Scouts-when do they start and where do I find a troup and are there waiting lists and will it help give ds something easy and straightforward to rebel aginast? Oh AND

[FillyjonkisCALM]

can dd go too, in the fullness of time?

I know nothing of such matters, I was brought up a hippy.

Seriously I have NO IDEA here.

There is Beavers, Cubs and Scouts. they are apparently hard to come by though, places that is. We moved here in June and I can't find a beavers or cubs group that will take the DSes, even though they have transfer papers from their group in Scotland. The reason , i get told is that they can't take DS1 into cubs becasue they will have no room for him in 2 years time when he goes up to scouts, so he will have to leave.
Anyway I think they start beavers at 6, Cubs at 8 and scouts at about 11. I think they take girls as well, also there is Rainbows/brownies/Guides for girls. But i don't know anything about them

Not 100% certain on the rules of Scouting, since I do Guiding, but if you call your Childrens Information Service at the council, they'll give you a list of where and when all the troups meet.

HTH.

There is a year waiting list here - the earliest club is 6yrs old

That reminds me - I must put DS name down!

6?

oh god thats light years again...well...1 anyway ( - htf has THAT happened?)

transfer papers? really?

OK.

Beavers start at six and can be for boys and girls, although if there is good provision for Rainbows, Brownies and Guides locally you may find that dd will be steered towards these

here's where to find more info including your local colony

I'll have to pass on whether he'll enjoy rebelling against them but colonies vary enormously in their ethos. Some have regular church parades where attendance is actively encouraged, others take a very low key approach to this - it's often influenced by whether they meet in a church hall IME

Ds loves it - in Cubs now - and has learned a lot of useful, fun things, like how to build a proper fire outdoors, respect for the environment, first aid skills - I honestly find that at weekly meeting level all sorts of worthwhile values are being reinforced

ah i shall make the phone call, excellent

oh and what is the deal with religious stuff, does it matter that we are hardcore atheists? I don't care if ds participates in church stuff, but obviously we aren't going to be at church in our spare time or anything.

oh marina, link doesn't work, looked very promising...

If you can, try and get a recommendation - scout troups vary hugely depending on the leader, on where they meet and so on. Dd is a Sea Scout - they sail and canoe on a gravel pit all summer and have huge fun cooking over open fires and playing Murder in the Dark in the woods and making rope ladders and making each other climb them in the winder - but it's run by a barking mad ex Navy Officer who laughs in the face of Health and Safety rules ( well, he doesn't when it comes to boating - he's fanatical aout them then - but he does when it comes to playing in the woods in the dark and using knives and cooking over campfires. All very satisfactory - but I know a lot of other troups are much more sedate affairs.

Dd goes on a Friday night - it's a wonderful antidote to a week at a very academic school. I love seeing her coming in all middy and bright eyed and smelling of the outside!

seeker do they take 33 year old women?

Scouts is ace! Dd1 is in scouts (very ungirly girl) - she has been orienteering and camping amongst other things. They do lots of rough-and-tumble type games which she loves.

Dd2 is a girly girl and in the Brownies. They do lots of craft projects and play (slightly less) physical games, and do lots of singing. It seems very cutesy to me but she loves it. Horses for courses I think!

The religion thing is not really a problem - dd1 attended Remembrance Day service in the Town Square but they don't seem to have to go to church other than that.

(we are in Scotland and not so over-subscribed here)

It depends on how churchy the leader is! I'm a Rainbow Guider and its the most I can do to drag myself out of bed for 10 on a Sunday morning once a month!

I go and help sometimes - it is HUGE fun! Sadly dp has grabbed Scouts as the activity he helps with regularly so I don't get to go very often.We are invited to supper this Friday though - they are having a cookery competition. And there is the possibilty of snow!

I'll try again filly, shame on them (didn't pass their IT badges clearly)
Scoutbase home page, you'll need to dig about a bit to find Beavers
We have church-involved Rainbows-Guides and borderline heathen Beavers-Scouts locally Maureen - which suits us as we do not have to haul ds off to Church Parade at a different church )

And we like it for the same reasons as seeker - it does ds good to get filthy and untidy, he is quite a meek bookworm normally

DS (11) is a scout and was a cub and beaver before that. What is brilliant about it at this age is that he is mixing with boys up to age of 14 who are not from his school and from all walks of life PLUS he the leaders are fantastic male role models. They know when to let boys run riot - in the dark in the woods - but they also know when to call them to order and demand discipline. He is doing all sort of stuff he would not normally do - camping, cooking over fires, making shelter from bracken, getting very dirty - all healthy outside stuff (and we're in London!).

We are encouraged to attend church parade at least once a year!

I can often be found hiding behind a tree outside the church, in the hope that none of my Rainbows turn up, then I can go home to bed again! I have to sit in the front pew too, right under the nose of the vicar, so I can't even drop off during the service AND I have to sing properly and do actions too! All this, out the kindest of my heart and no payment!

here
DS2 has just started scouts. Scouts start at 10 1/2. They base their payments on the first term free, then subscription from then on.
He is thouroughly enjoying himself, and going to a climbing wall this weekend.
At the moment they are developing ideas about disability, so far they have had making a sandwich, blindfolded, (hilarious) and they had to eat the mess of 1" thick cucumber slices, tomato wedges and cheese lumps. Then the games they played included trying to dodge obstacles whilst blindfolded and being directed by a seeing persons voice and keeping a treasure safe whilst blindfolded. This obviously is to simulate what it is like to be blind.

At least you don't have to.......lead the intercessions though Maureen, how I feel for that poor woman
We get our money's worth out of our Brownies and Guides! The Rainbows just sit and look cute

I'm really interested in this - thanks for all the info.

DS is 6 and at a fairly genteel and socially unmixed private school. Actually, we love the school and it is great for him: it was not chosen for its tweeness, but because we are in a part of London where, unfortunately, a lot of people choose to go private as the state alternative is far from great (thus, of course, perpetuating/reinforcing it - ho hum).

However we are very keen that he mixes widely outside of school (both with different children and different adults) and cubs/beavers sounds like exactly what he needs. I'm going to start looking into it right away.

So right. And we are all very cute, aren't we? Even the 40 year old leaders!

Toruble is, Fillyjonk was looking for something for her ds to rebel against. It sounds from all our experience that he's likely to run away to join the Scouts rather than run away rather than joining them!

I think she needs Teeny Tiny Tories or something seeker
Filly, Scouts foil assassination bids you know. Sort of Alex Rider in a woggle...

but surely, the uniform at least he will rebel against?

Oh I am sure he'll find his own way here

ps am especially interested in Sea Scouts, ds would LOVE that but-am guessing you need to be near a sea?

Love TeenyTinyTories - can we start it? We could design a uniform that included a boater and mustardy coloured knockerbockers and a wing collar and a waistcoat and charge huge fees. They would flock to us.