BoyScouts

samanthaj · #1 (**permalink**) 08-14-2002, 06:28 AM

Hi!
Does anyone out there know how old you need to be for
Boy scouts? My son is 6 yrd. old & loves the outdoors. He was in t-ball this summer (his second year). I would like to get him envolved in some type of scouts. He loves the outdoors & I think he would love it. He is very smart for his age & loves learning new things. I would appreciate any replies.

-samanthaj

OmommyO · #2 (**permalink**) 08-17-2002, 06:49 AM

Here in Iowa, you can join cubscouts when entering first grade. My oldest was 7 and my younger one was 6. After finishing up cubscouts; Tiger Cub, Wolf, Bear, Weebelos 1 and Weebelos 2 they can go on to Boy Scouts. Hope this helps.

samanthaj · #3 (**permalink**) 08-17-2002, 08:05 AM

Thanks for the reply!
My son says "sure I'd love to be in the scouts"
My son is 6 & daughter will be 3 in September. I think she is going to follow in his footsteeps everywhere he goes- so I'm sure she will be interested when old enough. Did the scouts seem to interfere with school? I wonder who (in the area) I would need to find out more info? Chamber of Commerce??
samanthaj

OmommyO · #4 (**permalink**) 08-17-2002, 11:20 AM

The school will have information about who the cub master and leaders are. You just need to h\ask the secretary. Also the Hawkeye Area Cub Scouts here in IA has a cub night for scouting and a sheet comes home with the boys about a week before they have it. Just ask the school. My daughter follows both of her brothers too. In fact she even went to cub scout day camp with then this summer. She wore a shirt that said little scout buddy on it. It was cute. I of course volunteered so she had supervision. Scouts didn't interfere with school. They do their activities at night and on weekends. Kids really seem to have fun at it. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I will answer any that I can. Susan

vcudnik · #5 (**permalink**) 08-18-2002, 05:22 PM

Cub scouts starts first grade or 7 years old. Boy scouts starts at 6th grade or 12.

To find out what groups are available in your area, try:
http://www.bsa.scouting.org/

You can also check the white pages in your area for the council office for your community. Look under "boy scouts." There should be a council, which organizes the packs (cub scouting) or troops (boy scouting). They would be able to refer you to the local groups.

Your public school may or may not have information; I would imagine that the secretaries would be a bit too busy this time of year to looks stuff up. Scouting is so big in our area that kids from one school might belong to any of 4 or 5 different packs.

We haven't found that scouting interfers with school at all. Occasionally we have scheduling problems while the boys are playing sports.

One other thing, cub scouting is family oriented, so be prepared to participate. There is usually one pack meeting a month (all the dens and families), plus weekly Den meetings (the smaller groups broken out by age level). At cub level you or your spouse should plan on attending ALL of the meetings with your child as their adult partner. As the kids get older, less parental involvement is needed, but if your son is hyperactive, plan on staying to help as the leaders are just parent volunteers and can't run a meeting while trying to babysit. (Can you tell I've seen this in action??)

Scouting offers a great opportunity to the boys. It's made up of a lot of volunteers who do an incredible amount of work, and the boys and their families can really have a great time.

LILA · #6 (**permalink**) 08-18-2002, 05:53 PM

SIGN UP FOR SCOUTING
If you're between the ages of 7 and 20, you might be interested in one of the Scouting programs. If you're a parent, you might be interested in being selected a Scout leader. Scouting offers a time-tested set of activities that have produced fine citizens, strong family members, and community leaders for more than 90 years.
YOUTH PARTICIPANTS

samanthaj · #7 (**permalink**) 08-19-2002, 03:40 AM

Thank you all so much for the replies! I am excited that Samuel is old enough. I think it will be a wonderful experience for him.
(me too) I hope that throughout life he will be involved in different activities. He does not have anyone close by who is his age- so since t-ball, & school etc. That has been really good for him. I think the scouts will really build caractor & esteem. I'll post what I find out today.
samanthaj

geenna74 · #8 (**permalink**) 08-19-2002, 04:51 PM

how much can mothers get involved (without being leaders)? is it mostly a father/son thing? or is it more family oriented?

gina.

geenna74 · #9 (**permalink**) 08-19-2002, 04:57 PM

okay one more question: what are the average costs for everything?

gina.

vcudnik · #10 (**permalink**) 08-19-2002, 05:35 PM

At the cub scouting level it's very family oriented and mom's are as welcome as dads. At the boy scouting level there are some restrictions regarding non-leader women and camping.

Different packs have different fees. As far as the actual registration fees for BSA I believe it was something like $7 for annual membership, more with a subscription to boys life magazine.

Most packs have very reasonable dues. (Ours is $35 per year, which is on the high end.) The dues go largely to pay for awards (pins, patches & belt hoops, etc.), as well as other supplies and materials used by the pack. Most packs also provide pinewood derby cars for all members. (as well as the trophies and extras that those types of events entail). Some packs provide the books to the boys, some don't. And in fact many offer some sort of option for selling popcorn to pay for stuff, as well as scholarships for needy famlies.

Uniforms are another expense. At Tiger level I'm not sure if they are required, but they do have a shirt & cap. I believe Tigers also wear a belt (same one they'll use all through cubs). The belt-hoops they earn go on it.

If money is an issue you can always purchase a used uniform. (I see them all the time at garage sales & thrift stores.) Some kids quit, that's a fact, so used uniforms in great shape can be had for peanuts. (I've seen them on ebay, too.) It also might be worthwhile to ask the cubmaster if they know of anyone wanting to sell a used uniform. They can get the word out, at least.

We've been heavily involved in scouting for 6 years now. This is our 3rd pack (Navy transfers California & Virginia), so I feel I've got a pretty good sense of some of the variety.

Personally, I love the family camping. It's a hoot to camp with a bunch of families you've got to know who all have little monsters about the same age. Everyone can TOTALLY relate!