Webelos AOL Patrols

[5thGenTexan]

In spite of everything going on in Scouting, I am a bit excited.

Right now I have 4 boys that will advance to an AOL Den soon, also have 4 girls on the same track.  There is a Pack nearby that is folding up and coming to check us out.  I think they also have 4 boys that will be AOLs coming up,

The exciting part...

We can run 3 AOL Patrols with 4 Scouts each.  Really be able to show them how things are intended to operate

[CynicalScouter]

3 minutes ago, 5thGenTexan said:

We can run 3 AOL Patrols with 4 Scouts each. 

Purely curious. Why not two patrols of 6? That's closer to the Scouts, BSA patrol standard.

[5thGenTexan]

1 minute ago, CynicalScouter said:

Purely curious. Why not two patrols of 6? That's closer to the Scouts, BSA patrol standard.

The girls kind of throw a kink in that plan.  Just because we aren't supposed to, I am not going to mix them with the boys in a patrol.  They will cross over to a Troop for Girls we are working on getting started anyway.   

Plus, right or wrong we went ahead and had them pick patrol names and do flags, etc this year.  So, the new boys can either get thrown into something already in place or have the opportunity to create their own Patrol name and all.

[Eagledad]

So, a little advice from someone who has this experience with 16 scouts. 

I ran the meeting basically like a troop where the two patrols were still part of one program. Running seperate dens requires at least twice the number of volunteers. easier to find one leader with three assistance than 3 leaders and 3 assistance.

As a SM, I personally don't believe scouts need all that much Patrol Method experience to be successful in the troop. Our troop has a very good program to get new scouts up to speed. I instead believe they need confidence for a troop programs. And they way I did that was let Webelos IIs run all the pack Opening and closing ceremonies. I also required two skits from the Webelos and two run-on skits. My objective with the ceremonies and skits was getting Webelos comfortable performing in front of other scouts. The Webelos were also required to arrive 30 minutes early to set up chairs for the troop meetings. Service. I asked a Tiger/Wolf?bear den assist the Webelos with the ceremony. In fact, the other dens carried the flags while the Webelos led the ceremony. That got the younger scouts used to getting in front of crowds, and the Webelos used to teaching and leading.

As far the Den meetings, one of the two den-patrols was assigned and responsible for the opening and closing ceremony. I asked them to run it like a troop with reciting prayer, Pledge of a Elegance, Oath and Law. I DID NOT judge their performance on reciting the Oath or Law. They will eventually get that on their own and it takes the stress out of leading the ceremony.  After the first few meetings, the scouts know enough to assign the positions of calling out and holding the flag, and the parts of the ceremony itself. You will be surprised they can plan the ceremony in 30 seconds. Confidence. As I said, don't be to critical on performance until it is obvious they should be doing better.

After the opening., we typically ran two activities since we had 16 scouts. We would run each activity about 20 mintues, then switch the patrols to the other activity. You can be creative how you want to do this, but the scouts liked it because if one activity is boring the other could make up for it. No activity should be boring, but I asked parents to plan and run the activities and some where better than others. Then the Scouts had games for 20 mintues, which the love, and then we would do awards and closing ceremony. I asked the parents to shup a few minutes early to watch the awards part of the ceremony. I awarded the scouts Webelos pins at the den meeting so they didn't have to wait so long for the award between monthly meetings. They were presented with the card at the monthly Pack meeting for honor by the other dens. 

I agree with keeping your girls together, but for ease of making a FUN program with fewer volunteers, I would combine all three patrols together in one Den. They can function as a patrol during the whole meeting while still functioning as a den. Oh, I also ran three 90 minute meetings each month instead of four 60 minute meetings. Just worked out easier to plan and less stressful to operate

Those were ideas that helped me with that many scouts. We had a lot of fun.

Barry

[5thGenTexan]

2 hours ago, Eagledad said:

So, a little advice from someone who has this experience with 16 scouts. 

I ran the meeting basically like a troop where the two patrols were still part of one program. Running seperate dens requires at least twice the number of volunteers. easier to find one leader with three assistance than 3 leaders and 3 assistance.

As a SM, I personally don't believe scouts need all that much Patrol Method experience to be successful in the troop. Our troop has a very good program to get new scouts up to speed. I instead believe they need confidence for a troop programs. And they way I did that was let Webelos IIs run all the pack Opening and closing ceremonies. I also required two skits from the Webelos and two run-on skits. My objective with the ceremonies and skits was getting Webelos comfortable performing in front of other scouts. The Webelos were also required to arrive 30 minutes early to set up chairs for the troop meetings. Service. I asked a Tiger/Wolf?bear den assist the Webelos with the ceremony. In fact, the other dens carried the flags while the Webelos led the ceremony. That got the younger scouts used to getting in front of crowds, and the Webelos used to teaching and leading.

As far the Den meetings, one of the two den-patrols was assigned and responsible for the opening and closing ceremony. I asked them to run it like a troop with reciting prayer, Pledge of a Elegance, Oath and Law. I DID NOT judge their performance on reciting the Oath or Law. They will eventually get that on their own and it takes the stress out of leading the ceremony.  After the first few meetings, the scouts know enough to assign the positions of calling out and holding the flag, and the parts of the ceremony itself. You will be surprised they can plan the ceremony in 30 seconds. Confidence. As I said, don't be to critical on performance until it is obvious they should be doing better.

After the opening., we typically ran two activities since we had 16 scouts. We would run each activity about 20 mintues, then switch the patrols to the other activity. You can be creative how you want to do this, but the scouts liked it because if one activity is boring the other could make up for it. No activity should be boring, but I asked parents to plan and run the activities and some where better than others. Then the Scouts had games for 20 mintues, which the love, and then we would do awards and closing ceremony. I asked the parents to shup a few minutes early to watch the awards part of the ceremony. I awarded the scouts Webelos pins at the den meeting so they didn't have to wait so long for the award between monthly meetings. They were presented with the card at the monthly Pack meeting for honor by the other dens. 

I agree with keeping your girls together, but for ease of making a FUN program with fewer volunteers, I would combine all three patrols together in one Den. They can function as a patrol during the whole meeting while still functioning as a den. Oh, I also ran three 90 minute meetings each month instead of four 60 minute meetings. Just worked out easier to plan and less stressful to operate

Those were ideas that helped me with that many scouts. We had a lot of fun.

Barry

Lots of great ideas here I had not thought of.  Thanks!!!