ScoutMomAng

'So besides a Fishing Derby and a hike what other suggesions would you experienced leaders have for a pack of about 20 kids (Tigers to 1st Year Webelos) to do?' Our Pack always works on a belt loop and pin. Also depends on what else is in the area that is going on. We went to a battle re-enactment most recently. It was happening in the town where we camped at. Was fun and interesting.

Ang, I think you just summarized my entire experience as a parent of 3 teenagers (current ages 22, 18 and 13) in one sentence! Mine are not teenagers, yet (12, 10 and 6). I was hoping it would get a little easier to see the big picture! Ang

Since we are speaking of asking for donations and the like did you know? 1. That Wal~Mart will donate up to $50.00 per month, in merchandise, to an organization, provided you go in and fill out the form on or before the 15th day of the month BEFORE you need the donation. (This is good for getting paper, plates, cups, napkins or anything else your pack, or den can use) 2. That Wal~Mart has a VAP program for their employees and it works in two ways. First if you have a parent in your den or pack or troop that works for Wal~Mart and is helping you out at least 25 hours per 6 month period (Jan-June and July-December) then that person needs to go to the Wal~Mart where they work and speak to their Community representative (if they don't know who that is they need to get with their manager). If they contribute that much time the pack or Troop will get $250.00 checks twice a year...just because, from Wal~Mart. The second way it works is....If you can get a bunch of Wal~Mart employees to help you out on a big project, (say Pinewood Derby, or building a float) but that is the only time they volunteer so they don't total 25 hours seperately but together they do then your pack or troop will be granted a check from the VAP program that can be up to $1,000.00 Our pack has 4 Wal~Mart employees that volunteer so our pack sees $1,000.00 every six months from Wal~Mart. Just thought you ought to know. Ang

The Smithsonian Institution kits are also at the website: www.nsitoys.com Ang

I have a "Den Mothers Den Book" from 1967. It makes absolutely NO mention of a Crystal Radio. However, if you are looking to make one with the boys there is a Crystal Radio Kit available from Wal~Mart (usually found near the Optical shop) It is made by Smithsonian Institution. They also make several different kits (Weather station, Volcano, Micro Chemistry, Crystal Growing and Bioscope---all those are in the Mega Science Lab)... These kits can also be purchased at Michaels. Hope that helps. Ang

NJCubScouter and Oaktree Thanks for opening the blinds, so to speak. I really appreciate it. I didn't see the requirements that way really. I saw the requirement as be active in your den for 6 months after earning the Webelos badge, but now that I go back and look at it, it doesn't really say that does it? That's what I get for reading into it I guess. And you are exactly right, if he barely earned it so be it...my son, however earned it and did get more out of Webelos and cub scouting than did Tommy. I don't think my son will have a problem understanding this issue, he's a smart boy and he would want his friend to get the AOL if he truely earned it even if it was just barely. My only problem now is I can't seem to get in contact with the boy or his parents. Maybe the boy was right, dad (or maybe it was mom)said it was too late...I don't know but I can't force them to come back. I already feel like I beat a dead horse from August through December to get him to come back. Maybe once he's out of school for the summer and all the boys head off to middle school next year he will see that he is really missing it and will come back in the fall (late summer around here), as a Boy Scout. I just know that later in life he is going to kick himself a thousand times for not earning the highest award in cub scouts. Kids are funny...takes a lot to get them to look at the big picture! Thanks again, Ang

There is no reason the boy could not do the first one of 8e that reads: Attend the mosque, church, synagogue, temple, or other religious organization of YOUR choice; talk with oyr religious leader about your beliefs. Tell your family and your Webelos den leader what you learned. The boys parents are his religous leaders. There is no reason that he can not tell his den leader what his beliefs are and what he learned. Obviously he is going to hear from his parents what his mother believes and what his father believes. If the boy knows that his dad was raised in a Christian home this might prompt him to ask questions, and possibly form his own opinion, whether his mother likes it or not. The den leader will not be talking to the boy about God or any other religions...only getting information as to what the boy has learned from his family what they believe. As for the second part there is no reason the boy could not do the 5th choice which reads: Under the direction of your religious leader, do an act of service for someone else. Talk about your service with your family and your Webelos den leader. Tell them how it made you feel. Again, his religious leaders are his parents. No where does it say that this requirement has to be fulfilled by an ordained minister. As for the first part of 8. Tell what you have learned about faith. A boy can have faith in a lot of things. Especially himself. Have him look up the definition of faith. The sticky part is 8b...COMMIT Tell how these faith experiences help you live your duty to God. As an agnostic he would have to state something like, "If there is a God....." and for him to Name one faith practice that he will continue to do in the future...again his statement would have to start out..."If there is a God.... Then he would have to tell what he learned about his beliefs... If it will make his mother more comfortable have her sit with him when you interview him....she could stop the interview process whenever she felt uncomfortable. I think that would satisfy the requirement but being an agnostic or an athiest is going to make it difficult continue into boy scouts. JMHO Angela

"Go for it and he'll have classmates for a year of fun, fun, fun!" He's homeschooled so he'd just have a lot of new friends not classmates. But I'm not sure I can do the recruiting at the school....Don't think I could make myself sound excited enough. "Your profile doesn't say where you are, but even if your council doesn't have resident camp for Webelos, I'll wager two or three council patches that a neighboring council does." I'mIN Panama City, FL...this is the first year ourcouncil has had Webelos resident camp. "I'm a little over the top, but (to paraphrase Barry's line) I love this Webelos stuff!" I love Webelos too. I wouldn't do any other age level! However, I'm pretty straight forward person so for me to get somebody excited about going to Webelos resident camp that has never been in scouting before...hmmmmm...don't think that is me. I keep telling the packmaster that he needs to get a paid scouter in there that is used to making those types of pitches and get the boys excited about joining scouts. Thanks for the input! It is greatly appreciated. Angela

"Go for it and he'll have classmates for a year of fun, fun, fun!" He's homeschooled so he'd just have a lot of new friends not classmates. But I'm not sure I can do the recruiting at the school....Don't think I could make myself sound excited enough. "Your profile doesn't say where you are, but even if your council doesn't have resident camp for Webelos, I'll wager two or three council patches that a neighboring council does." I'mIN Panama City, FL...this is the first year ourcouncil has had Webelos resident camp. "I'm a little over the top, but (to paraphrase Barry's line) I love this Webelos stuff!" I love Webelos too. I wouldn't do any other age level! However, I'm pretty straight forward person so for me to get somebody excited about going to Webelos resident camp that has never been in scouting before...hmmmmm...don't think that is me. I keep telling the packmaster that he needs to get a paid scouter in there that is used to making those types of pitches and get the boys excited about joining scouts. Thanks for the input! It is greatly appreciated. Angela

I lead 40 girl scouts and 8 Webelos cub scouts so paying for things for the troop or den is completely OUT OF THE QUESTION this year. I did it for the past three years though and decided this year it couldn't be that way. I posed the question to the parents. They all agreed that den dues needed to be paid. We do fundraisers but that is to cover the "FUN things". They all agreed to this: $5.00 a month, payable the first den meeting of the month to the den leader. (of course I had to remind many of them). If they wanted to or felt they could handle it they could pay it in lump sums as much as possible. Any money left at the end of the year went for a pizza party for the boys at the end of the year. I still ended up paying for some stuff out of my pocket but nothing like in the past. The girls, however, are different and a WHOLE different subject!!!! Hope that helps you out. One word of advice: If they make checks, it might be a good idea to have them make the checks payable to you, not the pack, for it might take time to get the money back to you. A receipt book is also a good idea (one with duplicate copies...one for you...one for them). They don't have to keep their copy but if you have a copy in the book then no unanswered questions like, "Didn't I pay you for den dues this month already????" Angela

Just so I don't leave some things unanswered: "Tommy is 11"

As I said before, ALL other requirements are met except, Readyman, which could be done in a weekend, meeting with the scoutmaster(which would be easy enough to do this week) and the 6th month requirement. I guess I knew the answer to my own question before I asked it but I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing, or at least the most common thing, before I did it. I KNOW the 6th month requirement rule, I knew it was there. As a matter of fact I've been pushing one boy who has repeatedly missed meetings the last couple of months (because Dad has been gone...military). I pushed the other boy, "Jordan", on several occassions and reminded him 6 months, 6 months, 6 months. I took on a new boy in early September only after making sure he would meet the 6 month requirement for AOL. In my honest opinion Tommy shouldn't be allowed to get the AOL because he has not been ACTIVE for 6 months. However, before the arguement came up with his parents I wanted to make sure everything I was about to tell them was going to be "Kosher", if you will. Besides all that, Tommy or his parents have not returned my call yet. My son would be drastically upset with me because I wouldn't let him miss a meeting for anything, unless he was sick or it didn't pertain to him (which wasn't really relevant but those were the rules we set as his parents). I know in my heart of hearts that I would not be able to explain to my son how Tommy could just skip in after all this time and get his AOL. I would LOVE to see Tommy get his AOL, just as I am as excited as all the boys getting their AOL. My goal when I started Webelos, okay not when I STARTED Webelos but when I got into it, was that all boys would have the opportunity to earn all 20 pins before earning their AOL and crossing over. Around here is not "normal" for a boy to earn all 20 pins before crossing over or earning their AOL, but I wanted them to attain that goal. Out of 7 boys, 8 if you count Tommy, I managed to get 3 boys to earn all 20! I feel that is an accomplishment in itself around here. Next year I will set my goal higher than three, but I have to remember, "I put the program out there, what they do with it is their own call" Thanks to all of you who have helped me resolve this problem and helped me to answer my own question. Anarchist as for the "BSA BOY SCOUT JOINING REQUIREMENTS- age eleven or finished fifth grade or AoL...(for young over-achievers?)" Young over-achievers?...nope that is for the boys like my son, who's in the 5th grade, still only 10, and will crossover 5 April (remember school is out mid-May here). He will not turn 11 until 2 weeks before school starts and he will be in the 6th grade. Does that make him an "over-achiever"? Not necessarily, just means he snuck in because of age requirements for school cutoffs. Doesn't mean he is not as smart or smarter than the other kids he is in school with either, although he is a straight A student. Thanks again, to all of you who have helped me out with this issue. I do appreciate each and every one of you. Angela

Okay, here comes another long thread, I think. Tommy was in Webelos I with me through June of last year. Kids here get out of school in the Midst of May. So in middle May he was technically in the 5th grade (if you want to look at it that way). We started up again in August (1st part of August) because that is when school starts. 1st day of School this year was August 5th. Tommy did not come to meetings at this time (this is when he stopped). I pushed and questioned and coaxed and everything I could to get him to come back....but nothing. He was still, however, on my roster because he was still chartered with us until the charter expired which was end of January. If he were to come back he would have March as a re-enter date (granted end of March but still March). How old is Tommy??? He is 11 (just) and in the 5th grade (currently). I worry about "giving" him AOL without the requirement of the 6 active months because my son will KNOW that wasn't fair. When him and all his friends worked hard to earn all 20 activity pins and I withheld the last activity pin until the VERY end so they could get all 20 pins and cross over with AOL. There is not an award these boys missed (with the exception of Tommy). Plus, what would I be teaching him??? So, I guess my question is....what exactly does "ACTIVE" mean? Just registered...or actively participating. Last year (beginning of this year), due to circumstances, I had one boy with me for a month until we could do his AOL and crossover ceremony because we didn't have any pack meetings over the summer. The work he did with us was not pertaining to his AOL or his crossing over...they were just "fluff" pins for him, so he was in the 6th grade for 3 weeks but still in my Webelos den. He was told he didn't have to come but his younger brother felt more comfortable with him there, so he came...but I guess that is different, huh??? Two Webelos dens??? Yep...not that difficult. I LOVE it!!! I will do Webelos again this upcoming year even though I will not have a Webelos child. My oldest moves on to Boy Scouts and my youngest is going to be a Wolf! Working with Webelos boys is so much fun!!! By the way...I am a Girl Scout Leader of 40 girls also! And.....I work full time! Saint????? NO WAY...Crazy???? Probably. As far as the paper that says he is advanced to the 6th grade, Anarchist, how is this different from letting a Bear work on Bear requirements over the summer as long as he hasn't completed them? I read, somewhere, in another post on this site, that a "boy can work on the requirements (for example Bear) as long as he does not work on requirements for the next level (in the Bears case, Webelos). So why couldn't a Webelos II work on the final requirements for AOL as long as he wasn't working on any Boy Scout activities? Just asking??? Angela

With the September 1 2004 date that means current WEBELOS II can not earn this award. They generally crossover to boy scouts before summer and will have no time to get that camp requirement in. If I'm wrong somebody please let me know! It would be GREAT if my WEBELOS II boys could get that award because they have completed all other requirements. Angela

Hi all, Hope you can help me out here. This might get a little confusing so please bear with me. This year I am the Webelos II leader, as well as the Webelos I leader. Last year I was the Webelos I leader as well as the Webelos II leader. Last year I had a boy in my Webelos I den who was there every week. He earned all his badges that all the other boys earned and didn't miss even one! He was great! Very active boy, very good kid. Anyway, something happened, and I'm not exactly sure but my guess is that some of the kids at school were teasing him because he was a "cub scout". (I know this is why I lost one boy for sure). Well, "Tommy" swears that wasn't it, he just needed more time to do other things and it seemed, to him, that scouts was taking up too much of his "free" time. I had been asking Tommy's dad everytime I seen him if Tommy was going to come back. Well, at recharter for this year, I told Tommy's dad that if he wanted to come back he needed to recharter with the rest of us, even though he wasn't participating in the den meetings. Which he never did. Now, here we are, 2 weeks until crossover and I seen Tommy in the store with his dad. I asked him if he was staying busy. Tommy hesitated but then said no. I asked him why he didn't come back then when he realized he was missing it. He said his dad told him it was too late. His dad denies it but anyway, Tommy wants to come back. Lucky for him he only needs one activity pin to complete the badge requirements for his AOL, however, there is one sticky rule in there that says, "Be active in your den for 6 months". We are about to enter springbreak so it wouldn't be hard to catch Tommy up on the one activity pin requirement he needs but is there any "loop hole" to bypass the active in his den for 6 months? How do boys that are "lone scouts" get by this requirement??? I would love for him to get his AOL and cross over but is it possible for that to happen? What about if I carried Webelos II meeting through the summer and cross him over in August???? He will just be starting the 6th grade in August, will it still be right??? Can it be done??? Help!!!! Pleaaaaaaase???? Thanks Angela

I would only put epelletts on the Class A blue cub scout shirt and I would change the pants by making them more cost effective, more rugged with cargo type pockets and more durable. Boys enjoy being on their knees but they hate those patches at the knee that reinforces the knee. Boys enjoy collecting things in their pockets and bigger square pockets would give them more room to put their "stuff". The pants would have more cotton in them than the existing pants or at least a more durable cotton similar to jeans.

In our case it is cost compared to growth rate. My children grow way too fast for the cost of the pants to be effective. I, also, do not think the "tuxedo" type pant would work either. I can tell you, from experience, that once you hem a pant, and it stays that way for a while, then let it out, the pant will have a line where the old hem was. I don't see a major problem for cub scouts wearing jeans with their class A uniform shirt. Most people, not in scouting say, "The boys look great in their uniforms" when they see them. At least it isn't girl scouts where some councils say, "the Girl Scout uniform is Optional to show diversity"!

I'm only a Webelos den leader but I can tell you that the FIRST requirement for the AOL says: "Be active in your Webelos den for at least six months since completing the fourth grade (or for at least six months since becoming 10 years old), and earn the Webelos badge." Reading that the boy must be 10 at the VERY minumum to earn his AOL. So if he must be 10 there is no way he should have gotten his AOL before turning 10. Also, the VERY minumum Activity Badges the boy could earn would be 8. So, to answer the question, "what is a boy to do..." Earn the other 11 Activity Badges! In our pack our boys are always either halfway through the 5th grade or just completed 5th grade to become a Boy Scout. I also do not believe that a boy younger than 10 yrs old is "ready" for Boy Scouts. Just my two cents.

This is OBVIOUSLY on "The other list" First.... 1 entire day and night to be with my husband by ourselves with no children and no worry of children (so we can act like we are dating again!) second.... an excellent paying job for him so that I can quit work, he can retire from the Air Force, and we can have a 5 bedroom house with three bathrooms! This is for the "Scouting/camping" list 1. New set of utensils for the campfire 2. full size backpacks 3. leather craft kits 4. pots and pans 5. golden canoes 6. walking sticks 7. fishing poles 8. boys behaving 9. leaders leaping 10. earned badges 11. helping helpers 12. gorgeous campfires

Hi Jennifer You should come and bring your 2 year old daughter! There will be plenty of children around and probably even some older Girl Scouts to help take care of her and keep her occupied. Everyone of us has kids so we all know what it is like to have a 2 year old that is a handful! I'm sure no one would be offended by her presence. Angela

I know I came too late for this discussion and I have not read all of it yet but I must put my two cents in, and I won't remember who said what but you will know if you said it or not, if you even go back and read it. First off, I'm a leader of Girl Scouts (Daisys through Cadettes) and a leader of Webelos. The two programs are RUN very different. A lot of the girls themselves, at least in my group, are fed up with the girly girl stuff and are ready for some High adventure fun! Once we get passed all this registration stuff (our council is a little slow on the draw for that) then the girls will begin on their adventures. I do know that Senior Patrol Leader T15 has it right, as far as age equivelance. Girls do not rank, you are right. They level but nothing like cub scouts. They still have awards and badges they earn, like in the boy scouts, but they don't necessarily pertain to ONE common goal like a Bear scout is completing achievements to EARN his Bear award. A girl scout does not have anything like that accept when it comes to their signs in Junior scouts. My daughter herself is anxiously awaiting the age of 14 so she too can join Ventures. I think, and he may have said it, Senior Patrol Leader thinks its unfair that a girl can just join Girl Scouts and because of her age be placed in Senior scouts and still earn her Gold Award where as a Boy Scout must go through the ranks to earn his Eagle. However, earning both, Eagle and Gold, are just as difficult. A lot of work must be done in earning both awards. The disappointment for me is that when a boy earns his Eagle he becomes an Eagle Scout, when a girl earns her Gold Award she is still a Senior Girl Scout with a Gold Award. Not as easy to put on a resume. And even if it was on a resume not many would know what it was. Girl Scouting has gone as far as now getting rid of the the Cadette and Senior levels and now calling them Studio 2B Ages 11-17. Which will through your whole thinking off. No badges here, only charms! Although they still can earn their Silver Award and Gold Award. If they go to that for sure I know 6 Cadettes that will drop girl scouts in a heart beat! I however have to somewhat disagree with Sctmom when girls in our country are lead away from science and math classes because they are girls. I think the girls know they can do anything they want to do as far as a career goes. They see that in their everyday life. They must see female doctors occasionally. They see females on TV that are judges, lawyers, and surgeons. As for Girly girl stuff...in my opinion I don't think the things we do are Girly Girl. My girls don't crochet, knit or sew (okay we did the sewing badge recently and none liked it!), but they are all non-exciting. I don't think the girls are happy with the sitting around a table all the time doing what they have to do to earn their badges. I think they would LOVE the opportunities to go out and do the things boys do in their scout program but because somebody decided we needed a Safety-wise book we can't do this or that because safety wise says no or we can but with restrictions. It's almost like National wants the girls to only do girl things. I say, "Let them go! Let them do what they want to do (with supervision and proper protection) and let them learn how to tough it out!" As a Girl Scout Leader and a Webelos Leader, I would LOVE to see the GSUSA come into the new millenium and revamp the program but take an honest opion poll of all the girls registered, not just a select few, and work the program to the way the girls want it. I'm sure they will be surprised. I'm sure if they did a study they would find that most girls drop out of Girl Scouts at the Cadette age level because the interest is no longer there and they can pursue other interests at school. I think it would be interesting to see how many girls actually leave girl scouts to join ventures or some other program similar to it. Okay...so I've put in probably more than 2 cents but I had to Or I would forget everything I needed to say.

Hi VAordeal! Welcome! I'm not sure what an ordeal is, it must be BOY scout related. I'm still only with the cub scouts and Girl scouts. I'm sure I will learn soon enough though! Angela

Hi Jennifer, I'm at Tyndall AFB in Panama City! Welcome to scouting! Will your group of boys be attending our Space Derby this weekend at the base? Everybody was invited at the Rountable. And it is still not too late to join in on the fun! Let me know if you would like to attend. Angela

If I only watch one game a year it is the Michigan VS Ohio game! Go Wolverines!!!! Thanks for the warm welcome...I think I've already stirred up some stuff in another discussion though. Ang

If I only watch one game a year it is the Michigan VS Ohio game! Go Wolverines!!!! Thanks for the warm welcome...I think I've already stirred up some stuff in another discussion though. Ang