attendance problems

[Shawno]

I have 5 tigers, we have had 3 meetings so far. The first meeting everyone was there, great! The second meeting only 1 boy/parent team showed up. My son was sick so didnt go, another one had a birthday party that day, so he didnt come. No idea where the others were. This weekend my son and 1 other were the only ones there.

What can I do to get these guys to the meetings?

Along the same lines, I email all my kid's parents with the time/date etc of the meetings. All have said that they get the emails, but only 1 family ever responds to any of them. Any ideas how to get them to reply to me? I really dont want to start phoning them and asking if they will be at meetings, but if I have to...

 

Thanks,

Shawn

[ScoutNut]

Do you meet at the same time, day and place each week? If you are changing meeting times and days all of the time this could get the families confused. Also, you might need to be open to changing your meeting times if the families have already sheduled other activites for the time you have picked for Tigers.

 

I would give each of your families a call (not an e-mail), starting with the ones who did not show up last time. Tell them they were missed at the last meeting and let them know if there is anything they need to catch up on. Find out why they missed the meeting, remind them of the time, day and place of the next meeting and let them know that they really need to be there.

 

At your next meeting have Pack and Tiger Den calendars, an address/phone/e-mail listing of all of the Tigers, and a meeting sign-up sheet. Give the info out to all of your families and sign them each up to run a months worth of Den meetings. Remember that Tigers use Shared Leadership! If a month is to much in one chunk then do it by the week, but sign them all up.

 

Impress on the families that Cub Scouts in general, and most especially Tiger Cub Scouts, is a family activity. In order to get the most out of the Scouting experience they have to "Do Their Best" to attend every Den and Pack meeting. Then take everyone outside, or somewhere you have lots of room, and play some fun games. Make sure everyone plays the games, even the adults. Make the meetings fun and the boys will drag their Partners there every week!!

 

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[johndaigler]

Shawno, I think ScoutNut has some good ideas, especially about the: sharing responsibility; simplifying meeting times, scheduling, and communication; and FUN.

 

Aren't all your boys together in the same school? Even if only one or two of them show for a meeting, if it's SO FUN and interesting, they'll talk about it clear to the next meeting. The other boys will listen and be there - especially if you can make it easy for the parents to remember and get there.

 

Did you say you meet on weekends?? Consider that this might not be to your best advantage if, in all of our crazy lives, that's the only "Family Time" we get. I know Cubs takes up tons of my time, but with rare exceptions, I try not to let it impact weekends -- that's the only time both my wife and I can be together with our sons. We even resist letting the boys have activities on weekends, though that's a bit tougher.

 

It amazes me when I work with people who don't check email daily. I think of it like getting the mail or responding to the blinking light on the answering machine. But, there are still a lot of folks who just don't do use it that way. Be patient, between adding something else to the huge list of things your parents deal with and scheduling issues, I've found the tiger year to be truly difficult for some families, even those really interestd in participating. Keep smiling and working at it. It will get better, I can ALMOST promise you!!!

 

jd

[Twocubdad]

And then again, some people are just idiots. Every year we have one or two families who register, pay the dues and NEVER show up for a meeting.

 

Remember you are dealing with 6 year olds. Their parents control the schedule, not the boys. If the parent's aren't interested in Scouting there's not a whole lot you or the boy can do.

 

By all means call the parents. Ask if e-mail is a good way to communicate. Remind them of when you meet (I like to give everyone a calendar of every meeting for the year). Encourage them to attend. If they want to they will. Beyond that the best thing you can do is to provide a good program for the Scouts who show up.

[Shawno]

All of the parents agreed on saturdays. Our pack is on an Air Force base, therefor, its hard for alot of us to make it anywhere during the week.

Its not so bad with only 2 kids there, last saturday, i taught them how to tie a square knot(only one i remember good from B.S.)I'll have them being eagle scouts by the time they are 8 if more dont show up LOL!

I should have at least 3 this weekend though (fingers crossed)

Shawn

[eaglewings2002]

I am a Tiger leader. I recruited an adult to make the phone calls. Most of mine do not have e-mail, and I do not do well with phone calls! I asked her to call back till she gets someone if at all possible, rather than leaving a message, and so far it seems to be working well.

 

This is my third son to go thru Tigers and the same thing has happened. I have a den of 11 because I don't want to split them up knowing many will drop out. (this is with DE approval) Sure enough we have averaged around 8 per meeting. OUt of 5 I think you are par for the course. Just do not quit because of this!! 1 or 2 boys can have as much fun. Do some really cool things and make sure the boys talk to the other boys about it at school! How really great and cool Cub Scouts is!!! That might help.