Web II troop visits

[kcrudy]

What should Web II's being doing when they go on troop visits. What questions to ask, etc.

[Lisabob]

Hello and welcome.

 

Here are a couple of places where I have found good lists of things to look for/questions to ask. Of course some of these are directed more at the parents than at the boys, and some of the lists are long, so I'm not sure I'd hand the whole thing to the boys - but maybe there will be a few things on these lists that you find particularly helpful.

 

http://usscouts.org/cubscouts/goodtroop.html (some characteristics of a good troop and a list of questions at the end)

 

http://insanescouter.com/t276/webelos/index.html (info on all things webelos. Scroll down to the bottom and there are a variety of webelos-scout transition links, including questions to ask troops)

 

Ideally, I think the webelos boys should be asking as many questions of the boys in the troop as possible, without mom & dad hovering right there. Parents and other adults might want to know the same things - but let them ask the adult leaders of the troop themselves. This encourages a couple of things: 1) the webelos begin to get to know the boys in the troop on their own terms and perhaps also begin to recognize that in boy scouts, the youth, not the adults, provide the leadership most of the time, and 2)it allows the parents to get the info they want without (unintentionally) taking over the boys' space and initiative, and 3) it allows the webelos boys and their parents/leaders to compare notes from different angles later on

 

But that's just my take and I do realize there are some boys who are likely to hang very close to their parent's side when they visit.

 

Lisa'bob

[scoutmom111]

I think one of the big items a webelo should look for when visiting a troop is how the boys respond to the webelos. Especially if this is at a normal meeting and not a meeting that is specifically set up to meet webelos! We had several webelos visit us last year at a regular meeting. One of our older scouts (he's autistic and about to finish his Eagle) went up to the boys, shook their hands, introduced himself and then introduced the boys to the group. The group then had them join into the activities, helping them when needed. It so impressed the young webelos that they were sold on our troop. Come to find out, one of the webelos has a brother with challenges. He really appreciated Leonard's greeting.

 

I think they also need to ask what the troop likes to do. What are the achievements and challenges of the troop. If any troop says they don't have anything they need to work on such as training, communication... something they need to improve... well they aren't being completely honest!!!

[molscouter]

Just make sure you check the agenda for the evening. You don't want to be there on the night of troop elections, for example.