How long should new scout be in troop before summer

[SR540Beaver]

My experience is that if you have had a good active Webelos program, the boys have already advanced to AOL by February. In our case, there was very little for them to do and they were quickly growing bored with the Cub side of things. I think if we had held them further into the year, we would have lost them.

[MarkS]

Agreed. Holding them back too long after finishing AOL can lead to bordom.

 

It sure appears that Grandma is making transition plans with her parent hat on and not her CM hat.

[evmori]

If a Scout joined the Troop today and we were leaving for summer camp today, he would be welcome to join us. In other words, there should be no waiting period.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[Novice_Cubmaster]

We crossed our Web2's (including my son) last year at B&G in February. All of them had their AOL & were getting a bit bored with Cub stuff.

 

After crossing over, our boys had a chance to go on 3 campouts with the troop before Summer Camp. Those that did, did well at Summer Camp.

 

I think the 3+ months of time our boys had to integrate into the troop before camp worked out perfectly - but 2 months probably would have been ok, too.

 

Boy Scouting is on a whole different schedule and pace than Cubs, so both the new scout and their parents need some time to sync up with the new rhythm. In a 2-3 month period, a new scout should be able to go to 1-2 campouts, find a buddy, figure out where they are in the pecking order, etc.

 

NC

[watercub]

I agree with the early crossover concept. I think that this year, the Pack's WDLs will go along.

 

(1) The Pinewood Derby is in January

(2) The B&G is first weekend of March, so they are done then.

 

The CM has always scheduled Crossover for late March, and the boys had qualified for their AOL in January. My son (different pack) went over in February and had a big hand in scheduling his Summer Camp schedule (important with our camp!) The other boys, restless and bored, had their schedules planned for them because online scheduling opened on 4/1 - their first Troop Meeting was a week later. Also, for six of the seven that went, it was their first Boy Scout camping experience. Some did well, others didn't.

 

Hopefully, the boys will start attending meetings after they are done with AOL, we'll get their new scout patrol going, then they can have their ceremony at the end of the month. We won't tell!

 

Happy holidays, everyone!

[Lisabob]

We went round and round about this last year and the pack my son graduated from is facing debates about this again now. Their B&G is typically in late Feb. but there are several who want to move it to late March or late April. There are some parents at the extremes (one demands the pack delay B&G until her boy earns all 20 webelos pins...argh!).

 

Around here the big concern is that crossing over in mid Feb. means the first campout is guaranteed to be miserable in terms of weather. Last year, the new boys went camping three days after cross over. Most were utterly unprepared for daytime temps hovering around zero degrees(packed the wrong gear, didn't own poly pro anything, no prior winter camping experience, limited help from the older boys who knew what to do to stay warm but had no investment in these brand new scouts yet, etc.). A few were so miserable they quit immediately after their first camp out - within a week of cross over! Several swore they'd never go camping in winter again (and so far they're sticking to it but we'll see - mine's one of these and I'm trying not to push it too hard). Some parents and leaders feel the boys would have better experiences if they crossed over in late March, so their first camp out would be in mid-late April when it is at least likely to be more temperate.

 

On the other hand...there's that summer camp problem, plus the fact that bored webelos aren't a good thing. In terms of the cub program they're pretty much ready to move on by January of their 5th grade year.

 

I still don't know what the right answer to this dilemma might be - aside from a resounding NO to the one parent who insists the pack reschedule B&G just so she can cram those last couple webelos pins down her boy's throat. Maybe have the boys cross over in Feb. but not attend that first campout, or have a new scout campout instead for them? Some here will see that as coddling I suppose.

 

Lisa'bob

A good old bobwhite too!

[MarkS]

Crossing over to a troop and participation in troop activities (such as camping) do not necessarily need to be tied together. A boy can crossover as soon as he meets the age requirements. Parents and Unit Leaders can then decide if he should skip an activity (such as camping) the first time around. There's still plenty he can do. Just need to make sure that this is done to a very limited extent and get him involved as soon as he's ready.

 

BTW... Why isn't mom making sure the boy is completing all 20 pins before February! I'd be turning that responsibility around. I'm wouldn't hold extra meetings so the boy can be a super achiever. If he were really a super achiever, he'd get all 20 by February.(This message has been edited by MarkS)

[Lisabob]

Mark asks: "Why isn't mom making sure the boy is completing all 20 pins before February! I'd be turning that responsibility around."

 

Well actually Mark my take on this is that his mom shouldn't be making sure he completes them at all - the boy should do it, if he's interested, which by most accounts he doesn't seem to be. His mom is just really pushy. But to answer your question - this boy has only been a webelos scout since June and he's crossing over in February. As you know it is hard enough to finish all 20 of those pins in the normal 18 month program, let alone in 10 months. There's a story there but that's for another time.

 

It'll be interesting to see what happens when he crosses over because the troop he will be joining is pretty much a boy led troop. "Mom" here is going to be in for a shock. My guess is that the boy will handle things ok.

 

Lisa'bob

A good old bobwhite too!