Boy Scout Merit Badges as electives

[teitel]

Has anyone ever taken their son's boy scout merit badges and turned it into an elective on their transcripts? I was just curious if this was possible and if so how did you assign it?

 

Teresa

[EKS]

If you're planning to list Boy Scouts as an extracurricular activity, I would not give high school credit for any Boy Scout activities.

[prairiewindmomma]

I have considered creating a class called Personal Fitness and logging hours spent on merit badges involving sports as part of that coursework.

 

I have also considered creating a technology class and lumping hours under that. Nuclear Science, electronics, electricity, etc could all fit in here.

 

I haven't done it because my son has already earned those merit badges in 7th, but for a younger 2E son of mine....maybe.

 

That said, I think I'd only let that be a part of the course, and I'd be sure that we counted sufficient hours before claiming a Carnegie unit for it.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Just noticed that this topic is a double post and folks are adding answers to both so be sure to look at each separately.

[Julie of KY]

I tend to ask myself do all the other boys who earn merit badges have the opportunity to use it as coursework or is it just extracurricular? It's definitely extracurricular for anyone in public school so I think I'd stand out if I start listing them on my coursework.

 

I know as homeschoolers, we have the flexibility to things differently and I think we should use that to our advantage.I don't think there's a hard rule that says you can't crossover between what is school and what is extracurricular. I know I counted things learned for the first aid merit badge also as school learning toward health. If your student is going above and beyond what's required for the merit badge then I wouldn't have any problem listing it as schoolwork, but I'd probably leave off the merit badge all together as that is specifically a boy scout activity and not school.

[teitel]

Thank you all for the replies. I was just curious if it was something that could be done,

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I'll give a slightly different answer. I used some merit badge requirements as frameworks for science studies. In particular the oceanography MB which we used along with the book Oceanography 101. It helped me to figure out main topics of study along with the level of depth for intro level study. I had them do the book work type requirements.

 

It was then up to them to decide if they wanted to do the remaining requirements and get with a counselor to sign things off. I have seen boys in PS earn badges as a result of things they studied in school so I don't think it is as clear cut as a strict no double dipping rule. Having said that I do try to let extracurricular stuff stand for itself and not try to make a school credit out of everything they do.

[FriedClams]

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[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

I am of the opinion that there are 3 very different approaches to combining merit badges and homeschooling.

 

1) Use merit badges as a class.

 

2) Incorporate a merit badge into a class as one of the requirements.

 

3) Use work done in a class to satisfy some of the merit badge requirements.

 

(and of course 4- BSA is strictly extra curricular.)

 

In my personal opinion:  I would never do number 1, might do number 2 if the merit badge were a good fit and there were enough other readings, lectures, activities, etc. to create a full course, and 3 would be my most likely approach in combining the two.

 

By way of example, the chemistry merit badge--while we might during a chemistry course do a few of the experiments the badge specifies.  I would be willing to let my child use our class work to satisfy those badge requirements (provided this was acceptable to his troop).  However, earning the chemistry merit badge or even the chemistry merit badge plus a couple other badges is no where near the amount of work required in a semester of science.  This is not an equal trade-while "school" work might be used to satisfy a badge requirement -- completing a badge (or even a few badges) is not the equivalent of a semester of school work.  

 

I should add that using school work to complete merit badges is certainly at the discretion of the individual troop/merit badge counselor.  I wouldn't presume that work qualified without consulting them first.  I don't know if there is an actual BSA reg on this.

 

My son (the scout) says, in his opinion, while he might use some school work or other experiences to satisfy a merit badge requirement (with troop approval) that he feels most work in BSA is meant to provide learning experiences above and beyond school work and as such shouldn't be used for school credit.  (With a possible exception for schools which require community service hours in addition to course work-some BSA service projects would certainly count for these hours.)  And, as he put it, if one can receive school credit for work in BSA he wants an extra 0.5-1 credit for becoming an Eagle Scout.  Being in charge of his transcript I promptly disallowed this credit and dashed his dreams.  IMHO, the statement "I am an Eagle Scout" stands on its own with out needing to give academic credit.

[Serenade]

I think the Physical Fitness merit badge requirements can mostly fulfill requirements for one semester of PE, mostly because the kids have to track their physical fitness with a regular fitness program over the course of 3 months.  If a few other requirements are added, I think it would be more than adequate.  I am using the Physical Fitness merit badge and some extra physical requirements (targeted sports), along with the one semester Health Lifepac to make a full credit course titled Health and PE.

[MariaT]

I used some elements of two of the citizenship merit badges-- Nation and Community-- as the basis for a US Constitution credit, but my boys also did a Const. class at their Coop. For instance, for Community, they interviewed the mayor and several town officials, and created a documentary about the town. I listed this in their course descriptions, along with the academic work they did for the coop class. None of those by themselves provided enough work hours or in-depth study to use on their own, so I combined them. I didn't consult the counselors or troop -- we were the only homeschoolers, and the other troop leaders really didn't know what to think of us in general. Under Illinois laws, I am the supervisor for my home school--considered a private school-- so I get final say.

 

I think the MBs are great for providing a spine/framework/ or additional element for an academic class, but I would not use them alone, for reasons PPs have given. Teaching a merit badge is different -- how awesome! above and beyond the reqs of earning the badge.

 

Maria

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

I used some elements of two of the citizenship merit badges-- Nation and Community-- as the basis for a US Constitution credit, but my boys also did a Const. class at their Coop. For instance, for Community, they interviewed the mayor and several town officials, and created a documentary about the town. I listed this in their course descriptions, along with the academic work they did for the coop class. None of those by themselves provided enough work hours or in-depth study to use on their own, so I combined them. I didn't consult the counselors or troop -- we were the only homeschoolers, and the other troop leaders really didn't know what to think of us in general. Under Illinois laws, I am the supervisor for my home school--considered a private school-- so I get final say.

 

I think the MBs are great for providing a spine/framework/ or additional element for an academic class, but I would not use them alone, for reasons PPs have given. Teaching a merit badge is different -- how awesome! above and beyond the reqs of earning the badge.

 

Maria

 

In my previous post I wasn't trying to imply that one should consult a merit badge counselor or scoutmaster to use a merit badge as part of school work.  What constitutes classwork is the homeschooling parent's choice.

 

These folks do have discretion over what school work can be used to earn the merit badge for BSA though.  Some troops are happy to allow this and others want to see the work done on its own (i.e. no double dipping).  As far as my experience goes that is up to each troop to decide (unless there is actually a BSA reg I'm unaware of).