TRAINING TIP

Have a New Den Leader??

Go to Northern NJ Council’s Web Site, www.nnjbsa.org/ and click on the Den Leader’s Patch.  They loaded most of the material from the new “New Den Leader’s Kit” onto their site. Plus provided some other useful links.  Check it out!!

Monthly Themes &

How do I find what I need to know!

Commissioner Diane

Old Hickory Council, NC

How do we find information for crafts, ceremonies, games, songs, etc to go along with the monthly theme for Cub Scouts?  Well, after checking your Cub Scout Program Helps and attending your district’s Roundtable, your number one source should be BALOO’S Bugle, which has everything you need to know and then some for each monthly theme of the year.  You can even go back to previous months or years and find additional information to help you plan your meetings with the Cubs, either on a Pack level or a Den level.

I can remember the days when we all traded information at Pow Wow’s and Roundtables from our accumulated boxes of years of Cub Scouting (going on 18 years).  I still have that box (although my family has wanted to throw it out each time we move), and still use it today, but life is a bit easier with the Internet and various web sites.  In that box we would categorize ideas alphabetically by holidays and then the idea itself.  For instance, you find a great idea for a craft for Halloween, then start a file labeled “Halloween” and begin to put your ideas for that holiday in that file.  Next, you come across some songs or skits that you found at a Pow Wow or Roundtable, so you label a file for “Songs” and one for “Skits” and your file box is beginning to look a bit like mine.  This makes life easier when the time comes to find something for our little scouts to do in a productive manner.  Keeping a file categorized by theme for a copy of BALOO’S Bugle, keeps these ideas at your finger touch without getting back onto the Internet.

 Another place to locate information is Scouting Magazine, which is full of ideas for each month of the year.  Leaders receive this magazine automatically each month.  So don’t forget to look through yours for all kinds of good information to help with your planning for the month.  I like to keep these issues for future reference, so they are also kept in another resource box.

Craft stores such as Michaels, Ben Franklin, and A.C. Moore have all kinds of craft ideas along with the resources to do them.  Some even offer to teach you and/or the Cubs how to do a particular craft.  This is great for those male leaders who feel that they are not quite the “Crafty” type.  We have had a representative from A.C. Moore come to one of our Roundtables to teach the leaders some craft ideas to use during the holiday season. This benefits the leaders, as well as A.C. Moore as they gave us coupons, and shared information on upcoming craft sales items, as well as craft classes that they offer which in turn gives them new customers.  I like to teach the kids how to “Wet”, “Stamp”, and “Stain” their leather projects.  A good resource for this craft is Tandy Leather.  You can locate Tandy Leather on the Internet, www.tandyleather.com if you do not have one nearby. Some Tandy Leather locations are usually good at offering a scouting discount.

Basically, as those of us who have completed that infamous course called Wood Badge (always two words) have learned, use your resources!  They come in all shapes and sizes, from training classes taught for Cub Scout Leaders (such as Roundtable, Leader Specific Training, Wood Badge, etc), to books & magazines, the internet, stores, and yes, church (I got a lot of ideas teaching crafts at our retreats for kids). 

Is Your Scout Program Designed for Boys . . . or Girls?

Jayhawk Area Council

I found this article posted on the Jayhawk Area Council website.  It impressed me and I think you all will benefit from it, too.  Having a daughter, I definitely would not characterize her behavior they way they did in the article.  But she grew up in a house of Scouts, has been on several Philmont treks and worked staff at Philmont for two summers.  Commissioner Dave

Recently, a psychologist who has studied teen suicide and other grossly unacceptable behavior (i.e., school shootings, etc.) observed what we all know intuitively: that boys are far more likely to commit suicide or these other acts than girls. He opined the reason for this is our society largely ignores the unique needs of growing boys and this leads to frustration and a feeling of alienation on their part. When pressed, he characterized "girl" behavior in these words, "sit down, shut-up, be still." Anything else, one would assume, is "boy" behavior.

We need to remember that our Scouts have been sitting in a classroom for six hours before they come to our meeting. Most have an attention span of less than 20 minutes. We cannot expect them to sit quietly and listen to a long lecture on some aspect of Scouting, no matter how worthwhile or well delivered the lecture is. If we attempt to conduct our program counter to the "boy" nature of the Scouts we have in our Troop, we are setting up conditions that will frustrate our boys and give them further proof (in their minds) of how they are unsuitable for the society they will inherit.

If, on the other hand, our meetings are well planned, boy led, with no activity lasting longer than 20 minutes and allow for lots of activity, we will have a program that our boys will look forward to attending and they will invite their friends to join. For ideas on planning a meeting with lots of different activities, check out the resources available in the Scout Shop.