Category: Cub Scouts

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ScoutingU: The new look of online training

If you have ever tatrained_monitorken an online course, you know how cumbersome they can be. Usually it just involves watching some video clips, or reading text (sometimes with pictures) and possibly taking a quiz. At best, it’s a one-way introduction to a topic; at worst, it’s a nightmare that never seems to end, as the progress bar slowly moves along.

The Boy Scouts of America has tried to fix some of this with the rollout of the new online training system. Continue reading “ScoutingU: The new look of online training”

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Just tell me what I need to do!

TigerDenLeaderGuide_200School starts in most places in just a few weeks, which means we’re heading into our big recruiting season. Packs will be going out into the schools to spread the word about Cub Scouting, enticing boys with the thrill of adventure, exploration and fun, and hoping they’ll run home to tell their parents that they want to join.

We’re also going to be recruiting their parents as den leaders, committee members and even Cubmasters. Without adult volunteers, Scouting simply wouldn’t exist.

Recruiting boys is relatively easy. They’ll go for anything that appeals to them, and Cub Scouting has it all – and then some.

But recruiting adults is another story. Continue reading “Just tell me what I need to do!”

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Eight fall recruiting ideas you haven’t tried

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Fall is approaching, whether we realize it or not, and with it comes our most productive recruiting season. School starts back up, and our Cub Scout program kicks into gear. Each year, packs need to form new Tiger dens and add to the others, replacing those who aren’t returning or have moved away.

We also need to make an effort to reach out to all available youth and give them the opportunity to join Scouting. Even if they’ve seen us before, boys grow and develop and their interests change rapidly. Last year’s lukewarm prospect may be this year’s go-getter.

By now, every pack should have held its annual program planning meeting – if yours hasn’t, get together as soon as possible to map out the year’s pack meetings and activities. You should also be scheduling your recruiting events: Continue reading “Eight fall recruiting ideas you haven’t tried”

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Cub Scouting’s New Beginning

tigerwolf_250Today is June 1, 2015 – a date that a lot of Scouters have been anticipating, either with excitement or dread. It’s the day on which the biggest overhaul of the Cub Scouting program in recent memory takes place.

The rollout of the Cub Scout Adventure Program, an outcome of the 2011 strategtic plan, includes many features intended to increase interest, engagement and retention for the Scouts as well as make life easier for the adult leaders. By condensing the myriad requirement complexities of the various den-level programs into a common, more easily understood structure of Adventures, it’s hoped that planning den and pack meetings will be streamlined (giving you back one of those one-a-week hours that seem to mysteriously multiply). It makes things clearer for the parents as well – and hopefully a lot more fun for the boys we serve.

As with any well-run activity, though, you can’t just drop in unprepared and run an interesting and engaging den or pack meeting. Continue reading “Cub Scouting’s New Beginning”

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Arrow of Light changes

oldest_island_boyWrapping up our series on the upcoming changes to the Cub Scout program, this time we’ll discuss what is changing with the requirements for the Arrow of Light award.

Although these changes take effect on June 1 of this year, bear in mind that current Webelos Scouts can continue to use the current Arrow of Light requirements. Any boy joining Cub Scouts after June 1 must use the new requirements.

The most significant change is that the Arrow of Light no longer requires first earning the Webelos rank. Continue reading “Arrow of Light changes”