Girl Scout ?

[MrsPete]

One more thing: Here's something from the University of Hawaii about the long-term benefits of GSing.

For every 100 girls who join Girl Scouts:

Four will earn the Girl Scout Gold Award-the highest award for girls.
Twelve will have their first contact with a church.
Five will earn their church religious award.
Only rarely will one be brought before juvenile court.
One will enter the clergy.
Eighteen will develop hobbies used during their adult life.
Eight will enter a vocation that was learned through the badge or patch program.
Seventeen will be future Girl Scout volunteers.
One will use her Girl Scouting skills to save a life.
One will use her Girl Scouting skills to save her own life.
That is a pretty good return on an investment in Girl Scouting!

 

[CheapMom]

In our troop every child must have a registered parent. My dd likes GS a lot. In our troop all of the parents must pitch in to make it work. It does take a lot of effort on my part but it is worth it.

 

[stacieps]

My DD is in her 3rd year of Brownies (I am a leader this year!). Her first year all the girls enjoyed it and the troop was very active. The 2nd year the new leader was more conservative, the troop only had their meetings - no extras unless it was another registered adult taking the troop (the leader personally didn't leave town, drive on highways, etc.); there also wasn't a lot of crafts or hands on projects so a lot of the girls in the troop last did not enjoy it.

So, I recruited another mom and we're co-leaders this year, we have made our schedule with hands-on stuff at every meeting, we've scheduled field trips (some just for fun, some for community involvement such as visiting a nursing home 3 times during our year). We have taken a "different" approach to dues this year. The first meeting each girl decorated a dues can. They brought it home and they are supposed to work out an arrangement with their family so they "earn" dues, depending on what a girl already has for chores/responsibilities at home (1 mom said her DD already gets allowance, so they'll just take part of that for dues; my DD has earned 25 or 50 cents for helping fold laundry, etc.). We meet every 2 weeks, so each girl may have a different amount for dues, but we wanted them to feel that they were responsible for it instead of mom or dad writing a check for the year. We also have 2 girls assigned jobs on the kaper chart to collect and sort the dues into separate baggies and then roll the coins when they have enough.

The leader is what will determine if a girl enjoys Girl Scouting or not. I'll see very soon whether I'm doing a good job or not!

 

[YetanotherMouseFan]

Mrs. Pete said it so well before me, but I have a couple things to add.

I was a Girl Scout from 2nd grade to 9th. I loved every minute of it (except latrine duty @ camp!). My DD was a scout from 1st grade all the way through 12th (This was in the pre-Daisy era). Guess who was her leader? Yep!
Those are some of the fondest memories we have of her childhood and adolesence: doing goofy Girl Scout stuff together, singing songs and doing crafts and other projects. She also got to know me outside of "Mom", as a real person. In her last Senior year, our Service Unit was overrun with girls wanting to be Daisies, but not enough parent volunteers to lead troops. So, our troop took on a troop from a lower-income area as a service project for the year. The girls learned so much about being responsible and accountable, plus got to re-live some forgotten aspects of their childhood. How many 12th graders do you know who would have a ball playing "Farmer In The Dell"?

If at all possible, I would encourage anyone to sign up as a volunteer or leader. It takes time, and a little work, maybe a little $$ now and then, but so very worth it to have quality time and an influence on your daughter outside your home environs. Especially if you don't like the direction her troop is taking, their activities or lack of them and talking to her leader doesn't help: why not do it yourself?

 

[dizagain]

Thanks for all this information.

I know with the Daisy's in our area, they do some side activities such as bowling, skating and do have a fee of like $3 (which is not that big of a deal). They also have a neighborhood meeting sometimes and do small crafts and things and meet once a week.

She loves camping but they don't do it with the smaller group due to their ages...She wants to go straight to brownies but I had to explain why she couldn't.

I also thought about becoming a registered adult (for like $10/yr). When they need assistance, they call the registered adults first. Has anyone else done this? I wish I was a girl scout as a child up...I would love for DD to continue it.

Hi! You must be registered as an adult to participate in activities outside the regular meetings/troop individual activities. I know you must be registered to even attend official girl scout activities and I believe you must be registered to drive. Have fun...I love being a girl scout!!

 

[CarolA]

I started as a Brownie.... and that was a LONG time ago. Over 30 years later I am still involved with the Girl Scouts. (and I have no kids) I was a camp counselor for five summers....

If money is an issue, contact your local council there are scholarships avaialbe.

A lot depends on your troop leader, but in the right cases I believe it is a wonderful organization. I can't begin to thank those leaders for the difference they made in my life, so I try to make a difference in another girls.


I had a Browine troop until I moved to Atlanta, but almost ALL my volunteer work is actually with the older girls. I took a group to Europe this past summer. They raised well over half the funds and if I had them two years instead of one, we would have raised it all.

Like a lot of volunteer organizations it has it's good days and bad days, but the good far outweighs the bad. (I personally was the cookie chair for a group of 70 troops... that goes under bad LOL!)

 

[CheapMom]

I personally was the cookie chair for a group of 70 troops... that goes under bad LOL!)

I am feeling your pain- I am overwhelmed just being TCM for our troop this year. I am in awe of the cookie leader for our council. I don't know how you guys do that!

 

[etwinchester]

We are also in the Penn Laurel Group. I'm glad to hear that you like their camps. With DD being a daisy (which will be for 2 years, Kindergarten and first grade), she won't be doing camping right now.

For the adults who are registered, are their any classes that teach you about being a Girl Scout or teach you about becoming a leader?

 

[CarolA]

There is leader training. Set up vairies by council.

In my last area we had required "child safetly" training. This is state requirement where we learn about inappropriate behavior and what to do if you suspect abuse. Then we had age level training. So the training was geared towards what you would be doing. We also had first aid training.

Then there is training based on what you want to do . For example, camping etc. In our troop, I did all the outdoor based training. (The other leader's idea of camping is the Marriott! LOL!)

 

[RADOPT]

The problem I had was that I was expected to stay with her for the meetings and activities which was understandable, but I also have other children and my husband was deployed and they were very unfriendly toward siblings. This was not just my daughter's troop, it seemed to be all of the troops in the area.

I thought this was against GS rules. GS used to be for every girls who wanted to join whether their parent helped or they could afford it.

 

[CheapMom]

RADOPT- definately girls can be in scouts regardless of their ability to contribute financialy. When we register each year we pay anextra $10 to go to a fund to pay for girls who can't afford the registration insurance and dues. However, as far as parents volunteering- a troop leader can't do everything alone. So, in our troop each parent has a certain set of responsibilities. Our troop could not exist without the help of the parents. During leader training we are told how to delegate responsibility to parents. One thing they say is don't ask for help- tell them how they are expected to help.

 

[goofyforlife]

summer camp runs kind of high (although I don't have much experience with camp so I can't compare)

Actually the camps my daughter has attended were dirt cheap compared to other sleep away camps.....

For example: a non-girl scout camp we visited wanted almost $2,000 for 2 weeks of sleep-away horse camp.... The GS camp she attended was only $450..... Even non-gs day camps in this area are like $250 or more per week....

 

[grlpwrd]

I'm a Cadet leader and I have been involved for 5 years as I have 3 dd's, aged 14, 10, and 7. We have a multi-age troop which meets at different times, but the leaders and parents all are involved which works for us.

Our nut and calendar sales which is happening now and Cookie sales are the biggest money makers which subsidizes our activities. Thank you for posting that, MrsPete, as I think Girl Scouts is a great investment.

There is a big need for volunteers and leaders so I encourage everyone to get involved, especially with starting a troop. Your Girl Scout Council office is a great resource to get started.

About siblings - also called tagalongs - our Council is lenient about letting them attend meetings because we have a lot of military families here. Girl Scout insurance coverage does not cover a tagalong as they are not registered members.

GL!

 

[etwinchester]

I just called our troup director (not sure what they are called) about becoming a leader. There is an application to fill out and training to attend. There are 2 classes that are general GS training and the last one specializes in whichever group you'd like to be a leader in (daisy, brownies, etc). I think I'm going to become an assistant leader and do the daisy's since that is what my daughter will be. Once she moves up to brownies, I will take that training during the summer of so I'm ready to start when she does.

I just hope it doesn't conflict with my other things. I'm a Mary Kay consultant and next year I want to be a real estate agent. Guess I'll just take it one step at a time and if it doesn't work out in the later year, then I'll deal with that when it comes time.

 

[AngieWin]

Thanks for all this information.

I also thought about becoming a registered adult (for like $10/yr). When they need assistance, they call the registered adults first. Has anyone else done this? I wish I was a girl scout as a child up...I would love for DD to continue it.

If you ever drive and car pool to a girl scout event PLEASE JOIN AS AN ADULT!! If there is an accident, being a registered adult covers you under the GS insurance. If you think about how many girls you can carry in your car and what it would cost in an accident, the $10 is very well worth it!!!! My dd is 11 and has been in girl scouts for 6 years now and I have joined every year as well.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

About siblings - also called tagalongs - our Council is lenient about letting them attend meetings because we have a lot of military families here. Girl Scout insurance coverage does not cover a tagalong as they are not registered members.

GL!

That was what I thought would be the case since we are also military. I didn't expect her brother's to be able to participate or go to GS functions, I did have to take them to an outdoor picnic, but I took them to a playground and didn't expect them to be involved with anything she was doing and I got many comments about how I shouldn't have brought them (I guess I was supposed to leave them home alone ) because they wanted me to help although I had not said at any time that I would be able to so we left early, then my dd was chastised for not staying to help clean up, I couldn't win. I did volunteer to help with other things like providing snacks, buying craft supplies, paperwork, etc., I just couldn't participate during the actual meetings and she wouldn't accept that.

I think that was just the attitude of that council, we are not encountering that here at all. I haven't had to take my sons with me to any meetings yet this year, but other parents have and it hasn't been a problem, the leader has encouraged those parents to stay anyway knowing that their spouses are in Iraq (maybe she's more compassionate because her spouse is as well). And I have volunteered to help her any way I can and she's already taking me up on it.

I haven't priced alot of camps, I didn't realize how expensive other camps are! I'll definitely have to look into GS camp if DD wants to go to one this summer.

 

[etwinchester]

If you ever drive and car pool to a girl scout event PLEASE JOIN AS AN ADULT!! If there is an accident, being a registered adult covers you under the GS insurance. If you think about how many girls you can carry in your car and what it would cost in an accident, the $10 is very well worth it!!!! My dd is 11 and has been in girl scouts for 6 years now and I have joined every year as well.

Thank you.

I never thought about it that way. I am becoming registered next week at their first meeting.

Now I just need to decided on becoming an assistant leader...

 

[can'twait]

The bad:

I was my dd's cookie chair last year. Yikes! All I have to say is I think I paid my dues. I sold 90% of the troops cookies and I ate myself silly.

I think your experience depends on your troop. Our troop is lame. We have 5 girls, half of whom don't show up to our meetings or participate in special events on a regular basis. We used our cookie $$$ to go to a local amusement park. 2 girls canceled THAT DAY, and one wanted to leave after going on one ride, after I spent $35 of cookie money (that I earned!) on her 6 hour unlimited ride wristband. Her mom failed to mention to me that her dd was afraid of rides until she was hysterical and begging to leave. That might have been nice to know ahead of time. We could have gone somewhere that she would have enjoyed more. *Sigh*. My dd and I stayed and rode rides until 11:00 pm so at least I sold lots of cookies for some good QT with her.

I thought many of our meetings last year were poorly planned. Before you tell me I should quit whining and be a leader myself, you should know that as a working mom I was lucky we could attend the meetings at all because they were originally set for Mondays at 3:30 pm, then were moved to 6:30 pm. Leaving work, picking up the kids and eating dinner before the meetings was a serious challenge. Planning activities for the meetings would have pushed me over the edge into mental illness. I can't complain about the leadership because I couldn't have done any better myself, but I was a little disapointed. I'm hoping more girls will sign up this year and add to the mix of the troop.


The good:

The community has events for younger girls that are run by older girls who use the events to earn medals. The younger girls (my dd) really like these events. They get "girlie" time with their friends from school and earn patches and do crafts and go caroling and have father-daughter bowling. It's adorable to see a room full of girls screaming and bonding!

As for money, we don't pay dues. Each girl pays individually for each activity they participate in, and all activities are optional. It appears that they do the same community activities each year so at least after the first year you know what to expect, ie, which ones to do again and which ones to avoid.

 

[etwinchester]

When I called with my questions today, she told me that they had over 100 girls registered this year and could definately need the help. I think there are around 12 or more daisy's in the group. I know that group is very limited on what they do, but we have a schedule and are doing bowling, skating, raking leaves, puppet shows, etc..

It does sound fun and interesting...I'd love to do these things with my DD. On the other hand, I want her to learn authority from others and also mommy will not always be with her 24/7. The meeting is only 1 day a week so I'm thinking that in time, she will learn these things but it's still something we can enjoy doing together.

 

[MrsPete]

That was what I thought would be the case since we are also military. I didn't expect her brother's to be able to participate or go to GS functions, I did have to take them to an outdoor picnic, but I took them to a playground and didn't expect them to be involved with anything she was doing and I got many comments about how I shouldn't have brought them

This type of thing varies widely among troops! My troops are very family-friendly. As long as mom is there, tags are welcome. We even do a family camping trip every so often (we do it at a scout camp on the river, and the dads are thrilled to run the fishing dock and cook burgers on the grill).

Scout camps ARE the least expensive by far! Our girls can go to day camp for only $25/week.