Program Help Themes: Use or Not?

[Phibbles]

Does your pack use the themes suggested each month by the Cub Scout Program Helps?

 

 

This is my first year as a parent/leader in CSA. In all my training courses they talked about and gave examples of thes the Program Helps plans avaialble through national. But my pack doesn't appear to use them.

 

Should we? Are we missing out on something? How does your pack go about planning what to do each month if your don't use Program Helps?

[jamist649]

They are really good for new leaders/units. We don't use them at this time in our unit. I (CM) have found that we can usually come up with things that we have used in the past that suit our Scouts better.

 

Plus, I find some of the things in the "helps" to be a little...uh cheesy. JMO

 

 

[Mom2Scouts06]

I believe that Cub Scouts 2010 is doing away with themes and program helps anyway. But someone can feel free to correct me if I am wrong?

[MNBob]

As Mom2Scouts06 mentions the existing themed program helps are being replaced with "Cub Scouts 2010" starting with fall 2010. http://www.scouting.org/CubScouts2010.aspx

 

Not all of the information for Cub Scouts 2010 is available yet but it will be based on the Fast Tracks pilot program that was used by various Councils/Packs over the past 5 years. http://www.scouting.org/sitecore/content/Home/CubScouts/FastTracks.aspx

 

Our Pack never used the themes so there was never any incentive for den meetings and pack meetings to use the same program. As a den leader I did look into the themes but I didn't find them useful because they assumed dens were meeting weekly (we met only twice/month) and I didn't like that they did not seem to complete many requirements.

[DYB-Mike]

Our Pack has used the themes if they seemed interesting and fun. We have also moved themes to another month if we liked the theme but had something else planned for the applicable month.

 

We usually applied the themes only to the pack meeting; the dens might plan an appropriate skit, but usually worked on advancement and other non-theme activities.

 

It is true about whats being said about abandoning the themes for Cub Scouts 2010. Den meetings will be devoted to advancement, but its no clear whats happening at the pack meetings.

 

Good luck as a new leader, just remember HAVE FUN!

 

YIS

Mike

 

[Phibbles]

Thanks all. I have heard about the new 2010 program, but did not realize it was going to be without the monthly theme component.

 

And we are definitely having fun. No regrets from this former scout...

[MNBob]

I believe that each month in Cub Scouts 2010 will have a focus/theme of one of the 12 core values of Cub Scouting. http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/Parents/characterdev.aspx

[Phibbles]

Good to know...thanks.

[RickChappell]

The Packs I've been in have always used themes, although not always the ones in the Program Helps or in the order suggested. The point was always "here's some ideas..." They're great for new leaders and units, but after some experience it's easy to develop your own. But the Helps always provided ideas and themes to fill out the year.

 

The best part of the themes in my experience is how it provided a working format for den advancement and some cehesion for a program. The "fun" parts of the meeting were based on the themes - songs, cheers, advancement ceremonies. It provided a structure and some interest. I have to admit, I'm a little trepidatious about using the Core Values as themes. Instead of the RBP concept of wrapping learing in a game, its now more like wrapping learning in learning. Can you really see an 8 year old excited about going to a pack meeting based on perseverance?

[Scoutfish]

My pack doesn't use theme per se:

 

We might kinda/sorta follow some ideas on a very basic level, but that's about it.

 

Even within one ranking ..say Wolves for example - 3 different dens might do 3 different activities ina given night, but we plan ahead for things like field trips. For example:

 

This week Den 1 might work on ropes and knots. Den 2 might cover flag raising.

Den 3 might be making toolboxes.

 

But we planned ahead earlier in the year so that next month, all the dens are themed around our visit to the local police or fire dept.

 

But even as far as subject matter from the book: You might have a knot class just tying knots while another den may actually make a net or " Cub trap" out of rope.

 

I bought a Cub Scout helps book last year, but it was more for sparking ideas than just following pre determined themes.

[bbender]

We've "used" Program Helps, but not "followed" it: we use years of them like a great cookbook, flagging activities that look fun and plugging them in where it fits with what we're doing in a Den Meeting and/or Pack Activity. But we don't follow it on our calendar and/or plan our meetings based on those themes. For example, if we are going to Space Camp as a January Activity, we'll pull space elements from whatever year of Program Helps had the best elements our leaders could lead.

 

In fact, a lot of the "best" items we liked ended up in our "Big Cub Activity Playbook", and then in the alt version of Fast Tracks we made available last September (see more at Fun 'n' Flexible Fast Tracks), which we like as a mesh of the advancement focus of Fast Tracks with the fun and silly stuff that envelopes the "purpose" of Scouting within the "game".