Tiger Den confusion/lack of support

[Tampa Turtle]

Hang in their Lisa it gets better. Get the Cub-Scout How-To book; lots of games and ideas. Keep a box of stuff for games.

 

My first Tiger Den has 20 boys (6 special needs) and no parent helpers. They would just sit there--I would beg for help. Eventually I would tell the boys "GO to your Mom and Dad AND HAVE THEM help you glue the beads" or whatever. The lads would scurry off and interrupt the chattering adults.

 

The second year I had 12 and 1 helper. He was not very effective but was emotional support and occasionally "pick off" a troublesome boy who was being disruptive --it was usually my own.

 

I never worked so hard for anything than I did that first Tiger year. I do public speaking and I sweated out standing in front of those boys each week. One time one kid yelled "your boring!" and I felt like the fraud I was.

 

If you stick with it one or two parents will help a little. Most are scared and don' know what to do. Some are just exhausted and want a break. Here are a few things you could try that I did:

 

(1) Stop worrying about snacks. I just announced that snacks were up to the rest of the parents to organize. I had no part of it.

 

(2) Directly ask a parent or two to help. ""Jackson's mom" or "Mrs Smith" could you help us glue the macaroni" or whatever.

 

(3) Hand out a parent survey of what the parents jobs, education, or hobbies are. Most folks will help in an area they are confident in. Ask each one to do 10 minutes on it or organize a go see it. Give a candy reward to each boy that hands in a survey.

 

(4) Remember that you are a hero, a minor celebrity to those boys. It is worth it. Some of my first Tigers are entering High School and still kinda remember me.

 

(5)Recruit a Boy Scout to come by and demonstrate something cool like compass work or tieing knots or playing a game.

[qwazse]

You are on the right track wanting to interact more with the other leaders in the pack. This sounds obvious, but it actually is quite hard for us to do: communicate, communicate, communicate. I think that's where you felt the impact of "poor teamwork."

 

Scouting for Food is a huge challenge, and folks don't always appreciate how daunting it can be to a new parent -- even if their kids love it. Sometimes we have to adjust goals, sometimes request more manpower, sometimes give people a vision of how important this is. A go-see-it to a food distribution center or a visit from a representative of your local food bank may help with the vision.

 

For refined goals and more manpower, you will need to start a conversation on three points:

- What went well.

- What didn't go so well.

- What should be done differently.

Be sure and listen to the other parents to see if they've had similar experiences or different ones. This will help you all know what to change for the next food drive.

 

[Eagledad]

>>You are on the right track wanting to interact more with the other leaders in the pack. This sounds obvious, but it actually is quite hard for us to do: