Question on Ranger Kids, Need help!!!!!!

Hi All,

God bless!! and thanks in advance for your help.

I'll begin by saying that I have been selected as the outpost coordinator of my church.

The church has had the Royal Rangers program for many years, but unfortunately is has not run the way it supposed to.

Last year I was selected as a group leader/commander for the Discovery Rangers, as I was new to the program and the stuff I was given to teach did not make any sense to me, I began to do my homework on how the program runs, I ended up with tracclub and bought it with my own money to try it, after I saw how helpful it was I brought it up to the Sr. Commander/ the coordinator at the time. Unfortunately we didn't have many volunteers and could not run the entire program the way it is intended to run. However, we made some progress.

This year I was selected outpost coordinator and have kids going on second grade who did not complete the antelope part, other kids going on 3rd grade to the Discovery Rangers without an earned patch.
And this year we have new kids starting the Ranger Kids program with a kid in the same program going on second grade, I don't know if I should start over, which to me is not fair to the kid going on second grade because he has completed some of the lessons. Or give the lesson to new kindergartners and after I am done with them come to the 2nd grader. I'm running out of Ideas. Any Ideas will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

-Alex

Alex,

Good questions. Unfortunately, I have always been an Adventure/Expedition Level Leader.

Now we are down to about 6 kids, and the Pastor has sent 2 R/K-aged boys to my class. So what I am doing is running it like a 1-room schoolhouse; mainly working on merits, and not advancements.

I know that is not how it is SUPPOSED to be. Hopefully, there is someone else on-site who can give more relevant help with your R/K Program.

Thanks for jumping into the Fire. Good Luck!

Claymore wrote:Alex,

Good questions.  Unfortunately, I have always been an Adventure/Expedition Level Leader.  

Now we are down to about 6 kids, and the Pastor has sent 2 R/K-aged boys to my class.  So what I am doing is running it like a 1-room schoolhouse; mainly working on merits, and not advancements.

I know that is not how it is SUPPOSED to be.  Hopefully, there is someone else on-site who can give more relevant help with your R/K Program.

Thanks for jumping into the Fire.  Good Luck!

Thank you soo much for your reply, God bless!

It is a very fun program and the motives are amazing, but it is wayyy to complicated for someone who is new to it, Wayy too much work, I think there has to be a flexibility specially for those that are running the program like you are... I guess I'll have to juggle around and see what I can do...

-Alex

We have always kept RK's separated from the older boys (even when we only had one RK), but we are blessed to have a great commander for that age group. My hat's off to Claymore and anyone else who makes it work with the RK's in with the older boys! There are of course boys in that age group who can hang to some degree with some older boys, but most of them are still developing their fine motor skills and general maturity and may find the skill merits difficult.

Good luck with taking over the outpost. We're a fairly new outpost ourselves, just going into our fourth year, and I'm still having eureka moments as portions of the program become clear.

AlexL wrote:
And this year we have new kids starting the Ranger Kids program with a kid in the same program going on second grade, I don't know if I should start over, which to me is not fair to the kid going on second grade because he has completed some of the lessons. Or give the lesson to new kindergartners and after I am done with them come to the 2nd grader. I'm running out of Ideas. Any Ideas will be greatly appreciated.

IMO, I would stay where you are with the RK's because the program can be started at any point in the three year cycle. If he's in K5 he will just get the first year of the cycle in his third year, etc. If he's already in 1st or 2nd grade then he can either not worry about the remainder of the RK advancement when he moves on to DR, or work on the remaining sections on his own at home with help from a parent and/or a commander if he has aspirations of achieving the Honor GMA. Once again IMO, unless he has the Honor GMA in his sites, then I don't see a point in finishing up RK material after having moved up to DR. That's just up to each individual.

Phillip Gross wrote:We have always kept RK's separated from the older boys (even when we only had one RK),  

Yeah well, they were SENT to Rangers by the Pastor & Church Administrator.  I didn't recruit for them to be in our Class.

Sometimes, when they get too wild from Mom & Dad giving them a Mountain Dew & a Snickers Bar for supper, I have to threaten, "Do you want to go back to being with the girls in the BlueBells and JoyBells Classes?.  They're right down the hall, and I'll take you there right now!"

That tends to keep them straight for about 15 minutes.

(That and threatening to take away their Poker Chip with a number on it. They need to have that to participate in the Door Prize Drawing at the end of the meeting.)

Remind of the poker chip deal again. I remember you telling us about it, but I can't exactly remember where you posted it. Was it even on this new forum, or the old one?

AlexL wrote:
This year I was selected outpost coordinator and have kids going on second grade who did not complete the antelope part, other kids going on 3rd grade to the Discovery Rangers without an earned patch.
And this year we have new kids starting the Ranger Kids program with a kid in the same program going on second grade, I don't know if I should start over, which to me is not fair to the kid going on second grade because he has completed some of the lessons. Or give the lesson to new kindergartners and after I am done with them come to the 2nd grader. I'm running out of Ideas. Any Ideas will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

-Alex

Alex
When I was an RK Commander some years ago I had kids in all 3 grades (K,1 & 2) I ran them all at the same time each doing their own trail. Each grade has its own requirements, but you will find some of them overlap more than one grade.

How many Commanders do you have? If you have more than one Commander for RK (a luxury I know) it is a lot easier & you can split
up the task

Phillip Gross wrote:Remind of the poker chip deal again. I remember you telling us about it, but I can't exactly remember where you posted it. Was it even on this new forum, or the old one?

I found it in the OLD Forum. I just did a Cut & Paste:


The Patrol Leader takes attendance, awards points for Attendance, Uniform, having Notebook & Pen, Bible, & Offering. Then the Patrol Leader issues a poker chip with a number written on it to each Ranger, and records the number.

The chip is used as an honor system. During the meeting, if a boy acts up, we mark his name on the White-Board, and he gets a "strike". If he acts up again, another "strike" is recorded. If he gets three strikes, we confiscate his chip.

At the end of the meeting, all of the chips go into a bowl, and we have a drawing for a door prize (items from the Dollar Store, or even airport confiscated Swiss Army knives from ebay). Obviously, the winning number gets to pick a prize. -- But you have to be in uniform to be able to take a knife, otherwise, you are restricted to one of the "Dollar Store" prizes.

In about 12 years of being a commander, I have only had a ranger lose his chip on about 3 occasions.

They get real serious about getting in on that drawing.

Claymore wrote:

The Patrol Leader takes attendance, awards points for Attendance, Uniform, having Notebook & Pen, Bible, & Offering. Then the Patrol Leader issues a poker chip with a number written on it to each Ranger, and records the number.

The chip is used as an honor system. During the meeting, if a boy acts up, we mark his name on the White-Board, and he gets a "strike". If he acts up again, another "strike" is recorded. If he gets three strikes, we confiscate his chip.

At the end of the meeting, all of the chips go into a bowl, and we have a drawing for a door prize (items from the Dollar Store, or even airport confiscated Swiss Army knives from ebay). Obviously, the winning number gets to pick a prize. -- But you have to be in uniform to be able to take a knife, otherwise, you are restricted to one of the "Dollar Store" prizes.

In about 12 years of being a commander, I have only had a ranger lose his chip on about 3 occasions.

They get real serious about getting in on that drawing.

THAT IS AWESOME!!!

Now I use Psychology on them.

We have the "Ranger Code" posted on the wall, and almost anything that deserves a "strike" is a violation of the Ranger Code (how about COURTEOUS or OBEDIENT?).

If it is not up in the Ranger Code, I ding them for "FFI" (fail to follow instructions).

Then when I write the boy's name on the White-Board, I complain that he is taking me away from what I want to do giving the class, and he is making me write down his name, because I HAVE TO award a Strike, if a boy violates the Ranger Code or commits a FFI.

Sometimes, I even get them to apologize to me when I issue a strike (that was my trick when I was a Detective; to get an offender to apologize to me for making me arrest him. )

Canadarangers wrote:

THAT IS AWESOME!!!  

Thank you.

The original idea came from my Assistant Commander from Milwaukee. He was a former Marine, and also a Police Officer. Leave it to a Marine to come up with creative ways to enforce discipline (his Drill Sergeant in Boot Camp probably used something similar).

By the way, that is the most mileage that you will ever get from kids for Good Behavior for a Buck!

ccm2361 wrote:

AlexL wrote:
This year I was selected outpost coordinator and have kids going on second grade who did not complete the antelope part, other kids going on 3rd grade to the Discovery Rangers without an earned patch.
And this year we have new kids starting the Ranger Kids program with a kid in the same program going on second grade, I don't know if I should start over, which to me is not fair to the kid going on second grade because he has completed some of the lessons. Or give the lesson to new kindergartners and after I am done with them come to the 2nd grader. I'm running out of Ideas. Any Ideas will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

-Alex

Alex
When I was an RK Commander some years ago I had kids in all 3 grades (K,1 & 2)  I ran them all at the same time each doing their own trail. Each grade has its own requirements, but you will find some of them overlap more than one grade.

How many Commanders do you have?  If you have more than one Commander for RK (a luxury I know) it is a lot easier & you can split
up the task

Hi,

I only have one commander per group. I'm thinking of just start from scratch and when they move to Discovery they can go back with help of parents etc, as mentioned before.

Thank you all for your replies, I truly appreciate it. Now I know where to go if I get stuck somewhere down the line.

God Bless!

Claymore wrote:

Phillip Gross wrote:Remind of the poker chip deal again. I remember you telling us about it, but I can't exactly remember where you posted it. Was it even on this new forum, or the old one?

I found it in the OLD Forum.  I just did a Cut & Paste:


The Patrol Leader takes attendance, awards points for Attendance, Uniform, having Notebook & Pen, Bible, & Offering. Then the Patrol Leader issues a poker chip with a number written on it to each Ranger, and records the number.

The chip is used as an honor system. During the meeting, if a boy acts up, we mark his name on the White-Board, and he gets a "strike". If he acts up again, another "strike" is recorded. If he gets three strikes, we confiscate his chip.

At the end of the meeting, all of the chips go into a bowl, and we have a drawing for a door prize (items from the Dollar Store, or even airport confiscated Swiss Army knives from ebay). Obviously, the winning number gets to pick a prize. -- But you have to be in uniform to be able to take a knife, otherwise, you are restricted to one of the "Dollar Store" prizes.

In about 12 years of being a commander, I have only had a ranger lose his chip on about 3 occasions.

They get real serious about getting in on that drawing.

This is a great idea!!!!!

Did you do this every week?

And where can I get the poker chips from. I've been looking online for chips that I can use in a drawing and I only see the professional ones.

Thanks in advance!

Oh we do it every week.  Those boys catch on to this tradition REALLY fast.  In fact, as soon as we finish our pledges, they are falling all over themselves to issue the chips.

You should be able to find them in places like Wal-Mart or Walgreens.  They should be in the Games Section, next to playing cards.  I think that a pack of about 100 chips will run between $4.00 and $5.00 (generally 25 red, 25 blue, and 50 white).

I find that it works best to have a drawing for about every 8 boys, so if you had 16 boys, divide them into 2 groups (maybe R/K's and Discovery Rangers together, then Adventure and Expedition Rangers).  That way, odds are that each kid should get drawn every other month.

Another good place to find door prizes is Harbor Freight.  They have sharpening stones for about $2.00, wooden model airplanes, flint & steel fire starters, and super-bright L.E.D. flashlights at 2-for-$2.00.  I break the packs apart and put the lights in the prize box individually.

It really works.  And I emphasize to the boys that I do not WANT to issue a strike to them, but I will if they make me do it, because I have to follow the rules, too.  (I try to err on the side of leniency, but I will confiscate a chip if all else fails.)

One other thing............

Some of the boys cannot help but to twirl, bounce, and play with their chip during the meeting, and fling it around the table. I simply offer that, if they don't want to keep their chip on the table in front of them, I am willing to get it out of the way for them (generally works).

Claymore wrote:Oh we do it every week.  Those boys catch on to this tradition REALLY fast.  In fact, as soon as we finish our pledges, they are falling all over themselves to issue the chips.

You should be able to find them in places like Wal-Mart or Walgreens.  They should be in the Games Section, next to playing cards.  I think that a pack of about 100 chips will run between $4.00 and $5.00 (generally 25 red, 25 blue, and 50 white).

I find that it works best to have a drawing for about every 8 boys, so if you had 16 boys, divide them into 2 groups (maybe R/K's and Discovery Rangers together, then Adventure and Expedition Rangers).  That way, odds are that each kid should get drawn every other month.

Another good place to find door prizes is Harbor Freight.  They have sharpening stones for about $2.00, wooden model airplanes, flint & steel fire starters, and super-bright L.E.D. flashlights at 2-for-$2.00.  I break the packs apart and put the lights in the prize box individually.

It really works.  And I emphasize to the boys that I do not WANT to issue a strike to them, but I will if they make me do it, because I have to follow the rules, too.  (I try to err on the side of leniency, but I will confiscate a chip if all else fails.)

One other thing............

Some of the boys cannot help but to twirl, bounce, and play with their chip during the meeting, and fling it around the table.  I simply offer that, if they don't want to keep their chip on the table in front of them, I am willing to get it out of the way for them (generally works).

Great Thanks!