For Scouts

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”

                                                                                                -Benjamin Franklin

What is EDGE anyway?   Why do I care?

EDGE is very basic, but it really does work. It will help Cub Scouts learn and retain skills also.  So it is not only for Boy Scouts and Venturers, but for den leaders also.

The EDGE method is a four-step method for teaching a skill:

• Explain

• Demonstrate

• Guide

• Enable

Explain

First explain what you will be doing. Tell them the steps involved. Visual aids might be helpful for this step. Use questions to gauge their understanding.

Demonstrate

Show them how to do the skill. Demonstrate the steps using the actual materials. Describe what you are doing.

Guide

Let them practice the skill. Guide and coach them as they try to do it themselves. This step will take the most time.

Enable

Enable them by letting them do the skill themselves without any intervention.

Example of a Teaching EDGE Exercise

At our recent ILSC training, our Crew president did an exercise with paper airplanes to help the participants understand the Teaching EDGE:

• Explain: He explained how they would make a paper airplane.

• Demonstrate: He got out a piece of paper and showed them how to make the paper airplane.

• Guide: He gave each of them a piece of paper and described each step. As he described the step, they did it with their pieces of paper.

• Enable: He gave them each another piece of paper and told them to make a paper airplane on their own.

Helpful Links

• Scouting Magazine Article Click Here