Welcome to Scouting! Scouting is an adventure for YOU and your children.
For your child, it’s an adventure filled with camping, swimming, learning new and unique skills and making new friends. For you, it’s actually much of the same. You’ll likely find many new friends through your local Scout unit, other parents who are dealing with the excitement and challenges that come from parenting.
There is no greater joy than watching your child learn a new skill and beam with pride as he or she yells “Mom, look at me!” or “Dad, look what I can do!” as they demonstrate that new skill.
The Scouting curriculum has enough depth for everyone! Unlike many enrichment programs, Scouting follows your child’s natural curiosities. If she finds herself interested in science, the program has badges and opportunities for her. If he finds himself interested in music or theater, he’ll probably want to work on those badges. Of course, the core curriculum includes camping, first aid, wilderness survival and citizenship, so those aspects are core to every Scout’s experience.
YOU are in charge of your child’s Scouting experience. Scouting builds community because through Scouting all the parents in your community will work together to help raise each other’s kids. In Cub Scouting, the leadership shifts from person to person based on the situation.This is a big part of the secret of the Scouting curriculum. By collaborating as a group of families, your child benefits from the best skills and talents each family has to offer.
Of course, Scouting needs some parents to step forward and serve as leaders to facilitate the activities, but every parent has a role. The parent who is great with woodworking can share his or her talents to help families build pinewood derby cars, whereas the parent who is naturally organized may coordinate the camping trips, and the foodie parent might help design the camping menu or the year end banquet. Regardless of your skill – there is a place for you in Scouting and a place for you in the Scouting community.
The curriculum support is more than the book. The curriculum is best described as your child’s handbook. However, Scouting provides the resources to help the parents deliver the curriculum, far beyond those activities found in the book that many parents can’t pull together on their own. Most often this means camps, canoes, archery equipment, lakes and pools, lifeguards, rock climbing equipment and staff, 3D printers, robots, and thousands of other activities that are called on by the curriculum.
WE WANT YOU TO USE ALL SCOUTING’S RESOURCES. We operate about 2,000 acres of camp property in MA and NH, own over 215 buildings, are blessed with over 4,000 volunteers, and have corporate relationships with dozens of Boston area family activities and attractions. You should seek to use as many as possible! Your Adventure Card, which is part of your Cub Scout membership, is the ticket to all these resources.
As always, if you have any questions about this blog or the resources mentioned – please don’t hesitate to call the local Scouting help desk 617-615-0004.
