How do you get the parents to complete "At Home" Requirements?

[Sidney Porter]

One thing that I find helpful is to provide blank charts for the stuff like tracking meals, chores, exercise etc. I like to make 2 blank copies one which I give the adult and one that I give the scout, that way the ownership is on the scout but if they lose it they have a backup.

 

Thinking about the title of the thread it is a little interesting. It is putting the ownership on the parent rather than the scout. Maybe that makes sense at the tiger and wolf level but for bears and webelos they should know what they need.

[Stosh]

Why would the ownership of earning awards not be on the scout instead of parents and DL's? After all isn't he responsible for doing the work to get the award? I'm thinking that's maybe what scouting is all about. If not done properly, one would have the parents and SM jumping through hoops trying to get Little Johnny's Eagle project turned in at the last minute and we all know that never happens.

 

Stosh

[Sidney Porter]

The maturity and responsibility of a 6 year old tiger vs an 11 year old webelos is a difference. It is harder for a tiger to get to a meeting w/o a parent where a Webelos can ride their bike. A Webelos have been in the program long enough that they understand how it works so they should know any any given time what they have outstanding. They also know the consequences of missing a meeting.

 

I think back to when we went to the newpaper tour as tigers. My stress was to the parents that they need to make sure that they get their scouts there because it was only being arranged 1x. The tigers did not maintain their own schedules. That differed with the webelos when we met with the civil engineer, in that instance the conversation was with the scout stressing that if they wanted to complete their engineering activity they needed to attend. In both instances the scout needed to attend and complete the work.

[ShutterbugMom]

I agree with the above poster. Many new parents don't really know what is expected of them, and honestly, a first grader is only minimally in charge of what they complete. Where we live, none of the boys could attend a meeting without an adult bringing them, so honestly, I think it is on the parents as much as one the boys.

 

I guess I was mainly wondering if I send e-mails to parents about what the boys have missed, is that enough? We also remind them at meetings of stuff they need to do at home (for example, practicing a fire drill with your family which is one of the bear badge requirements.)

 

While I like the idea of a poster, I think the bear requirements are some complicated, that it wouldn't help. I have asked everyone to log into ScoutTrack, and so far, only one parent (out of 11 other parents) has checked at all.

 

I can see everyone's point about wanting to have fun, but going to cub scouts and not receiving any awards is kind of like having baseball practice and never having a game IMO.

 

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I will continue with the e-mails and then have a catch up day in January/February for any items that might have been missed and can be made up as a group.

[JasonG172]

I tell my parents that these items are to be done AT home, if they arent complete then he doesnt complete that portion of the chapter.

[fred johnson]

Sidney Porter and ShutterbugMom are right. Cubs want to be recognized. If they are not recognized, it is a negative and begins to separate them from Cub Scouting. We need to attract them to the advancement program and have it grow on them. As they mature from Tiger to Webelos to Eagle scout, we do a progression of responsibility until it is 100% on them.

 

Plus, Cub Scouts (Tiger, Wolf and Bear) is way different. First of all, according to BSA and what BSA publishes in the Cub Scout handbooks, the parents sign off on alot. "Almost all electives and achievements are done by you and your Cub Scout at home, not in the den meeting." I've had some parents never respond and other parents that sign off on anything and everything. As such, Cub Scout awards are notorious for being imbalanced.

 

IMHO, if the scout was active during the year (participating, attending, etc), I'm going to find a way to get him his rank patch (not individual advancements, belt loops, etc) by the end of the year. I'm probably going to try to find other awards for him too. I do hold Arrow of Light differently as it's now a Webelos rank (not Cub Scout) and it involves much more scout-driven advancement.

 

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IMHO, ScoutTrack (and solutions like it) are bad. Period. It turns a fun activity based program into thousand checkoffs and those checkoffs get abused badly. I want the scouts to record their progress in their book and not on a web site that dies after they age out.

 

 

 

 

 

[Brewmeister]

There are a lot of good ideas in here. As CM and DL, I always stressed to the boys and the parents that Cub Scouting was about fun and family and that they were going to "advance" at the end of the year. When we had our crossover at the end of the year we did it for every rank and all boys got what they earned, and the Pack also provided the new neckerchiefs and books. We tried to hold this at a park with a bridge. So a Wolf scout would cross the bridge to being a Bear and receive his necker and book. If he also earned his Bear badge he was recognized for that as well. So, all scouts were recognized for their individual achievements, and all scouts that participated in the program achieved something.

[ShutterbugMom]

In reference to ScoutTrack, we still sign off the boys book and have them look through it. As both the person that enters everything for our den and the former Advancement Chairperson, ScoutTrack is totally awesome!

 

Especially for wolves and bears, it is hard to keep track of all the achievements and electives on paper and ScoutTrack makes it so easy. When I was the Advancement Chair before ScoutTrack I had to practically beg the den leaders to send me their advancements and many of them would call at the last minute even after my deadline. It was so frustrating. With ScoutTrack they seem to update it after each meeting and all the information is in there when needed. They still have deadlines, but it is not the big deal that it once was.

 

I love the suggestion about the boys getting their new neckerchief, slide and book at crossover. So far, our pack only has crossover, but I would like to at least see them do the scarf and slide....that would be awesome!

[Sidney Porter]

With a large pack software is really helpful. We were in a pack with 150 scouts (20 dens). The CM could run reports to see which dens were falling behind and may need help. The advancement chair could print a report and get the awards at one time rather than 20 den leaders driving across town purchasing them and then filling out expense reports. It also means that a den leader doesn't need to maintain separate records to keep track of who is failing behind. Even in the current pack of 50 (5 dens) it makes life easier.

 

[fred johnson]

With a large pack software is really helpful. We were in a pack with 150 scouts (20 dens). The CM could run reports to see which dens were falling behind and may need help. The advancement chair could print a report and get the awards at one time rather than 20 den leaders driving across town purchasing them and then filling out expense reports. It also means that a den leader doesn't need to maintain separate records to keep track of who is failing behind. Even in the current pack of 50 (5 dens) it makes life easier.

 

ScoutTrack & such web solutions .... Though I can think of other solutions, I can accept what ShutterbugMom and Sidney Porter say.

 

My experience is jaded by obsessive parents who's only goal seems to be to have their son get more awards than the next guy. And recording the individual requirements is way way too painful in ScoutTrack. I've also seen problems when the purchasing gets out of cycle with the awards and scouts get awarded the award multiple times. I'd rather keep it more simple