This year I am only leading one den of Cub Scouts. After two years of dual den leadership I am quite happy that I only have one den as with everything else that is going on with the other kids it is going to be a ridiculously busy year as it is.
With so much going on in our lives (currently including Boy Scouts, soccer, 3 kids in Irish dance, swim lessons, cross country – and I’m sure I am forgetting something) the more streamlined my process can be the better.
While I wasn’t a den leader for my older boy, by the time my 2nd was in the program I wound up having to take over as den leader, and now with my 3rd kid going through Cub Scouts I think I have hit upon a system on how to organize the upcoming program year that works for me.
The first thing I do is select an elective that I can easily fold into the required adventures. For this year, Wolf, I have selected Finding Your Way an adventure involving maps and navigation.
By the way, if you’re not familiar with the terminology of Cub Scouts, each grade in school correlates to a rank – in this case the 2nd grade is Wolf. The kids are working towards earning their Wolf Rank Badge. To do this there are some required adventures as noted in the Wolf Scout handbook. There are loads of other adventures in the handbook so scouts and families have options for something to do.
To earn the rank there are six specific adventures that need to be completed, and then one of the many elective adventures. While everything in Cub Scouts is optional, there are no attendance requirements, no penalties for not completing the adventures, no holding back for the next program year, in order to earn the Wolf Rank Badge, certain adventures need to be done and to complete an adventure each one has its own set of requirements.
One of the required adventures and what it takes for completion
What I do is break each of the adventures and requirements down. First I label each of the adventures and requirements. The first required adventure is 1, the second is 2 and so forth. Then the individual requirements within each adventure are -1, -2, and so on as appropriate or necessary. This means, that on individual sticky notes, for the adventures Paws On The Path, which is the 5th adventure (you may have noticed the tabs on the Wolf handbook in the first picture at the top of the blog post) that I would have individual sticky notes with 5-1, 5-2, 5-3, 5-4, and 5-5, with 5-6 and 5-7 set aside. I would also put a couple of words on the sticky note so as to identify the action being taken for that requirement.
Sorting the individual adventure requirements into manageable meetings
Each of these individual requirements are then arranged and combined into individual meetings. I look at each of the individual requirements, estimate how long it will take to go over, and what can be combined both for time and instructional sake. I don’t want to combine, for instance, 2-2 (service project) with 1-4 A&B (demonstrate what to do in a natural disaster and to prevent the spreading of germs) but I can combine 6-2, 6-3, and 6-5, each of which is a sort of physical challenge, balancing, frog leaps, forward roll, etc. into one large obstacle course.
After I have individual meetings somewhat planned out, approximately 30 minutes of advancement work per meeting, I then arrange these meetings in order. Which one will I do first? Which one last? Which one works best before or after a hike? The final step is putting each of these meetings to a date.
I have all of my meeting dates for the year planned out in advance having set them up at least a month before the beginning of the program year. Thankfully I have a good relationship with the parish our Cub Scout Pack is based. Being able to establish the meeting dates (and time) well in advance helps with a consistency to the program that can be necessary. Families then know what day of the week to avoid when making plans. For us, pack meetings are the first Wednesday of the month, so I just plan to have our den meetings on other Wednesdays. This makes Wednesday night “Scout” night.
As I match the various planned meetings to a date I make sure to pad in a few “make up” sessions. Obviously not everybody is going to hit every meeting, illness, sports, or whatever comes up and inevitably a meeting or two is missed. The meeting on the Wednesday before Christmas Break is one that I set aside for such a purpose.
Still in the process – about 95% complete
Of course this is all a fluid process. Some meetings we have extra time and I will start on some other requirement that wasn’t planned for that meeting, or alternately one thing will take longer than expected and something will need to get pushed back. I have a few dates at the end of the program year where nothing is planned, allowing for these eventualities, and if we do get everything done as initially scheduled we can work on some of the other electives from the handbook.
For the first meeting I have a handout of the calendar for the year to give to the parents. On it I have the meeting dates for our den, the pack meetings, and pack-wide activities that are scheduled. I also let them know that everything is subject to change, though usually there are minimal changes. This year, however, I know I have a few alterations to make before the next den meeting.
I have to say that I am only able to get my calendar of meeting dates for the year sorted because my wife is a teacher with Seattle Public Schools. We look at the coming year for both public schools as well as our kids’ Catholic school calendars to see when breaks are.
Every year the first den meeting is given over to Bobcat, the first rank all Cub Scouts earn. It takes 15 minutes, if that, and at this point I have the returning kids teach the stuff to those new to the program. That way everybody is on the same page and we can all advance through the program together.
Having been involved in Cub Scouts now for 9 years, entering my 4th as a den leader, I have hit upon what works for me. Having the year planned out in advance with some built in flexibility is my preferred method. There are official program den leader books which have meetings for the year planned out, and I have tried them, but they just didn’t fit my style. What works for me may not work for you. Remember, your mileage may vary.