Homeschool Hints ~ Learning Through Cub Scouting

When I was a wee lass, I was active in both Girl Scouts and Campfire Girls.  Well, not at the same time.  It’s just that for the 2 years we lived in Kirkland, Washington I did Campfire Girls instead of Girl Scouts.  I probably would have gone all the way through the program if I hadn’t detested the lone Cadet leader in our town.  She also tried to teach me to swim better which is a whole different blog post for another time.

Fast forward to my years as a parent of boys.

P asked to join Cub Scouts when he was in 1st grade.  At the time, he needed to be in bed by 7 p.m. and the Pack did not finish their meeting until 7:30 p.m.  That meant he’d be going to bed closer to 8 p.m.  Mr. O said absolutely not to that endeavor.  But, by the next year, he was able to handle one late night.

When R entered 1st grade, we had just begun our journey in homeschooling. A ‘late night’ was not a big concern as we did not have to rise in the early hours of the morning to catch the bus anymore.  The same went for D last year.  So, both R and D have done Cub Scouts since the Tiger level.

Even though many of their compatriots have been kids that attend a brick and mortar school, I view so much of what the boys can do through this program as a great supplement or even guide to our homeschool learning.

For those unfamiliar with the requirements and extras, you can find a lot of the information on Merit Badge.Org’s Cub Scout Leader Portal .  Just the basic requirements for advancement provide opportunity for learning and personal growth.  For Fitness as a Webelos, R had to plan out a week of meals as well as keep a food journal for a week to see how his nutrition is.  D has plenty of personal fitness (nutrition and exercise called “Feats of Skill”) as well a personal safety in his requirements as a Wolf. From the Cub Scout Leader Portal, you can see each level’s basic requirements.

Beyond the requirements tied to a specific level of Cub Scouting, there is a decent number of Academic and Sports related belt loops and pins the boys can earn.  Merit Badge. org has all of them in worksheet format to help the boys keep track of what they have done and need to do.  I will admit to often forgetting about this group of awards.  When I sat down recently, I was amazed at not only how many things we’ve done through our schooling but also the variety of educational choices we could have just from this group of activities.

Now, some of the newer belt loops and pins (like video gaming) are not on that site.  The Cub Scout Pack the boys are in right now belongs to a free site where they can track everything (and the parent can input completion dates.)  So, I’m able to view requirements from there.

But, for a homeschooler looking for some ideas for unit studies, visiting the linked pages above might be one more resource to help them along their homeschool journey.

If you enjoyed this post, don’t miss these other Cub Scout themed ones!