Scout School: Using Boy Scouts as a Homeschool Curriculum

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Scout School: Merit Badges by Subject

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Merit Badges for School Credit

The Washington State Board of Education requires public school students to have the following credits for graduation:
English - 3 credits; Math -2 credits; Science (1 credit must be a lab science) - 2 credits; Social Studies - 2.5 credits; Health & Fitness - 2 credits; Occupational Education - 1 credit; Arts - 1 credit; Electives - 5.5 credits. Students are also required to do a "culminating project". A "credit" is equal to 2 semesters. As a general guideline, 48 hours of instruction equals one semester (therefore, 96 hours per credit). According to our local school district, 1 hour of tutoring is the equivalent instruction of 2.5 hours of class time. For purposes of this site, minutes will be used at the rate of 2300 minutes = 1 credit. Times are calculated by the approximate amount of study that my boys required to fulfill the requirements (or estimate they will need); yours may vary.

Recommendations for highly selective colleges may vary, and are ALWAYS more stringent than the minimums above. Here are those for the US Naval Academy: English - 4 credits (including American and English Literature); Math - 4 credits (including pre-calculus, if possible); 2 credits (one must be a chemistry lab, and one must be physics); Foreign Language - 2 credits; History: 2 credits, including US and European History; IT - 1 credit.

No, you can't really provide a COMPLETE college preparatory education with just Boy Scout badges. You'll need to add higher level Math, a chemistry lab, and Latin (okay, so Latin isn't required -- it's definitely needed, though!). You can, however, provide the foundation for an excellent education using the Merit Badges as a starting point. Although the "No more, no less" rule applies to the badges, that doesn't mean that as a parent, you cannot require MORE to meet homeschooling requirements. Because they've done what's needed for the badge does NOT mean that you need to be finished with the topic.


Click on a Merit Badge to go to its own page. There you'll find the requirements it fills. We've also included an estimate of credit hours (or, in this case, minutes). They are PURPOSEFULLY conservative because I'd rather error on the side of too MUCH education.

Badges that are Most Difficult(rankings according to my boys and their buddies)
American Business
Archeology
Citizenship in the Community (E)
Citizenship in the World (E)
Entrepreneurship

Art / Fine Arts
Electives

English

Health & Fitness

Information Technology


Math

Occupational Education

Science

Social Studies (& History)


Badges that are Somewhat Difficult American Labor
Auto Mechanics
Camping* (E)
Canoeing
Chemistry
Citizenship in the Nation (E)
Cycling (E)
Emergency Preparedness (E)
Engineering
Environmental Science (E)
First Aid (E)
Hiking (E)
Home Repairs
Insect Study
Journalism
Lifesaving (E)
Medicine
Nuclear Science
Oceanography
Salesmanship
Shotgun Shooting
Surveying
Swimming (E)
Veterinary Medicine
Water Skiing
Whitewater
Wilderness Survival

 

Badges that are of Medium Difficulty American Cultures
American Heritage
Animal Science
Astronomy
Athletics
Backpacking
Bugling
Communications (E)
Composite Materials
Computers
Cooking
Dog Care
Drafting
Electricity
Electronics
Family Life (E)
Farm Mechanics
Fish & Wildlife Management
Fly Fishing
Forestry
Gardening
Horsemanship
Indian Lore
Landscape Architecture
Law
Metalwork
Model Design and Boatbuilding
Nature
Orienteering
Personal Fitness (E)
Personal Management (E)
Pioneering
Plant Science
Public Health
Public Speaking
Radio
Railroading
Reptile & Amphibian Study
Rifle Shooting
Rowing
Scholarship
Small Boat Sailing
Snow Sports
Scholarship
Soil and Water Conservation
Space Exploration
Sports (E)
Stamp Collecting
Traffic Safety
Truck Transportation
Woodword

 

Badges that are Not Difficult (especially good for Scouts just starting out)
Archery
Architecture
Art
Aviation
Basketry
Bird Study
Cinematography
Climbing
Coin Collecting
Collections
Crime Prevention
Dentistry
Disabilities Awareness
Energy
Fingerprinting
Fire Safety
Fishing
Genealogy
Golf
Graphic Arts
Leatherwork
Mammal Study
Motorboating
Music
Painting
Pets
Photography
Plumbing
Pottery
Pulp and Paper
Reading
Safety
Sculpture
Skating
Textile
Theater
Weather
Wood Carving

 

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