Another level question

[njdrt-rdr]

Thanks to all that answered a tiger question I had. I have another situation to pose a question.

I have a scout that repeated 1st grade and is now in 3rd grade, but is a Weblo I scout. He's the only kid in his den that is in 3rd grade, the rest are in 4th.

He was thinking of repeating Web 1 level to join a den of kids that are in his grade.

Are there any issues with that? From what I can read, I don't think it's a problem if that's what he wants to do.

[perdidochas]

I'd let him repeat Web I, if that's what he wants. We held my son back in 2nd grade. He repeated Bear. The other thought is if he's old enough, he could go ahead and do Web II, and join Scouts.

[Eagle92]

I'd talk to him about it.

 

Advantages: he's with his friends

Gives extra time to work on Webelos Advancement

 

Disadvantages: He may become bored repeating some of the stuff he has done already

He may get the itch to camp with his buddies in Webelos II after they

cross over.

Less Outdoor Stuff

[njdrt-rdr]

That's the thing, once they become Web II, he won't be seeing them at all other than at pack meetings. They will be in a different school than him and outside of scouts, I don't think they hang out as buddies at all. 5th grade is the start of middle school. As Web II they will camp with us at Weblo Woods because it's all Weblos. Once they cross over, he won't see them again until he hit's boyscouts.

 

ok, I may try to sit down with him in a one on one and see if it's really what he wants to do.

[Basementdweller]

When does he turn 11???

 

 

It is possible he may not be able to register as a cub before his den crosses to boy scouts.

 

 

I am not sure they exact date but I had a boy who was older than 11 and could not register him with the Pack......

[njdrt-rdr]

Turns 11 September of Web 2 year

[ScoutNut]

The cut off for Cub Scouts is the end of 5th grade or 11.5 years old - which ever is LATER.

 

Your Scout is currently a 3rd grade Webelos Cub Scout. Next year he will be a 4th grade Webelos, with the rest of his his den in 5th grade, in a different school.

 

Since he is in his Cub level by age, not grade, I will assume he started with these boys as a Tiger, in his first go-round of 1st grade, and simply stayed with his den. That means he has known, and worked with, these boys for 4 years.

 

If he stays where he is, next year when he is a 4th grade Webelos, while he might not see his den mates every day in school, he will still see/work with them in den meetings and at Pack meetings. He will also be crossing to Boy Scouts with his den.

 

If he decides to hold back, and stay with his 3rd grade schoolroom buddies, that would mean his Webelos program would be 2.5 years long. That is a long time for a program that is supposed to be 18 months. He might get bored re-doing activities/badges he has already completed. Yes, he can do other activities, but what will he be doing during den meetings? While the rest of the den is doing stuff he did a year ago, will he be working independently, on his own stuff, in a corner of the room? What happens when the den then starts to do the stuff he has now done on his own? He is still the "odd man out", and not fully participating as a member of the den.

 

One option would be to make him permanent Denner, and have him assist the boys with things he has already done. I would also suggest mixing in optional activities that would be new to all of the boys, including this Scout.

 

This, to me, seems like it would be a lot of extra work for the den leadership team, and hold a big risk of burnout for the Scout.

 

However, the bottomline decision is up to this Scout and his family.

 

What would the benefits be to him of staying a Webelos for an extra year?

 

How bored will he get with the Webelos program?

 

Is he mature enough to handle crossing to Boy Scouts with his current den?

 

Is he looking forward to becoming a Boy Scout?

 

Or is he planning on quitting after Cub Scouts and simply wants one more year with his school mates?

 

 

 

[ScoutNut]

>>"Turns 11 September of Web 2 year."

[njdrt-rdr]

Scoutnut - the main reason I believe he wants to switch is he's not enjoying the program with the boys he's currently with and hasn't been for awhile.

 

And the math is goofed up or misunderstoof from my response. If he stays the course in the den he's in now, he would be 10 in Sept of his Web II year.

If he joined his 3rd grade class mates, We would be 11 in Sep of web II year if he goes back a level. Making him 11.5 when he crosses over.

 

He's currently 9 years old and a web I.

[perdidochas]

Does he like the younger group?

 

My son preferred the younger group, so it worked for us.

[Lisabob]

njdrt - do what works for him. If he isn't enjoying the group he has been with, let him move to a different group. Within some pretty broad boundaries, there aren't hard and fast rules on what to do with boys who repeat (or skip) grades, so as long as the family and the pack leaders are in agreement, you have latitude to do what makes sense for this individual boy.

 

 

[momof2cubs]

My oldest has a summer birthday and we held him back before starting Kindergarden. As a result, he was older than his peers. Even though he has tons of friends in his grade level, he wasn't particularly close to his den mates and always gravitated towards the next level up den at pack functions. When that group crossed over, he was REALLY lost at pack functions and had a bigger case of scout senioritis than most 5th graders experience. He crossed over officially at the approved time (middle of March) with his den, but I signed him up with his troop in early February. He was attending both troop and pack/den functions for a couple of months.

 

I think the moral of the story is that this boy could do either path based on BSA rules, so talk to him about it and place him where he feels most comfortable.