What are balanced Scouting activities? This time of year I get colorful brochures in my actual mailbox (if you look outside your house there’s probably a little tin container that people put paper documents called ‘mail’ in periodically, it’s a quaint custom) and my email inbox  from amusement parks, sporting venues, whitewater rafting companies and all manner of similar…continue reading

Scoutmaster Mike Lodes writes the blog An Hour a Week…. left over after Scouting. Here’s a recent post that got me laughing – So, I agreed a little while back to be the Chartered Org Rep for our Church’s Cub Scout Pack.  I thought…  how hard can it be?  I mean, what, the Cub Master and the Committee will…continue reading

Two of the effects physicists describe apply to our work in Scouting: The Observer Effect Changes that the act of observation makes on the phenomenon being observed.  A tire pressure gauge releases air from the tire thus changing the pressure we are testing. The Proximity Effect When two atoms come into proximity, the highest energy, or valence, orbitals of the atoms change…continue reading

Burak Kanber is an engineer with a blog. He recently posted an article  titled Effective Teaching is a Long Con; If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. – Carl Sagan The above Carl Sagan quote is why most smart people are bad teachers. Smart, impassioned people know the…continue reading

This is the third in a series of articles about social media and Scouting; here’s the introduction,  a discussion of youth protection issues and some thoughts about what works. Also be sure to read the B.S.A. Social Media Guidelines. A personal profile on a social media tool that identifies us a Scout Leader makes us de-facto representatives of Scouting in general and the…continue reading

This is the second in a series of articles about social media and Scouting; here’s the introduction,  my guidelines for appropriate behavior and content and some thoughts about what works. Also be sure to read the B.S.A. Social Media Guidelines. Social media tools have powerful potential for communicating with Scouts and their families to share information, supplement training and educate Scouts and adult volunteers alike. As I mentioned…continue reading

This is the first in a series of articles about social media and Scouting; here’s a discussion of youth protection issues,  my guidelines for appropriate behavior and content and some thoughts about what works. Finally be sure to read the B.S.A. Social Media Guidelines.. Our Scouts are digital natives; they don’ t know a world without computers and the internet. You and I…continue reading

In an earlier post, I reported on a poll and discussion of how the eight methods of Scouting are applied in our troop. We followed that up with a poll during the youth leadership training. It was great for discussion in that setting, and there were some interestingly different views on how our troop is…continue reading

This post introduces a new contributor to Scoutmastercg.com; Walter Underwood.  You can learn more about Walter by reading his profile. I really like the idea of a regular, brief and focused discussion amongst the adult leadership to air any concerns or ideas; we’ll be having one of these discussions in our troop pretty soon! – Clarke A couple of…continue reading

Earnest Thompson-Seton first published 'The Birch Bark Roll' in 1902. His work in establishing the pre-BSA organization, The Woodcraft Indians, was ultimately woven together with the ideas of Baden Powell and Daniel Carter Beard to form the program of the BSA. More than a century later Seton's ideas remain relevant to our work as Scout…continue reading

Fifth and final entry  in a series of thoughts about looking ahead: Do we meet key indicators of effectively presenting our program? Generally accepted standards for assessing unit programs do give some indications of the health of the program but we should take a closer look. Metrics report adult leader training, youth recruitment and retention,…continue reading

Fourth in a series of thoughts about looking ahead: How will we reach and or maintain financial stability? Great Scouting is not dependent on a lavish budget; just ask your Council Executive. Every Troop, Pack and Crew I know of raises money to support its program. I am not concerned here with  the specifics of…continue reading