I got a great idea from a homeschooling friend. She was looking for a way for her son to see evidence of the progress he'd made and what he'd learned, but she didn't want to use grades. The solution came to her from an email list -- merit badges! I loved this idea, and immediately made it our own. I've worked up a number of badges, some of which Nugget has already earned and some of which she's in progress on. Some are based on curriculum we're using, like levels of Hooked on Phonics, Handwriting Without Tears, RightStart, and Ready2Read. The SeaWorld camp one is for her camp experience this past summer. The "Dolphin Tale" one she'll earn when we work through the curriculum from Homeschool Movie Club and we see the movie. The others are my own creations: Calendar: Recite days of the week in order. Recite months of the year in order. Recite seasons in order. Know today's date, including year. Know what day is tomorrow and what day was yesterday. Know the months of major holidays or celebrations (New Year's, Valentine's, her birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas).Aesop's Fables: Read and do coloring sheets for all fables. Summarize the story and moral of 5 fables.Trees: Know the difference between deciduous and evergreen trees. Identify major tree parts. On a walk, identify 5 neighborhood trees (magnolia, palm, pine, oak, orange).Nugget is quite taken with this idea, especially after seeing her (Eagle Scout) daddy's badge sash. Unfortunately, I have no way of making woven patches; instead, I'm just printing them on cardstock and hanging them in her homeschool corner in the dining room. We'll see how this goes!

Mom of boys shares easy ways to incorporate work done on Boy Scout merit badges into your homeschool plans.

Tips for teaching the Oceanography merit badge.

Where can you find over 100 free unit studies? Boy Scouts! The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) program offers great merit badge materials to its Scouts, which my older sons used on their way to achieving their Eagle Scout ranks.

Orienteering is one of Scouting's more popular merit badges. Here's how to help Scouts with the best orienteering resources, equipment and more.

As a mother of 3 Eagle Scouts, I can tell you that the hardest Merit Badges for Scouts to earn are the three that require 3 months of tracking. Tracking any one thing for that long is difficult! Three? Really? The way we managed this successfully was to track all three together. Think about doiung all three over the summer when the family could focus a bit better on tracking all three. Or maybe being in school is a better idea, when routines can easily stick. Whatever the timing, choose a 3 month block of time that you think you can knock these off. 1. Familiarize yourself with the requirements by visiting Meritbadge.org and print out summary sheets for each Merit Badge: Family Life, Personal Fitness, Personal Management 2. Remember to start each Merit Badge with the approval of your Scoutmaster and Merit Badge Counselor (MBC). Get a blue card ready and get the Scoutmaster to sign it and you're ready to let the MBC know you are starting. 3. Get a physical examination from a health-care practitioner. Use the BSA Annual Health and Medical Record Forms. Here's a link: BSA Annual Health and Medical Forms (If your forms are up to date-- you've had a physical in the last 12 months-- then you can just proceed.) 4. Print out this Three Month Merit Badge Tracker. Or make your own. Adapted from myexcelltemplates.com As you set goals and work out the daily things you need to track, you can write them in this tracker and check them off daily. Once you've written down what you are tracking, you can copy it two times so you have three months worth of tracking space. Consider taping these to the kitchen cabinet or putting them on the fridge so you'll see them daily and won't forget what you need to do to knock out these merit badges. 5. Let's started with Family Life. Look over the requirements for Family Life-- specifically #3. Write your chores in the Three Month Merit Badge Tracker under the Family Life section. If you don't have at least 5 daily chores, work with your parents to choose 5 appropriate chores. 6. Now let's look at Personal Fitness. Print out the Personal Fitness MB Tests sheet below and take the fitness tests at the top half of the sheet. Fill in the boxes with your results. Using that information, devise a fitness plan to improve in each area and discuss it with your Personal Fitness MBC and/or parents. Use requirement #8 as a guide. Write the daily exercises in the Don't start on any fitness program until you have gotten approval from your MBC and your parents. Charts courtesy of Meritbadge.org Where it describes using a sit and reach box, you can easily measure without one by placing a ruler out from the wall with zero touching the wall. Put your feet against the wall and reach toward the wall. Have someone standing above you note where your hands reach on the ruler. Note that there is a place to record the fitness test information every two weeks. That's a great way to track your progress towards your final fitness goals. 7. Now let's work on Personal Management. Look over the requirements for Personal Management, specifically #2. Print out a Sample Budget Plan sheet or make one up like it. Courtesy meritbadge.org 8. Prepare a budget using the Sample Budget Plan or something like it. Write in your estimates on the 'weekly' line then multiply that by 4 for your projected monthly amounts in the next columns. As the months go by, add the 'actual' numbers into the boxes for actual amounts. Courtesy Paul Murray of maththings.net 9. Print out the Check Register above or make a similar log sheet. Count up your piggy bank. Put the amount in the first line and write it down as 'Opening Balance.' Every time you earn or spend money out of your piggy bank, write it down on the Check Register and do the math to find out how much money is in your piggy bank. Now using your Three Month Merit Badge Tracker again, write down the categories you think you'll see the most action in,the Personal Management section. If you spend money, put a minus sign; if you earn money, put a plus sign. This shows your attentiveness to your budget while the details can be kept on the Check Register. 10. For the next 3 months, do your chores and exercises, and write down your financial transactions. Meanwhile, consider doing the other requirements in these three Merit Badges, so when you finish the trackers, you can receive the badges at once! 11. After all is done, meet with your MBC for evaluation. As with all other Merit Badges, give your signed blue card to the Advancement Leader for awarding. Armed with this collection of paperwork, you can complete all three of these Merit Badges at the same time with about the same effort as doing one. Boo-yah!

Merit badges are being used to enhance the educational growth & development of academic programs for homeschooling Scouts.

I love the fact that my daughter and I share a passion for cooking. This summer she is working on her Cooking merit badge. This means lots of yummy food and a few messes. Cooking requirement #14 h…

Wild Olive is a blog about handmade crafts and cuteness, embroidery patterns, projects and printables, with a dose of kawaii things with sweet faces!

Collect all 10 Merit Badges in #BackyardCamp! Once the activity is completed download each merit badge to show you're a true #BackyardCamp Camper! Or download and let your little campers color in their badges as they earn them!

A leader's guide to the Eagle-required Citizenship in the Nation merit badge.

As a child we all dream about the job we will have as an adult. The American Heritage Girl program encourages girls to learn about different careers. Young Meteorologist at the Tenderheart level h…

Reward your kids with these cute badges. A fun craft project to thank your kids for a job well done. Create your personalized merit badges from felt and fabric.

Do your Scouts love to canoe? Then they'll take quickly to kayaking. Here's what every leader should know about this popular new merit badge.

This moon phases worksheet offers a clear explanation of the lunar cycles. To teach your student the phases of the moon, download now!

One of my favorite aspects of American Heritage Girls is that it encourages girls to build a personal relationship with Christ. Lily is currently working on her Bible Basics merit badge. I love h…

Boy Scout Merit Badges divided into Math, English/Language, Social Studies, Science, and a variety of optional subjects and leisure time activities by TeachingScouter...

Earn boy scout merit badges with the Rocky Mountain Outdoor Center and explore the great outdoors! To learn more about BSA merit badges, call today.

Making merit badges is significantly easier than earning them.

All of my patches are made to order from Durable heavy weight cotton duck or Bull denim. Machine embroidered in my studio with high quality threads and come with a sew on or iron on (heat & Bond Option) and finished with fray check. Use anywhere your imagination takes you or on Jackets, totes, hats and more. Buy several for yourself or use as gifts, stocking stuffers and use to create your own unique craft projects. Buy $35.00 or more for free shipping!! Available in Two sizes: Medium 3.31"w x 3.31"h Small 2.52"w x 2.52"h Larger orders may take longer please contact me for processing time.

Merit badges really appeal to my need for external validation. I can just picture Ed Chigliak wrestling a little green man in a trailer park, right now, on my behalf. What, didn't you watch Northern exposure? While I was working on my book Flip Dolls & Other Toys That Zip, Stack, Hide, Grab & Go, I spent one particular evening sewing at least 8 zippers without swearing or injuring myself or even breaking a needle. Not too long ago, I'd buy extra needles, expecting to break at least 2, when working with zippers. I'll admit - I was feeling pretty proud. I've come a long way since I started sewing, and gained quite a few skills. I'd say, I finally earned my zipper badge. Later, when I was doing the illustrations for the book I remembered that feeling of accomplishment, and I drew merit badges to go with the skills taught in the Getting Started chapter. I've been wanting to make some in some sort of practical and share-able format ever since. Today's the day! So, if you're collecting new skills (or refreshing old ones), and you need a little motivation - here's a treat for you! 12 printable merit badges for some essential sewing and softie making skills. Most of these skills are included in my book, but these will apply to lots of sewing skills. The pdf below includes the merit badges, along with some suggested accomplishments for earning your badge, and a "Sewing Skills" sash. Once you've earned your badge, print it, cut it out, and paste it on the sash to display for a little External Validation. I think these definitely need to be uploaded to spoonflower and turned into Sewable Merit Badges. But I'm not there yet. What fun these will be to encourage the little ones as they start learning to sew! Download the files below, and be sure to let me know how you're using them!

Help your Scouts get started on the brand-new, Eagle-required Sustainability merit badge using this in-depth guide.

Download or Print the most up to date workbook and requirements for earning the Cooking Merit Badge. This PDF packet can be used to help BSA scouts organize and prepare for meeting with their merit badge counselor.