We appreciate no two Scouts are the same. In the Scout Programs of Adventure Scouts USA, we know each Scout well, treat each one of them uniquely and act on that knowledge. We value that each Scout is different, special, and unique. In the Scout Programs of Adventure Scouts USA, we understand each person learns in a different way. Our Scouts can best enjoy their adventures when they can learn in the way that is right for them. Learning Styles We appreciate each of our Scouts has a different learning style and enable each to achieve whether they learn best by visual, auditory or tactile/kinesthetic methods. Visual learners learn best by seeing and thinking in pictures and observation of body language. Auditory learners learn best by listening and interpreting pitch, intonation and other auditory methods. Tactile/kinesthetic learners learn best using a "hands on" approach. Our Scouts use a variety of ways to express their thinking, personal insights and share their experiences. We encourage our Scouts, in ways they choose, to express themselves, whether by building and maintaining trails, creating art, writing creatively or taking photographs. Educational Strategies Our Scout Programs use several different education philosophies in order to help our Scouts learn better and faster. We encourage our Scouts, in ways they choose, to express themselves, whether by building and maintaining trails, creating art, writing creatively or taking photographs. We appreciate that our Scouts benefit from using a wide variety of educational strategies. * Natural Learning -- The educational strategy of "natural learning" suggests by loving what one learns, one loves to learn. The strategy of natural learning allows the learner the freedom to find a topic they are passionate about. When the learner begins studying the subject, they will find they need to know certain things to understand it. For instance, a Scout passionate about launching rockets will quickly find they need to know math in order to launch rockets well. In this way, the learner chooses to learn, not because they told to, but because they want to in order to pursue their passions. Learning occurs best when it is realized not only that the individual can learn, but also that learning actually benefits them. * Experiential Education -- Experiential Education is a philosophy in which our Scouts learn by doing. Experiential learners learn best by directly experiencing. Focus is on the learner, not the educator, and on the process, not the results. Experiencing is the first step, followed by sharing observations of the experience, analyzing the experience, discovering new principles based on the experience, and finally planning how to use that new information in the next experience. Asking questions and reflection are also major part of Experiential Education. * Walking Around -- We subscribe to the style of communication of walking around. Rather than standing at the front of the room asking if anyone has an any questions, the educator walks up to the learners and asks questions themselves about how things are going and if they can help. The communication style of walking around is a style of communication that encourages more contact up, down and within groups of people, organizations and businesses. We encourage our Team Counselors to counsel by walking around the Scouts of their team. Our Team Counselors facilitate and support the efforts of the Scouts of their team since our Scouts organize, create and lead their own programs. * Redirection -- In the educational strategy of Redirection, we encourage our Scouts to see when something they are doing is not working and to try an alternate path. Redirection encourages our Scouts to act constructively. When our Scouts appear to need some help, we redirect their efforts by encouraging them to try another way. Another way we redirect is when our Scouts are doing something which might be inappropriate, we encourage them to try to do something similar yet safe. * Active Listening -- We also use the strategy of developing active listening. Listening is harder than it sounds: when most people think they are listening, they are actually thinking of what they want to say next and not really hearing what the other person is saying. We encourage our Scouts to focus on the other person. A good trick for practicing this skill is to have a friend read a short passage, and then ask our Scouts to repeat as closely as possible what they said. Active listening develops within our Scouts the skill of communication. We encourage respect of other's needs and interests in our use of active listening techniques. Active listening by our Scouts and Team Counselors also encourages our Scouts to begin to not just hear, but also listen to what others have to say. * Jigsaw Method -- The Jigsaw Method is the concept of breaking up a group, giving each Scout a part of the project, and then putting the group back together into smaller random groups. Like all youth, our Scouts occasionally form cliques. One of our educational strategies is to temporarily break them up. For example, if our Scouts are traveling somewhere and are asked to get into the cars to go, inevitably, friends will stick together and we will wind up with a friendship group in each car. After our Scouts have gotten into the cars, we ask them to get out again! The Scouts then mix themselves up and wind up in groups that they did not pre-arrange. This encourages our Scouts to get to know each other better, expand their friends
hip groups, and is particularly helpful for shier Scouts.
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