AKdenldr

I had a problem in my bear den with long ago earned badges still dangling with a safety pin from the shirt pocket. I recently added a uniform inspection to a den meeting, it was a huge hit. I anounced it in email way in advance as "parent homework". (I modified the official form to things I was concerned with -- I don't care if the belt buckle is the right one for their rank.) I had a military dad talk about the uniform and respect and all that. Lots of complements were handed out, no awards, or candy. The boys liked the words of "uniform inspection" and their point scores. Many of those dangling items got sewn on. Some that were in drawers were sewn on also. Since the boys liked it so much I'll add it again, probably before camp.

I've had many of the same experiences with a fast track approach like trainerlady. I know the official program has been the themes, but I sense that many (like me) are quietly doing a fast track approach. I went to roundtable last night. The cub breakout leader asked for a show of hands of how many used the theme materials from last month (works of art). In a room of about 20 not one raised their hand. I see fast tracks as a good thing and I hope it will be implemented well. My sense is that retention is based on a good den experience, which is based on a successful den leader. Fast tracks would enable leader to come up to speed faster (especially in small packs.) I would rather do online training for powerpoint type stuff (youth protection, tour permits, etc) and in person training for stuff like how to lead a game, sing a song, do crafts. In the end, any Pack that would like to continue to do themes could certainly do them -- my gosh, I have 6 years of them sitting on the bookshelf.

I have two related questions: 1.) I want to do a sewing project with the bears -- a bag that would hold their handbook and a pencil or so. Sized the right size that they could use it for Webelos -- then on into Boy Scouts. Does it need to be sized to handle a notebook in addition to the handbook? Does anyone have a pattern or dimensions? I'm thinking to use recycled adult jeans or other repurposed fabric. 2.) Can someone describe to me the Webelos notebook? Do we need to use one? I see requirements for a safety notebook and see lots of worksheets on meritbadge.com. Do the boys find these too school like? Do they make it back and forth to the meetings? (Notebooks strike me as school like -- typically what I tried to avoid in my den.) Thanks much in advance.

I thought that the boards had been quiet lately. How about laugh on the silly zingers we get from the parents? I'll start -- single (high maintenance) parent mom whose (high maintenance) son has been attending for half the year. Paid the ten dollar registration, but after many many conversations still hasn't bought the shirt or book. "You mean I have to BUY the book?" Or another Mother, 'I was waiting until he said he wanted the uniform shirt to get it.' You next

I didn't say what the troublesome activities were: month of chores and week of healthy habits.

Welcome, and have a great year. I agree with the have fun, build the den friendships, and work with a reasonable pace. I found the wolf book had two requirements that were hard for some parents to seem to get done at home with their sons. Plan these achievements early in the calendar so you have lots of time for reminders, if needed. In addition, I would look for a belt loop you could do with the boys prior to the B&G so they could be awarded something. There are several that dulplicate some of the requirements on the Wolf trail. See meritbadge.org for a document that lists the duplications. Have fun.

Some small museums do "night at the Museum" for a small fee.

Does anyone have any advance knowledge of the new belt and pin requirements? The CS Sports Academics and Sports program guide was supposed to be out in September. I don't see it on Scoutstuff.org. I assume it was delayed. Background: I have a parent who offered to put together a table manners class for the boys. I'd like to support her enthusiasm to contribute to the Pack, but would also like to motivate the boys to attend. (Afterall, this isn't like shooting off rockets or anything.) Therefore, I would like to match it up with the new belt loop or pin requirements for manners. -- Thanks

A parent is stepping up to do this achievement for our den. Looking for things that your boys enjoyed and interesting ways to deliver this item. Thanks in advance

Just searching for ideas that work. We haven't done a lot with belt loops as a den or pack. I'm thinking we will have more time this year as Bears. So what do you do? The requirements are not in their handbooks(and majority of my parents are just becomming capable with the handbooks). Do you copy the belt loop requirements to hand to parents for the things their (middle class and active) sons are individually doing outside of scouts? (music, swimming, snow sports, soccer, language classes.....) Do you just focus on your scouting schedule and what you do as a group? Should I avoid the loops they must earn as Webs and just focus on some of the others? How do you track the boy's progress and signoff by Akela? Thanks much in advance.

Praire, I think you are on the right track. Here is something my husband is planning with his WebII boys: Check out this book (my local library has a copy) Backyard Ballistics: Build Potato Cannons, Paper Match Rockets, Cincinnati Fire Kites, Tennis Ball Mortars, and More Dynamite Devices by William Gurstelle. Good luck.

We're saying this one in my home, I don't know where it comes from Bless the food before us, the family beside us, and the love between us. I thought it could be easily modified for scouts. Good Thread.

Great question! I would like a reference guide detailing where in the community to do things / get help etc for the boys' achievements / activities. Also, more than training for adults: quality programs for the adults to take their dens to! The GS council here schedules brownie "try - its" which expose the girls to lots of different things through out the year. These are part of a Saturday. They publish these far in advance so leaders can choose and plan. I wish I had these for the cub scouts. Events I would schedule for boys would include: Bike Rodeo (bike mechanics (no bike shop around here wants to teach boys in the spring), safe riding etc... Day camp in town Hobbyshop day Scout o Rama Soap Box Derby Science day (Potions and Explosions) Something like the GS singing tree concept so boys can learn the scouting songs Encampment with PROGRAMS Thanks for asking

baggsjr, Thanks for stepping up for the boys. Monthly program helps are great for the cubscout program and keep the fun in the program. But, I think you will find that you will have to further plan your year for achievements in addition, to help the boys advance. (Which they take great pride in.) IMHO much of the cub program makes the assumption of a certain level of functional home support for advancement. Boys who don't earn awards and advance relative to their peers are more likely to drop. I'm guessing with an at risk population you will have less support at home so most of the accomplishments whould need to be in the group? right? Best of luck in your venture. You have an opportunity to really touch some lives.

I just started using the denner system with my just barely Bears. We talked first about the qualities of a "boy leader". I wrote them down to put on the outside of an "election box". Everyone who wanted to be was put on the ballot. We talked about how in America voting is private. They did vote for themselves but we didn't share the results so they don't know that. Responsibilies are: opening and closing the meeting, writing the thank you notes for field trips (at home with parents), line leader, passing out items, and reminding the other guys about scouting events coming up. Based on guys social skills we'll have different level of success and expectations. Go ahead and purchase the gold cords. They are huge with the scouts. Boys like the denner system.

I just started using the denner system with my just barely Bears. We talked first about the qualities of a "boy leader". I wrote them down to put on the outside of an "election box". Everyone who wanted to be was put on the ballot. We talked about how in America voting is private. They did vote for themselves but we didn't share the results so they don't know that. Responsibilies are: opening and closing the meeting, writing the thank you notes for field trips (at home with parents), line leader, passing out items, and reminding the other guys about scouting events coming up. Based on guys social skills we'll have different level of success and expectations. Go ahead and purchase the gold cords. They are huge with the scouts. Boys like the denner system.

All great things said. Here are some things that worked for me. In my experience, I found that the boys settled through the year, so don't get too concerned if is a process. Structure your meeting and if the structure is going to change go over the temporary or permanent change with boys (agenda on board good -- have a boy read it aloud.) Once the boys know the structure some of the craziness should calm down. Get a good relationship with parents so that they understand the rules and consequences also. Have lots of games in your back pocket that you can do at the end of the meeting, so that you can say "when we complete this I have a new game for you". Cooperative games worked best for my wolves. (Try tug of peace.) I found the boys behaved best when all of them were in their uniform shirts. So I rewarded "golden meetings" with a small candy on the way out the door. Every boy had to have shirt and book for the group to have a "golden meeting". Call them "scouts" instead of "boys". Seems to do something for them. Anticipate problems, plan for them, and tell the boys what you expect beforehand. (We just went to the bowling alley and before we went I said that we were not going into the arcade room there. And no boy did!) Praise boys often individually and collectively. I agree that denners won't do much for these issues. (You are asking too much of a 7 yo boy to control another 7 yo boy.) You can use the denner election to have the boys list a boy leader would behave like (follows what the adults say, helps the den go, kind to everyone....). Denner cords are very compelling to the boys. We did use a poster to show advancement and that helped the boys understand how the activities fit in with the awards they were working for. Watch a 2nd grade teacher and you will see that they do not introduce a lot at once. Work on code of conduct, next meeting go over it and everyone signs it, then next meeting introduce topic of denners, then next do elections.... Remember to have fun. Good luck.

I've been following the discussion on the monthly program helps and fast tracks. This is an offshoot question: We plan for advancement and add in from the monthly program helps. I'm excited about the Bear book because it is much more flexible then the Wolf year. So this brings me to the question, what stuff in the requirements have your boys found boring, too simple, too hard, or too school like? Or to put it another way, what items in the books reduce retention? What are the big successes? Thanks

Google National Trails Day. In our community there are two, one this weekend and one in September. This is my favorite service project we do. We also have done city Wide trash pickup, city wide creek cleanup, sponsored a local park, and planted trees for the city at a different park. We find if we change the activities the boys learn more and we get better attendence. Its fun to call around to find opportunities, everyone looooves cub scouts looking for service. Good luck and have fun.

Hello, I think Basementdweller, and then PACK15NISSAN, misread my orginal post (a question about the program and request for information) as "How little can I do for the boys inorder to award them as much as possible". I'm not online for insults to my character or program, or uninformed comparisons to other people's programs. From the earlier posts I got an answer to the program question that I asked. Done. I'd like to close this discussion.

JoeBob, My leader's guide (2005 printing) p 20-7 in the blue box says "Only designated elective requirements may be repeated to earn arrow points." One of those "designated" elective requirements is wolf 5g-i. What about lego kits for wolf elective 5g-i? Mom asked me first saying, "we do those all the time". A cooperative mom and boy does not have fine motor issues, I just said, 'lets count just one lego kit'. On a related note, have you seen the boys life reading contest? It would require writing a one page report to earn the patch.

Double dipping is a no-no right? I am confused as to the requirements and electives and the awards in the back of the book. Is it double dipping if I use the creek cleanup for bear elective 15e AND as Outdoor activity award 5 or 6 (or CS LNT #4 or CS World Conservation Award #3)? What about elective 25b and LNT #2?

My family has ALWAYS (even when we didn't have kids) given to scouts through the United Way campaign. We like the United Way because they impliment requirements on non-profits that result in better run organizations. I've been reading in these forums with great interest about FOS. It seems there is tracking and list making etc about units and FOS contribution rates. Should we drop the United Way contribution and donate to FOS?

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I thought I would post an update. You all advised not to include the 3 Webs with Bears in the same den. Based on your advice (plus a few more reasons) we are not combining the dens. I did sit down and try to map out the requirements from one book to another. There are some items that could be done as a group. But in my opinion, it would cause both programs to be scattered and disjointed if they were combined. We are going to keep in mind the connections and invite the 3 boys if it makes sense for an activity. In case it is helpful for someone else, here are the connections I found: Aquanaut: elective 5e, e19, swimming beltloop and pin Artist: e9c, e9a, art belt loop 3, e10a-c, 12a-b, e21b, 19e Athlete: r16a; r14f, Physical fitness belt loop Citizen: r3f, 3h, 3g, 3j, 7f, 17d, service projects Communication: r17c, r18g, r18b Craftsman: r20b, r20a, e7, e1d, 312h, activity at Tandy leather Engineer: r21c, e4 Family Member: 6c, 6e, 6f, 10b, 13c, 9f, 9g, 9c Fitness: 9d, 11e Handyman: r14c, r14d, 17e Naturalist: 6g, 5d Readyman: r14a, r11e, e19d Scientist: e1d Thanks all, these forums are great

1. Better programming: My local district/council has dropped most programs that I found valuable: Council newspaper, University of Scouting, Scout-o-rama, spring cub overnighter at the cub scout camp, ... Events that are planned have very little programming. There are no feedback forms at any event. My scouts' parents ask why they offer so little compared to the local GS district. 2. Better communication: Their answer to every communication concern is "attend the round tables". I have -- they are a waste of my time. Update your website. Return my emails and calls. Don't make me have my husband call you and ask why you haven't returned his wife's calls. 3. Better service: if I walk into the service center they can not tell me when the next leader training is scheduled, who to talk to about what, or why they lost my adults' paperwork twice. (They don't apologize for errors.) They majorly messed up camp registration this year. (Also, why are you all always standing around chatting?) Why was the baby faced DE rude to my recently recruited Pack Chairman (very senior in the community BTW)? 4. Transparency: Given the above, I haven't seen that you make good use to the money I give you. Prove it to me that donations sent to you are of better utilized than donations to the food bank, woman's shelter, or Scottish Rite. Your FOS literature did not prove it to me. That all said, I love what my unit has provided to my boys in the way of scouting.