Reply to cub scouts for girls/mixed gender Cub Scout troops

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[quote=Anonymous]
Cub Scouts break the kids into Dens based on grades. Dens are normally around the size of a Girl Scout Troop. When a Den on our Pack got to 10 kids we started to look for another Den Leader so we could split the Den into two if we hit the 13 kid mark. Many times the two Dens would meet at the same time but it effectively reset the Den size to 2 adults for under 2 kids. Sometimes it would allow the Dens to meet on different nights which might work better for some families.

It also helps that the Adventures in Cub Scouts are set. The Den Leader needs to read the book for that particular session and they can walk the kids through the Adventure. There are set Adventures kids do each year to ear their rank and then the Den Leader/Scouts will choose extra Adventures that they can do if they want. This limits prep time for the Den Leaders. My sons Den started off requiring Parents coordinate one of the Adventures with the Den Leaders so that decreased the workload. The parents got in the habit of doing that so we kept it up through each year in the Pack.

BSA Troops are larger but they break the Scouts into Patrols. Our Troop has 12 kids in a Patrol. Each Patrol has a Patrol Leaders, a First Class Scout (so they have completed Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class where they learned how to teach using the Edge method and have lead some smaller activties). The Patrol Leader helps younger Scouts, attends the Patrol Leaders meetings to discuss planning activities and meetings, and helps run meetings. The larger the Troop, the more Patrols you have. This means more opportunities for kids to lead and grow. Patrols are reorganized as needed.

The larger group breaks down to smaller units, in the form of Dens and Patrols. The larger group continues year to year regardless of the adult volunteers leaving because a kid was done or the kid aged out. New kids can join on a regular basis and the system helps keeps the numbers at a good place for the smaller units (Dens or Patrols.) The adults start off with smaller roles, helping out with meetings or popcorn or something, and step into bigger roles as other adults leave. There is a focus on identifying new adult leaders to keep the Pack or Troop running over time. It also means that there are more parents to take on tasks like camping or skiing or canoeing or hiking or social events. [/quote]

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