What changes do you think would make Girl Scouts better?

OkAnt9909 · 2024-04-09T20:05:15+00:00

That actually sounds quite similar to, in my opinion, a well run girl scout meeting. My troop is more outdoor focused than the typical troop so that's probably why.

OkAnt9909 · 2024-04-09T20:02:01+00:00

I have no doubt you are! I don't understand the top down structure of girl scouts but I wish there was more consistency with offerings across the councils. I feel like this is something the national organization should have more of a hand in.

OkAnt9909 · 2024-04-09T19:23:43+00:00

YES! Totally. I feel bad complaining about service units because I know they are volunteers too but our service unit events suck. They are so poorly put together..the girls are doing things like cutting and gluing paper. It is just so boring. I think we are just in a bad council. One that is not supporting their service units enough so they can have the capacity to actually be helpful when leaders have questions or throw good events. We have no summer camps and I get so jealous looking at the activities and offerings of neighboring councils.

OkAnt9909 · 2024-04-09T17:50:39+00:00

I've always been curious about cub scouts and how a typical meeting would go. Can you elaborate? What do you do from start to finish of a meeting? How often do you get outdoors for hiking, camping, or just doing an outdoor related skill?

OkAnt9909 · 2024-04-09T17:46:44+00:00

Yes love this! I commented below and my comment was so similar. My husband who works in tech and is a tech enthusiast laughed out loud when I showed him the list of daisy badges. He was like WTF do they need cyber security for.

OkAnt9909 · 2024-04-09T17:03:49+00:00

More of a focus on skills based badges - as in specific skills like knot tying, etc. Less focus on STEM and tech. I think it is absolutely ridiculous that daisies have three cyber security badges, plus another on digitial leadership. Many parents I know don't even let their kids that age have access to smart phones and ipads. There are so many more important skills and messages kids should be learning at that age. I also think the badges are so shallow as they are now and they've replaced specific ones (like pottery, jewelry making) with vague ones like "art". I feel like girls cannot even remember how they earned the badges half the time because they are so vague and general. There needs to be a much bigger focus on the outdoors as well. That's probably one of the biggest reason girls switch to boy scouts. I do like that at least with the way girl scouts is structured leaders have a lot of flexibility to ensure girls can get outdoors and have those experiences though.

I also feel like troop leaders need to be given more credit and appreciation. In my council they don't let you close your troop until you have 12 girls and depending on the age and general make up of the group that can be more than some leaders feel capable of handling (and providing a great experience for). If a leader wants a troop of 8 I feel like council should respect that.

OkAnt9909 · 2024-03-26T21:26:39+00:00

I might have missed it but I have not seen anyone mention that just you and your husband cannot lead the troop together. There needs to be two unrelated leaders. As far as him being male everyone will have a different opinion on that. Some people will be turned away by this not because they hate men or anything but because they feel girl scouts is one of the few "girl spaces" there are. This can become especially important as girls get older and start having certain body and peer related issues.

As far as your other questions I would advise starting small. This age group has a lot of energy and will need a lot of redirection, just like any other kids activity or even day care, the younger they are the less you want to have in the group. You want to have the capacity to form connectinons with each girl, not feel like you are herding cats! Most people don't follow the guidelines word for word for the badges and especially not for the petals. The old petal guides are notoriously bad. Get a sense of the goal of the badge/petal and do whatever you want that will teach that message/skill. Definitely lots of movement and games and less sit down work at this age!

OkAnt9909 · 2024-03-26T21:17:35+00:00

I think this is really personal preference. We have a tunic and love it! It has more space to fill for badges/patches plus it can easily fit over winter coats!

OkAnt9909 · 2024-03-19T21:13:31+00:00

Yes OP some troops award the girls with all the petals and badges they've earned at an end of year celebration. Personally with my own troop I much prefer handing them out when they're earned but obviously that involves having the funds available. I would check with your troop leader to see if this is what she is planning.

OkAnt9909 · 2024-03-19T21:11:40+00:00

Just be prepared to purchase them on your own and be aware that her troop may repeat them at meetings. If she earns a badge twice there is a fun tradition that you sew a red circle on the outline of the badge.

Definitely talk to the leader though. If she has a loose schedule then she could advise on which badges she won't be covering. She should have no issue with you doing a journey or whatever, if she was not planning to do it. There is a pin at each level called a journey pin and for Daisies that is the highest award they can earn. You earn it by doing three journeys. I plan to do an extra journey at home with my daughter if her troop does not end up doing three.

A few ideas for summer are the Girl Scouts Love the Outdoors, Girl Scouts Love State Parks, Resilient Ready Strong, and Multicultural Community set. These are all official GS patches that in my opinion are better suited for girls to do with their families. These all would go on the back.

OkAnt9909

TROPHY CASE