 3 Wolves, and 2 or 3 Bears. My DS came in 1st in the Tiger race and second overall in speed. 2 other Tigers came placed in Show (best looking). So 3 from my Den are going to District in March. They had lots of fun and they are already talking about what they can do differently next year.