Anyone a Daisy or Brownie leader?

You (and others on this thread!) have given me so much to think about! I was just thinking about bailing out of fear but you are talking me into sticking with it. Thank you so much! I am going to submit my application tomorrow and go on the Website and learn everything I can, and schedule my training.

Thank you so much!!

I've been a scout leader for a lot of years now. Yes, it's a great deal of work, but it's very worthwhile. My own daughters get so much out of the program, and all their best friends /long-time friendships are within the scout troop. I really expect they'll room with their scout friends in college, be in each other's weddings, and get together for girls' weekends when they're my age. It's worth every bit of effort I've put in.

You need to get in touch with your local council office and see about training. There are four phases. If I remember correctly, the first is GS Basics, in which you learn about safety rules, financial rules, insurance, paperwork, scout holidays, uniforms, etc. It's a very basic intro for the person who knows nothing about scouting. Then there's Age Level Training (yeah, when they reach Juniors, you'll have to do that again), which teaches you about the badges, etc. at your age level. Then there are two outdoor trainings, which allow you to take the girls on day outings and then overnight trips. You need the first two trainings right away, but you don't need to hurry on the outdoor trainings. Also, someone in your troop needs to become First Aid certified (unless you have a doctor or nurse among your co-leader group or parents). This initial training seems daunting at first, but it lasts forever. Literally, I did mine when I was 18 years old, and although I've needed to do some new Age Level training as my girls have grown older, it isn't a burden to me now.

Find out what support your council offers -- you'll learn this in training. For example, our council has trunks that you can check out for various badges /Try Its. So if your Brownies want to earn the My Body Try It, you can check out the trunk, and all the materials you'll need will be right there for your use. Depending upon the subject, you might have books appropriate for reading aloud, compasses, night vision goggles, dress up materials, craft materials, etc. You might need to add some consumable supplies, but these trunks save you loads of planning.

Thinking back to when they were Brownies:
- Brownies earn Try Its, which are super-easy. You must complete four activities to get a Try It. You can pick up a copy of the book at your council's store, or you can order it online from GSUSA. This will give you loads of ideas. Typically you can earn a Try It in two meetings (2 activities per meeting).

- Always begin with a bathroom break (and if your meetings are lengthy, maybe one halfway through). If you don't, you'll have one girl wanting to go every 5 minutes, and you'll be frustrated.

- Get involved with your local Service Unit. The older girl troops'll offer events, which your girls can attend. This is GREAT STUFF. For example, our area has Santa's Workshop coming up this weekend. Brownies come in and for $5 they make (and wrap) 5 gifts. Older girls and leaders help them, and their moms never see the gifts. Soon we have Thinking Day coming up, which is a world-wide holiday in which we "think about" our sister scouts all over the world. In April/May you'll see events like mall sleepovers, sleepovers at the science museum or the baseball stadium, and Mom-and-Me camping trips. Our council has a bus with programs that comes out to the various areas, and we have a science teacher who provides fantastic science programs (one on reptiles, one on dolphins, one on forensic science) at the council office. These service unit events are usually aimmed at the younger girls /give older girls leadership experience. They're very inexpensive, and all you have to do is sign up /supervise your girls while someone else runs the program.

- If you meet right after school (highly recommended), make it a troop expectation that one girl brings a healthy snack for the group. Get a tote bag and decorate it with instructions to "Bring to the next meeting with a healthy snack". Do not allow candy and soda with little kids.

- With your co-leaders, think through your parent expectations. Type them out, have a mandatory meeting at the beginning of the year. Ideas: $25 for yearly membership dues; that'll allow you to buy crafts, etc. to carry you through cookie money. This should cover all meetings. Trips will be in addition, but they should never be more than $10 or so per girl. Be clear on whether you want moms to stay at meetings / go on overnights. Be clear on whether you're okay with Tagalongs (younger siblings). Be firm on the need for picking up on time /signing out rather than the kids just disappearing into the parking lot. Making your expectations clear up front will go a long way towards making your troop successful.

- Some of the most successful events we did when our kids were Brownies: Book exchanges at Christmas, taking socks to nursing home residents, overnights of all types, Daddy-Daughter Dances, shopping at the Dollar Store to fill Salvation Army Christmas stockings, skating.

Take the leap -- you'll be glad you did!
 
I was a leader for my daughters Brownie troop back when she was 6.. shes 19 now.. but I vowed never again.. lol.. I had alot of fun with the girls but the only advice I can give is to not let the parents run over you..

I personally had a hard time with the parents of these girls.. everyone wanted their little girls to go on day trips and such and do all these things, but noone wanted to volunteer to help.. everyone wanted to drop their kids off and have nothing further to do..

also had one mom who dropped her younger daughter off at our meetings along with her daughter who was in the troop and then would leave.. I didnt realize it until the 2nd time she did it..

Its alot of fun though.. I did have a great time with the girls doing things and just spending time with them..
 
You (and others on this thread!) have given me so much to think about! I was just thinking about bailing out of fear but you are talking me into sticking with it. Thank you so much! I am going to submit my application tomorrow and go on the Website and learn everything I can, and schedule my training.

Thank you so much!!
Glad to help! Scouting has added so much to my girls' lives. Check out this website: http://www.scoutingweb.com/scoutingweb/index.htm I have no affiliation to it, but it's helped me over the years.
I was a leader for my daughters Brownie troop back when she was 6.. shes 19 now.. but I vowed never again.. lol.. I had alot of fun with the girls but the only advice I can give is to not let the parents run over you..

I personally had a hard time with the parents of these girls.. everyone wanted their little girls to go on day trips and such and do all these things, but noone wanted to volunteer to help.. everyone wanted to drop their kids off and have nothing further to do..

also had one mom who dropped her younger daughter off at our meetings along with her daughter who was in the troop and then would leave.. I didnt realize it until the 2nd time she did it..

Its alot of fun though.. I did have a great time with the girls doing things and just spending time with them..
That's the kind of thing I meant when I suggested that the co-leader group get together and create a troop plan, which must parents must agree to before they can enroll their daughter in your troop. MOST of the parents in our troop are great people and genuinely want to be helpful and do what's right -- but that doesn't mean that they always know what you expect, and you as the leader have the right to set your own troop rules (within the Safety Wise guidelines, of course).

The biggest issue we had when the girls were younger was late pick ups. Also we had two girls whose mom told them that my rule about parents walking in /signing girls out was silly, and they should just meet her in the parking lot at the end of the meeting (parking lot was not visible at all from the meeting room, so I had no way to know whether they'd made it to their mom).

We take lots of trips, and we've had some parents who've assumed it's fine to include their whole families. Hypothetical example: Let's say we're planning meet at the mall, have lunch, and see the new Harry Potter movie. I've sent out a memo saying, "The trip is $5/person, which includes lunch at Burger King, your movie ticket, and a popcorn." Some families think, "WOW! I'll bring all six people in my family for that price!" They don't realize that this outing really costs more, and I'm able to do it for $5 because the girls just sold cookies, and this is what they wanted to do with some of their profit. That profit belongs to the girls, and I can't use a portion of it to buy movie tickets for their siblings. IF I'm willing to have families along on trips, I'll add at the bottom of the flyer something like "Family members are welcome to come along -- I'm pre-buying tickets for the girls to the 1:30 showing. Your tickets'll be $8. Be sure to allow time to make your purchase." This lets them know that they're on their own (financially) if they want to join us. Other times, I allow moms but not siblings. For example, we did a mother-daughter beach trip once. We chose a house big enough for all the mothers and daughters who'd expressed an interest in the trip, but if we'd allowed siblings, it would've taken away from the mother-daughter aspect of the trip AND it would've made the trip more expensive for everyone ('cause we would've needed a bigger house). The main point: LET PEOPLE KNOW well in advance what you expect for any given trip.

Now that my girls are almost ready to graduate, our leader group always says the same thing to one another: "What do the girls want?" We let them decide whether to include moms, families, whatever. But when they were Brownies, I made the decision, announced it well in advance, and didn't apologize for it.

About money and trips: Always charge SOMETHING for an outing, even if it's just $2. Paying SOMETHING makes the parents stop and think, "Are we free that weekend? Does she really want to go to the nature museum?" On the other hand, if it's a free trip, EVERYONE will sign up, and then half will show up -- and you'll have packed snacks for the whole group and bought tickets for the whole group.

Also be very specific with your instructions/ packing lists for outings: "Meet at the church at 10:00. Wear good walking shoes (tennis shoes or other tie shoes) and bring a light jacket. Bring $5 for lunch. Cameras and phones should be carried in over-the-shoulder purses or fanny packs -- leaders will not carry these for you." Believe me, if you aren't specific, you'll have kids who'll show up in flip-flops (for an outdoor hike) and kids whose parents'll give them $5 at the last minute and never consider that they don't have a pocket. Or kids who'll carry a phone in their hand and lose it within five minutes. You have to think through things for them.

We did have a problem with a sibling being left at meetings once, and -- like you -- we didn't realize it for a while. He was an older brother (maybe 5th-6th grade), and he was left sitting out in the hall outside the meeting room. We meet at a church, and we mistakenly thought his mother was somewhere doing something for the church -- it wasn't 'til the 3rd meeting that we realized he was a scout sibling, and his mother was giving him the choice to sit there and read/play his Gameboy or come grocery shopping with her. We had to confront the mom about this and let her know that IF something happened to him during the meeting, we wouldn't know and that our attention had to be focused on the girls during that meeting. She had just assumed it was okay and that we'd keep an eye on him. She stopped leaving him, but IF she had persisted, I'd have warned her once more and then I would've called the police to report an abandoned child. Yes, I would've lost the scout over that, but that would've been better than that child being injured or abducted (a real possibility where we meet).

The drop-and-run kids don't tend to stay in scouts long, but the ones who do stay tend to have the most thoughtful and helpful moms. The moms who say, "Oh, you're doing a walking photography tour of downtown? Well then you need some extra help. I'll come along and stay at the back of the pack to prevent stragglers." Or "A zoo trip? I can't drive that Saturday, but I'll send a cooler of juice boxes."

Final thought: At your beginning-of-the-year mandatory parent meeting, ask the parents what resources they might have to help the troop. If one of your dads is a fireman, he might set up a firehouse tour for you. If one of your moms is a nurse, she might be very willing to do a one-time program for you on first aid. Between all your scouts' families, you probably have some great resources. Make it very clear that you very much welcome one-time leaders, people who don't want to take on the responsibility of leading week-to-week, but who'd love to put together ONE meeting to teach the girls how to can pickles or put together the activities for the Manners Try It.

And sometimes parents come up with great things you don't expect: One of our moms once won a bowling party at a local spot, and she donated it to our troop. It was a great outing and we just paid for a few pitchers of soda.
 
I agree about charging something for every trip if their is any cost involved. My older troop got burned one to many times when we first started out but girls just not showing up at an event because it was "free"

We that put a policy in effect where if you didn't show that you need to reimburse the troop the additional amount . For example if a trips was $10 and we had the parents pay $5 and we covered the other $5.. for a no show they need to reimburse up the $5 we but in.

I would nip tag along in the bud from the start.. you will have enough to do that to be worried about someone unattended child.

You will find at the Daisy level parents like to stay at meeting.. which can be good and bad. When they are older they just drop and run.

Like others say if you decide to stop doing it give as much notice as possible. I had to disband a troop this year because I could not get a leader. I took if over last year when the leader left but I could not get one mom to stop up and help.
 

Glad to help! Scouting has added so much to my girls' lives. Check out this website: http://www.scoutingweb.com/scoutingweb/index.htm I have no affiliation to it, but it's helped me over the years.That's the kind of thing I meant when I suggested that the co-leader group get together and create a troop plan, which must parents must agree to before they can enroll their daughter in your troop. MOST of the parents in our troop are great people and genuinely want to be helpful and do what's right -- but that doesn't mean that they always know what you expect, and you as the leader have the right to set your own troop rules (within the Safety Wise guidelines, of course).

The biggest issue we had when the girls were younger was late pick ups. Also we had two girls whose mom told them that my rule about parents walking in /signing girls out was silly, and they should just meet her in the parking lot at the end of the meeting (parking lot was not visible at all from the meeting room, so I had no way to know whether they'd made it to their mom).

We take lots of trips, and we've had some parents who've assumed it's fine to include their whole families. Hypothetical example: Let's say we're planning meet at the mall, have lunch, and see the new Harry Potter movie. I've sent out a memo saying, "The trip is $5/person, which includes lunch at Burger King, your movie ticket, and a popcorn." Some families think, "WOW! I'll bring all six people in my family for that price!" They don't realize that this outing really costs more, and I'm able to do it for $5 because the girls just sold cookies, and this is what they wanted to do with some of their profit. That profit belongs to the girls, and I can't use a portion of it to buy movie tickets for their siblings. IF I'm willing to have families along on trips, I'll add at the bottom of the flyer something like "Family members are welcome to come along -- I'm pre-buying tickets for the girls to the 1:30 showing. Your tickets'll be $8. Be sure to allow time to make your purchase." This lets them know that they're on their own (financially) if they want to join us. Other times, I allow moms but not siblings. For example, we did a mother-daughter beach trip once. We chose a house big enough for all the mothers and daughters who'd expressed an interest in the trip, but if we'd allowed siblings, it would've taken away from the mother-daughter aspect of the trip AND it would've made the trip more expensive for everyone ('cause we would've needed a bigger house). The main point: LET PEOPLE KNOW well in advance what you expect for any given trip.

Now that my girls are almost ready to graduate, our leader group always says the same thing to one another: "What do the girls want?" We let them decide whether to include moms, families, whatever. But when they were Brownies, I made the decision, announced it well in advance, and didn't apologize for it.

About money and trips: Always charge SOMETHING for an outing, even if it's just $2. Paying SOMETHING makes the parents stop and think, "Are we free that weekend? Does she really want to go to the nature museum?" On the other hand, if it's a free trip, EVERYONE will sign up, and then half will show up -- and you'll have packed snacks for the whole group and bought tickets for the whole group.

Also be very specific with your instructions/ packing lists for outings: "Meet at the church at 10:00. Wear good walking shoes (tennis shoes or other tie shoes) and bring a light jacket. Bring $5 for lunch. Cameras and phones should be carried in over-the-shoulder purses or fanny packs -- leaders will not carry these for you." Believe me, if you aren't specific, you'll have kids who'll show up in flip-flops (for an outdoor hike) and kids whose parents'll give them $5 at the last minute and never consider that they don't have a pocket. Or kids who'll carry a phone in their hand and lose it within five minutes. You have to think through things for them.

We did have a problem with a sibling being left at meetings once, and -- like you -- we didn't realize it for a while. He was an older brother (maybe 5th-6th grade), and he was left sitting out in the hall outside the meeting room. We meet at a church, and we mistakenly thought his mother was somewhere doing something for the church -- it wasn't 'til the 3rd meeting that we realized he was a scout sibling, and his mother was giving him the choice to sit there and read/play his Gameboy or come grocery shopping with her. We had to confront the mom about this and let her know that IF something happened to him during the meeting, we wouldn't know and that our attention had to be focused on the girls during that meeting. She had just assumed it was okay and that we'd keep an eye on him. She stopped leaving him, but IF she had persisted, I'd have warned her once more and then I would've called the police to report an abandoned child. Yes, I would've lost the scout over that, but that would've been better than that child being injured or abducted (a real possibility where we meet).

The drop-and-run kids don't tend to stay in scouts long, but the ones who do stay tend to have the most thoughtful and helpful moms. The moms who say, "Oh, you're doing a walking photography tour of downtown? Well then you need some extra help. I'll come along and stay at the back of the pack to prevent stragglers." Or "A zoo trip? I can't drive that Saturday, but I'll send a cooler of juice boxes."

Final thought: At your beginning-of-the-year mandatory parent meeting, ask the parents what resources they might have to help the troop. If one of your dads is a fireman, he might set up a firehouse tour for you. If one of your moms is a nurse, she might be very willing to do a one-time program for you on first aid. Between all your scouts' families, you probably have some great resources. Make it very clear that you very much welcome one-time leaders, people who don't want to take on the responsibility of leading week-to-week, but who'd love to put together ONE meeting to teach the girls how to can pickles or put together the activities for the Manners Try It.

And sometimes parents come up with great things you don't expect: One of our moms once won a bowling party at a local spot, and she donated it to our troop. It was a great outing and we just paid for a few pitchers of soda.

:thumbsup2:thumbsup2
All wonderful advice! Wish I had some share half of that info when I started. I learned all that by trial and error. :sad2:
 
Hi, I'm a 1st year Daisy troop leader myself (main leader, I have an assistant leader who is very helpful at the meetings but I do all the planning/prep/work and she does a great job at helping me with the kids while there and cleaning up after us).

I have a random question and I need to figure it out but have been unsure who to help, so I'm hoping some of you see it and respond to me shortly. Should I get my co-leader a holiday gift from myself and from my daughter (obviously a troop member) as a thank you for everything she does? Separate gifts or one from both of us? What is the etiquette here and what is everyone's experiences??? All new to me, so any insight appreciated.

Thanks in advance! :)
 
I would get her one gift and put it from both of you! Very thoughtful!

Hi, I'm a 1st year Daisy troop leader myself (main leader, I have an assistant leader who is very helpful at the meetings but I do all the planning/prep/work and she does a great job at helping me with the kids while there and cleaning up after us).

I have a random question and I need to figure it out but have been unsure who to help, so I'm hoping some of you see it and respond to me shortly. Should I get my co-leader a holiday gift from myself and from my daughter (obviously a troop member) as a thank you for everything she does? Separate gifts or one from both of us? What is the etiquette here and what is everyone's experiences??? All new to me, so any insight appreciated.

Thanks in advance! :)
 
I would get her one gift and put it from both of you! Very thoughtful!

Thanks for the reply!
Good luck with leading your troop. I'm only a few months into my first year. It's definitely work involved but well worth it when I see how the girls enjoy it and how much they are learning and bonding together as a troop! :)
 
Thanks for the reply!
Good luck with leading your troop. I'm only a few months into my first year. It's definitely work involved but well worth it when I see how the girls enjoy it and how much they are learning and bonding together as a troop! :)

That's great to hear! I am mostly doing this for my daughter. She tends to be shy and I want her to have a lot of good friends. She's such a sweet person. I feel bad sometimes when I see her on the playground just wandering by herself. :( She just doesn't like to play tag like most of the other kids do. She would rather pretend play and it seems like most of the kids want to run around and chase each other instead.

Anyway, I think this is something we can do together to bring us even closer.
 
That's great to hear! I am mostly doing this for my daughter. She tends to be shy and I want her to have a lot of good friends. She's such a sweet person. I feel bad sometimes when I see her on the playground just wandering by herself. :( She just doesn't like to play tag like most of the other kids do. She would rather pretend play and it seems like most of the kids want to run around and chase each other instead.

Anyway, I think this is something we can do together to bring us even closer.

Just be aware that sometimes your daughter will get jealous that the other girls are getting your time. My daughter can act out in meetings because she wants more of my time and unless I am really aware and make sure I'm giving her some affection and time. I often expect more of her than the other girls, and that's not fair to her. It took me a while to realize I was doing that and that's why she was acting out.
 
I'm a first time Daisy troop leader -my daughter is in Kindergarten and the person who was supposed to be the leader backed out and no one else would step up, so I volunteered.

I found it to be a lot of work at first, but that is because I'm a planner - I spent the first couple of weeks doing lots of research on the internet and talking to people who had older girls in Girl Scouts and I pretty much planned out the whole year. Now that everything is planned, it is just a matter of getting ready for the next meeting. We meet every other week, but with the holidays, we only met once during November and we will only meet once in December.

I'm actually really enjoying it. I thought that I would probably only do this a year or two and then hopefully someone else will take over, but I can see me now staying with it as long as my daughter wants to stay in it.

Kelly
 
Just be aware that sometimes your daughter will get jealous that the other girls are getting your time. My daughter can act out in meetings because she wants more of my time and unless I am really aware and make sure I'm giving her some affection and time. I often expect more of her than the other girls, and that's not fair to her. It took me a while to realize I was doing that and that's why she was acting out.
I've seen this over the years -- with my two, and with my co-leaders' kids.

We've talked to our girls about how being the leader's daugthers has its pros and its cons:

Yes, you have to share your mom, but that means that all the other kids think you have a really cool mom. Status points.
Sure, your mom's going to be fair and try to plan well-rounded activities, but she's naturally going to think about the things you like, and she's going to plan more of those things. For example, if your troop's going to the zoo and your mom's picking the program you'll attend, she's likely to pick the Dolphin program over the Reptile program because she knows you love dolphins.
On the downside, you always arrive at meetings first, you always have to help clean up, and you always stay late at the end while your mom's making sure everyone's picked up.

Once our girls realized that they were both getting and giving something as the leader's kid, they seemed to accept the negatives a little better.
 
Yes.

I took the Daisy troop last year when my daughter joined. We had 4 girls that stuck it out (only had 5 that ever showed up). The council had a hard time finding leaders and never got a Brownie or Junior troop established. So this year with the help from a couple of the parents from the previous year, we have taken our troop to a multi level troop with Daisy, Brownie & Junior girls. We have almost 40 who signed up, about 26 who have shown up with a running average of about 22 girls.

I love it! We have been focused on service projects mostly for November & December, having packed Operation Christmas Child boxes, made cards for Holiday Mail for Hero's, collected books for "Reading Rocks" for the Toys for Tots campaign, etc.

September & October were dedicated to getting set up, learning the promise, law, etc. Daisies earned their Strong & Courageous petal while the Brownies & Juniors worked toward dance badges. We also did a 1/2 mile hike for fitness during one of our meetings along with learning proper warm up and stretching techniques.

Next meeting (which will be our last before Christmas break) we will be making Christmas ornaments that the girls can keep and hang on their trees (snowmen from baby socks - they are really cute).

We worked in learning about the flag while we were making our cards for the Holiday Mail for Heros that goes toward badges for the Brownies & Juniors.

In January we will start breaking off more into individual groups (Daisy, Brownie & Junior) and still have a group craft or activity from time to time.

We will be learning the Pledge of Allegiance in sign language, learning how to make balloon animals, going on a 5 mile hike, gearing up for cookie sales.......the list goes on.

I don't think it's a lot of work. Sure it takes some planning and preparation but I really have lots of fun doing it. My husband and I were both den leaders in DS's cub scout pack with DH eventually moving on to cub master the last year and a half of DS's cub scout adventure with me having to fill in as cub master for DH while he was on an 8 month active duty with the National Guard out of state.

There are all kinds of resources on the internet with some that even have a plan for the first 4 Daisy meetings. I used that as a guide when we first got started last year but didn't follow it exactly, adapted it to our needs.

Have fun!!!!! You will make memories with your kids that will last a lifetime!!!!! I had thought that DD wouldn't want to do girl scouts after having been to every single family camp, hike, activity, popcorn sale with DS while in Cub Scouts. She stood out there and sold popcorn with them just like a cub scout (I think she thought she was a cub scout.....lol). She had probably done more primative camping by the time she was 4 than most people ever do (I'm talking no electricity, a latrine for a bathroom or outhouse, and the only running water was cold that had to be boiled if you didn't pack in your own bottled water to use for cooking or drinking). But when the Girl Scout Sign Up's sheet came home from school she was so excited and ready to join. Went to sign ups and was told "we don't have a leader yet" so I thought well, we did if for DS, now it's DD's turn so we started all over. Loving every minute of it!!!! :goodvibes

I had to add......we made and are making so many really good friends through scouts. Many that I consider to be closer friends than most of the people we have gone to church with for 12+ years. When you spend a weekend camping with a group of families you just connect. We still stay in contact with many of our friends from cub scouts and I know that if I needed something while DH is gone on active duty I could call them and they would be there in the drop of a hat. They are very dear to me.
 


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