ScoutNut

REI is a great resource for Boy Scout Troops. They will put on a training program for the Troop for any number of different outdoor activities, including LNT.

Find out if your Council/District offers Webelos Summer Camp. These camps focus more on Webelos level stuff. For the summer between 4th and 5th grade, I would avoid Day Camp altogether, unless there was a Webelos specific program that he really wanted to attend. I would go with a longer term (3 or 4 days) Webelos Resident Camp. The best thing to do to facilitate the transition from Webelos to Boy Scout is, starting as soon as they become 4th grade Webelos, do as many activities as possible with Boy Scout Troops. Also work with as many different Troops as possible.

I do not see the confusion. The Webelos program weans the boys away from total reliance on their parents, and onto a situation where they are introduced to the Boy Scout method of "Adult Association", by use of Activity Badge Counselors, and being responsible for their own work. From the "Cub Scout Leader Book" - Chapter 21 - The Webelos Scout Program - "Webelos Scouts work on activity badge requirements during their weekly den meetings. When they have completed the activity badge requirements, the Webelos den leader or activity badge counselor, rather than a parent, approves most of the activity badges." "One activity badge is covered each month during den meetings. Some of the more challenging badges, such as Craftsman and Engineer, are featured for two months." "A well-planned den meeting program will ensure that most of the boys will qualify for the activity badge by the end of the month." "Boys bring to den meetings completed or partially completed projects done at home to show others, as well as to be approved by the Webelos den leader. This sharing encourages a boy to do his best and helps to build his confidence and self-esteem." "Boys turn essays, notebooks, drawings, and other written work in to the Webelos den leader for approval. If a boy is supposed to tell something for a requirement, he should do that at a den meeting." "Any boy may earn any activity badge during any month; however, having all den members working on the same badge at the same time is recommended because that way, more resources and qualified help are available." "The key factor to Webelos transition is the ongoing working relationship of the leaders of a Cub Scout pack and a Boy Scout troop." "The Webelos-to-Scout transition should be seamless. Graduating Webelos Scouts into Boy Scouting is a cooperative effort between the pack and troop. It gives Webelos Scouts and their families an awareness of the troop program, troop leadership, and advancement and an appreciation for troop organization and relationships." I think the above quotes from BSA makes it fairly clear how the Webelos program works. In your Family Tree scenario, it is possible that the mom might have helped put together the presentation, however, that does not necessarily mean her Webelos did none of the work, and learned nothing in the process. The mom might simply have been concerned that it was legible to the den leader. If the Webelos den leader thinks that the Webelos had no hand in the work shown him by the Scout, then the best thing to do is to talk to the boy, and ask him about his work.

As I am sure you know, in the Webelos program parents are only able to sign off on requirements if the Webelos den leader allows it. If the den leader has allowed a parent to approve his son's work, than the den leader must accept the signatures. If not it is the den leaders responsibility to approve, or not. "Homework" is a VERY negative thing for middle schoolers. Webelos should not be having "homework". Webelos should have minimal stuff to be done at home as most of their requirements are done with the den. If the Webelos has missed a meeting, or there is something that the den leader has instructed him to do on his own (work done independently - NOT homework), the Webelos should bring in all of his completed work to be shown to, and discussed with, his den leader. At that time the den leader either approves the work, or lets the Webelos know what has to be corrected/finished. While the Webelos is still a Cub Scout, and the Cub Scout criteria of "Do Your Best" still holds, the final call as to weather the Webelos has done his best is now the den leaders, not the parents. If the parent is doing the work for their Webelos, then the den leader should not approve the parent to sign off on requirements.

For Cub Scouts BSA has two main rules - 1) Do your best - That means the BOYS best, not the den leader's, CM, or anyone else's best. 2) Parents are Akela - Parents are their son's main leader. They are the judge of when their son has indeed done his best. Den leaders should not question, or second guess, when a parent has signed off on a Tiger, Wolf, or Bear Cub Scout requirement. There is NO TESTING of the Cub Scout after a requirement has been signed off. If the Promise, Law, Motto, Sign, and Salute are used every week at their den meetings, are practiced at home, and the parents sign off on the Bobcat requirements, their should be no problem at all.

Per BSA, the monthly Pack Leaders Meeting is attended by all registered Pack leaders. This includes the COR, CC, CM, Committee members, and den leaders. The meeting dates/times are published on the Pack calendar, and we have always been open to parents who wish to attend, but few ever do. How do you plan your monthly Pack Meetings if you do not have regular Leaders Meetings?

The goal of the requirement is for the Tigers to see how to communicate with a large group of people. This can be done any number of ways. Some of the things I have done - Copy center. Kinkos is very nice, but there are others. A small local print shop might be willing to help. College radio, or paper. Anything from a Big 10 U to a small community college will have something. You can even ask at your local high school. Webmaster. School, church, Pack, Troop, library, town, chamber of commerce, even a personal site. Find a Webmaster you know to show you around their site. A museum with a communication area. Internet at your library. This time of year is perfect. There are ways to email greetings to the Troops. Check out the Armed Forces News Service - http://www.usafns.com/email.shtml 911 Center. Find out how reverse 911 works to send out phone messages to everyone in your town/area.

I would suggest your Charter Organization Rep attend the meeting also.

WHOA! The G2SS applies to ALL SCOUTING ACTIVITIES! It does not matter if you are at camp, at a local baseball game, at your Den/Pack/Troop meeting, or in the middle of Times Square. If you are on a Scouting activity the Guide to Safe Scouting applies.

But, your Troop is doing the same exact thing as the higher priced Troop. You are asking for a large, lump sum dues payment at the beginning of the year. At $2 per meeting, and 52 weeks per year, that is $104 per Scout. Even allowing for 3 months off during the summer, that is still $80 per Scout. Do you really think this amount is coming from the boys? The parents are paying it. Just like the parents in the other Troop are.

From your other posts your Pack's adults have some major problems with playing nice with each other. Two things to do as soon as possible - Get your self completely trained for your position of CC, and make sure that every other registered adult gets completely trained for their positions as well. Contact your Charter Organization Representative (COR) IMMEDIATELY. Talk to him/her about all of the drama, backstabbing, and various other issues that are harming the Charter Organzations Pack. Together, come up with a plan of action to address, and correct, these issues, which will be backed up completely by both the CO and the CO. If necessary, include in the plan the need for replacements for various positions. Good Luck.

Only the EBOR members can read the recommendation letters. You should not even have access to them. As SM, you have known the Eagle candidate for a number of years. By now you should know him pretty well. You should know what kind of a person he is, both in, and out, of Scouting. You should have been discussing Scout Spirit with him all along. You should not have to read references to know what they will say about an Eagle candidate.

>>"FINALLY awarded his 2, 1 AND Star at the SAME CoH!">"So maybe we list the BoRs as 25, 26, 27 October?"

There is nothing unfair about limiting participation based on skills/experience. But, why refuse to accept new Scouts because of that? I doubt any incoming new Scout, or their family, would have a problem with not doing an activity they were unprepared for. It simply has to be made clear up front. I am sure that your Troop does other things besides those two winter camping trips. Or do you concentrate every weekly Troop meeting for 6 months on just those campouts? New Scouts could be learning about Boy Scouts, learning about your Troop, getting to know, and be comfortable with, the other Scouts, and working on their T-2-1 skills. There are a lot of things new Scouts could be doing between October and April besides winter camping.

What is the point of the Pack waiting to hold a ceremony, and then not having any Scouts there for the ceremony? There are only 2 Webelos, both of whom want to cross to Boy Scouts before March. Talk to your CM and CC and let them know that they will need to move the ceremonies up a few months. They should not have a problem with your request.

>>"Coming soon, a cut and paste from the BALOO syllabus."

Webelos crossing to Boy Scouts is an entirely different matter. Webelos can become Boy Scouts when they have met all of the Boy Scout joining requirements. Typically, that is after they have earned their Arrow Of Light award. The usual BSA Webelos program is 18 months long. That is from June at the end of 3rd grade, thru January of 5th grade. The Pack will then either present the AOL one month and have the crossover to Boy Scouts the next month, or do both at their February Blue and Gold celebration. This timeline can be either shortened, or legthened, depending on the Scouts. Also, all of the boys are not required to cross at the same time, or to the same Troop. Again, it depends on the individual Scout.

Don't need a calendar, unless it's a school calendar. Cub Scouts all move to the next Cub level at the end of the school year. BSA automatically changes all Cub Scout registrations, and allows Tiger registrations, on June 1st of every year. Our graduation ceremony is at the end of May, during our last regular Pack meeting of the school year.

Hi, and Welcome! Be proud of their Partners too. They worked right along with their Tigers to get them there! WAY TO GO TIGER TEAMS!! TIGERS ARE G-R-R-R-R-R-E-A-T!

Being in Scouts for over 10 years does not mean they have a clue how the Tiger program works today. Especially if they are not trained! Are you sure transferring to a functional Pack wouldn't be better?

The Tiger program is supposed to operate using Shared Leadership. Which means that each Tiger Team (Tiger/Adult Partner) takes turns planning and running meetings & outings. Talk to the den leader and set some dates for you and your Tiger to do the meetings. Scope out the places in your area your den can go for their Go-See-Its (college radio station or newspaper, fire station, nature center, historical place, etc), and talk to your den leader about when the best time would be to reserve visits. It is entirely possible that being brand new, your Tiger den leader is feeling over their head, and is not real sure what they are doing as yet.

>>"The pack meetings are just fun events, there are no advancement ceremonies, color guards, etc. The excuse it that those things aren't fun.">"As far as the den goes, I don't see how we are going to make much advancement progress until spring, after B&G. Even the crafts we do aren't in the book."

If the Pack you are in waits 6 months to recognize it's Scouts for all of their achievements then you should find another Pack. This group is NOT following the Cub Scout program. Find a Pack that does.

You lost me with all of that stuff about a sale, old cars, new book, blah, blah, blah. Not sure what all of that has to do with the color of the numerals you should wear. However, what I do know - The red/white numerals are NOT being "phased out". Per the BSA links referenced above, the red & white numerals (#10400-10408) are for Cub Scout Youth (Tiger, Wolf, Bear, Webelos), and Cub Scout adult leaders. The green & tan numerals (#18070-18078) are for Boy Scout Youth & Boy Scout adult leaders. Many Boy Scout Troops still have stocks of the red/wht numerals because, prior to the brand new BSA Uniform which came out last year, those were the colors they have worn since the Oscar de la Renta uniform came out in 1980. So, Fish, the "very knowledgeable" girl in your Scout Shop was not quite so knowledgeable, which is not unusual on this matter. As a Cub Scout leader you should have purchased the red/wht numerals for your BSA shirt, old, new, on sale, or full price. However, you are not alone, many other Cub Scouters did the same thing. Somehow, I think that an organization that has lasted 100 years will not collapse because some Scouts, and Scouters, are wearing the wrong color numbers on their shirts! Now, the wrong color shoulder tabs, THAT could well be the end of civilization as we know it!

If you have a problem with the timing of the popcorn sale you need to talk to your local BSA Council. Your Pack has NOTHING to do with it.