Tenderfoot

Last night N. got his Tenderfoot Rank Badge!

Look at this handsome boy scout!

This is N. reading his part of the "12 points of the scout law" ceremony last night at a Court of Honor at which he made a rank advancement to Tenderfoot in his Boy Scout troop.

The Tenderfoot is the second rank on the "Eagle Path." The ranks are as follows: Scout, Tenderfoot, 2nd Class, 1st Class, Star, Life, Eagle. In the Scout through 1st Class ranks, the boys are learning the outdoor and life skills to be an accomplished scout. From the Star through Life, they are learning service to the community. At Eagle Scout, the boy not only has the outdoors skills and has done community service, but they have also developed leadership skills and have used them to lead others in service to the community.

This is N. receiving his Tenderfoot badge from the assistant scoutmaster for his troop. In order to earn the rank of Tenderfoot, N. accomplished the following:

• Present himself to his leader properly dressed for a camp-out with a properly packed backpack.



• Spend the night in tent he helped pitch



• Assist in preparing two meals at the camp-out for his patrol

This picture is N. putting his Tenderfoot Mother's Pride Pin on me! Requirements continued below:

• Whip and fuse the end of a rope



• Demonstrate and explain the use of two half-hitches and the taut-line hitch knots



• Explain the rules for safe hiking on the highway and cross-country, day and night. Demonstrate what to do if he is lost



• Demonstrate how to raise, lower and fold the American flag.


• Repeat from memory and explain in his own words the scout oath, law, motto and slogan.


• Know patrol name, give the patrol yell and describe the patrol flag


• Improve ability to do push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups over 30 days


• Identify local poisonous plants and demonstrate treatment for exposure to them


• Demonstrate the Heimlich manuver and explain when to use it


• Demonstrate first aid techniques for simple cuts and scratches, blisters, first-degree burns or scalds, insect bites, stings and tick removal, poisonous snakebite, nosebleed, frostbite, and sunburn


• Demonstrate scout spirit by living the scout oath and law in everyday life


• Participate in scoutmaster conference


• complete board of review

I really like the incremental approach to learning concepts and developing skills that the scouts use. I also like that N. is spending quality time among boys of a range of ages and that he is mentored by the older boys and well as by the adult men who guide the troop as scoutmasters, assistant scoutmasters, merit badge counselors, boards of review, and troop committees. What a world it would be if schools used these approaches--they are the methods that create autonomous learners. As it is, homeschoolers often use similar approaches by mentoring our kids or providing mentors and incremental learning approaches in which our kids are encouraged to take the next step and go the extra mile. I find the scouts to be a great supplement to my homeschooling curriculum for N.

Here is the Bazooka Berserkers Patrol with proud parents!

N. is third from the right in the first row. I am immediately behind him. Bruce, my husband is behind me. We are standing behind placards of the BSA ranks.

Happy Trails!