Schoolwork vs badgework

[mk9750]

When I was a Webelos Den Leader, the first thing I did was to map out what Activity pins we would be doing as a Den. I intentially only planned to cover 16 of them, with the hope that the boys would use the others to get a feel for what doing some of the requirements on their own would be like. I also noted which requirements we were going to do at the meetings. This left a number of requirements to be done on their own, also. I identified which requirements parents could (and even some they SHOULD) sign off, but told them that the rest had to signed off by the Assistant DL or me. I gave credit for school work or other work done outside the Den, but I had to see evidence. If a boy missed a meeting (almost never happened), he knew what requirement(s) had been covered, and worked to make it up.

 

The end result? 7 of 8 Webelos earned all 21 pins, 7 of 8 crossed to Boy Scouts, 5 of 7 made 1st Class, 4 of 7 stayed in Boy Scouts for at least three years, and 2 of them are Eagle Scouts.

 

And one other thing - more than once, when the guys said they were doing something at School that should count, and I told them I would give them credit, they returned the next week saying that what was done at school wasn't enough to meet the requirement. We then spent some time going over stuff again, in more detail. the point is that it was a bunch of 10 and 11 years olds that policed themselves about the rigors of the requirements. I had a great bunch of guys, who are all now 18 and a bunch of fantastic young men. Their parents did a terrific job raising them, and it was my priveledge to have been associated with them. Even though I knew they were almost all going on to Boy Scouts, and to the Troop I would be with, the essence of "bittersweet" could have been seen in my mind the day they crossed. One of the saddest happy days of my life (or would that be happiest sad days?).

 

My advice? Set up standards that must be met to accept out of Den work, and then accept it happily. It will be a nice springboard into Boy Scouts. Also, consider allowing your Den Chief (if you're lucky enough to have one, and he is good) to be allowed to sign requirements, too. Just one more way to help grease the skids into Boy Scouts.

 

If I can offer one more piece of advice - the best thing you can do to ease the transition from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts is to maintain a Den meeting schedule over the summer. We changed from every week to every other week, we discontinued dues, and we didn't require a uniform, but we met all the way through summer between 1st and 2nd year Webelos. The biggest compliment I got from the Scoutmaster after a few months of my guys being in Boy Scouts was that every other group of guys that ever crossed to his Troop had no understanding that Boy Scouts was a 12 month a year activity, and that, at least in our area, the summer is even more busy, not a time to take three months off. I've mentioned it before, but I truly believe that after boring meetings, the biggest reason boys drop out of Boy Scouts is the sudden change from an eight month a year to a 12 month a year program. Anything that can be done to reduce this shock would be welcome.

 

Good luck!!

 

Mark

[SR540Beaver]

mk9750,

 

Man oh man oh man.....I wish my son's den had you for a leader!!! You did it right. Pack meeting is the same night our den meets, so we meet as a den the other 3 weeks. Take out Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving, Spring Break, etc. and you find that you really have limited time. Also, if we are having some sort of council activity, we usually don't have a meeting that week. We just went the whole month of March without a meeting. Belive it or not, we have about 13 boys (I know, too big)in the den and at least 10 of them are always there. We have two ADL's and I just volunteered. I was hoping they would split the den in half, but no dice. They want to keep them together for some reason. Our CC is leaving as his son is moving to Boy Scouts and the CM wants me to take the CC instead. I'd love to be the Webelos 2 den leader and make sure the boys got a more consistent and "disciplined" approach as a good number of them are pretty immature. My son is one of the more mature boys and I really want him to stick with it and be prepped for Boy Scouts. I know half the boys won't be moving up after their Webelos 2 period this coming year.

[fboisseau]

I guess I was not very clear in what I said. I did not mean to say that school work (or other work outside of the den meeting) could not be used for badge work. What I was saying was that I as the leader had to sign off on the requirement, which meant that the Scout had to show me that the work was done. For example, if a Scout while at school painted and framed a piece of artwork and wanted use that for artist, he had to bring the artwork to a den meeting and show me it, before I would sign off on the requirement. This is exactly the same rule that I would use as a merit badge counselar. This was the only way that any boy whould of earned any pins (except the required ones) since I did not do all the requirements in Den meetings. The goal of Webelos is the make the transition to Boy Scouts not such of a shock and one way that is done is to make the boys start looking to someone other than the parents for information.

[CubsRgr8]

kwc57 - webelos den leader is a lot harder work than committee chair, but it is so rewarding to work directly with the boys. I was asked to be either CM or CC next year and turned them down because I'm continuing with my Bear through his (and his denmates) years as Webelos. Follow your heart and follow mk9750's advice about having den meetings all through the summer. Sure, some boys will miss a few meetings, but they'll have a much easier time advancing and you'll have more fun.

[mk9750]

KWC57,

 

That's an awfully nice thing to say. Thank you. But I must confess to doing it more for selfish reasons. I am, and always have been, in this for my sons first. I'd love to be able to brag about having a higher level of commitment, but I really do everything I do for my two guys. I love that other boys have benefitted from my involvement, if that is the case. And, in the next few years, my 14 year old will be out of the program, and I'll be faced with the decision about sticking around, which I suspect I'll do. But more than anything else, I wanted my sons to have the best chance of succeeding if that's what they chose to do. My ideals aren't as lofty as I may have made them sound.

 

We also met on the same night as the pack meeting. It made it easier for families to plan their schedules, therefore more guys made the Den meetings (at least that's what I think). I also used the two times a year that we had five Tuesdays in a month to declare "free day", where the Den voted on what they wanted to do. We went to Pizza Hut, Putt Putt, we did model rockets, and twice the boys decided to not have a meeting. The other thing I did was to have a minimum 10 minute period in the meeting that was outside. Even during the winter, the boys did a lot better having a chance to blow off steam.

 

One more thing that I did (man I forgot about this until this thread got me thinking!) was to eliminate snacks after our last Bear meeting. I explained it as a rite of passage to being more mature, that only the little kids needed snacks, and we weren't little kids anymore. I was afraid of doing this, because I used the snacks to control behavior. But when I explained that as older guys now, they were responsible for their own behavior, including deciding how to punish bad behavior, my guys actually improved. this was my first accidental understanding of the value of boy run.

 

Flboisseau, I think you and I are on the same page. If a boy learned a skill that is applicable to the Scout program, whether he learned it in or out of Scouts, he should be given credit for it. But it is up to the person who is signing his book to be comfortable that he learned the skill or did the task. In Webelos, this usually is the Den Leader. It seems to me that the only way for the DL to be fair to the boy is to see the work. I agree 100%.

 

Mark

[SR540Beaver]

mk9750,

 

Don't consider yourself selfish. Why do most parents become coaches, sunday school teachers or scout leaders? Because of their kids! It isn't always because you think other people are doing a bad job or even that you think you can do it better. A lot of us want to spend time with our kids and want to be involved in how they learn what they learn. It is because we love them. The other kids get the benefit of our involvement too. Not to criticize parents who don't get involved (many people have a lot of irons in the fire or just are not into what their kids are), but I personally can't see how a parent wouldn't want to get involved. I'm always vigilant about who my son is with, what he is doing and what kind of example he is getting. I was one of those people who always wondered what my purpose in life was until my son was born. I realized then and there that I was put on Earth to be a Daddy like my Dad had been. It is the most important job I have. So like you, I'm becoming a leader for selfish reasons....my son and only child. He is 10 and will probably be gone from home in another 10. The first 10 years have gone by like a blur. We can't get them back or make them longer, we have to make the most of what we have while we have it. I wasn't asked to serve, I volunteered and the leadership was thrilled that I did. We have less than a year left until Boy Scouts. We'll make the most of Cubs and I think I'm just as excited about moving to Boy Scouts as my son is. I dropped out 35 years ago as a Webelos. I'm going to get to "finish" my scouting WITH my son. What could be sweeter?!

[mk9750]

kwc57,

 

Thanks again.

 

I used to use one of your points, phrased a little differently, when responsible for recruiting adult leaders. "Many people say they don't have time to volunteer. In my situation, I don't have time NOT to volunteer. If it weren't for Scouting, and summer ball, and karate, I might not make the time to be with my kids. I am awfully busy. Unless I make this time for them, I may not make ANY time for them."

 

I really believe this, too. I love playing golf, watching TV, going to sports events. Until recently, neither of my boys really liked any of my stuff. If I didn't do stuff they wanted to do, I wouldn't be doing anything with them. And you are right: Time flies. My oldest will be off to college in a few months. Already, jobs and girls and sports and band and Scouts keep him out of the house more than he's there. I sure am glad I spent the last 10 years through Scouts with him.

 

Mark