Scoutmaster Podcast 72- The Scoutmaster’s Other Handbook

Comments

1. Walter Underwood says

   July 1, 2011 at 12:58 pm

   Thanks for the interview, and this is a great book.

   I recommend that Scoutmasters skip the official Scoutmaster Handbook and read the SPL Handbook instead. That fills in some info that is missing in the SM Handbook and is much shorter.

   My Scoutmaster reading list is here:

   http://wunderwood.org/most_casual_observer/2011/05/bookshelf_for_a_new_scoutmaste.html

   When you and Mark were talking about troops with unbalanced programs, I expected a mention of troops that focus everything on advancement and Eagle. That seems like a really common mistake, treating Eagle as an aim rather than just one of eight methods.

2. Allan Green says

   June 7, 2011 at 9:24 am

   When I first saw this book I was getting ready to go to Philmont with 8 scouts and 4 dads. Marks chapter on Philmont was one of the early ones, and I devoured it. I read the whole book from cover to cover, and had discussions about it with the adults at committee meetings and camp outs. He covers all the topics adult leaders need to think about in concise, well reasoned, and superbly written chapters and sections. If I were talking to a new scoutmaster, I would recommend reading 4 books: The current scoutmaster handbook, Bill Hillcourt’s scoutmaster handbook from the 1930’s, Baden Powell’s Aids to Scoutmastership, and Mark Ray’s The Other Scoutmaster’s Handbook.