Boy Scout Merit Badge

Are there any Boy Scout merit badge counselors here? If so, I would love to ask some questions about how you run the workshop. I held my first one a couple of months ago and have another coming up soon. I made a Powerpoint slide show to go along with all the requirements and we broke often for hands-on activities. This still seemed a tad boring. Maybe it's just because there is SOOO much that has to be covered.

How do you set your schedule up? Do you give a presentation at the beginning? Do you have handouts you use?

I think it would be great if there was a workbook that covered all the requirements. This would make it a lot easier to cover everything, in my opinion. If I was a millionaire, I would publish my own!

One more thing, how long does your workshop last?

Any ideas or suggestions would be most welcome!

Try this thread https://goscf.com/t/5350&SearchTerms=boy,scout

The USPS offers a wealth of information ... some geared more to younger people (Cub Scout age) as in coloring books and others more into postal history and famous African Americans, Hispanics, Women, Veterans, etc., depicted on stamps. This is free for the download and is buried deep within the USPS web site so it took me awhile to find the link, but still great resources here.

As it relates to stamp collecting, check out in particular, Publications 39, 100, 192, 225, 295, 354, 512 and 528. Here's the link:

http://www.usps.com/publications/pubs/welcome.htm

Try the Scouting On Stamps Society International (SOSSI) website www.sossi.org (i think). I have not done a standardized workshop, but I did meet with a troop several times before their troop meetings to check off requirements, answer questions, & provide philatelic materials. You are right about there being a lot of areas to cover, it would take all day. I suggest working with a local stamp club and tie the workshop to a stamp show. I enjoyed taking the scouts around to each dealer at my clubs annual bourse and explaining what they sold, it really opened their eyes to the magnitude of our hobby.

I give each scout a requirement worksheet and suggest they get the most recent merit badge handbook. I also made up a reference page with dozens of helpful websites and resources for stamps.

My first presentation was around an hour long and I had a couple tables full of catalogs, stamps, albums, covers, philatelic tools, etc. for the scouts to look at. Very hands on. I just explained how I started collecting & why I enjoy it. I find topical collecting gets the best response.

Also, go to the APS site www.stamps.org and check out their free album downloads, beginning collecting area, and their youth club program.

This is also from APS, but an entire course of study on First Day Covers for anyone so interested. The entire lesson plan and illustrations are already there:

http://www.stampcampus.org/FDC/lessons.htm

Thanks for all the fantastic links and info.

wt1- I appreciate all the trouble you went to listing the post office's publications. They have some good ones! I also enjoyed the one on First Day Covers. It was full of great info.

Stamperdude- I, too, found that the scouts liked topicals the best. I tried very hard to get them interested in U.S., since it is the easiest and often cheapest to get. And, I had the most of those stamps, lol. Only one of the twelve decided to do U.S.