Tomorrow I'll share the next letter of The Cursive Project, but in the meantime, I wanted to show something else we've made recently.
When a Cub Scout earns an award, he receives a 2.5" x 3.75" card along with the actual patch, loop, or pin. We'd been keeping Trevor's in a stack on a shelf, but the pile was getting high and the cards weren't organized in any way. I suggested to Trevor that he move them to a binder. I took him to an office supply store, where he picked out a binder and divided page protectors. Then he got to work sorting and organizing his cards.
Trevor began with the rank cards. There are six ranks in Cub Scouts: Bobcat (which is the introductory level for anyone starting out), Tiger (1st grade), Wolf (2nd grade), Bear (3rd grade), Webelos 1 (4th grade) and Arrow of Light (5th grade). He made a title card ("Rank"), then slid in his three rank cards in order. He put blank white cards to hold the place for the final three ranks, then put black cards to fill the remaining spots.
On the next page, he started with Academic Belt Loops. He labeled a white card for each one he hasn't earned. When he receives an award card, he'll remove the corresponding placeholder card. It's a great way to tell at a glance what he still needs to earn.
The next section holds Sports Belt Loops, then there are sections for Academic Pins, Sports Pins, and other awards (like the World Conservation Award that he recently completed).
So far this summer, Trevor has earned the Swimming, Video Game, Badminton, and Science Belt Loops, and is almost done with a few others (including Language and Culture). He hasn't received the physical awards yet, which is why his chart doesn't show any light blue yet. Soon!
What an awesome way to document his successes!!! LOVE it!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is great! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea, Cindy! And I love how many awards he has won already! Congrats to Trevor!!!!!
ReplyDeletei am going to show this to my son. he will love it
ReplyDeleteLOVE that he's so hands-on with everything. You've brought him up well. :)
ReplyDeleteQuestion...as my boys are in scouts. Oldest a boy scouts second class. We never got cards for the belt loops just the belt loops...would same system of writing work and just put the beltloop in when done being a cub acout?
ReplyDeleteYou can do whatever you'd like! This isn't anything official - it's just the way we're keeping his cards organized. Our first Pack didn't give out cards consistently. When we got our first ones from the new Pack, I went to the Scout store and got enough cards for the Tiger belt loops so that Trevor would have a complete set.
DeleteI have done this for my boys, 2 of which have already earned their Eagle rank. This system saved one of them from having to repeat merit badges as a Boy Scout. The person who should have sent the information to the scout office messed up so several badges didn't show up on his record. We had the signed cards right at our fingertips and were able to prove he had already earned them. (Anyone can buy things at the scout store, so when your boy is in Boy Scouts and earns an award, make sure the card has been signed.)
ReplyDeleteAs a cub committee, we give out personalized folders with a couple of divided page protectors to the new scouts in our pack.
That's a great idea for welcoming new Cubs!
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