MB.com Worksheets

[Twocubdad]

I've never been able to use the "Spin a New Thread" function here, so consider this a spin from the thread on the iPad merit badge requirement app.

 

In the parent thread Moosetracker mentions she doesn't like Scouts working on merit badges without using the pamphlets, rather working off a list of requirements only.

 

I see quite a few of our guys who immediately print the worksheets off Meritbadge.com for every MB they work on. On the one hand, these are a rather convenient way of tracking and organizing their efforts, but I also see a down side that these worksheets tend to maximize the paperwork aspects of any MB. Even for the "discuss with your counselor" requirements boys tend to write the answers on the worksheets instead of actually having a conversation.

 

A good MB counselor can solve the problem. For the few MBs I counsel, I let the boys treat this info as notes, but still try to engage them in a conversation. But too often I hear conselors take the approach that if you wrote out the answer, that's more that adequate. Of course the downside is that the Scout isn't really benefitting from the counselor's expertise in the subject. It just becomes another school report.

 

Worse yet is the idea that the boys can mail in the paperwork and never really engage the counselor at all. I've occasionally overheard/watched counselors just sit and review a worksheet with a scout and call it good. Yuck!

 

So what's your experience? What do you think of the worksheets? How do our scouts and counselors use them?

[Venividi]

Twocubdad,

I think that counselors that do what you describe do not understand the purpose of the MB program and its fit with the aims of scouting. There appears to be too much focus on the completion of the requirements as efficiently as possible.

 

The training for MB counselors stresses that the counselor is a teacher, a mentor, an examiner and a coach. Counselors are allowed and encouraged to expand on the information in the MB pamphlet based on their knowledge, experience and expertise.

 

It is the journey, not the destination that is important.

[moosetracker]

My son did the citizen in the world during a Trail to Eagle at summer camp. This was the first (and luckily only) Merit Badge counsilor who decided the Worksheet was the be all and end all of the Merit Badge. Imagine being at summer camp and having to write up your views on citizenship on a worksheet.. No communication or discussion about the subject at all.

 

Strange thing was this wasn't some counsilor kid they through into the subject that had no idea about the subject. For Trail to Eagle they ask for true MBC's in the area. This was held in the evening because the man who was the counsilor did it after work.

 

My son being ok at school work hated it, but went through it. His friend, who isn't did not get the paperwork done. We found his friend a great counsilor after the fact and he had a great time with group discussion, they did something where they role played charactors at the united nations and took the position of different nations. they had the money of different countries and used it to figure out how to understand the monetary value from different countries.

 

This was one MB I had wished my son hadn't finished at camp, his friend got a much better understanding of the subject matter in this badge.

[RememberSchiff]

Seen them used at express merit badge camps and colleges, but real merit badge counselors don't use them.

 

There are often good reference links on these worksheets to aid parents in completing worksheets for their scout who didn't read it nor the mb pamphlet either. Just hand it to counselor and beat feet. Often gives parents and scout the impression that once the worksheet is turned in , the merit badge is completed. Gimme.

 

Now I'm sure there are some negatives to using these worksheets...

 

My $0.01

 

[moosetracker]

Ok RememberSchiff tell me that either I am not understanding your meaning or the end comment is being sarcastic (thus the smiley, face)..

 

There are often good reference links on these worksheets to aid parents in completing worksheets for their scout who didn't read it nor the mb pamphlet either.

 

This to me says you are saying that parents are using the worksheets to do the work of the MB for their scouts.. No need for scouts to read the MB, or do their own work on the badge either..

 

If that is what you are saying, then you it has to be sarcasm to say

Now I'm sure there are some negatives to using these worksheets

 

Ohh.. I knew I didn't like them because of the lack of communication, that I now have to work harder to make happen.. Now you got me wondering who did the work.. So far the penmenship, spelling and writing content hasn't hit me as a red flag that a parent did it..

 

To any parent doing their childs work for them all I can say is eeewwww.. eeewwww.. eewwww..

[skeptic]

If used as an aide by the counselor, then they are fine. But, you need to not only have them fill them out, but then go through and discuss points of the things that require that. I have occasionally told a boy to redo and be prepared to show actual knowledge and understanding of things written on a worksheet.

 

Gee, I wonder if that is why I get fewer scouts than I did before worksheets became common? Actually think it is because so many troops seem to have their own counselors for all the Eagle badges, and the most common open choice.

 

Bottom line is, they are a tool, like any other source.

[boomerscout]

How can any Scout just use the worksheets? About half the merit badges require prior MBC approval for some parts?

[RememberSchiff]

Yes sarcasm.

 

These often publicly available, online worksheets make it too easy for others to do a scout's work. If a scout is required to write something, have them do so on a blank paper with you present. No chance to google, cut and paste 100 words verbatim from Wikipedia or have a parent do it completely for them.

 

If a counselor uses these worksheets, please make sure it is the scout's work.

 

My $0.02

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JMBadger]

I obtained the worksheet for the cooking merit badge and handed a copy to every boy in the troop who planned to attend my MB seminar. I told them, "Now none of you has the excuse that you didn't know what the requirements were." I indicated on the worksheets which requirements I would be covering in the seminar itself, and which requirements needed to be done by the scout either before or after. The sheets provided nice little charts the boys could fill in for menus, groceries, prices, weights, etc. Made it easier for me to figure out what the boy was trying to prepare.

 

Also made it easy for me to catch a Mom doing the boy's work. His chicken scrawl over half the page suddenly became neat script. Seems he didn't feel like carrying the clipboard around the store anymore. I handed the Mom a new sheet and told her he needed to try again. Hasn't gotten back to me yet.

 

I'm not sure you can force a kid to use the worksheet. If the requirement says "discuss with your counselor", I think that means an actual vocal conversation, back and forth. Can a discussion be written? Yes, but I can't imagine a counselor and boy passing the sheet back and forth instead of speaking.

 

I agree with skeptic; it's a tool. If it works for you, use it.

[mkay]

i have used the worksheets both as a parent and as a merit badge counselor (I guess I'm one of the lazy ones). They give the boys a way to keep track of the requirements and all the work in one place. I have found it actually take MORE work to completely fill in the questions on the work sheet and be prepared to discuss the answers then just reading the merit badge pamphlet, marking the page # by the requirement and being able to read it off. Also the boys are usually more comfortable looking up info online because that is what they do for school, etc. If they can intelligently discuss and/or explain the requirements what does it matter if it is written or typed and printed off?

[oldsm]

mkay, welcome to the forums.

 

I understand where you're coming from (I think), but the key phrase you used is "If they can intelligently discuss and/or explain the requirements". The problem is that too often, they can't. The boys have this idea in their heads that they just have to fill in the blanks. If you ask a related question, they're hard-pressed to give an intelligent answer.

 

"Discuss" means to converse orally, the idea being to share knowledge (both ways). If they have just "researched" online and filled in the blanks, they have not met a discuss requirement. In insist upon some reasonable degree of understanding on the part of the Scout. Otherwise, he doesn't get my signature on a blue card.

[JMBadger]

I was helping to staff BALOO in the same building they were holding a MB University. I think the counselor in one room would have been thrilled if the boys could have "filled in the blanks." He was doing all the talking, and when he did ask a question, he received a room full of blank stares. He paused for a few seconds, answered his own question, then went on.

 

I agree with mkay in that if the boy has filled in the worksheet completely, he has shown more interest and exposed himself to the information far more than a boy who sits in a seminar expecting to be spoon-fed the data.

[allangr1024]

I think this goes the root of a big problem with merit badges. A lot of "counselors" these days are troop leaders or parents who have no training in being MBC. They use these forms and mark off the boy when he sees them filled in. Most merit badges now adays in my council are done in the troop meetings, with little outside work done. In fact, our council does not have a real MBC list that a scoutmaster can refer to. We are left to recruit our own, so our ASM's and committee members do them. This allows scouts to get merit badges quickly, and it gives excess adults in the troop something to do during meetings. My troop did this for years. I insisted that merit badges happen on campouts and outside of meetings. That is still not great.

 

The vision for merit badges is that the scout take the initiative, choose a merit badge to work on, get the name of a counselor from the troop, and make contact with the counselor outside the troop. This gives the scout more association with a wider array of adults, it gives him the benefit of an expert in the field of the merit badge subject, and a way of managing his own advancement after first class. That is why only 2% of scouts got Eagle rank in prior times.

 

Our council has a MBC training class once per year. I am not sure it is well attended. Most scouts do not know that they can work on merit badges outside the troop. I bet most scoutmasters know this. So we tend to have inexperienced and untrained MBC's who are brought in to troop meetings to teach the badge, and the scouts do not learn the stuff well. As someone has said, it is too much like school.

 

I show this video to my scouts to give them the idea:

 

 

 

[MomToEli]

Excellent video! I had my son sit and watch it and we will be showing it at a meeting soon.

 

It is amazing to me how difficult it is to get even Scouters to understand that this is how the Merit Badge program is supposed to function. Including some professionals, actually.

[srisom]

As a MB Counselor, I agree that the worksheets can be ahelp to the boys, but they are not a replacement for the MB book itself. Most of the books give a better explanation of the requirements.

Had a Scout recently working on the citizenship badges. Called me and made an appointment. He and his Dad Came in with the worksheets all filled out. I'm sure he expected that I would just sign off and he would be gone. Instead I went over them one requirement at a time and talked with him about it. Turns out he didn't even know what he had written, just copied it off the internet.

Signed off on some of the requirements and told him to study some of them more and we could discuss them. Have not seen or heard from him since. Probably went to find an easier counselor.