Is there a limit to number of Tiger Electives beads earned?

[johndaigler]

Tmonahan,

Welcome!

I cannot find a limit to Electives Earned for any Cub level, but there are only 50 Electives listed in the Tiger handbook. 100 seems like a lot to me, but Cubs are allowed credit for repeating Electives.

It's not stated specifically in the Tiger book, but it is mentioned in the other handbooks that repeated Electives are acceptable when the Cub shows growth with that activity -- building a more complicated model; or adding paint to the next one; or perhaps including a background scene.

Repeating the same task at the same level isn't, IMHO, worthy of an additional Elective point, but as I say I can't find that specifically for the Tigers. As always, the standard of execution should be the Cub doing his best.

 

jd

 

jd(This message has been edited by johndaigler)

[Beagle Scout]

When my oldest son was in Tigers two years ago and I was the assistant den leader, the den leader and I talked about this. We decided that since there are 100 tiger paws in the back of the Tiger book, we would allow each elective twice. Hopefully this encouraged the boys to try different things. Otherwise my son could have signed off the reading elective every night! As it turned out, the most yellow beads earned by a boy was five or six, which seems reasonable to me.

 

[tmonahan]

Ah, the reading elective #14...that's the one!

 

In our school district, 1st graders are required to read a book every night & 1 on the weekends. Many of the scouts read with their parents/partners and are counting that toward elective #14.

 

I don't want to discourage them from reading...but I also don't want it to turn into "which scout can collect the most yellow elective beads"

[tmonahan]

I have several adult partners that have submitted over 100 completed electives for their tigers. Is the an offical limit to the number of yellow elective beads that tigers can earn?

 

Tom - Tiger Den Leader

[johndaigler]

Again, I'd encourage the parents and Cubs to show growth. There really isn't a limit per se - so your "only twice" limit is arbitrary (even thought I get the thinking behind it). Adding "show growth" is arbitrary, as well, I'll admit, but I hope you can see some advantages and the motivation for parents and kids to stretch their efforts.

 

A parent who wants to count the reading elective each night is just missing the whole point of the elective program and needs to be spoken with now so their behavior improves before they get to the other ranks. Besides, you won't discourage their reading - it's required for school. Hopefully, you'll discourage the parents from award hoarding.

 

jd

[Oak Tree]

There is no limit, but there should be. Same with belt loops. The idea of earning a belt loop multiple times just strikes me as non-sensical. A boy who plays on a sports team could get about 20 belt loops every year. And the idea of completing an elective every night just seems totally out-of-step with the point of the program, which is to get boys to try a bunch of different things. At least, that's my take on the purpose.

 

Our pack won't award multiple belt loops, and I wouldn't count multiple electives, either. Tell the parent that if they want the award that badly, they can go buy it at the Scout store. But in a friendly way. I've found that parents are quite agreeable if you explain the reasoning behind your decisions.

 

Oak Tree

[GopherJudy]

Wow! That's a lot! I'm a Tiger Den Leader & we've done electives at den meetings & I've asked what they've done at home. I know that the boys read every night for school but I've explained to the parents that they can't get credit every time they read & they understood! The same with playing board games! They've gotten credit for it about 3 times & not right after each other. We have pack night on April 21st & my 3 Tigers will be getting their 4th Tiger Track Bead. They will probably have 6 beads each by the time we have pack graduation on June 9th (we couldn't get a later date to use the school this year). I think the parents might be exaggerating that the boys have done over 100 electives & maybe you should have a talk with them. Good luck!

 

Judy