Debating on Woodbadge

[kittle]

I was wanting to go to Woodbadge this year. But now my son has asked me to go to resource camp with him. I would have to ask off work for both and then the money is also going to be an issue. My son is attending Ransburg summer camp for one week in July with his Troop. But our council is offering a 4 day resource camp and my son wants to go to it also. I want him to because he wants to work on Lifesaving, swimming and other water Merit Badges at our resource camp. He also wants me to attend as an adult leader for out Troop. I am thinking that there will be other chances for Woodbadge, but time is getting short for me and my son to have these chances together.

 

What are your thoughts?

[Stosh]

This decision of your is 100% personal and needs to be made by the individual, but I'll add my "take" on it.

 

What boys want and what boys need are two different things in many circumstances. Having the parent attend with them while they do their thing to improve themselves might be what they want, but what they may need is a troop leader with the skills to help him and his buddies in the scouting program.

 

My suggestion would be to sit down with your son, explain all that you have indicated in your post and come to a consensus with his participation. I would think he would at least be receptive to the peer-to-peer conversation that allows both sides to express their wants and needs. I'm thinking that your son may in fact be your strongest supporter of your particpation in WB if he knows the whole story. Most kids aren't selfish enough to maintain a strong level just-for-me attitude when shown the whole picture. Of course this is all dependent on your son's maturity level as well. If he is still that clingy that he needs you there as compared to just a wants you there, then maybe WB will need to be postponed a while.

 

Tough decision, but I would recommend a shared decision in this matter between just you and your son.

 

Stosh

 

 

[SSScout]

Truly a personal decision.

You can go to WB, son can't. Would he want to?

You can do WB another time. Is this the time? Can you see it aiding you in your Scouting "career"?

Son can go to camp, you can too. Should you? Would it benefit your boy?

When you decide on your WB Tickets, your son could concievably help you, might could be depending...

Can you help him earn his badges? How so?

 

What's the gut say?

 

 

[dg98adams]

I don't get too many requests from my 13 year old son...so the ones I do get ..... I take.

 

Although, I think I would ask why he wants you to go to both camp and the resource event (I handle all the aquatics-related stuff for our Troop so I would like more info on that).

 

My best friend took Shooting sports director course at Ransburg and loved the camp.....I would be very much interested in going there too.

[SR540Beaver]

kittle,

 

I've staffed two WB courses and will be staffing a third next year. That being said, WB isn't for everyone. That being said, I've never known anyone who attended that was sorry they did. Keep in mind that WB course frequency vary by council. Some large councils like Circle Ten in Texas will hold three courses this year. My council always does two courses per year. We have neighboring councils that are smaller that have not held a course in a couple of years because they just don't have the population to support it. So, one consideration if you are wanting to attend WB is how many opportunities you have to attend. If the council only holds one every two years, you might want to go. If they hold two per year, you can go whenever you want.

 

WB is a good training course. Will it make you a better scouter? Yes, but you don't have to have it to be a good scouter. It just helps give you more tools than you already have to do the job you are already doing.

 

The decision is yours as to where you need to be and when. I wouldn't give anything for the shared scouting experiences I've had with my son. But then again, he has done things like Philmont and Northern Tier without me and has great memories just as I've staffed things like WB without him and have great memories. We've hiked the scouting trail together and at times the trail has forked and we have gone our own ways.

 

If you go to WB, you won't regret it. If there is advantage to going with your son to the other places mentioned, you won't regret it either.

 

BTW, what is "resource camp"? That is not a term we use around here.

[eagle90]

Wood Badge will be around for years to come. The opportunity to spend time in the woods with your son will soon come to and end as he grows up. In my mind its a no-brainer. Enjoy the time with your son!

 

Dale

[John-in-KC]

Your own time with your own child is precious. Guard it very carefully. You'll know in your own heart, as SR540Beaver said, if this is a time for the two of you to take forks on the trail.

 

May I offer a compromise: Is there another WB course in a neighboring Council or Council cluster that would allow you to "do it all?" Might be worth the research.

 

 

[Kudu]

kittle writes:

 

"He also wants me to attend as an adult leader for our Troop."

 

If you plan to someday attend Wood Badge to train for the Boy Scout program, consider buying a copy of the third edition of Handbook for Scoutmasters to read this summer. At more than 1,100 pages it is the most comprehensive guide to the Boy Scout program ever written. When you eventually do attend Wood Badge, you will be more knowledgeable on the Patrol Method and other Scouting subjects than the Staffers and the course director.

 

Take the time to read Green Bar Bill. His Scoutmaster handbooks were once the envy of the world.

 

You can find used copies of the third edition for less than $10 per volume at AddAll.

 

See:

 

http://tinyurl.com/5sjvz3

 

IMPORTANT: To find the correct edition, look for "Volume 1" or "Volume 2" in the description, starting on "page 2" of the above URL!

 

Kudu

 

[SR540Beaver]

Yes kittle, the volume Kudu mentions is an excellent resource for a Scoutmaster if that is the training you are seeking. You need to be aware however that Wood Badge is not Scoutmaster or Patrol training. Wood Badge is leadership training for any volunteer or professional involved in scouting in any position in any BSA program. It teaches leadership skills within a troop/patrol setting, but is not geared specifically towards training Scoutmasters to run a troop. Occasionally you will run across folks who have difficulty wrapping their head around what it really is.

[Kudu]

SR540Beaver writes:

 

"Yes kittle, the volume Kudu mentions is an excellent resource for a Scoutmaster if that is the training you are seeking...geared specifically towards training Scoutmasters to run a troop."

 

I doubt if kittle wants to be a Scoutmaster. The two volumes are very useful to ANYONE connected with the Boy Scout program in ANY way, including members of Troop and Council committees who make decisions about money.

 

They explain how the Patrol Method works when every American boy actually wants to be a Boy Scout. Because the purpose of the Patrol Method is to offer inexpensive ADVENTURE on a monthly basis.

 

This will become very important in the coming years as the BSA encourages Scout camps to "reinvent Scouting" by investing hundreds of thousands of dollars per Council to build "family camping centers," as in the demonstration project at Camp Thunder, Georgia.

 

Does Scouting really need those massive family tent platforms with wrap-around porches, complete with rocking chairs?

 

I'm sure that "leadership experts" will be easily convinced, but not those who understand how the Patrol Method is supposed to work.

 

Kudu

 

[SR540Beaver]

Kudu,

 

How did either of your posts have any relevance to kittle's original post concerning whether to go to WB or resource camp at his son's request?

[Kudu]

Because kittle may want to have something to read, so as to learn in great depth about the Boy Scout program with her spare time if the resource camp program is boy-led.

 

What do you have to gain by discouraging her from that?

 

Kudu

 

 

 

[Lisabob]

Kittle,

 

Here's my take. First, read all you can/want to and what Kudu recommends is probably excellent reading. It has nothing to do with your decisions between WB and resource camp though.

 

Second, WB is great fun and a worthwhile experience. I think you might enjoy it more if you aren't feeling half-guilty about doing that instead of being with your son.

 

Third, as dg98adams mentions - teenage boys don't usually invite their moms to do very many things with them. Unless you have a boy who needs an independent experience, I'd say take his offer. If your son is the type who has a hard time with distance, then you need to evaluate his reason for asking you to go to camp. Does he just want to share something special, or are you his crutch? You're the only one who can answer that. But I know that if my son were to invite me to go to camp and I could do it, I probably would. He's been independent since the day he could walk and he'll be off to college and then adult-hood pretty soon. Tough choices, hmm.

 

 

[Eamonn]

A few months back I was thinking about me and my old age.

I was looking into buying Long Term Care Insurance (Nursing Home Insurance)

I love my family more than I can put into words.

I'm proud of my son.

I'm pleased with the way he has turned out.

He is a great "Kid".

We very often joke about him choosing the nursing home that I'll end up in.

As I was pondering my future. I looked back.

We live in the sticks. We have never had any neighbors and he has never had any other kids around that you might call play mates.

He was never planned.

We had been married for six years before we found out that he was coming.

Being R/C we never did anything too stop us having a child, but we never did anything to help it happen. We just thought it was God's will that we would never be parents.

Just before we found out that we were going to be parents, I'd borrowed a very large sum of money and bought my first restaurant.

When he did come, I was very busy. Working seven days a week, mostly 17 hour days.

He was packed off to day care as soon as they would accept him.

We sent him to catholic school mainly because they offered a full day kindergarten.

It wasn't until he joined Cub Scouts that I really found any time for him.

Things were getting better financially.

By that time I had bought another bar/restaurant and because I wasn't able to be in two places at once I was spending more time at home??

I think or like to think that we had a great time when he was a Cubscout.

I have to admit to being a little hurt when he said that he didn't want me to be involved in the Boy Scout Troop with him.

But I remembered how when I was his age, I had wanted to do my own thing and do stuff that maybe my parents were better off not knowing!!

I started taking most Sundays off. We spent the day together.

Even if I was involved in a Scouting activity I'd drag him along.

I loved when he was off school for the summer.

He was all mine.

I didn't like when he became old enough to go to camp as a staff member.

Through all of his childhood and teenage years I kept telling myself that the best thing I could do for him was to give him roots and wings.

I'm never going to hold him back.

He will do what he wants to do.

Some of the choices he will make, very well might not be the ones that I make.

But no matter what he does, he knows that I'm here for him and my love will always be there for him.

He is going to have a far better "Start" than maybe I had.

I hope he never has to work the hour I worked or face some of the problems I faced.

As things stand right now.

I don't see very much of him.

He is very busy, he is going to school, working and is now deeply involved with our local volunteer fire service.

I'm not involved with the firemen and have no plans to get involved.

He really doesn't have time for Scouts and Scouting.

But I'm becoming less and less involved.

I don't look back regretting that we didn't spend more time together.

I do know that for a number of years I was so busy doing what I wanted to do in Scouting and getting so deeply involved that I was not being fair to my family.

I can't help thinking that if I was going to spend all this time away with the Scouts?

What would my wife be doing?

I of course can only talk for myself.

(I bought the insurance -I'm not having him choose my nursing home!!)

Eamonn.

[kittle]

SR540Beaver,

 

Resource camp is what our council can offer as summer camp. We closed our summer camp down a few years back and all Troops have to go out of council for summer camps. Last year a few adults got together to offer this camp. It is a really good first year camp for younger scouts. My son is wanting to go because the two men running the waterfront are our SM and Venturing crew leader. They worked with him a couple years ago to get his swimming skills strong enough to pass the swimming requirements. Now he wants to take the swimming merit badge and would like to do it with these guys.

 

 

There a few things that I forgot to mention (probably because I was tired when I posted the message). The SM has also asked if I can attend Resource Camp since he is going to be at the waterfront most of the day. I am one of 2 active assistant SM's in out Troop. The other ASM can't go, but his wife is helping to run the camp. I wanted to attend WB last time it was offered in our council (a little over 2 years ago) but couldn't due to the fact that I was 8 months pregnant).

 

I am in Scouting for the long run, I have three boys and the youngest is only 2 1/2.

 

LisaBob,

 

My son is not the type that needs his mom there or has a problem going long distances without me. He has been to summer camp 4 times, church camp 4 or 5 times, and they just went on a ski trip 12 hours away. He is always doing something without me. He knows that we need another adult and asked me if I could go. His thoughts on it are this:

 

1) we need another adult and I am ASM.

2) the younger scouts are familiar with me and respond to my

leadership, better than throwing an adult in that isn't a leader

and the Scouts don't know.

3) he knows that I have wanted to get more active in the camping

part of the Troop but haven't been able to because of his dad's

work schedule and the younger boys.

4) he also said that there won't be very more chance for me to go as

a leader while he is in Scouts and he would like for me to go. He

wants to start attending camp as staff next year.

 

 

Thanks for all the thoughts and shared opinions. My name is on the list for WB, I signed up and put my deposit down before Kenneth decided that he would like to attend resource camp. I can drop if I decide to and they will let someone on the waiting list attend. I am really leaning toward Resource camp, but weill just have to see.