Cub Handbooks -> activity guides?

[johndaigler]

It's the end of the old year and the beginning of the new. So your boys have a pretty (if unecessarily expensive) new neckerchief and a shiny new handbook. . . .

 

How did you use the old handbook and how do you plan to use the new one?

 

Do you REALLY get Akelas to sign every line or just focus on experiencing activities that you know will help the boys reach their Achievement goals?

 

Do you REALLY ask the boys to bring the books to every Den meeting?

 

Here I am a DL and Pack Trainer and (for a short while longer) CC. I get very different answers depending upon whom I ask in my Pack. What kind of answers do you guys have?

 

jd

[cubbingcarol]

In my Wolf den last year...

 

I did ask them to bring them to every meeting.

What we did in the meeting I signed.

When it got close to the end of the year I took the books and put a sticky note on requirement pages that could be finished by the next week in the home.

BTW I did ALOT of my planning based on requirements out of the book. Not all, but lets face it, if I hadn't they probably would not have gotten completed.

Every requirement was signed off by the parent (Akela) or myself.

 

I plan on doing our Bear year the same way.

 

Carol

[ScoutNut]

Boys are encouraged to work in their handbooks over the summer. The families are given a list of achievements that are planned to be done with the den. All others are family responsibility.

 

Boys are expected to bring books to den meetings. Before each Pack meeting the boys books are collected and brought home so that all items signed by parents or done in den meetings can be initialed/dated by den leader and then transfered to den leader records.

 

Periodicly, notes are sent home with outstanding family done achievements listed.

 

This is how I ran my son's den thru Cub's & how I run my Tigers now. With the exception that the Tiger achievements are already broken up into den & family in their handbook.

 

[madkins007]

Boy am I gonna get it for this!

 

In our pack, we basically did away with the handbooks. Each boy had a folder with photocopied pages of the requirements (and some other stuff- calling list, calendar, uniform guide, etc.). There was one page for the Rank, and a couple pages for that rank's Arrow points, as well as pages for other awards and activities.

 

At each meeting, the boy dropped the folder off with the assistant den leader, who transcribed the data to Packmaster or the den record book.

 

Book ownership was optional, and if a boy lost the folder, he was only out the last week's worth of data. We kept a lot of spare copies of the blank pages around, and printed out personal reports monthly.

 

We also used the photocopies as a way to let parents know what was expected at home as well- we just highlighted the things the Scouts needed to do and have parents sign off on.

 

The system worked well for us. If I was going to do it over however, I'd get some of those pocket calendars (the thin give-a-way kinds) and format everything to fit in them so it was more pocket-sized and portable. Folders being left in odd places was our biggest weakness- about the same number as books left behind when we used them!

[Cubmaster Mike]

Wow madkins, that's a first for me.

 

We supply the book. It's included in their annual dues. Part of the responsibility learned int eh Cub years is how to be responsible for items, and the book is a big part of it. Yes, they bring it to every meeting. And yes, there is a lot of the program that get's done in the meetings, I agree with Cubbingcarol, the boys who get the rank would be half if we did not do some of the requirements in the meetings.

 

There are a lot of electives and missed opportunities if we did not have a book. I can't imagine running a program without it.

[madkins007]

Cubmaster Mike said "There are a lot of electives and missed opportunities if we did not have a book."

 

It wasn't hard to put the requirements for every elective on a sheet of paper, nor was it difficult to offer handouts for things like blueprints, recipies, etc. when the info was helpful. We were even able to do things like offer a sheet of common local backyard birds to help with identification.

[theysawyoucomin']

I have been a wolf bear and am now a WEEB leader.

I feel every kid needs a book. but if this system works for you so be it.

 

I used to tell my parents that if my wolf son ever said "dad I have nothing to do", Then he was instructed to get his Scout book and I dropped everything and we did a "scout suggested " that was really more a father/son thing but out of a nationally recognized-aged appropriate activity book. Of course our house is a mess and the lawn always needs mowing but I'll have a nice lawn when he's in college.

 

The handbooks are near and dear to me because I remember my days as a cub. Somthings in those books are timeless and have been there forever. How many boys in America make masks and pretend anymore? How many kids or parents even know what a crystal radio is? My boys(my Den ) know what a crystal radio is and they all had the opportunity to make one. When an 8 year old makes a redio that works it's magic. Not unlike when his grandfather made one in the 1940's.

 

No flame war here but to me the book is even more important than the uniform. Long after my Boy Scout Troop folded I read the manual from time to time.

 

And yes we really sign the book. We really read the story about mowgli and where the name Akela comes from.

 

Best of luck to you.

 

 

 

 

[johndaigler]

madkins,

 

You really threw me off. You seem to have picked an odd wheel to reinvent. . . . So, here are some questions:

 

 

If the folders are no more responsibly cared for than the handbooks, why use the folders?

 

The weekly record keeping you described wouldn't be altered by using the handbook instead of your folders, would it? We use post-it flags to help the DLs find the requirements that parents have signed during the past week - and send similar messages home about what we've done at Den meetings and activities.

 

Who pays for all this copying?

 

Don't you think the handbook offers more than a list of requirements? There's quite a bit of good learning to be found in there, isn't there?

 

How does a Cub family know the difference between levels of expectation - such as "whipping a rope" for Bears (A22a) and for Wolves (E17g)?

 

Boys are held responsible for library books, lunch money, book bags, homework, etc. What led you to believe they couldn't handle the responsibility of hanging onto the handbook? We have our boys store it in their school bags. Parents are often rummaging around in there, so the Cub Handbook gets a lot of face time and it's usually available when we need it for Den meetings and activities.

 

Seems like a lot of effort to avoid using the tool specifically designed to accomplish what your local process tries to duplicate. There's so much work to be done, I wonder that you find this extra effort to be worth your time and expense. I'm not sure the advantages of your folders visibly outweigh the mixed message you're sending to Cubs, Families and Leaders. One of my first reactions was - Well, what other parts of the Program do they set aside in lieu of locally defined program?

 

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not afraid to judge the rules and decide there's a better answer. But, with respect, I don't see what you've found lacking in the handbook, nor what you've developed that's better.

 

Curious,

 

jd