Kids Organizations

[Dr.Spaniel]

I am curious if anyone has any advice on youth organizations that would help provide outdoor skills and opportunities for my 8 year old. I can teach him most everything regarding fundamentals. But, I’d like him to get some more socialization. I Boy Scouted when I was a kid, but don’t want him in Scouts. FFA and 4-H are organizations we’ve looked at also. Anyone that can help with some advice would be much appreciated.
I looked through the forums and didn’t find a thread about this. If there is, feel free to link and prune this bad boy.

 

[Ferrulewax]

I was a Boy Scout, all the way through Eagle and eventually aged out at 18. I absolutely loved it, but that was pre-"Scouts USA" and all the associated crap that somewhat killed the BSA. I would still urge you to possibly go check out the local cub/Boy Scouts, maybe not even taking your son. I am also somewhat apprehensive of the scouts now, but our local troop still operated exactly like it did before all the PC BS- as does our whole council I believe. It may be worth seeing how your local troop is, but if you don't to be associated just for the principle I understand that too,

Otherwise Trail life seems to be where most people that want the BSA experience without the modern day crap. I don't know much about trail life but it sounds like it is basically meant to mirror what Boy Scouts was 15 years ago.

 

[Nine Banger]

My experience with scouts is similar to Ferrulewax. I was a cub scout and a boy scout. We just got back into scouts with my boys after 25 years away from the program. Not much has changed at least here in SC and it is still a great program.

An 8-year-old would be a Wolf or a Bear so you would have a few years in the program. Cub Scouts is a place to come have fun and learn leadership and self-reliance while still having a huge safety net to make mistakes before you send them into Boy Scouts where the program is youth led. For my older boy it has been one of the only avenues for him to hang out and bond with older boys and I'm happy it has been with boys who have parents that share most of our core values.

Are you seeing behavior, attitudes or issues in your area that makes scouts a non-choice, or is it just perceived issues? You can call your council executive and they will know all the packs in town and should be able to point you to a different pack if needed.

We do 4H too. I like 4H because its inexpensive and I just have to show up whereas the other youth activities we do are expensive and rely heavily on me volunteering. We planted a food plot this year instead of the rabbit and chicken activities and had a lot of fun. The agricultural extension gave us a fat sack of seeds and the boy is working on a presentation about it for his group.

Are you active in any gun clubs? We have one gun club that starts the youth on a rifle team at 8.5-9 years old. We have another club that offers a youth program for shotguns with sporting clays at 10 years old.

 

[nodakian]

I agree with @Ferrulewax about checking out local scout groups without a kid in tow.
-Different units have different cultures. Some are super programmed and all about checking boxes for ranks and merit badges, others are more interested in actual outdoor activities and skills.
-Pay attention to leadership preferences, social status and involvement level of parents, attendance, and other big picture matters.
-Ask how often they go camping, how they like to camp, and what activities they do while camping.
-Watch how adults handle kids: do they do everything for the kids, or do they make the kids learn and do things for themselves?
-How many moms vs. dads are in charge of things? This really influences unit culture.

My boys have gone through Cub and Boy Scouts. One is about to be an Eagle, the other is almost there but has decided he's done. I was in Scouts (only made 1st Class due to having lots of fun without much regard for rank), and I've been a unit level leader with my kids. I got them into it for the same reasons as OP, we've had lots of good times, and they have learned skills to be comfortable in the outdoors.

However, local unit culture is so focused on ranks, rather than truly learning skills, that I'm worn out trying to turn the tide, and I'm about done. On top of that, the overall BSA is dying due to several factors and, like all large organizations, it seems to have become all about perpetuating itself through bureaucracy.

As others have said, look around for other organizations, too.

PM me if you would like to discuss anything.

 

[Dr.Spaniel]

I went all the way through from Tigers to Eagle. I worked lakefront at our summer camp. Our outdoor activities were good, but I disliked the political side which seemed to be the largest portion of the organization. Really like the idea of a youth rifle club. Maybe that’s a way to get into some shooting ranges. Our area has long waitlists for any ranges I have called. Thank you. I’ll have to check out Traill Life. I’ll still check out local troops. Thank you for your advice!

 

[sierracharlie338]

On top of that, the overall BSA is dying due to several factors and, like all large organizations, it seems to have become all about perpetuating itself through bureaucracy.

I’m a den leader with my kids cub scout pack and I have to agree with this but we are only in our second year. Dues keep going up which makes access to the program harder for some people in addition to all the other things that aren’t covered by the pack/troop.

All that said, our pack is really good about teaching the kids the outdoor skills and not making it a check a box program. We also try our best to keep the politics/BS away from the kids so they can focus on being a scout.

 

[taskswap]

I am curious if anyone has any advice on youth organizations that would help provide outdoor skills and opportunities for my 8 year old. I can teach him most everything regarding fundamentals. But, I’d like him to get some more socialization. I Boy Scouted when I was a kid, but don’t want him in Scouts. FFA and 4-H are organizations we’ve looked at also. Anyone that can help with some advice would be much appreciated.
I looked through the forums and didn’t find a thread about this. If there is, feel free to link and prune this bad boy.

Seems you're in the Boulder area? Take a look at https://www.coloradoyo.org/. They're a great org with a bunch of different programs for different age groups. I did their "Core" program with two of my kids and it was a hit. It's a 12 week program, one night a week, where you do fishing, archery, shooting, etc. It might be a start.

 

[Nine Banger]

Cub Scouts will have a profound impact on you too, not just the boy, in ways you won't expect.

For instance, Friday I learned to operate a sewing machine with my wife so I can install patches, quality time I never expected to have with my spouse.

Sunday upon a spontaneous perceived need I washed and dried my uncles old flag to pull into service for back up duty for flag ceremony. My son and I folded it together when it was dry.

 

[mtnvol1]

Has anyone looked at the parallel of Scouts, the Trail for Life options? I used to be a Scoutmaster and enjoyed almost everybit of it, excluding the politics and some of the parents. My son completed his Eagle a couple years before I left.

 

[RoaminTexan]

I had a guy at work talking about his son’s camping trips and doing events that sounded similar to boy scout stuff but said it was called Trail Life. So I looked them up and went to a couple meetings before signing my son up. It’s been good, although with the younger ages it can be quite chaotic lol
Our troop was fairly small but has grown a bit the last few years. Dads are highly encouraged to participate, lead, and teach lessons if they have the experience or knowledge.
There’s a map section that you can see if there’s a troop near you.

Trail Life USA | Adventure, Character, Leadership

Trail Life USA is a Christ-centered, boy-focused mentoring program that engages boys in service & outdoor adventure to develop godly & courageous leaders.

www.traillifeusa.com

 

[Nine Banger]

I'd never heard of Trail Life until this thread. The website shows a troop 3mi from my house and another in the next "town" over, 20 mins away.

I'm going to check it out and report back if there's anything relevant. I'm pretty sure the one close to me is not active because we have scouts from that church.

Sounds like a lot of work to create a whole new organization and I wonder how much talent BSA lost in the shuffle.

 

[Fowl Play]

My brother and I are both Eagles. Had a great troop and loved it. If trying to evaluate different troops. Dig up the district level Camporees, what the competitions were, and what troops placed in different competitions. If the Camporee was truly based off “scout skills” and had kids making bridges, fires, etc. the troops that placed are actually teaching their kids woodsmanship. This isn’t perfect, as you can have young troops, etc but it’s a good metric to check. Then can also dive into how many camping trips per month, agendas and lessons for future meetings, etc. Not familiar with Trail Life, but if they have similar gatherings the same applies.

 

[nodakian]

My brother and I are both Eagles. Had a great troop and loved it. If trying to evaluate different troops. Dig up the district level Camporees, what the competitions were, and what troops placed in different competitions. If the Camporee was truly based off “scout skills” and had kids making bridges, fires, etc. the troops that placed are actually teaching their kids woodsmanship. This isn’t perfect, as you can have young troops, etc but it’s a good metric to check. Then can also dive into how many camping trips per month, agendas and lessons for future meetings, etc. Not familiar with Trail Life, but if they have similar gatherings the same applies.

Good advice.