Saturday, November 13, 2010

Gratitude Challenge: Scouts. Again.


A good friend of mine, Brenda at Garden of Learning, put together a Gratitude Challenge.  The idea is to post for every day in November about something you are thankful for.  I blew it and didn't post the past couple of days.  But I'm just going to pick up today...

So -- Day Thirteen  --

Today, again, I am grateful for the Boy Scouts of America.  That was my first post this month... but there I was expressing gratitude for all the wonderful people who volunteer their time. I'm still thankful for them.  But today, I'm grateful for the program itself.

My oldest two are currently at a Merit Badge College at Coronado High School.  It's their second event, and they do a fabulous job.  Over 500 boys there today.  I already have next year's date on my calendar.

Let me tell you a bit about what my kids are doing today, and what they've done in preparation for today:

Astronomy Merit Badge:  William has been sketching the moon, the stars, and the planets.  He's (twice) sat out taking photos of the moon moving across the sky at night.  He presented those photos to his class.  He's looked at star charts, and researched careers in astronomy.  Today -- well, today he'll be learning a lot more... about stars, constellations, telescopes, observatories...

Gardening:  Connor won't finish this one, as he needs to grow stuff... but he did do a germination experiment in preparation, and he will be doing hydroponics to grow our family some salad... plus a bunch of veggies and flowers in the spring.  Today, he'll be learning about the nutritional value of some veggies, learning about insects, and some other things.  But the reason he is doing this merit badge is because is goes along with...

Landscape Architecture:  to prepare for this part of the session, Connor went to the church and measured a lot of stuff for the entryway.  He had to diagram what is there right now, where people are walking, where there is water run-off, and he needed to design some changes to the space.  He also had to do some research into careers in landscape  architecture.  Today, he's supposed to be visiting with a landscape architect and visiting a site he designed, along with a whole bunch of fascinating sounding things.  I didn't even know there was such a thing as landscape architecture.

First Aid:  William had to create a family first aid kit (yeah, we have FOUR scouts... "creating" a family kit is silly... inventorying it, restocking it, reorganizing it... that will have to suffice)  and today he will be working with emergency response professionals on a whole lot of first aid activities.

Graphic Arts:  Connor had to investigate careers in graphic arts for this one, and this afternoon, he'll be learning and working with the equipment in the graphic arts department at the school  This is not something he would likely be able to complete outside of a setting like this merit badge college.


So my point... I'm grateful for all of the amazing opportunities my boys get in scouting to learn about things I would never, ever think to teach them, or to give them an outlet for learning things I do want them to know.

6 comments:

Heather @ Marine Corps Nomads said...

Wow! It sounds like they are really learning a lot and having fun doing it. I was never involved in anything like that, so it always interests me to hear what kids do in these programs. It's nice they have these opportunities available to them.

Debra said...

Heather, yes, they are learning SO much. I really love this. Most of the time. Of course, some parts get a little old too. But there are some amazing benefits.

Michelle Smith said...

We LOVE Scouts, too. Children learn so much, building character and having fun at the same time. But I guess you already knew that we were fan of scouting too, didn't you? ;)

Debra said...

Michelle -- really? Oh, cool... something else we have in common! LOL!!

Okay, yeah, I guess I already knew that...

Catherine said...

It sounds like a great day. What a great idea to have a whole day to help the boys with their badges! I hope the boys had a nice time, got a lot accomplished, and that you had a wonderful day as well.

Joesette said...

I awarded you the Stylish Blogger Award. Check it out here: http://learningcurvey.blogspot.com/2010/11/stylish-blogger-award.html

Joesette @ Learning Curve