Arrow of Light to Scout

[bear dad]

"j", I am with you on this, maybe you or I got the wrong impression? I only posted the above as a response good or bad to the above posts.

I agree if it say memorize and recite, that what needs to be done.My reference about school is about those who don't know if they actually know it?

In our den we recite the law, oath (which is bears) at EVERY meeting. All boys know it and say it if I had to asked them to do it on their own they could. When they start webelos will do it the same way, by the time they get to the AOL stuff they should know it, just practice and more practice over time.

 

 

[perdidochas]

>How many of you have been faced with a new Scout in your Troop, proudly wearing >his Arrow of Light patch, and he can't say the Oath or Law?

 

The requirement doesn't say be able to say it when they enter Boy Scouts. Keep working on it, they will start to remember.

 

>Just got 3 new scouts crossed over at the end of May. Our Troop was there and >watched as they each received their Arrow of Light.

 

>When we open our troop meetings the Scouts usually do both the Oath and Law. >

>None of these new Scouts could do it.

 

They will be able to do it. Give them a couple of meetings.

[bear dad]

The requirement doesn't say be able to say it when they enter Boy Scouts. Keep working on it, they will start to remember<

 

Show your knowledge of the requirements to become a Boy Scout by doing all of these:

Repeat from memory and explain in your own words the Scout Oath or Promise and the 12 points of the Scout Law. Tell how you have practiced them in your everyday life.

 

If boy has AOL should he not be able to recite from memory the law or promise if that is what is required?

Are going to make mistakes or fumble or get cold feet, Sure you bet. It is another thing all together if boy has a badge that say he has done something and then not be able to do what he has gotten reconition for.

[evmori]

Yup he should be able to recite it from memory. But in reality, that doesn't happen all that often. And once the WEBELOS has been awarded the AOL and crossed over to Boy Scouts, there is nothing you can do about it. Wait! Yes there is something you can do about it! Help your new Scout memorize and live the Scout Oath and Law in his everyday life.

[bbender]

That (AoL) was then, this is now (Boy Scouts). And a requirement of the Tenderfoot Rank is "Repeat from memory and explain in your own words the Scout Oath, Law, motto, and slogan", so that's the next step that one can work on.

 

I suspect that we've identified a reason for there being no AoL exemption from this requirement!

 

FWIW (and yeah a super den leader will have done this so well they'd never forget), I'm sure there's lots of stuff I knew and memorized and could explain that just a few months or weeks later I couldn't remember. Now, of course, that half life has burned down to hours or minutes . . . ;^)

[bear dad]

bbender,

you say that the AOL was then, what about the now,isn't still required today?

Why would they put that in the required part of the AOL if it was not required till later?

That is part of the AOL requirement today, as I said boys may stuggle, mess up when reciting them, but that is different than boy having the badge and saying he knows it, and not being able to recite any or all of it.

 

[bbender]

Thanks BearDad.

 

What I mean is that since the topic is about "new Scout in your Troop, proudly wearing his Arrow of Light patch, and he can't say the Oath or Law":

 

-- the "then" was when he was in Cubs, to earn the Arrow of Light. We hope he earned it and has simply forgotten it since or has stage fright now or whatever, but there's no going back.

 

-- but the "now" is: let's earn Tenderfoot, and let's be sure they can "Repeat from memory and explain in your own words the Scout Oath, Law, motto, and slogan". Working on that is where they are now . . .

 

Yeah, should come easy, but . . . that's the next task (even if it was an AoL task too).

[bear dad]

bbender,

 

Sorry if I took it wrong? Sometimes we think something and write something else.

Think you would agree that one would wonder if boy has the badge, it meant that at somepoint he recited the stuff, now he has cold feet, new enviorment?

Totally another if can't say a word.

[bbender]

No worries bear dad.

 

Yeah, I'm gonna have thoughts about it (but I'm gonna keep them to myself since they're not gonna be useful for anyone).

 

But for the boy, we're gonna be kind and all and just work on him learning it right and getting it done now for T-foot . . . whether or not he was just signed off on AoL without doing it right, we're gonna make sure he gets it right from here on.

 

And then we're sending him back as a Den Chief in a couple years to get it done right for those who follow!! ;^)

[bear dad]

sounds like a plan, good luck to you all.

[ScoutNut]

One of the requirements for the Boy Scout rank of Tenderfoot is to "Repeat from memory and explain in your own words the Scout Oath, Law, motto, and slogan". I could care less weather or not he could do this as a Cub Scout. What he did, or did not do as a Cub Scout, and why he can, or can't do something now, has absolutely no meaning any more. The requirements for the BOY SCOUT rank of Tenderfoot must be done, as written, by a BOY SCOUT before he can earn his rank of Tenderfoot.

 

THAT, and ONLY that, is what is important at this point.

[Wickerness]

Is it the end of the world that they can not recite it? No.

It's a shame though. Just means they're going to have to take more time getting that requirement.

 

I know when we started Webelos a couple of years ago, we did the pledge, the oath, the promise, the slogan, and the motto. All but the pledge was on posters in the meeting room that first year (other den leader took them the following year). Funny thing is that during the first year I forgot the keys and we met outside. The boys really surprised me proud because they were able to recite it without the posters. I thought I would have to carry them through it, but they really made me proud.

 

We didn't start the Outdoor Code until later in the second year. I wish we had started it with the others. They know the Outdoor Code, but I don't know if they have it memorized like the others.

I know our Scoutmaster was big on the law and the oath, so that was what I focused on. He was my Scoutmaster when I went through (he's been doing it for 50 years).

 

I know it's better to know the law than just have it memorized, but how can you think about it when you can not remember it. Otherwise you're just figuring out when you read it and then forget it again when you put the book away. Sometimes the best way to learn it is through repetition.

 

I think it is good when the Webelos leader does go over it as soon as possible, instead of waiting until they're working on the Arrow of Light. Hopefully they will know when they get to Boy Scouts because it will give them one up when they get there.

 

Of course it also depends on how long they wait between crossover at a pack meeting and actually attending troop meetings. My son crossed over on a Thursday and was at the troop meeting the following Tuesday (which was this week). While some from the groups before him didn't go until after the summer. Which meant they missed a lot of stuff during the summer and they were having to deal with transition into Middle School along with starting Boy Scouts.