Our Journey Through Tiger Cub Scouting - September 2008 About This Page:

[emtpej]

OK. I understand. I didn't know you had a lot going on now. I hope I didn't offer advice when it was not wanted.

[christiejay]

Originally Posted by emtpej

OK. I understand. I didn't know you had a lot going on now. I hope I didn't offer advice when it was not wanted.

No problem I don't like "those people" who all they do is complain but never want to help out. So I hesitate to speak up too much when I'm not currently willing to do anything about it. I guess that means I'm adopting a "wait-and-see" kind of attitude for a little longer. I just feel bad for the new scouting families who have no scouting background and are not familiar with all they can be doing to help their son while away from the meetings. I don't even think everybody has a handbook yet. Then again, I guess I sound like I expected everything to be done right away! We still have a long way to go this year ...

[christiejay]

Originally Posted by Chrissi

Christie, he won't be eligible for the immediate recognition totem until AFTER he's earned his Bobcat rank badge.

I took some time getting back to this part of your quote. I had been so sure of what I had read in the handbook, that I wanted to go back and figure out why I thought what I thought. In a couple of places it is so clear that all they have to do is those 3 easy requirements to get the totem. It never really says "after Bobcat". But I see where I was getting misled. It does say "on the track to Tiger". And of course you have to get Bobcat before Tiger. And the Immediate Recognition tracking page is before the Bobcat page in the back of the handbook so that is kind of confusing. It's also kind of odd that the totem requires such easy stuff that is part of Bobcat which is so much more in depth. Anyway, that makes me feel better that the den leader was not prepared to do anything about it at this week's meeting.

BTW - "A Bobcat Requirement" is NOT supposed to be covered at a meeting. It's meant for parents to read it to their children at home and discuss it amongst themselves due to the sensitive subject matter.

That was my thinking, but I assumed he was just going over it briefly as he did the other Bobcat requirements. It just ended up taking longer than I liked. No big deal, just something I wasn't expecting. You could tell from the boys' answers to his hypotheticals that they had all heard most of this before. But I will still be going over it with Joshua again later before I sign off on it in his book, not just relying on the den meeting to cover that requirement for us.

You need to ask if your son's den leader has attended Cub Scout Training. If he hasn't, he should be being supervised by a trained leader until he's completed training.

He probably hasn't. And I don't know who that trained leader/supervisor would be, as apparently they are stretched kind of thin on their leadership this year. From the introductions made at the pack meeting, it looks like there is only one leader for each den. Any suggestions on how to nicely ask without making it seem like I am tattling on him, or trying to get him in trouble? With such a small den and pack I don't want to get the reputation of a troublemaker or a know-it-all.

[emtpej]

Originally Posted by christiejay

Any suggestions on how to nicely ask without making it seem like I am tattling on him, or trying to get him in trouble? With such a small den and pack I don't want to get the reputation of a troublemaker or a know-it-all.

Just ask for a phone list that have everyone's name and what they do. Don't be afraid to go to the committee meeting, just so you can sit in and see what is going on. The Tigers all have to be with their buddy parent at all times, anyway, so the Tiger den should only need a co-ordinator that handles the admin stuff. It sounds to me like the leader that is doing it now would probably rather be doing something else. Otherwise, there should always be two-deep (at least) leadership. That is mandatory, unless something has changed recently.

[Colexis Mom]

We got an email with everyones phone number and email in the pack, not just the den Colin is in I would think it standard procedure for your pack to have one as well It also showed what training had been completed by the den leaders and pack leaders

[christiejay]

Thursday, September 25

After school I quizzed Joshua on the Cub Scout Promise. Well, actually, he couldn't contain himself and volunteered it to me on the way home from school! He remembered every word of it, so I was able to sign off on it in his book. We moved on to the next item on the list, the Law of the Pack, which is the other tricky one to make Bobcat. He did fairly well repeating after me, but not at all ready to say it on his own.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday, September 26

At the rate Joshua had been going with the Cub Scout Promise, I felt sure he would have been able to recite the Law of the Pack today, but he needed help getting started. He was also having trouble remembering what it meant. I had to prompt him on all parts of the meaning. Will come back to it tomorrow, he will probably have it down by then.

While at church today for work, I looked to see if they had any better cardboard boxes than what we had at home, but seeing what was available I believe ours will work fine. It suddenly dawned on me that with the first campout being next weekend, we need to do our prep work this weekend, especially with Jay working evenings. This includes setting up the tent for the first time in ages, seeing what needs to be bought for the campout, and making the racecar - which is where the cardboard box comes in. Tomorrow should be busy. However, I'm insisting that Jay be the one to handle these two items, since I'm the one doing the day-to-day stuff. So I guess technically he will be busy, me not so much.

[Chrissi]

Christie, I had this thread in mind when I went to New Leader Essentials and Cub Scout Leader Training today. I asked to verify - ALL Bobcat requirements must now be completed before earning the Tiger Cub Totem. (It has not always been this way and in fact, the training video they showed contradicted this - so I asked and was told it was an older and slightly outdated video. )

I also asked about "A Bobcat Requirement" - the Youth Protection info that is first on the list for Bobcat rank. It should, under no circumstances be read at a den or pack meeting. The topic is only to be discussed between parent and child - even after viewing a DVD called "It Happened to Me" at a den meeting. Parents and scouts are to be dismissed from the meeting immediately after the video so they can discuss the sensitive content amongst themselves at home. The reasoning is - leaders are volunteers - not necessarily teachers, psychologists, or anyone trained to hold this discussion with someone else's child. Youth Protection and Youth Protection Training are BSA's TOP priority and there are very stringent rules regarding how it is handled. Your leader had some kind of miscommunication and that needs to be straightened out ASAP so it doesn't happen again in the future. BSA could be sued by a parent who takes offense or does know the rules.

Also, all parents are encouraged to take the online Youth Protection Training course at Boy Scouts of America - possibly even before reading "A Bobcat Requirement" to make it easier on yourself. I did the course last night and got Youth Protection Certified in less than an hour. Takes no time and it's invaluable to have more than one adult Youth Protection Trained.

[emtpej]

That's pretty much the goal(s) of the Youth Protection Training -- protecting the scouts from abuse, protecting the leaders from false accusations, and at the very top of the list (from the BSA's perspective) protecting the BSA from lawsuits.
It does, however, get very annoying when the rules change faster than everyone can be trained.


Just wait till you read the "Guide to Safe Scouting"!

[Chrissi]

Originally Posted by emtpej

Just wait till you read the "Guide to Safe Scouting"!

I got that at the conclusion of today's two training sessions. Now, I just need a day to myself to sit down and read it.

[christiejay]

Saturday, September 27

Woke up early this morning by Jay getting dressed. I sleepily asked him if he had to go to work today. He says yes, and he will see me after lunch. I remind him about getting the camping gear together and buiding the racecar.

Later this morning I quiz Joshua on the Law of the Pack but he just has a mind block on this for some reason. Will take things a little slower on the Bobcat requirements. Explain to him that Jay will be home sometime after lunch and they can do their stuff together then.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I knew I shouldn't have said anything to Joshua about Jay helping him. Mid-afternoon and he is still not home. I know they won't have any time to get started on checking the tent today, but I tell Joshua they can still get started on the car.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Evening comes and Jay is still not home. Tell Joshua that Jay will just have to check on the tent himself sometime during the week. Also tell him that they can work on the car tomorrow, sometime after church. Spend the rest of the evening grumbling that Jay had to work 12 hours!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday, September 28

After lunch I pull out the cardboard box I had intended to use for the racecar and give it to Jay. He agrees it will work, so I hand over the instructions. Not too detailed, just take a box and turn it into a racecar. Decorate it however you want, use shoulder straps or handles so the scout can hold onto it during the race, and label it with the scout's name, pack and den. They suggest making a license plate to do this.

Jay did the taping and cutting of the cardboard. Joshua wanted to decorate the car like Lightning McQueen. Jay used an extra box to cut out a "95" and some lightning bolts, as well as headlights and wheels. He laid it out in the garage to spray paint it. The top half is red and the bottom half is silver. The 95 and lightning bolts are yellow.

After church this evening, they went to Home Depot to buy some cheap drawer pulls to use as handles. I had suggested using rope to make shoulder straps, but Jay thought the handles would be better. After seeing it I think he's right. So the racecar is ready, now Jay just has to take the time this week to make sure the tent is ready. We haven't used it in ages, so who knows what he will find when he unpacks it.

[Colexis Mom]

Sounds like a cool racecar

[christiejay]

Monday, September 29

After school Joshua was able to recite the Law of the Pack and explain its meaning, so I signed off on that in his handbook. We moved on to the meaning of Webelos, which he was able to get pretty quickly. Later I asked him the meaning of Webelos again, and he still knew it, so I signed for that one as well. That puts us halfway to our Bobcat badge!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monday, September 29
Den Meeting

Well, as sad as it sounds, I have found the secret to having a successful meeting! We went into tonight's meeting with our expectations set at zero, and it turned out pretty well!

Because the pack is so small all the boys meet together for the opening ceremony every week, then break into their dens. After tonight's opening which was led by the Webelos, announcements were made about this weekend's campout. They passed out maps (which we didn't need since Jay has worked at the camp before and knows it very well) and had us sign up to say which parts of the weekend we would all be there. The official campout is Saturday/Sunday but some are going down Friday to get a good campsite. The pack leaders are preparing all the meals, so that's the main reason they wanted a headcount, to know how much food to buy. We were asked to pitch in $6 apiece for the food. And since they're cooking all the meals I thought that was pretty reasonable.

They also passed around a sign-up sheet to order T-shirts. The pack has its own design that they wear on outings, to make it easier to keep up with everybody. I ordered Joshua and me each one. Now we don't have to worry about buying the Tiger cub T-shirts. I didn't really want to do that since they would only be good for just this year. The pack T-shirts if we take care of them should last us a while. I didn't even think about ordering Jay one , maybe they will get some extras with this order, or he can just get one the next time they place an order. That will probably be next year, I guess, when more new scouts join.

Oh, and the exciting part! They asked how many scouts had not earned their Bobcat badge yet so they would know how many badges to order. They hope to award as many as possible at the first official Pack Meeting. Still don't know when that is going to be, as they still didn't have the calendar ready. Looks like it is almost ready, they are just waiting on some calls back from a couple of places to see if we can have a meeting there or tour their facilities or something.

We broke into dens. A new boy showed up after his football practice (he was still in his uniform and pads). His name is William. He was by himself, so I thought maybe he wasn't a Tiger cub, but the den leader checked and he is definitely a Tiger. Hopefully next week he will have an adult partner with him.

Tonight Gary (DL) had us look over Achievement 1 for earning Tiger Badge, Making My Family Special. He had brought some folders, paper, stickers, crayons and color pencils. All this was for the den activity for this achievement, which is to make a family scrapbook. He had the boys decorate a sheet of paper to use as the cover (the front of the folder was clear, so their first page will show through). Then he asked them to take it home and continue to work on it, maybe writing some things in there that they like to do as a family, and bring it back to show him. Joshua is not very artistically inclined, but he drew each of us and put a few stickers on his drawing. I told Joshua on the way home that there were several things he could do to add to this scrapbook to help him earn another award. I didn't go into details with him, but what I had in mind was the Art belt loop and pin. There are different things he can do (in different styles) that will fulfill the Art requirements, but if he does them with a family theme they can also be added to this scrapbook, which ties in nicely with this activity. I'll have to look at that list of requirements again maybe next weekend and see which he could get started on.

Gary asked us to think of a chore we could do together during the week, and the boys would be expected to tell about it at the next meeting. This is the family activity for this achievement. Oh, and a review page in the handbook that goes along with it, that has to do with the topic of Responsibility, one of the focuses of scouting.

Gary also briefly looked at the Go See It for this achievement, which is to visit a museum, library, historical society, or something like that. Or even just visit some older family members. The point is to talk to the people wherever you go to see what family life was like when they were growing up, or during some other historical period, and compare it to their family life now. He said the pack will probably be going to a museum, or we could do this on our own.

He also started recording the activities that the boys had completed. I think Justus had learned a few of his Bobcat things, but since Joshua was apparently the only one who had his handbook with him, he was the only one to get anything recorded. Gary showed us the totem (still in the box) that the boys would earn upon completion of their Bobcat requirements, which include the three for the totem.

Because the info about the campout took so long, we didn't have much time for the den meeting. It seemed to be over pretty quickly. I was disappointed with Joshua's behavior during the meeting (way too hyper and not following my instructions ) but we left with a good feeling overall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday, September 30

This afternoon I started explaining to Joshua the meaning of the cub scout sign. He already knows the sign, just not what it means. I had intended to come back to it later this evening but he was in a bad mood so I will just put it off until tomorrow.

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you had a better time at the meeting this week Christie!!

[christiejay]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Glad you had a better time at the meeting this week Christie!!

It was definitely much better this time around.

I have started the next installment here: October 2008