what would you do?

[mommyoftwinboys]

O.k. this my situation. I have boys who will be cub scout age in the fall. We found what seems like a great pack of just homeschooled boys about 20-25 minutes away from our home. But, there are 2 packs/troops(I'm not sure what they are called:tongue_smilie:) within a mile of my home. One did say they have had homeschooled families in the past. Which would you choose?
We are new to the area and want the boys too make friends. Gas prices are a factor as we drive a Ford Expedition and need to be mindful of that as well. My husband has left the decision up to me...what would you do?

[Chris in VA]

20 minutes isn't that far, imo. It would be worth it to me to be with homeschooled kids--easier to be flexible with the schedule, kids not worn out from school when they meet, values similar--this may not be true in every case, but I've seen the difference btwn the homeschool Brownie troop and the ps one.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

O.k. this my situation. I have boys who will be cub scout age in the fall. We found what seems like a great pack of just homeschooled boys about 20-25 minutes away from our home. But, there are 2 packs/troops(I'm not sure what they are called:tongue_smilie:) within a mile of my home. One did say they have had homeschooled families in the past. Which would you choose?
We are new to the area and want the boys too make friends. Gas prices are a factor as we drive a Ford Expedition and need to be mindful of that as well. My husband has left the decision up to me...what would you do?

I absolutely would choose the local pack. A couple reasons, but mostly because they can easily have activities together outside of the pack (unstructured playtime, birthday parties, etc), and also because I often find large groups of homeschoolers to be, well, kinda hard to predict. Gas prices have also not stopped rising, so there's the chance that you would be forced into dropping the distant pack in the future.

How a cub scout is schooled is of very little consequence, usually. I have almost exclusively been involved with mixed groups (schooling-wise) of kids in extracurriculars, and it has worked out perfectly for us.

[In The Great White North]

We went local and it has been fine. DS(16) is the only home-schooler in his troop.

I've noticed that the kids with behavior issues tend to mature or drop out, so that by the time they are Boy Scouts, it's not really a problem. (Although, at the ripe old age of 16, he thinks the 10 year olds are soooo immature. :001_smile: )

BTW, Cub Scouts have packs; Boy Scouts have troops.

They is some variation between troops, however. For some reason, our troop has boys from several nearby towns, all of which have their own troops.

So I would recommend meeting with and talking to the pack leader (are you volunteering?) and Cubmaster. Talk to both troops' Boy Scouts' parents too - they can usually tell you all about the Cub Scouts!

[lynn]

O.k. this my situation. I have boys who will be cub scout age in the fall. We found what seems like a great pack of just homeschooled boys about 20-25 minutes away from our home. But, there are 2 packs/troops(I'm not sure what they are called:tongue_smilie:) within a mile of my home. One did say they have had homeschooled families in the past. Which would you choose?
We are new to the area and want the boys too make friends. Gas prices are a factor as we drive a Ford Expedition and need to be mindful of that as well. My husband has left the decision up to me...what would you do?

I would choose the one closer to home.

[elegantlion]

I would stay local, IMO. My ds was in scouts for two years. We had homeschooled, public and private school boys just in the 6 in his pack. If you join the homeschooled group who is to say they will continue homeschooling and there are no guarantees their values will line up with yours, look at the diversity here.

I think the local group would give him an opportunity to get together more often. I would do as suggested and meet the pack leader and perhaps the cubmaster before making a final decision.

[Laura Corin]

We regularly travel 30 minutes to cub scouts, but then we have no choice. Could you visit the closer ones to see how they feel, before making a decision?

Laura