Getting the rank books to den meetings

[Krip]

Hello to all!

 

Sorry if this comes off negative at first, but some things that were posted previous rubbed me wrong and I couldn't hold my fingers no more.....

 

Eagledad said "I dont think the BSA says whether the Webelos book has to be signed or not. I do know it has a place for a signature and it is an official document."

 

Webelos current book #33452 pg #10 says - "When a Tiger Cub, Wolf Cub, or Bear Cub Scout completes requirements, a parent or guardian signs his book. When a Webelos Scout completes requirements, he takes his book to the Webelos den leader or an adult designated as the activity badge counselor (often this is the parent or guardian of a Webelos Scout). For projects that are done at home or with the family and are not easily transportable, the parent or guardian still may be asked to approve the Webelos Scout's completion of an activity badge requirement."

 

Sorry, but reading and signing of the books is a pet peeve of mine. In order for a Webelos Scout to receive his Webelos Badge he must complete 8 different requirements. The very first requirement is to "Have an adult member of your family read the Webelos Scout Parent Guide (pages 1-22) and sign here." This requirement has been in the last (3) printings of the boys Webelos book, and there is a parent guide in every level of the Cub Scout program boys books.

 

Eagledad also said, "He is the one who initiates a SM Conference and BOR to earn his rank, not the adults." If the boy goes to his SM when he is ready for advancement...what happens to your boys that are not advancing? The Scoutmaster conference can be used as a counseling tool at any time and for a variety of other reasons. Where does it say that the boy initiates the SM conference?

 

Pack330-

Remind, remind, remind....You are training them now for when they get to the Troop. Your leaders may never get to see the rewards, but the boys do eventually learn. Your Webelos are picking up on it now, yes?

 

This is what I did to help me with keeping track of what the boy did at home - I got the arrow post-it-note strip stickers, and stuck a hand-full in the back of the boys book. When the parent signed the book they stuck the sticker on the page and left half of the sticker sticking out of the book. Then all I would have to do is follow their stickers, mark my paper work, and replace the sticker in the back of the book.

 

Dont forget this is a home-based program (Tiger/Wolf/Bear). The boys come to the den meeting to have fun with their friends! You dont have to show them in the book what requirements they are going to be doing, thats school work.

 

Just remember~KISMIF

Keep It Simply Make It Fun).

 

[NewCubDad]

ScoutNut - I liked your idea about the beads I quickly added some strings to the Den flag the kids were finishing up Friday night at the den meeting. Instead of beads, we're adding bells. It'll get louder as bells are added for each achievement completed. Left the chart at home....

 

Krip - It may seem like schoolwork to show the kids (and their parent's) what the Wolf requirements are and demonstrate how some of them are very simple to complete, but gosh, I had parents come up to me after the meeting and say they didn't realize how simple some of them were, they planned to go through the books with their boys and get a bunch of stuff knocked out over the holidays.

 

Fun is the goal, and flipping through a book isn't fun. But I wouldn't equate showing the boys the requirements to 'schoolwork.' More like explaining the rules of a game to the kids before handing them a ball and telling them to play.

 

[Eagledad]

Happy Scouting All

 

>>This requirement has been in the last (3) printings of the boys Webelos book, and there is a parent guide in every level of the Cub Scout program boys books.

[SeanWaiss]

I kept running into this issue as an Asst DL (DA) in my son's Wolf den, and now as the DL for Bears. What I have done to address it is get a one gallon ziplock bag for each boy, and write their name on it as well as the instruction "Bring this to every meeting". We ue this a the communications between the parents and myself, as well as the project bag for the boys. Copies of newsletters, forms, upcoming event handouts, prints from the spreadsheet achievement tracker I use, and patch segments all go in the bag. I ask the boys to keep their books in it while traveling to meetings so that it doesn't get left in the car when they bring the bag in to the meeting. Anything the parents need to return to me (medical forms, permission slips, etc) are placed in the bag as well, and if the parents have updated the achievement tracking print it is in the bag as well. I have found it addresses this issue pretty effectively, and gets everyone looking for the bag before meetings.

[SemperParatus]

Sean,

 

Thank you.

 

I vote your PROJECT BAG as this forum's best practical idea for 2004!

 

You da' man!

[ScoutNut]

I like the idea of having the parents update the achievement spreadsheet. That's a LOT easier(This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

[Grumpy]

Pamchuckm listed links for a spreadsheet that will help track advancement for Cub Scouts. It's a great tool, but those links appear to be outdated. Here is a link to the source of those spreadsheets, and they keep them current.

 

http://www.geocities.com/cybercubber/cub-tracker.html

 

Good luck.

 

Grump

[fotoscout]

I admit that I never required the boys to bring their books to meeting as a Tiger, Wolf or Bear. Now as Webelos they need to bring the books. Beginning in September we started to talk about bringing the book, along with the T word, Transition. This month I started a sign-in log with an added column for bringing the book to meetings. So far about 70% of the boys are bringing their books on a regular basis.

 

More than learning the material in the book, this process of getting the book signed by a leader is part of the transitional process. Every week I talk about transition and the expectations that will be made of them when they move to the Troop.

 

Personally I think the Webelos book and program are over the top. The requirements are getting in the way of having fun while preparing for the transition.