Den Leader Time Commitment? Please Help With Info -
PMurk
Den Leader. I started a new business June 1; so time is really tight for a
while. Experienced Den Leaders - what's your opinion of the time commitment
to do a good job? Do you think that one formal den meeting a month can give
the cubs a good experience? Thanks in advance for your thoughts! Paul Murk
(pm...@pacbell.net)
1F1313033-Schultz
It only takes an hour a week. Sorry, I couldn't resist. That's an old inside
joke among us Scouters as to how much time is involved. Seriously, here is
the time commitment you are looking at:
Weekly den meetings*: 1 hour meeting time
.5 hour getting ready before the den arrives
.5 hour recovering afterwards
1-2 hours prepartion time
Monthly Pack meeting: 0 since you would be attending these anyway
with your son
Cub Scout Leader Basic Training: One time training of about 4 hours
Monthly Roundtable: 2 hours ( while optional highly recommended )
Annual Pow-Wow: One saturday a year (while optional highly recommended)
As you can see being a Den Leader takes a real commitment, but please consider
it. The time you can spend with your son is priceless, before you know it
he'll be asking you for the keys to the car.
* You should have three den meetings a month and not have one the week of
the Pack meeting
Hope this is of help.
YIS,
Verne Schultz
Scoutmaster District Activities Chairman
Troop 132 Sycamore District
Immanuel Lutheran Church Blackhawk Area Council
Crystal Lake, IL Rockford, IL
Brian Tomaszewski
PMurk wrote in message <6trduu$cms$1...@nnrp3.snfc21.pbi.net>...
>Hi, I'm the Dad of a 3rd grader just starting Cub Scouts - the Pack needs a
>Den Leader. I started a new business June 1; so time is really tight for a
>while. Experienced Den Leaders - what's your opinion of the time commitment
>to do a good job? Do you think that one formal den meeting a month can give
>the cubs a good experience? Thanks in advance for your thoughts! Paul
Murk
>(pm...@pacbell.net)
>
>
Paul,
The more time you spend, the more the boys will get out of it. You
should have 3 den meetings a month and one week will be the Pack meeting.
Each Den meeting should be about an hour. You also have to consider prep
time and clean-up time for each meeting. This will depend on what your doing
for the meeting.
Being a Den Leader takes a lot of time and commitment but it is worth it. If
you spend too much time at work and not much time with your kids, you will
regret it later, and so will they. The best way to handle the time crunch is
to get help. The worst thing to do is do it alone. That is a sure way to
burn out and then you will not be doing the boys justice. Have a meeting
with all the parents of the Boys in your den and spread out the work. A lot
more will get done with less work for everyone. Even if no one is stepping
forward now, all they need is a push and a promise of help. All the other
parents are probably thinking like you are and don't want to make the
commitment. Take the lead and make your son proud. It will be better than
any day at work.
Brian Tomaszewski
Scouting Field Editor, Outdoors Network
http://forums.msn.com/outdoors/
:0)
Dennis P Bush
When I was considering a Den Leaders position, I had many
thoughts on the idea. I was back & forth for over a week when I
was talking with a co-worker about it. He asked me "What are you
waiting for?". He then explained why he was involved in his kids
youth activities by telling me that the more time you spend with
your children, the more they learn from you, and the less from
someone who may not think the same as you. At that point I made
up my mind. Now I'm entering my 6th season as a Scout Leader.
Make your meeting schedule fit your schedule. If you can only
have one or two Den meetings a month, then so be it. Just make
that time count for the boys. Do some preparation, have a clear
plan for that night, and get as many other parents involved as
possible. If you try to go it alone, you will burn out in a
hurry.
I had 1-1/2 hour Den meetings every other week as a WEBELO
leader. Today I do 1 hour every other week for the Troop
meetings. As the group changes, the meeting schedule can be
adjusted. It's sure to be more than 1 hour a week, but if you
take the job, be sure to accept the responsibility as well.
Dennis Bush
CM / SM
Pack/Troop 317
Herscher IL
--
Dennis P. Bush
Denni...@Compuserve.com
iddybud
leaders have told me it works out better. Many projects we started were
often hurried along to get done. Also the extra half hour gives us more
time to go over the requirements. We try to give the Cubs options (guided,
of course) of how they want to complete their requirements. That way some
of the planning gets done by the Cubs, and they get to take a little bit of
a leadership role in their scouting. It's also easier to plan since the
boys are excited about some of their ideas.
The time commitment is about 5 hours a week, but I have a co-leader and
very helpful parents (we need it since our den has 12 boys). That would
include planning, den meeting, pack meeting, and don't forget the once a
month leaders meeting. Our leaders help out planning the pack meetings
also, but that is minimal. We don't have a den meeting the week that there
is a pack meeting, so that opens up a whole week with only some planning to
do.
By all means, become a leader. So far the time I've spent with my son has
been a highlight in my life. His friends in my den are all great boys too.
As time goes on and he grows up I know that it will be one of best
experiences we will share. My dad was a scout leader and I still fondly
remember going to summer camp and other scouting trips with him. And
besides, you get to act like a kid too for a while and that's a whole lot
more fun than work- Bob