I hope you had a great summer… The picture for this week’s podcast is one of my favorite campsites on Proulx lake in Ontario Canada’s Algonquin Provincial Park. We took twenty people in three crews this year and had a great time. I am glad to be back, and this week I’ll answer some of the email […]
The Scoutmaster Podcast
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Scouting’s Future – Scoutmaster Podcast 324
In an often pessimistic world Scouting’s future is inherently optimistic. Scouting is greater than a hedge against the perilous future, or a return to a storied past. We typically associate the future with technological advances. While technology will have a big role in shaping our future there are, perhaps, greater factors to consider. Scouting is a transformative journey following a guiding […]
Scoutmaster Podcast 323 – Scout Camp!
Scout camp is a privilege, an opportunity, and an obligation. We get just so many great good places in life, and one of my favorites is our Scout camp. The history, names, stories and traditions are specific to our camp, but they share common threads with every Scout camp. This week I’ll share some snapshots of a […]
Enjoy Independence Day! Podcast Returns July 11th
Enjoy this 240th Independence Day! Join me for the 323rd edition of the Scoutmaster Podcast on July 11th!
Scoutmaster Podcast 322 – Youth Engagement
Scouting is something Scouts do for themselves … … rather than a program of activities presented for them. This week I’ll discuss the way Scouts should be engaged in leading one another, in making decisions affecting what they do and how it is done. Our ideal responsive leadership role as a barely perceptible influence empowering […]
Scoutmaster Podcast 321- Brownsea Island Moment
21 boys boarded a boat in Poole Harbor… … they had no way of knowing they were pioneering a movement for millions of young people around the world. Several lived well into old age to vividly recount their experiences decades later. Scouting’s pathways are now worn by travel, but each new Scout today has a “Brownsea […]
Scoutmaster Podcast 320 – The Garden
Scouting needs gardeners more than managers or officers. Scouting isn’t the science of management or military discipline, it’s much more like a garden. Gardeners prepare the ground, plant the seed, keep the weeds away, make sure there is plenty of water and sunshine and step back. Scouting is just like that. We know our Scouts need […]
Podcast 319 – Scoutmaster Conferences & More
Are Scoutmaster’s Conferences a retest? Can assistant Scoutmasters do them? This week we’ll catch up on listener email by answering these questions and more. When it comes to Scoutmaster conferences they are explained unambiguously in teh Guide to Advancement, so none of this is a matter of opinion or a difference in style, it is very clearly delineated […]
Podcast 318 – Troop Leader Guidebook Vol. 2 PART TWO
No 11-year-old boy joins Scouting to get his character developed… … and few boys join to attend troop meetings, wear the Scout uniform, or sit before boards of review. Instead, they sign up for fun and adventure. Last month Walter Underwood joined me on podcast 313 to review the first volume of the Troop Leader Guidebook. We got […]
Podcast 317 – Troop Leader Guidebook Vol. 2 PART ONE
What is the ninth method of Scouting? Author Mark Ray begins the second volume of the Troop Leader Guidebook with these words; Back when you first attended Scout leader training, you learned that Boy Scouting has eight methods: adult association, advancement, ideals, leadership development, outdoors, patrol method, personal growth, and uniform. Now that you’re a seasoned leader, however, you realize […]
Podcast 316 – Scouting is Discovery
What has a Mesoamerican Step Pyramid got to do with this? Today I want to talk about leadership, but I want to see if I can get you to come along with me and really examine what this means in Scouting. Leadership in Scouting is based on discovery. I have (what I hope is a great) analogy […]
Podcast 315 – Outdoor Leadership
I want to share a great source for developing your skills! Outdoor leadership is different. What works at a Troop meeting or in the boardroom does not always translate well on a week-long backpacking or canoeing trip. Scouting offers great administrative training and valuable supplemental training in outdoor skills and safety. What we don’t have is a comprehensive training […]
Scoutmaster Podcast 314 – Scouting Email Questions
Lots of answers that you may find useful! It’s been a little while since I answered some email questions, so this is catch-up week. Listen as I talk about several different questions listeners have sent in over the past couple of moths, no doubt you have experienced something similar before, or may encounter these issues […]
Scoutmaster Podcast 313 – Troop Leader Guidebook
Have you seen the first volume of the Troop Leader Guidebook? Join Walter Underwood and myself as we review the first volume of the Troop Leader Guidebook. Like Walter I accumulated a collection of Scoutmaster Handbooks. From the very first edition to the last they were uniformly mediocre at best. Both Walter and I agree that the most useful offical guide to […]
Scoutmaster Podcast 312 – Summer Camp!
How about your Scouts? How about their parents? This podcast features advice for Scouters attending summer camp and parents who are staying home. I’ll discuss ten things that will make life at summer camp smooth sailing for you and your Scouts, and also share some things parents can do to prepare their Scouts and themselves for […]
Scoutmaster Podcast 311 – Scout Camping
What constitutes a night of Scout camping? You’ll find the qualifier “under the auspices of Scouting” or something similar in advancement requirements that describe nights of camping. What, exactly, does this mean? I’ll give you my best answer to this and other email questions that we’ll discuss in this podcast. You don’t want to miss […]
Scoutmaster Podcast 310 – Parents 3
We work with our Scouts as they come to us…. I’ll discuss two different parent-related issues in this third (and final) in a series of podcasts about Scout parents – First we’ll acknowledge getting parents to understand the way advancement works can be a big challenge. I’ve worked with many parents who I would consider […]
Scoutmaster Podcast 309 – Scout Parents 2
The single most important thing a Scout parents need to know is … This is the second of three podcasts about Scout parents. Scouting is not simply another activity on the schedule, it is a process. Once Scout parents understand the process they become allies, until they do we can find ourselves working at cross purposes. In Scouts […]
Scout Master Podcast 308 – Scout Parents 1
What should Scout parents do if a child want’s to quit Scouts?… This is the first of three podcasts about Scout parents. Just about every child will reach some impasse along the way that will make them reluctant or downright adamant about participating. What Scout parents do next is important. It’s more than likely that this is going to […]
Scoutmaster Podcast 307 – How Scouts Do What No One Else Does
I am not thinking about the nature of Scouting activities… When Scouting is happening, when it’s really popping and sizzling along, Scouts are doing things that few, if any of their peers are doing. I am not thinking about the nature of their activities, that’s something we’ve discussed many times before, what I am thinking about […]
Scoutmaster Podcast 306 – Scouts Planning
It’s all about asking the right question… When it comes to Scouts planning activities there are two major threads of observations I hear about: They don’t plan at all, they are incapable OR they plan the same things over and over. People contact me asking what new ideas for activities I may have because they […]
Podcast 305 – Thurman on Patrols
What Did John Thurman say to Patrol leaders? Richard Francis “John” Thurman (4 April 1911 – April 1985) became the third Camp Chief at Gilwell Park in 1943 and ably developed Gilwell Park and leader training for 26 years. Author of 15 books on Scouting He made a considerable impact on World Scouting and his […]
Podcast 304 – Founder’s Day
What do you know about Scouting’s founder? February 22nd is founder’s day, the birthday of Scouting’s founder, born in 1857, 159 years ago, in Paddington, London, England World Thinking Day is celebrated annually on 22 February by all Girl Guides and Girl Scouts around the world. It is a day when they think about their fellow […]
Scoutmaster Podcast 303 – Patrols
How do you decide who ends up in what patrol? Patrols are not about managing Scouts, they are not an artificial construct. If you look at patrols from the perspective of your Scouts there’s the only thing that’s actually important – and that’s what we’ll talk about on this podcast. The real secret is that you don’t […]
