Comments on: FastTracks

By: Walter Underwood

Walter Underwood — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 21:53:47 +0000

For memorizing the Law and Promise, I used an opening and closing ceremony. We stood in a circle and each Cub gave one line of the Law. We went around the circle at least once, then did it again with the Promise. After a few meetings doing that at opening and closing, they’ll get the hang of it.

By the way, the requirement is not “memorize”. It is “learn and say” for the Promise, and “say” and “tell what it means” for the Law. The requirements are always within easy reach of an average Cub. If it seems difficult, re-read it to make sure.

I always used “Do Your Best” when signing off requirements. Sometimes, your best isn’t very good, but if it is your best, I think the requirement is satisfied. If you can’t get both feet off the ground when you jump, like my older son, you’ve still done “See how high you can jump” (Wolf Achievement 1f)!

By: admin

admin — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 21:03:16 +0000

Excellent! Thanks for putting that out there, Walter. I’ll be looking at it next year, I’m sure. No worries for me. I’ve gone through the whole thing with my older son, too. However, I started as a Wolf den leader and the Tiger program has changed since he was in that level. Now, with a daughter in Girl Scouts and a son in Boy Scouts and a few years older to boot, I’m finding myself willing to refer to others more than I did before.

I’ve always constructed my den plan to advance the boys, but I also left room for them to finish things at home. Of course, it also depends on guys showing up to the meetings. My goal right now is to get all of my guys through Bobcat next month. I’m wondering if it’s a realistic goal due to them being 1st graders and having to memorize the Law of the Pack and the Promise. Time and attendance will tell.

By: Walter Underwood

Walter Underwood — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:43:56 +0000

This is long overdue. I was so disappointed with the Wolf program materials that I wrote my own Wolf curriculum, Wolf Notes (http://wunderwood.org/wolfnotes/wolfnotes.shtml), to help our incoming Den Leaders. I did it as a Wood Badge ticket item four years ago.

The standard program materials don’t provide any way to get the Cubs through the badges. To finish Wolf, either the Den Leader or the family needs to spend a lot of time understanding the requirements (quite complicated, really) and getting things done.

Our Wood Badge patrol had two Cub leaders and we both chose ticket items to get new leaders started more easily. She put together full packets of all the official forms and training.

The first year as a Den Leader is pretty hard — lots to learn and the BSA materials are scattered and far less helpful than you’d expect.