ScoutNut

I could find these statements by the BSA - "the home and organization or group with which the member is connected shall give definite attention to religious life" and - "it leaves sectarian religious instruction to the members religious leaders and family" Where does BSA state that a Scout MUST "actively participate" in a religion? Where does BSA state that a Scout and his family MUST go to a church? Where does BSA state that it is the job of a DL to "address the issue" with any family they believe does not "go to church"? (This message has been edited by scoutnut)

#8 Ask others (parents) to do things to help. Shared Leadership is more than simply asking others to do a few things to "help". It is a Tiger and his Partner planning and running meetings. #13 Denner and AD Not really needed if you use Shared Leadership. You have your Tiger Teams of Akela and Shere Kahn! Save the Denner and AD for the Wolf den and older. A Tiger Den Leader is essentially just a backup and a coordinator. Your job is to introduce these FAMILIES to Scouting, give them a taste of leadership, show them the program is fun, not rocket science, and get them hooked. If done right you will have no problem retaining Scouts, or providing future adult volunteers for the Pack.

Despite your wanting to keep training out of the discussion, if someone wants to know "what he needs to know as a TDL", the best places to find that ARE at training. Online - Youth Protection, and Tiger Den Leader Fast Start Training In person - Tiger Den Leader Cub Scout Specific Training And last, but certainly not least - Tiger Cub Scout Handbook. Run the den the way that your training and the Handbook tells you BSA wants it to run. One of the MOST important parts of that is to utilize SHARED LEADERSHIP. Many Tiger den leaders will have lots of excuses why they do not use Shared Leadership, and then complain that they are getting no help. Another important part of the Tiger den is the Tiger's Adult Partner. Again, some Tiger leaders have lots of excuses for not utilizing the TIGER TEAM concept. Then they complain about discipline problems, and having to work with other boys instead of their own sons. Every Tiger and his Partner form a Tiger Team that does EVERYTHING together. They sit next to each other and do flag ceremonies, say the Promise and Law, sing songs, play games, do crafts. Whatever they do, they do it - TOGETHER. Using Shared Leadership, the Teams take turns planning, and running den meetings and outings - TOGETHER. This is why a Denner is redundant in a Tiger den. The Tiger half of the Team that is in charge of planning and running the meeting IS the Denner for that meeting. He is just not called a Denner. As the Tiger den leader you need to always have a quick activity, song, and/or game ready to pull out if you, or the Tiger Team in charge, hits a snag. If you have plenty of room, relay games with the Teams works well. Keep a bag of balloons handy. They make for great instant games. Purchase the Cub Scout Songbook, or look up Scout, or camp, songs online and make copies of some fun ones. Many sites will also have the tune for you to listen to. Songs with an action attached are always good. Attend your District's Roundtable to find out what resources your council, and your area, has for your den. This is a good place to find out about that great off the wall place that you never heard of that gives free tours for Cub Scouts! Or that Cub Scout Fun Day put on by your District's Boy Scout Troops! Or that fun craft to go along with the monthly BSA Cub Scout Theme. Make sure to COMMUNICATE with your Tiger Teams. Do a monthly Den Newsletter. Let the Teams know what they still have to cover for requirements. Keep them in the loop on meeting changes, and dates and times of events and activities. Both in the den and in the Pack. Make sure that your son, you, and all of your Tiger Teams, are having FUN!

There is really no good reason why you should be talking to any youth, other than your OWN son, about your faith, or more especially, their faith. You can answer questions directly concerning the Duty to God requirements in the Cub Handbooks. Anything more regarding faith, or lack of it, and you should direct them to discuss it with their parents. If you feel that you will have a problem discussing these issues with your son, that is not something we can help you with. Perhaps you should start now, getting comfortable talking to your son about various small things so that when the time comes to discuss larger issues (and trust me, faith is only one of many that will come up) you will feel able to do so comfortably.

Why get picky about a couple of months out of a year? We are not about penalizing these boys. This is their 5th year in Cub Scouts. Full or partial, it does not really matter - it is still their 5th year. Give them their recognition, and congratulate them.

We give out our Service Stars to the Tiger, Wolf, Bear and 4th grade Webelos at our Graduation Pack meeting at the end of May. The 5th grade Webelos get theirs as part of their crossover to a Boy Scout Troop, along with their new Handbook and loops.

Registered Den Leader ONLY. From the Progress record for the Cub Scout Den Leader Award - "Complete one year as a registered Cub Scout den leader." A Cub Scout Den Leader has a different registration code (DL) than an Assistant Den Leader (DA). Also, one of the requirements for the award is - "Have an assistant den leader who meets regularly with your den." How can you "have" an assistant, if you ARE the assistant?

"how to get a boy through rank by the end of Program year, June." While earning his Wolf Rank Award is certainly a worthwhile goal - it is NOT a purpose of Cub Scouts. Advancement is only 1 of 7 methods used to achieve the purposes of Cub Scouting, and Personal Achievement and Family Understanding can be achieved in other ways. If the boy WANTS to earn his Wolf rank, then he will need to work with his family at home. Since the rank achievements are supposed to be earned that way, there should not be any big hardship for the boy. If the den leader has planned on working on any Wolf rank requirements in the upcoming months, the leader should communicate these to the new Wolf and his parents. Some that have already been covered in the den might be able to be repeated in different ways so they are fun for the boys who have already done them. The den leader should share any resources he has used with the parents (Home Depot/Lowes kids days, nature centers, zoos, etc).

If true, the EBOR, council, his Troop, his SM, his Troop Committee, and every BOR from Star up has done this boy a huge disservice. Because this was done to him, he was made to feel it was ok to lie on his Eagle Application. He was taught it is OK to lie because everyone around him lied also. If true - What a shame, and NOT at all what we should be teaching boys. Unfortunately, if this is true, with his Troop backing him up, there is nothing that can be done at this stage of the game for this boy. However, there IS something you can do for the Scouts in YOUR unit. You can make sure that your Troop follows the BSA program, and the youth in your Troop get the best BSA program possible.

There is no "correct" way, or order, to string your Tigers beads. Whichever way your Tiger prefers is fine. The only thing I would recommend is that you lock your bottom bead in the way it is pictured in the Uniform Guide. Take the lanyard and loop it back over and through the bead. A regular knot slips out of the plastic easily. This keeps the beads secure.

If you do Spring recruitment make sure your Pack has an ACTIVE Summer program. Minimum would be one Pack activity each month. Two would be better. If they must wait 3 months to do something Scouting you will loose them by September.

IM_Kathy states - "racing and tourney depends on the track you have... our packs track when my son started did not have a timer so it was done by double elimination." While nice, a timer is not really a necessity. We have 40 boys, a 4-lane track, no timer, and do not run an elimination race. We had a timerless 3-lane track that was as old as dirt. When we went to purchase our new 4-lane a few years back, we had a discussion on weather we should purchase some kind of timer to go with it. We decided to go with the more laid back, hands on approach, and skip the timer. Our finish line judges are our UC and a couple of our Troops asst SM's (no boys in Cubs). With our Den Chiefs, and any other willing Boy Scouts, acting as Pit Crew, this gives the Cubbies and their families some needed exposure to our Troop and its members. Another idea - Last year, for the first time, we had a food table set up, manned by some of the parents, and older sisters, where we sold dogs, chips, and cans of soda for a minimal price. This went over so well we are planning on including it again this year.

He's a Tiger Cub - Where was his Adult Partner, you know, the one who is supposed to be by his side doing everything with him, during this incident? I would have taken the offended leader straight to the boy's Tiger Partner then and there. However, at this point, being after the fact, I would talk to the boy and his partner, personally, as soon as possible. Punishment is the parents responsibility, not yours.

I would recommend that you do NOT run an elimination race. They focus to much on the winning and not enough on the fun. Also, for a good number of the boys they run 2 races and then they are done. We use a Partial Perfect-N program (a quick Google search will give you a number of sites where you can find programs). The boys race all evening long. We usually average about 8 races each, on a 4 lane track, before the boys start getting antsy. Then we calculate, based on the number of 1st and 2nd wins, the top 3 finishers. They race against each other in the last race of the night for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. They get special certificates and the red/white/blue PWD medals. We do certificates for the top 3 car designs, participation certificates for everyone, and the 5th grade Webelos make display stands for all of the cars as part of Craftsman.

Is this Pinewood for a single Pack, or for an entire District?

Like Bob, I am a bit confused over your role in the Pack. You stated that you have taken on the role of "PC". According to the most current Adult Application PC is the code for ScoutParent Unit Coordinator. However, it is not a part of a ScoutParent Unit Coordinator's duties to "fix" everything they perceive as being done incorrectly by a BSA unit. I am also confused by the fact that you state that you have been with this Pack for 6-8.5 years (not sure based on your description), have taken training, attended Roundtable, talked to your DE, and read the Cub Scout Leader Book (Cub Leader Handbook?), and yet you still do not understand how a Pack works. Packs do NOT "discriminate" on what is, and is not, program. Just about everything associated with a Pack, and what it does, should address some aspect of the Purposes of Cub Scouting. Fulfilling the Purposes of Cub Scouting IS program. In the Cub Scout Leader Book, BSA goes into detail on how a Pack's leaders (ALL of them) work TOGETHER to provide a great program to the Pack's youth. There is no such thing in Cub Scouting as separate Pack Committee and Pack Den Leader meetings. Pack's should hold a monthly Pack LEADERS meeting. This meeting would include all den leaders, CM, Asst CM, Committee Chair, Charter Org Rep, Committee members, and misc heads of any specific Pack committees. At the monthly Pack Leaders meeting they discuss, TOGETHER, what the dens are up to in the next month or 2, if the dens need anything from the Pack, how the last Pack meeting went, what worked, what didn't work, what if any changes should be made for next time, what is needed for the current month's Pack meeting, who is doing what for it, when the den leaders need to get their list of awards to the Pack Advancement Chair, planning is started for the next month (or 2's) Pack meetings, upcoming events are discussed, the Event Chair hands out fliers to all den leaders and keeps everyone updated on responses/problems, Treasurer gives a report on status of Pack bank account, Fundraising Chair goes over results/planning of Pack fundraisers, etc, etc. Den Leaders take back all information to their dens and pass it along to their den families. Your Committee Chair (CC) should assign a parent or Committee Member as the Pinewood Derby Chair who is responsible for putting together the event. They should gather a group of parents/leaders to help, and as the Pinewood Derby Committee they should make sure the track is in good condition, make sure they have any and all supplies needed for the evening (scale, tools, graphite, etc), acquire decorations, make sure any software used is available and accurate, essentially plan, and pull together the evening. The evenings schedule should include time for award ceremonies and other Pack related items. As you can see, there is no program vs non-program thing going on. It is simply everyone pulling together to provide a great event. This same sub-committee type of thing is used for Raingutter, Camping (BALOO trained adult should be the Chair), misc Pack outings, Summer Camp, Day Camp, Christmas Party, B&G, Graduation, and many other Pack events. Your Outings Chair is really in charge of many other outing related Chairs (BALOO, Summer Camp, Day Camp, District Cub Fun Day, etc), who usually are parents/leaders who are going to attend the specific outing activity. The Outing Chair provides coordination, Tour Permits, and any other help where needed. The Pack Advancement Chair is in charge of collecting the monthly list of awards that need to be given out at the Pack meeting from every den, purchasing them, and sorting them by den. The Advancement Chair works WITH the CM to plan and deliver fun ceremonies for the boys to receive their awards. It sounds like what your Pack needs is to get ALL leadership trained. Then your CC needs to do some recruiting of new Committee Members (get them trained as well) and work on getting the entire Pack leadership to work together as a TEAM. Because I am not clear on what position you fill, I can not be much help in advising you on what you can do to help implement this.

I am not sure what you mean by "Den Leader" training. BSA Online Learning Center - http://olc.scouting.org/ - has Fast Start Trainings for Tiger Cub Den Leaders (which is what you would need). It certainly could not hurt to take the other Cub Scout Fast Start Trainings for Cubmaster, Wolf/Bear Den Leaders, Webelos Den Leaders, and Pack Committee. They would give you a good overview of how a Pack operates. If you have not taken the "in person" Cub Scout Basic Trainings - New Leader Essentials, Intro to Cub Scouting, How We Have Fun, & Tiger Cub Den Leader Specific, your Council has them coming up in January. In order to be considered fully trained you will need to take them. Next year, if you are still their Den Leader, you will need to take the Wolf/Bear Den Leader Specific "in-person" training. And in the Spring of your son's 3rd grade, Cub Scout Bear, year, you will need to take the "in person" Webelos Den Leader Specific Training and Webelos Outdoor training. Your Council also has BALOO training coming up in May. It would be a good idea to take that training also. Since a BALOO trained person is needed to plan and run any Pack camping trip, it can never hurt a Pack to have multiple BALOO trained folks. On your question of weather you should take all trainings "to get them out of the way for further advancement in the troop later on", I think it is little early to take any Boy Scout level training at this stage of the game. Your son is only a 1st grade Tiger Cub Scout. He has about 4.5 years in his Cub Scout Pack before he will cross into a Boy Scout Troop. A lot can change in 4.5 years. Wait until he is in 5th grade before you take the training for Boy Scouts.

It sounds like yours is one of those Packs that meet all together every week with perhaps one week called a Pack meeting. It also sounds like you have some adults there not really doing anything. The only den where every Scout MUST have a parent present is Tiger. For Wolf thru Webelos, you should have at least a den leader, and preferably an asst den leader as well, but not really necessary if the den is very small and there are other adults around. In Webelos you might also have an additional adult there as an Activity Badge Counselor. How old is the teenage sitter? A 13 year old is much different from a 17 year old in terms of how much she can handle. If you are having all the siblings there from the entire Pack every week, than who ever is the sitter simply can not do it alone. You should have at LEAST 2 or better 3 there every week. With the extra parents there you should also assign one of them the task of overseeing the sibling area. Your only other option is to tell the parents to keep their siblings with them at all times. This can work if the parents bring things with them to keep their non-scout kids busy at a nearby table. At monthly Pack meetings there should be no need for sitters as the siblings should be included in the activities.

It is the right of the Charter Organization (as the owner of the unit) to mandate that all of their unit's leaders be trained if they wish it. Requiring that all parents get trained is trickier. Why would they want parents to be trained? What training are they requiring for parents? How do they prove the parents are trained? What happens if a parent does not take training? BSA considers raffles gambling, and any form of gambling is not allowed.

Ask the BALOO trained individual who is in charge of this outing to check thru the materials they received at BALOO training. There is an entire section on themed hikes and one on large group games. BTW - What you are doing is not really a camp-in. It is a cabin camping overnighter.

I don't think that activities have to be altered all that much. Leave on Friday evening. Require that a parent of the Scout who must leave early either attend, or come to pick him up. Make sure most of the relevant activities occur on Saturday. Give the Scout Patrol chores on the set-up end instead of take-down.

From what I have read, the problem is not so much the camping on Sunday, as it is the traveling. If you have practicing LDS youth in your Troop, they will be able to camp Friday night, do the activities Saturday during the day, and then leave Saturday evening in enough time to arrive home before Sunday. However, most practicing LDS families would more likely find another LDS Troop in their Stake to transfer to before they would transfer to a non-LDS Troop. If any of the boys from the folded Troop does transfer to your Troop, I would talk to the parents about their needs and restrictions.

No, there is not. However, all Safe Swim Defense rules must be followed.

5th grade Webelos cross over to Boy Scouts when they have completed the requirements for AOL and are at least 10 years old. This can happen at the B&G celebration in February, or it can happen in December, or it can happen any time until the end of 5th grade (at which time they can cross into Boy Scouts without their AOL). February is a good goal for the den to shoot for to have everything finished. Also, everyone is at the B&G celebration, including extended family, and friends of the Pack. However, the deciding factor is when the SCOUT has completed all of the requirements, has picked a Boy Scout Troop, and is ready to cross over. Many Packs will do a ceremony for AOL in February, and the cross over in March.

Earning your swimming belt loop is only an OPTION for Aquanaut. Aquanaut can be earned without it. edited to add - The rowboat requirement is also an option. Aquanaut can be earned with out doing either of those options.(This message has been edited by scoutnut)