The Bloggers
Original site: scoutingrediscovered.com (opens in a new tab) ↗
Traditional Scoutcraft, patrol leadership training and illustrated skills tutorials.
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When I sit down to write, it’s hard to put my thoughts and feelings into words. It is strange to me to reflect on that. Writing used to be more natural to me than speech. The process of writing used to even be the tool I would use to help form my thoughts on some…
Brother Scout, I don’t think about the past very much. You probably don’t either. We hear about folks or have friends who seem to be obsessed with stuff that’s already happened, decisions already made. I know I certainly don’t want to be one of those who continually live in the past, so I generally think…
Being involved in Scouting is very draining sometimes, isn’t it? When you feel exhausted, do you start to wonder what you’re doing wrong? Maybe you just make too many commitments? Maybe your lifestyle is draining your energy? Our modern world is very occupied right now with how we can prevent ourselves from becoming burnt out…
Have you ever felt overwhelmed with everything there is to teach your Scouts about Leadership? You wish you had weeks to sit down with each Scout individually to coach and train them how to be leaders. Unfortunately, we don’t have that kind of time.
A couple months ago I made my first ever visit to the emergency room. It wasn’t for me, it was for my wife. It was a bit of an unnerving experience… I’m not very comfortable around the medical field. As soon as we left the hospital, I couldn’t help but think that what I learned…
Setting the Stage (Moviemaking) It was the end of January. My Troop and I were going through the last few hours of an event called “Merit Badge College”. This was an annual event held at a local community college where experts in various fields came and taught different merit badge subjects over the course of…
As a Scout, I loved every chance my Troop and I got to spend time in the outdoors. I even loved studying different topics related to camping. Nevertheless, there was always one section of outdoor books that I flipped through as quickly as possible: wild plants and animals.
“Congratulations, Enoch. You are now the Patrol leader of the panther patrol.” These words filled me with pride and excitement. Any one of the members of my Patrol would consider this an honor. But I, in particular, had always taken Scouting very seriously.
Recently, big events in my life such as getting married and moving across the country have prevented me from being as active as I used to be in the local Scouting Troop. We all will have seasons of life like this in which our responsibilities slow down Troop involvement.
As Scouts, camping is an important part of our identity. At some point, you went on your first camping trip… then you went on the next one… and then the next. These experiences became memories which in turn shaped your understanding of the true purpose of Scout camping.
Okay, I admit it: the title of this article is a little bit misleading. This isn’t actually my last article. The title isn’t a description of the article. It’s a challenge . Here is the premise that I have been meditating on a lot lately: Time flies by so swiftly.
Published in Boys' Life July, 1918 " Private Edward J. Kelly, One Hundred and Sixty-fifth United States Infantry, went over the top one night in a raid, and the end of his story was written in the darkness of No Man's Land.
Think back to those exceptional, specific moments when you saw a Patrol in your Troop really shine. Maybe it was the way they prepared a meal during that camping trip last Fall: everyone doing their job quickly and enthusiastically. Maybe it was the way the whole Patrol came together to help one of its members…
Curlews. Bulls. Wolves. Ravens. – These are the very first Scout Patrols that ever existed. They were the Patrols Baden-Powell formed from the twenty-one boys that had come to Brownsea Island for his famous experiment with the Scouting framework. Baden-Powell could have led the whole camp single-handedly through the respect his reputation had earned and the…
Baden-Powell was a master teacher. I don't know how much of the success of the Scouting movement was due to his instinctual charisma for training and inspiring others to catch his vision, but it certainly played an integral part. He became the world's first Scoutmaster in August of 1907.
Scout Leaders, is your Scout Troop on autopilot? You're busy. I know I sure am! Most likely, the ‘Scout Leader' hat isn't the only hat you wear. Between work, family, and social responsibilities, you probably have a crazy schedule. Because life has so many ups and downs, it's tempting for all of us to put…
I can get really excited about traditional Scouting, but sometimes it's difficult to implement all of the principles in real life. It's especially hard for Scoutmasters, because traditional Scouting isn't just a system that can be mandated from the top down.
Question: How can I take the Scouting Oath and Law more seriously in my day-to-day life? An oath is a very solemn thing. It isn't a motto or positive incantation. It is a verbal commitment on one's honor do a certain thing.
What in the world is this ‘Patrol System'?" When I first seriously started studying Scouting and its history, I kept running across references to something called the "Patrol Method" or "Patrol System". They weren't just simply referring to a method of organizing Scouts, which is what I thought Patrols were for at first.
Prologue: A couple of posts ago in the "Traditional Scouting 101" series, I talked about how true Scouting centers around outdoor expeditions and how these expeditions should always be challenging . In the next post after that, I showed step-by-step how to create Troop meetings and camping programs according to this principle.
In July, 1924, tragedy struck America's first family. President Coolidge and Boy Scouts Calvin Jr., the son of President Calvin Coolidge, died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 16 from blood poisoning. Coolidge was devastated, and the whole country mourned with him.
There is a period in the history of the Boy Scouts of America that not many people like to talk about. Some of you may have heard the story before; some of you may have lived through it. I think it is vitally important for all Scouters to know because of what it teaches us…
When election time comes around, I sometimes find it frustrating watching different politicians debate. Many of them have great things to say about what they want to accomplish if they're elected, but I often want more details. I want to know how the results they describe will actually be accomplished step-by-step.
[N.B. This is the third post in a series on this blog called "Traditional Scouting 101". It builds logically on the previous articles. If you haven't read them yet, you can do so here: Part 1 , Part 2 . Thank you for reading!
The term "Scout" or "Boy Scout" will bring many immediate associations to our minds. This is true for the rest of society as well. I believe what people think of when they think of the term "Scout" is very different from what it was upon Scouting's genesis.
Now was my big moment. Here I was, a new Senior Patrol Leader, formally opening my first Troop meeting. I had everything prepared – I was going to lead the opening recitation of the Scout Law and Oath; I would then make announcements; finally, I was going to give a rousing pep-talk.
Thank you for visiting ScoutingRediscovered.com! This website is dedicated to spreading information and awareness about the framework of traditional Scouting. The big idea behind this site is that Scouting is a set of timeless principles and techniques – a framework – that can be applied to many different situations.
When you've been in Scouting for a while, it's easy to recite the Scout Law and not think twice about the way it is worded. When you examine it closer, you see that when Baden-Powell first drafted the Scout Laws he made them quite different from what most people commonly think of as ‘laws'.
Endurance When Baden-Powell wrote Scouting for Boys, he heavily emphasized that one of the attributes Scouts should strive for is endurance: A Scout saying is "Never say die till you're dead"- and if he acts up to this, it will pull him out of many a bad place when everything seems to be going wrong…
Once Upon a Campfire One of the first Scout camping trips that sticks out in mind was not noteworthy because of where we went or what we did. As a matter of fact, I can't even remember where it was.
While working on an article that will be published this weekend on GreenBar Life , I found some really cool quotes from John Thruman, William Hillcourt, and others talking about the importance of the Patrol Name. This is a topic which I didn't think much about when I first joined Scouting.
Ham Radio and Scouting have had a long and solid relationship. Back in 2012, I wrote an article of the Top 10 Reasons You Should Get a Ham Radio License . I also wrote a couple of articles ( here and here ) about Jamboree On The Air – the annual Ham Radio event just for Scouts.
The Influence of Heroes One of my first childhood heroes was a man named George Washington Carver. He was born into slavery in 1864. Despite having to grow up during the tremendously difficult reconstruction era, he became one of the leading botanists and educators of the South.
“Get all the fun you can out of being a Patrol Leader! But remember that there's much more to it than fun. Your greatest thrill as a leader will be your chance to turn an ordinary gang of boys into a real Patrol, to help five or six or seven fellows become good Scouts.
I had a dream once. It was to make my Troop the perfect Scout Troop. I just joined Scouting and I was excited about the whole thing. I knew if I worked hard enough, I could become a leader and iron out all the wrinkles that I observed around me.
Hello! And thank you for reading ScoutingRediscovered! I wanted to make a brief, formal announcement of another Scouting project I have been working on this year with Scouter Clarke Green of ScoutmasterCG.com It is called "GreenBar Life" , and it is a running series of articles aimed at youth leaders in Scouting Troops.
“In a well-run Troop camp one of the first things that ought to happen is that the Scouts report the night before with their kits packed ready for inspection.” – The Patrol Leaders' Handbook (John Thurman, 1950) Too Military? The Patrol Inspection is one of those aspects of the Scout Program that has a military-like appearance.
[N.B. - Sorry for being a little scarce for the past couple of weeks! I've been working on a really cool project with Clarke Green of ScoutmasterCG.com. I'll be announcing more about that soon! I will now be continuing my regular posting schedule of roughly once a week.
I'd like to take a moment here at the end of 2013 to thank everyone who's taken the time to read this blog, support it, comment on it and share it with others! You all make the work on this site worth-while!
You are not supposed to be reading this post! Instead of this post, you should be reading a long and thoroughly exposited post about why long-term thinking is important in a Scout Troop. However, after I got gotten it all outlined and was a good 500 words into it, I sat back, not at all…
What does the Patrol System look like? If there was one tangible thing that you could look at and tell how well a Patrol is working, what would it be? The Patrol Flag? The uniform? No, there is something even better that requires the personal initiative of the whole Patrol: The Patrol Den.
[N.B. This is a long post; roughly 2k words. However, I feel that it is one of the most important I have ever written. Please look at it when you have time to sit down and read it through. I don't think you will regret the time spent!] A Time When a Movement is Called…
Here is some great advice on proper delegation in Scouting that I recently ran across in an old pamphlet published by the Boy Scouts of Canada in the 1960's: The Importance of Delegation The Scout way of running things by the Patrol System is an excellent way for young men to get practice in leadership.
It is hard to imagine a better reason to look into the past than to simply say "Thank You!" to those who sacrificed their time, money, and lives to build a better world for us today. The Scouting Movement, in particular, has distinguished itself for being populated by members and volunteers, young and old, who…
Introduction Modern Scouting seems to have developed a simple, repetitive model for Scouting activities. Once a week, the Troop holds a meeting (almost always at the same place); once a month (or less), the Troop goes on a camping trip; and occasionally a community service project is performed.
If you've been involved in Scouting for any length of time, you've probably heard the term “Patrol Spirit”. Simply put, Patrol Spirit is a culture of teamwork and camaraderie that develops among the members of a Patrol that is run according to the principles of the Patrol System.
Why Have Formation Drills? Since Baden-Powell first introduced the concept in “Scouting for Boys”, Scout Troops have always used specific formations to bring order and discipline to Troop Meetings. Most commonly, a Troop “falls in” to the formation at the beginning and end of meetings and on any occasion where special announcements are made.
Introduction In the last post, “Building Blocks of Fitness” , I introduced a new series on becoming physically fit. As Scouts, it is our duty to be prepared in body for everyday service, for challenging adventures, and for any emergency which may arise.
“On my Honor I will do my best … to keep myself physically strong …” To be a Scout of any age, health is important. Obviously, you can't enjoy the adventures of Scouting the most or serve others as best you can if you aren't physically fit.
[Note: The term “Court of Honor” generally refers to an advancement awards ceremony today. That is the way I will be using the term in this post. If you want to know about what the term “Court of Honor” used to mean, check out this post.] The Unique Ceremony Scout Ceremonies have a long and…
