Adventure Circle Meetings
The Circle meeting is a regularly scheduled meeting where dads and children assemble with the members of their Circle. Circle meetings provide an opportunity for bonding between the families in the Circle and for reinforcing Circle rituals and traditions. Meetings are separate from Expedition events and exclusive for each Circle. It is important that all families attend the monthly Circle meetings.
Scheduling Meetings
Circle meetings should be held once per month. Ideally, the Circle members agree upon a specific day of the week and week of the month that aligns well with all families. For example, schedule meetings for the second Tuesday of every month.
A good time for scheduling meetings is early evening to avoid conflicts with school and work. Weekdays are best. Avoid scheduling meetings on Fridays and weekends to avoid family activities including Expedition events.
It is important to schedule Circle meetings far in advance so that families can plan accordingly. Typically, Circles schedule their meetings in advance for the coming year so that the dates can be recorded on families’ calendars.
Location, Location, Location
We highly recommend hosting meetings at the homes of Circle families. Families’ homes are intimate and inviting. The Circle meetings should be scheduled at a different home each month if possible. Hosting Circle meetings provides each child with an opportunity to welcome and entertain his/her friends in an organized and structured event (see below). Hosting the Circle meeting teaches the child the importance of planning and preparation for an event.
Sunshine
Circle Navigators should acknowledge the “host child” during the meeting and thank him/her for hosting. The acknowledgement and recognition (we call it “sunshine”) provides the child with a feeling of accomplishment and self worth.
Alternate Location Options
If your Circle is too large to be hosted at families’ homes, then choose suitable locations with limited distractions. It is important for the safety of the children and for the efficiency of the meeting to keep the participants contained to controlled areas. For example, if your Circle meets at a local school, choose a room that is exclusively reserved for the Circle meeting and don’t allow children to wander outside of the room. Avoid situations where children are unsupervised (i.e., on playground equipment, running free in parking lots, wandering hallways, etc…)
Duration
The duration of the meeting should not exceed 1 to 1.5 hours. The attention span of children is limited and can be especially challenging after a full day of school and after school activities. Furthermore, if the meeting is held on a school night, children need to be in bed at a reasonable time. Try to schedule the start and end time of the meeting to accommodate families’ dinner schedules and be cognizant of “bedtime.”
Hosting A Circle Meeting – A Guide for the Host Family
Every child should have the opportunity to host at least one Circle meeting. Ideally, children will have multiple opportunities to host meetings during their tenure in the Adventure program. If meetings are held at Circle families’ homes (preferred), the child that lives in that home is the “host child.” When meetings are held outside of the homes, circles should rotate the “host” family for each meeting.
When it is your turn to host a Circle meeting, follow the guidelines below to plan, extend invitations and prepare the house for the meeting.
Planning to Host the Circle Meeting
Hosting a meeting requires planning and preparation. Parents should engage children in the meeting preparation.
Responsibilities for the host of the meeting include:
- Create and deliver meeting invitations – see below
- Prepare the house for the meeting – clean, set up tables and chairs, rearrange furniture, etc…
- Set up the craft and the working area
- Snack preparation – choose healthy snacks. Avoid sugar and caffeine.
Meeting Invitations
Creating invitations and delivering them to Circle families is opportunity for parent and child to work together on a craft and spend quality time together. Here are some guidelines for creating a quality invitation:
- Be creative allowing design input from the child
- Hand prepare invitations with colored paper
- Include the name and address of the host (use the child’s name) and directions if appropriate
- Include the start time and date
- Address the invitation to the child (not the parent)
- Hand deliver the invitations to the child at their house
- Have fun preparing and delivering the invitations (walk, ride bikes or drive to each house for delivery)
House Preparation
Allow the host child to assist in preparing the house for the meeting (dusting, vacuuming, baking, etc.). The host child and parent should be at the meeting location early (if not at their home). It is important to properly prepare the meeting location before the Circle families arrive. Do not expect the Circle Navigator to help you set up. The Navigator has a lot to do and should not be burdened with setup tasks.
If possible, rearrange furniture so that the Circle parents and children can sit in a circle. Ideally, each parent will sit in the outer ring of the circle with his/her child sitting on the floor in front of him/her or (even better) on his/her lap. This keeps the meeting intimate and focused.
Hosting the Circle Meeting
During the meeting, avoid distractions (such as pets, television, stereo, video games) that may avert attention from the Circle meeting. Other family members that are not part of the circle should not participate in the meeting.
When the Circle Navigator arrives at the meeting location, ensure that he/she knows where you plan to have people congregate for the different proceedings of the meeting (i.e., sitting in the circle, craft, snacks, games, etc…)
Crafts, Snacks and Games
Craft time is an important part of the meeting. It is time dedicated to dad and child to work together to achieve a goal. Often, it is the responsibility of the host family to prepare the craft. When preparing a craft, be cognizant of the time allotted to craft time. Crafts should be simple enough for young children to complete without frustration and with limited assistance from dads.
Some Circles will designate a portion of the meeting for snacks. The host child should be involved in selecting and preparation of snacks.
Set up crafts and / or snacks in other rooms of the house, if possible, so that time spent sitting in the circle is free of distractions. If your Circle meetings include games (encouraged), be sure that the area is free of clutter, is well lit and safe.
A good circle navigator will encourage the host child to greet circle members as they arrive and as they depart. So, be sure that your child is prepared to welcome guests. If the child is shy, the parent may ask to assist in welcoming guests.
How To Run A Circle Meeting – A Guide for The Circle Navigator
It is the responsibility of the circle navigator to ensure that the meeting is run efficiently and is well organized. An efficiently run meeting starts and ends on time. Below is a step-by-step description of a well run meeting. It includes “sunshine” for all children with specific acknowledgement paid to the host child. Use the description below as a guideline for order of events. It is not mandatory that you follow this guideline. Navigators are encouraged to customize their meetings to inject circle specific traditions and ceremonies into the agenda.
Meeting preparation:
- Two weeks prior to the meeting, contact the host parent and validate that the invitations have been sent (or will be soon).
- Prepare an agenda for the meeting. Allocate specific time for each event in the agenda and plan to stick to it. All activities should include the children. No “parent only” discussions or work (i.e., planning for the upcoming event should be done in a separate meeting).
Arrival at the meeting:
- Arrive at the meeting location early. Meet with the host parent to validate that the facility is ready for the meeting.
- If your Circle has a special vest or other special item specific for the Navigator, wear it.
- Position yourself near the front door so that you can greet the children as they arrive. Kneel (or bend down) so that you are at eye level with the children. Introduce yourself and your child. Thank each child for coming and tell him/her that you are glad he/she is at the meeting. Each child should feel special because the Circle Navigator took time to welcome him/her to the meeting.
- Some Circles work on crafts before the formal meeting begins. This model allows families to arrive late and not interrupt the formal portion of the meeting.
Starting the meeting:
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- At the designated start time, gather the parents and children in a circle.
- If your circle has a mentor program (recommended), position the mentor child next to the new (younger) child.
- The children should be sitting in the inner ring of the circle. Each parent should be sitting behind his/her child.
Opening prayer:
- Begin the meeting with an opening prayer.
- The Compass Bearer or Circle Navigator should say the prayer.
- End the prayer with “Wahoka.”
Opening Ceremony:
- Next, the Navigator asks the host child to acknowledge the other children attending the meeting. Typically, this involves beating the Circle drum (or ringing bells, clapping, or something similar) one time for each child in attendance.
- Create your own opening ceremony – something that is unique for your Circle. Be sure that the host child receives sunshine as part of the opening ceremonial task(s).
Navigator talk:
- Begin the meeting by re-introducing yourself – especially early in the season so that all the children know that you are the Navigator.
- Introduce your child. Introduce him/her as the Circle Navigator (sunshine for your child).
- Thank the host child for welcoming the Circle into his/her home (sunshine for the host child).
- If there is / are new families at the meeting, acknowledge and welcome them.
- Talk about the most recent expedition event – thank all the children that attended.
- Talk about the upcoming expedition event – encourage everyone to attend.
- Show the children the award that was presented to the Circle at the previous expedition event.
- Acknowledge children that had birthdays since the last meeting.
The talking stick:
- Introduce the talking stick to the children.
- Remind the children that the talking stick is magical. Only the child holding the talking stick has permission to speak.
- All other children (and parents) that are not holding the talking stick are required to sit quietly and listen to the child that is speaking.
- The talking stick is passed around the circle and each child speaks when he/she holds the stick.
- After speaking, the stick is passed to the next child.
Scouting report with the talking stick:
- The scouting report provides the children with an opportunity to speak in front of the circle. The purpose of the scouting report is to help children learn to speak in front of people.
- This can be intimidating to young children. Don’t force them to speak but encourage them to say at least one thing. If it is obvious that the child doesn’t want to speak, the navigator can ask the child to say his/her name.
- As the children get older, their confidence and comfort speaking in front of the circle will improve.
- Limit each child to report one special thing that occurred during the past month.
- There should be a “script” that each child follows. It should be something like, “Wahoka. My Adventure Princess name is Little Running Bunny. Since our last meeting, my cat, Violet, had six kittens. Wahoka.”
- All circle members should positively acknowledge each child’s scouting report. For example, after each child speaks, everyone in the circle (in unison):
- slaps their thighs once
- claps once
- points to the child and
- says “Good Job.”
Compass Program Time:
- Time should be set aside in every Circle meeting for the children to work on the Compass Program.
- The Compass Program offers children opportunity to earn recognition for achievement. Allocating time in meetings facilitates advancement.
- Begin Compass Program time by acknowledging progress in the program. Some Circles keep a poster board with names of all the children and report of their progress in the Compass Program. Show the poster board and commend the children for their progress.
- The goal for every meeting or for a group of consecutive meetings should be to earn a Compass Program Pin. Pins are awarded for individual task accomplishments in the Circle meetings.
- Discuss the tasks that will be performed at the meeting. Tell the children why the tasks that they will do are important.
Fun Time / Snack Time:
- After sitting for several minutes, the attention span of the children will probably be waning. It is time for some fun.
- If fun time includes working on a craft, parent and child should work on the craft together.
- Likewise, if fun time includes working on compass points, parent and child should work together.
- Often fun time involves a game. If you pit the parents against the children. Ensure that the children win.
- End fun time with a snack.
Closing:
- Re-group the children and parents in the circle again for the Navigator’s closing remarks.
- Thank the host child for hosting the meeting in his/her home.
- Talk briefly about the upcoming expedition event and encourage everyone to attend.
- Lead the singing of the Circle’s closing song, or chant, etc…
- End with the closing prayer by the Compass Bearer or Navigator. Finish the prayer with “Wahoka.”
- The Navigator should stand near the door and say “good bye” to each child and thank him/her for coming to the meeting.
- When you speak to the child, he/she feels important. The Circle leader took time to say something to him/her.
If you’ve done your job well, each child will leave the meeting with a feeling of accomplishment and self importance.