Tiger Cub Go See It Achievements

[Balding Eagle]

I have a question about Tiger Go See It Achievements. Do they have to be performed with the Den or can a Tiger complete them on their own?

Thanks in Advance

[fboisseau]

From what I understand they should be performed with the Den, but can be completed on their own if they can not attend the Den activity.

[Balding Eagle]

Thanks for your reply fboisseau. The reason I asked is that some of the parents are signing off on Go See It achievements before the den has planned the trip. Then when the trip is planned they say we already completed that achievement and do not participate. I think this is defeating the purpose of the Go See It achievements.

 

 

[Twocubdad]

You're exactly right, TD. You need to let the parents know upfront that an important part of the program is to do things together as a den. They are short-changing their sons by trying to do the Go See Its by themselves. It's also unfair to the parent planning the event to go to the trouble and then have a half the den lay out. Even if a boy has completed a certain Go See It, they should still be participating in den activities.

[ScoutNut]

What I tell my parents is that Den trips and Den activities come first for the rank requirements. Only if they miss an activity will I take a family trip or activity in it's place. You need to take the time to explain the program to them. Sometimes more than once! Another thing to stress is that only activities that they did with their son while he was a registered Tiger Scout can count. Last year I had a parent who signed off on a lot of electives with notes by each one that they were done on a family trip 2 years before!

[Balding Eagle]

I understand and agree with all you. However, I am not the Den Leader. The Den Leader is a nice guy, but he is flying by the seat of pants. He signs off on everything without question.

 

I am trying to steer him in the right direction. We are making good progress on the Den Achievements, but the Go See Its are lagging. The way things are going is a little troubling. We already lost one boy and another only shows up intermittently. One mother was overheard saying she hopes her boys get bored of scouting and drop out!

 

I was at a non-scouting event and I heard a couple of mothers who wanted their sons in scouting but were disappointed with the experience at our pack. I told them to please give it another chance. I even suggested they try a different pack in town.

 

 

 

[ScoutNut]

I have found my Tiger dens to be a bit Go-See-It challenged also. Many of my boys, and their other family members, are into many other activities as well as Scouting. Sometimes getting them to a trip that takes the better part of a Saturday is hard. The 1 hr ones are a lot easier because we just use the regular meeting time. Also, some months we don't have a lot of trip time available. Meetings are taken up with working on Haunted House, Showtime, Cardboard Box Car Derby, or B & G table decorations. Then we have the holidays. We "Do Our Best" and the boys seem to have fun!

 

Gee - Maybe you could volunteer to become his Assistant Den Leader! Sounds like he could use the help and he will need it even more next year when they go into Wolves. You could drag him along to training with you! Does your council have a Pow Wow or University of Scouting coming up? Those are lots of fun and you would learn lots of great stuff!

[Balding Eagle]

I am his unofficial assistant Den Leader now. I have offered my assistance and advice whenever asked or needed.

 

Next year? He has indicated that he is not going to be the Den Leader next year. Other obligations kept me from being Den Leader this year. However, I am seriously considering becoming Den Leader next year or Assistant Den Leader at the very least.

 

 

[fotoscout]

We find that the Go-See-Its actually makes it easier on the new Tiger Den Leader. This is a meeting that he or she does not have to plan. All they have to do is make the arrangements, then tell everyone where to be, and when to be there.

 

When I did Tigers,I asked each parent to do one of the achievements. Along with that, they had to arrange the appropriate Go-See-It, and a den activity for the achievement. It worked very well. It also gets your parents involved!

 

Also, at your next Den meeting, after a Go-See-It, TALK UP the Go-See-It. Unless you had a real bomb, the kids will be very excited about the outing. Let them talk about it. More importantly let the parents that missed the outing get a sense of what their child missed. The boys, in their excitement, will sell the idea of going as a group.

 

 

 

[danfoxh]

new to scouting site, not new to scouting!

 

This year my oldest has entered the scouting realm which just has me practically in tears (sometimes not for the right reasons but you get the drift). When the words came out out of the PM's mouth "We dont have a tiger scout leader" my hand went up almost without thinking about it. Growing up my mother was my den leader, believe it or not my tiger den was the very first tiger den. We had no totems back then, we had no books, we also walked uphill to school both ways...oh wait, thats a different story.

 

I do actually have a point. My pack is in an "economically deprived" community. But i have got to say, my tiger den rocks. My parents, tho not actually contributing to planning meetings, but what the lack in planning they make up in participation. But even with the best possible participation, the Go See It's have been challanging to say the least. As we look to graduate and get badges, On more than one occasion i have found myself asking the parent "ever take your "Joe" to the museum..Ever take him to a police station or fire station.

 

Our den was slow to the punch on completing requirements. Mostly my fault being inexperienced in leadership role. But i think this method actually worked well. We spent alot of time bonding. As we look forward to the summer, I am proud to say i will be getting 100% retention going into wolf's. Not just my boys are returning, but every parent has asked me to make parent participation mandatory for next year.

 

I guess what it comes down to, is we all have our own leadership styles. Some dens move faster through the requirements, some slower. But especially with the tigers (as someone stated above) their enthusiasm (and lack of embarrasment to say anything) superceeds the rest of the pack. I am so glad to give back, what I took from scouts.