Information, Observation, and Inspiration for Scouters
Even though summer camp rolls around each year at this time, we’re never quite prepared for it. We generally do a pretty good job, but there are details we tend to forget from one year to the next. Add to this the changing nature of our troops and a refresher becomes a good idea.
So, whether you’re heading to camp next week or next month, here are some summer camp-related articles that I and others have written on the subject recently. Continue reading “Summer camp survival kit”
Suppose that instead of a usual weekend campout, the Scouts of your troop have decided to go on a weekend hike – maybe to get a taste of what a longer voyage like a Philmont trek might be like.
They’ll start out by getting dropped off Friday night, hike to their first campsite, set up and camp overnight. Then in the morning they’ll have breakfast, pull up stakes and hit the trail. Lunch is enroute, then arrival at a second site Saturday evening, where they’ll set up again, cook dinner, have a campfire and turn in. After Sunday morning’s breakfast, they’ll break camp and hike to where the parents are waiting to pick them up.
This requires not only a good amount of planning but some training, so the Scouts will know what to expect and what to plan for. Continue reading “Adults teaching Scout skills”
As a unit commissioner and Friends of Scouting presenter, I have the opportunity to visit many troops and packs and get insight into how they operate. We commissioners also talk among ourselves about problems and issues in our units.
One of the troops had an observation about a recent campout:
…the boys were separated by patrols… more boys seemed to be engaged cooking and cleaning…younger Scouts did well…we should continue this method.
While on one hand I’m happy that the troop conducted a successful patrol-method campout and has seen its benefits, I was disappointed to hear that most of their monthly “campouts” tend to be group activities: a ski trip, a merit badge clinic, a museum weekend, and so on.
This troop seems to be employing the patrol method on a part-time basis, Continue reading “The part-time patrol method”
The question came up recently on one of the forums about how different troops handle registration for monthly campouts, and I was intrigued to read the replies.
Many respondents had well thought-out procedures, ranging from e-mailed permission forms to Google documents and the BSA’s new Scoutbook. These systems aim to add some level of reliability and dependability to the process of parents signing their sons up to go camping and to make things easier for them.
It’s great to have a consistent way to reach the parents, to get word back on who is going, and to be able to assign drivers to take Scouts to and from camp. This certainly helps the troop committee members and the Scoutmaster responsible for overseeing the campout.
Most of them, however, miss the point. Continue reading “How much are you doing for them?”
Life skills.
Just about every youth activity touts that it teaches “life skills.” Baseball teaches life skills. Karate teaches life skills. Dance teaches life skills. Church groups teach life skills.
And Scouting teaches life skills – but ours are different. Continue reading “We’re all about life skills”