AKdenldr

Pack212 said, "We run the God & Country program as a Pack every two years for Wolf-Webelos...." Great. I'm looking coordinating the 4th grade program (Webelos -- God and Family). How many nights do you use and how long are your meeting times? -- AK

Thanks all. ScoutNut to answer your question, I think just a subset of the boys attend church -- My guess is that about half the den would fit the God and Family. No two boys attend the same church. Packsaddle -- according to the materials I have this can be taught as a group, or mentor / family approach. My intention based on the makeup of my den is NOT to teach it to my whole den as part of our schedule for the year. But I'm hoping to organize something that my son can be a part of. Of course we'd have the boy's churches involved. Jhankins -- interesing idea. Have you done it? How did it go?

I'm interested in doing the God and Family award with my son. There are a few more parents in his den (I'm the Web DL) that are also interested. We are a 'friends of" pack and nobody attends the same church. (I've got most of the materials and understand the basics of the program.) Anyone put together a program under these types of conditions? Want to share your experiences? Either respond in the forum or PM. Thanks much, AK

I've had a lot of success turning den activities into pack activities. I've collaborated with the other dens in terms of an activity at den meeting time. They give a portion of the meeting time for that activity then. (Remember they have their own den plans for advancement and may not be able to add in 20 minutes for something you find interesting. You might just offer to come and do your interesting thing at a time in their calendar that is useful for them.) For activities not during the den meeting time, we invite them to join us. It works best if the den leader is interested in the activity (ice fishing) and can encourage attendance. Our pack structure is weak. Dens are by nature stronger. Your mileage may vary.

This is an interesting one to me. I met with the PE teacher and she said that it wasn't part of the curriculum until latter. She taught me how to teach it with a small bean bag under their chins so they tuck their chins. She had other hints also. I suggest spending 5 minutes with an expert to get all the tips. In another area of the wolf book is the competitive relays. Developmentally, competition is very difficult for 7 and 8 year old boys. Once I de-emphasised winning all the boys had a better time and the den worked better. Have fun with the boys.

What is that song you sing that you tell jokes between the verses? I think it was from He Haw. Thanks.

What does the bear den below look like? Looking to the future...as I am assuming the W2's will be bridging in March? Really just a few short months. Can be done. Pull the W1 out for citizenship if it isn't done yet. Fitness is mostly at home. Then let them earn the items the other den is working on until bridge time. If they learn the AOL stuff this year, more power to them. By then the bears might be done with their bear trail. Do a beltloop or 2 with the bears which will count towards a Web Activity badge (map and compass towards Traveler comes to mind). Camping, hiking, LNT, etc till june then you are all Webs together by that point. If you have involved parents that will help.

My bears loved parent homework! A requirement of the bobcat is the youth protection piece. I had each boy open their books to the that piece and put a sticky tab sticking out of their books. Then I had them do the same with parent guide. Then we practiced yelling, "Mom and Dad you have homework!" as our closing. a big hit. Worked too. Have fun!

Thanks Gary for all your time helping us understand the LDS scouting program. One thing I see around here is very small troops. Troops are associated with Wards. (And there is some rule about Wards not joining up to sponsor a troop.) So what I've seen is 11 year old groups with 2 or 3 active boys. I'm assuming then, that the next up group is just double that size, being for 2 years. A lot of adult association for sure, but less of the other methods. Are my perceptions wrong? (Thanks for your service to scouting and these boards.)

Eagle92, Once you submit all your changes, ask the council registrar for an updated report for your Pack. We've found that this increases the quality of the work, especially if you entered a slug of changes. You can catch anything that was that needs correcting while all the details are fresh. Most likely all the errors were not created by the past CM. -- AK

Parent education. What you probably could do in small groups at the back of the room, on the phone, or at the campfire will need to be more formal.

You didn't say, but I imagine that you are the tiger den leader? I'd drop the boy from your den. He could be helped by scouting, but only if you had parents you can work with at home. Bigger issues are afoot here than you can deal with one hour a week. The other boys will suffer.

Yep, it is mid October. By the time new pack structure gets organized you will be looking pretty far down the school year. Been there, done that. We've never had a strong pack organization. (But we have high hopes for this current set of recruited adults.) Put your den schedule together and serve your den boys well. Offer to share activities with den leaders for which it makes sense. Support the other den leaders, remember they are in the same spot or worst than you. Don't call it 'going rogue'. Be helpful, courteous, kind, and flexible. Be clear that you will support the new CM. ('How can I help? These are some of the thoughts I had.') IMHO 80% of what the boys experience in scouting happens in the den. Make it a good experience.

I agree with the points above. I would not count it if it doesn't fit, and the committee really has no say. It is a disservice to the boys to award them something they didn't earn. It is a disservice to send a boy to a scout troop when they are not somewhat familiar with the outdoors multiage program. Some phone calls need to be made. Confirm with the scoutmaster, if he isn't firm on his committment ask if there is a patrol or ASM that can lead this up. Call each of the disinterested boy's families and discuss the intent of the requirement and lack of interest/attendance when this has been offered in the past. In particular, place the meeting of this requirement in their laps. Really if the boys bridge and the families aren't engaged in scouting, your pack is just passing the problem on to the troop. Boys and their families should be making the choice to join Boyscouts, not just being promoted based on age and time. Thanks for your service to the boys - AK

Sounds like the boys are very lucky to have their involved parents. In another thread there was talk about how in BS adults work with all the boys and you can't tell who goes with who. As you think of moving that way, How about trying a round robbin where adults are given stations and boys rotate in groups. Once it is up and running, you can step in once an a while and experience it with your son. We did a lot of round robbin type meetings in our Wolf year. We had 8 boys that year and 3 stations at a time worked well. Very successful and the boys were very proud of their parent who was leading a station. -- AK

Thanks all. Scoutnut your piece is going to work for us -- with a tiny bit of rewording. -- AK

Hello all, I am looking for a skit, or opening / closing bit for the November pack meeting that explains the meaning of the pledge of allegiance. Webelos will be performing it. Does anyone have something written? Thanks

denleader09 said exactly what I was going to say: "I really think that the DL should think of something the boys can work on now so that they and their parents can get excited about it and that they will forget this patch. Like Leave No Trace Award or something else. Then they can see their sons earn that and not feel bad compared to the CM's son getting stuff." Or a beltloop, pin, or activity badge. Pick something that requires no home support. It can be hard this time of year as the dens are nowhere near to the tiger, wolf, bear awards. Or even a patch for a small den event -- "bake sale?". Remember, sons of leaders have more expected of them. They can't cancel at the last minute because their best friend scheduled his birthday party on a weekend scheduled for scouts, or some other reason. They have to share the attention of their parents with all the other boys and their parents. They stay late and arrive early and on and on. If there is a lot of adult complaining, it may be time for an adult meeting with your den parents. Explain the advancement program philosophy (reuirements as written, standard is "do your best"). Set a goal to earn the outdoor patch next summmer. Ask the big complainers to lead that effort. Really, folks who complain about this will then complain that they didn't know their son could earn a popcorn patch, or whatever.

IMHO, Boy's Life promotes identity, not advancement. My boys mainly read the jokes and look at pictures of the boys in full uniform doing cool outdoorsy things in other places. I'm not thrilled about the ads for movies and video games.

1. Parent survey. Create a parent interest survey and require it as an entrance ticket to your next den meeting. 2. Call everyone and ask. Email doesn't work. 3. Parent meeting -- get them all in a room and explain the problem. Refuse continue in the current arrangement. It is not fair to the boys and it is not fair to your son. IMHO 8 is the highest a tiger den should go. 2 dens a much better than one. Have fun with your group.

One year we toured the FBI. Another year we had a police officer come to our den meeting. That was very sucessful, the boys were very attentive and had lots of questions. The Bear book is great because there is more choice on what the boys do.

Thanks all for the feedback. We had our fitness introduction meeting last night. It went well enough, although I wasn't able to cover all the items I wished. In particular I had the planned to take the boys down to the school library and log onto mypyramid.gov which is terrific. They have a game there for kids where you launch a spaceship by making good food choices. The boy factor with the game is that it will dramatically fail to launch if the diet or exercise wasn't adequate. Oh well, perhaps a real cold winter meeting when we can't go outside. bbender we are doing athlete this month but in other meetings. I'm finding that with the new delivery method there is too much content for my group and in the time we have allowed. So, I am using those plans with caution. Thanks AlamanceScouter for the personal trainer gym idea. If I had more time plan, that was a hot idea. I'm putting it in my back pocket incase I need something in the spring. ghermanno thanks for reminding me of Baloos bugle. The site seems to be having some trouble right now, I wasn't able to access it. Denleader09 I took in a bottle of orange soda and we measured out the 7 tablespoons of sugar in it. That worked as a nice transition piece between a game and more talking. The boys were not shocked however, I think they have had a lot of this stuff in health. I'm having fun with the boys. They have become a real team and were very warm and welcoming to the new boy. Thanks all.

Hello all, 5 of my Webelos are attending a camporee where they need to perform a skit or reinactment related to the French and Indian war. Does anyone have any resources? This is last minute and I'll have little time to practice the boys prior so it needs to be pretty simple. Thanks much, always great help on this site.

Hello, Looking for some fun ideas for a den meeting on the Fitness Activity Pin. I'm using 1 after school den meeting to introduce this mostly at home badge. Usually the Webelos Leader Guide gives me lots of fun ideas, but not for this pin. Active ideas would be appreciated. Thanks much.

Popcorn orders at open house night are generating recruitment interest. (Popcorn sales are new for us. I have mixed feelings about it.) Very interesting, not at all anticipated.