Boy Scouts???

[Joyfullyblessed]

Does anyone have any experience with Boy Scouts? What is the time commitment and costs involved? Our church has a troop, and my husband brought home papers just in case we were interested.

 

Our son is five and I just don't want something that takes over our lives. We have already been through that for years concerning softball with our daughter. She started when she was five and is still playing. It takes up HUGE amounts of time and cost a fortune.

 

Anyway, please let me know more about them. I really have no experience with them and don't want to assume things right away about something that could possibly be a wonderful thing for my son.

 

Oh, and we already do lots of Upwards sports, choir, etc.. and I don't even know if we would have the time to fit scouts in with the other things. I just need people with experience to fill me in on everything.

 

Thanks!!! Have a wonderful day!!! :)

[m0mmaBuck]

is the new program the Packs are supposed to follow. Under Cub Scouts 2010 there should be 2 den meetings, 1 pack meeting, and 1 pack activity each month. That works out to 4 meetings a month. Since your son is young, a parent is required to sit with him at each meeting (required for Lions, ie. kindergarten, and Tigers, ie. 1st grade).

 

Any commitment beyond the 4 meetings each month is up to the Pack (large group) or Den (age-specific group) that your son is involved in. There are things like camps, community service, fundraising, and extra "go-see-its" that may occur.

Edited August 1, 2010 by m0mmaBuck
additional information

[....]

Boy scouts? Taking over your lives? :lol:

 

OK, your son needs to be in 1st grade before he can join, so you're in the clear for now. In 1st grade, they become Tiger Cubs. You're in a Pack, which is a big group of scouts of all ages and then you're in a Den, which might have about 5-8 boys in it. You might meet once a month as a Pack and once-twice a month as a Den (it really depends on your Pack and Den). You'll meet for extra stuff throughout the year, like the Raingutter Regatta (where they race little boats), the Pinewood Derby (they make a car and race it), Popcorn Sales (typical fundraiser) and there are usually a few Go-See-Its (field trips) and don't forget the Fall and Spring Camp-outs.

 

Yeah, it's a time committment. In fact, my husband is taking over as den leader this fall. :glare: You as a parent, have to stay with your son at den meetings, pack meetings and you'll be his "learning partner" as he works on his Tiger Cub badge, etc.

 

We also do girl scouts, and boy scouts is by far a much, much, MUCH greater committment. My son loves cub scouts so much, that we actually don't do any sports. All he really wants to do is cub scouts. I think it is a huge character-builder and it's a chance for the boys to learn all kinds of stuff that they would never learn anywhere else. However, it can be a big committment for the parent.

[....]

Since your son is young, a parent is required to sit with him at each meeting (required for Lions, ie. kindergarten, and Tigers, ie. 1st grade).

.

 

Do you guys actually have Kindergarten dens? In our area, they start in 1st Grade. My son "waited and waited" :tongue_smilie: to reach 1st grade, so he was old enough for the Tiger Cubs. :D

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I agree with Margaret. Scouts is definitely worth the commitment. There is so much more to being a boy than sports. Don't get me wrong, sports are great but not the only thing that helps a boy grow into a mature, well adjusted man.

 

My son (who is a Star Scout) has been able to do so many things he wouldn't have been able to do had he not been a scout. He joined Cub Scouts late (as a second semester Wolf) but worked diligently to earn his Wolf and a number of arrow points. He went to Cub Day Camp, over night camp, special Webelos events, and many others. As a Boy Scout he has been whitewater rafting, rappeling, climbing, camping, scuba diving, kayaking, canoing, to week long Scout Camp. He has helped clean roadways, plant gardens, plant trees, place flags on the graves of Veterans, participate in parades...

 

He seems to make scouting friends wherever he goes. He likes to wear his scouting t-shirts and ball caps out and about and inevitably someone comes up to him and asks about scouts. He has met other scouts in CO, MA, at the state fair, in the airport...that is perhaps the greatest things about scouts. If you meet another scout there is an instant bond of brotherhood. It may not be noticable when they are young but it is certainly there when they are older.

---

 

Can you tell I like scouts?

 

Dragon (who is not paid anything by the BSA to talk about the benefits of scouting)

[Mallorie]

I would suggest visiting your local Pack, and see what your son thinks of it. My experience is that it's pretty cut and dry...the boys that are there, are there because they love it. You'll know pretty early on if it is for your son or not.

 

I would actually compare it to homeschooling. It is a set of skills that is built upon year after year.

 

Cost is dependent on the Pack, and how they run things. I've seen very different set-ups. Ours does fundraisers at the Pack level that goes into a Pack account for activities. Then at the Troop level, they fundraise, and whatever a boy earns goes into his own account to use for camps, gear, etc.

 

And just like with a boy joining, you'll know early on if leadership is for you. I, personally, have had a blast at BSA adult leader trainings. (Any other Wood Badge grads?)

 

My boys love Scouts, and so does their dad. They have tried sports, but would rather Scout.

[ChemMommy]

Boy Scouts CAN be if you stay through Eagle rank. Compared to the parents with kids in sports, though, we spend less time on scouting than they do on sports. PLUS, we do scouting stuff as a family activity. Yep, even the girls come along on trips and do the fun meetings (the ones with the police, fire department, etc.).

[abbeyej]

We opted to wait for Boy Scouts and skip Cub Scouts... There are certainly many (good) arguments for doing Cub Scouts, but I really don't regret waiting 'til ds was old enough to join as a Boy Scout instead. (You must be eleven, or ten and have completed fifth grade.) Most of the work is really up to ds to do, and depending on how active one is with troop fundraisers, it's possible to earn a large portion of the money for campouts, summer camp, etc.

 

Ds is in a great troop, and I have to say that all of my experiences with the boys have been very positive. They're genuinely likable, intelligent, kind kids.

 

My brother was (is, I guess, lol) an Eagle, and his experience was extremely positive overall, much as Margaret describes.

 

Speaking of which:

... My ds just had his Eagle Court of Honor last week...

Congratulations!!!

[Samiam]

I didn't think one could start Cub Scouts until they were in 1st/age 6? Unless something has changed...someone mentioned "Lions"...hadn't heard about that.

 

Tigers won't be too much About once a week, and very occasionally, maybe more. Even then some of the Go-See-Its, basically field trips with your Den, are not mandatory, and your son can earn his bead if he does something similiar with his family. Alot of the Pack activities are optional. BTW, Den is the small group of just boys your son's age, fellow Tigers....Pack is the WHOLE group, all the Cub Scouts from 1st-4th who belong to that pack.

 

As far as price, that will vary widely. When older DS was a Tiger, I think we paid $25 to enroll, but then there were weekly dues ($2.00), paid for own handbook, etc etc.

 

When middle DS joined Tigers last year, the overall fee was $150 BUT they gave you a portion of your popcorn sales towards that. They split it up in two payments...one $75 to enroll, and then another $75 in November. By Novembmer they knew what your popcorn sales were and gave you some credit, so for our second payment, we only had to pay $10. Some families didn't pay anything and got REFUNDS from their first $75.00!! Plus for that price, they gave you lots of extras, like handbook, some of the Pack activities were included (pinewood derby car, rocket for rocket blast, t-shirt for Cuboree). Now this was a rather wealthy Pack (I was Den leader, so was privy to Pack budget), and it a rather upscale neighborhood.

 

So anyhoo, price will vary widely. As will your experience. A Pack and Den is run by volunteers, parents, and if they are not on the ball, it can be a disorganized mess. If they are into it and on the ball, it will be a fun and worthwhile experience for your son AND you!

[Joyfullyblessed]

Thanks for all the replies! I should say that my son is five right now, but will be six this coming Thursday, so his age is just right for cub scouts. I am just trying to hold onto the lasts few days of my baby boy being five. :001_rolleyes:

 

I guess my husband and I will talk things over and see if it is something that our son may be interested in or not.

 

Again, thank you so much for giving me some insight on what the Scouts actually do weekly/monthly/yearly. I greatly appreciate it! :thumbup1:

[hazilsara]

I have been the Cub Master for my ds's Pack for the last 3 years, and absolutely love the whole program! The annual registration fee is $15, the uniform costs about $50-$75, depending on which items your Pack counts as "required" and the optional Boys Life magazine subscription is $12 for the year. And there should be "scholarships" available from the Distrcit to help pay for the uniform and camp fees if ever you have the need of that! (Ask your local scout-shop if your Cub Master isn't forthcoming with this kind of info!) There will probably also be camp-outs, usually 1-nighters, that require a small fee and some camping gear. Most Packs I've dealt with are more than willing to help with anything you need! Don't let money be a deterant!!

 

As for time commitment, that's up to you! There have been a lot of good posts about that!! The thing to remember is that alot of the requirements will be completed in the weekly den meetings, so if you miss, you'll probably need to make those up on your own--but no penalty other than that! You as the parent will probably be strongly invited to attend monthly Committee Meetings to help plan what the pack does, and to help with events. Part of the program is the opportunity to be involved in what your son is doing! But again, most Packs will take what you can give them, and be happy to have you and your ds!!

 

Additionally, I thinks it's important for you to understand that alot of the things you do in Scouts can be counted as Home-School time! My son is a Webelos (5th grader) this year, and that Cub Scout rank gives a lot of options for what a boy can do to earn his rank. We've been including scout requirements in our daily home-school schedule and it works great! Alot of the requirements are geared to parallel what the boys are learning in public school...so also close to what you might be teaching at home! I love killing two birds with one stone!! So this year it's been easier, but we did the same thing last year (our first year of hs-ing).

 

Anyway, I strongly encourage you check out Cub Scouts! It's an incredible program! Especially if you get with a Pack that you like!!

 

PS: Mallorie--I did my stint at Gillwell! I'm a Fox!!