Tell me about Girl Scouts...

[LarlaB]

DD6 thinks Girl Scouts would be awesome (she thinks it involves much camping) but I am absolutely unfamiliar with it. Can those involved shed some light? All I know is that there are cookies and the selling thereof can be quite competitive.

 

I've read the website a bit, but want to hear from real people.

 

What are the costs? Meetings? Tone? Goals?

 

THanks!

Laura

[kewb]

Your daughter's Girl Scout experience will really depend on your troop leader(s). My daughter was a Brownie and she did enjoy the experience. In the end we decided not to continue because I felt the troop was very clicky and the leader was not really doing anything to combat it. Our troop leader also focused a lot on the fun badges and not so much on the have to earn them badges. Which was great fun for my dd.

 

Cost wise it was not much. We paid a small fee at enrollment and participated in 2 fundraisers. The money from the fundraisers went to field trips for the girls. Sometimes we would have to chip in $5 towards the cost of a field trip.

[dirty ethel rackham]

The quality of a Girl Scout troop is dependent on the local leaders. They set the tone. I have seen some groups that were very catty and competitive and some that were very inclusive and positive value driven. DD9 was fortunate to be involved in a group from our church - it was for the girls in the parish school and they let my daughter join because she has known many of the girls all her life from various church activities. It was a fantastically positive experience for her. She never felt excluded despite not going to school with these girls every day. The leaders were loving, fantastic, organized women. Unfortunately, this troop is disbanding because, at this school, they stop after 4th grade since the school offers sports programs. They really encourage participation in the sports teams since it is a small school (need all 8 boys for that basketball team:)). I didn't realize this when we joined, but all the same, it was a positive experience for us.

 

Cookie sales were expected and the girls had a quota, but it was so low that nobody had any trouble meeting it. Many people, even if they already bought cookies from someone else, bought a box or two from my daughter. No pressure. Some girls sold like gangbusters because they wanted to. Others took a much more low-key approach.

 

Cost: I think we paid $40 a year and that was it. Everything else was covered by cookie sales.

 

Our troop met twice a month in the early years and once a month this past year. Since it was a big troop (24 girls - every girl in the 4th grade class), they had to be careful about how the did things. We did lots of field trips this year - an animal shelter, a theater performance, rock climbing, etc. They did some service projects: passing out Christmas gifts to nursing home residents, collecting and assembling personal grooming packets for a local homeless shelter, Feed My Starving Children, etc.

 

They worked on badges that the leaders felt would be good experiences for them. No big pressure on awards or anything - probably because they knew up front that they were only going through 4th grade.

 

As far as camping goes, I have not found that many Girl Scout troops that camp much:). Most of the moms I met are not camping moms:). The only thing that came close to camping was a trip to a horse ranch for a weekend last summer. We stayed in a bunk house, learned about horsemanship and did lots of trail rides. The girls absolutely loved it - even those who were afraid of the horses.

 

I would say, shop around, visit some troops, talk to leaders and talk to parents. I have heard some things that might concern me on a national level, the local leaders are the most important factor.

[The Girls' Mom]

I agree, the leader makes the troop. And Girl Scouts is NOT very camp-y at all. In fact, with the revision of their program the past few years it's very focused on relationships and ecology. The days of earning badges for various skills are going to be gone very soon.

[orangearrow]

We've been in GS since my youngest dd was 7, I think? I 100% agree that your troop leader is THE biggest part of the experience - she directs the entire troop and their activities in various directions. Ours focuses on the interests of the girls in the troop. There are changes to the format of GS that are happening, but she's able to filter out the things our girls would have zero interest in and focus on the things that our girls are excited about.

 

We're in a small homeschooled-girls-only troop and it's been nothing but an absolute excellent experience. :D

[K&Rs Mom]

I agree that a lot of it really varies by troop, but the national organization is pretty heavily entangled in politics (mostly involving Planned Parenthood as a sponsor). So depending which side of the issue you prefer, it may be a plus or may stop you from joining. Here's a link with some info on it - the original link is obviously on one side, but they have links to the other side and some interviews from the leadership.

 

As for camping, don't expect much, especially at the younger ages. The goals are mostly set by the troop leadership, and meetings will revolve around whatever they prefer, whether it's crafts, games, projects, nature, whatever.

[jelbe5]

I recently retired as a Troop Leader after 10 years. As others have said, much will depend on the Leader.

 

There is an annual registration fee to be a GS (provides insurance coverage). When I retired it was $30.00 a year per girl and leader. Our troop dues were $1.00 a week (troop decides the dues). There were grants available to families in need. The girls did not need uniforms. Many could not afford them. We encouraged the vest or sash so they had a place to put their badges. Grant money could help those families in need for that purchase. The troop owned copies of the books so we could refer to them for badge work. Some girls had their own books, but we did not use them on a regular basis.

 

My co-leader and I inherited a troop from a retiring leader. We were already active moms in the troop. It was a multi-age, multi-cultural/ethnic, multi-socio-economic troop. Some of the girls were homeschooled, some were in private school, some were in public school. We had girls who were honors students and a couple of girls who had severe learning disabilities. It was a great troop and a great experience.

 

My co-leader and I would plan badges around similar themes so each level could earn a badge. We tried to plan in the summer and then ordered/purchased needed supplies before the year began. Oriental Trading Co. was our best friend! Having topics/badges/supplies planned out in advance helped make things run smoothly.

 

Cookies are always a lot of work. It is not mandatory to participate, but this is where the troop earns a great deal of their $ for field trips/supplies. Two ways to do this . . . order extra cases to make even more $, but then you have to stand outside in who knows what kind of weather, or take only the extra boxes you need to bring the order up to the case (have to make the order come out in even cases) and then have one booth sale or try to peddle the extra boxes to friends/family, etc. Towards the end, my co-leader and I opted to do this . . . we were tired of standing outside in the cold.

 

Our girls were city girls but we did go camping . . . one year in the comfortable lodge, one year in platform tents. Great experience for all. You have to take specialized training to go camping and to have a camp fire, but it was a great experience for all.

 

If you want to ensure a good experience for your dd the best thing to do is to become a leader yourself. Is it a lot of work? Yes. Can it be worth it? Yes. Sometimes girls can be difficult. Sometimes the parents can be really difficult. I don't regret being a leader, but my daughters are now involved in plays and I can only volunteer so much. Now I am building sets instead of being a troop leader. But I do not regret being one for the 10 years I did it. If you have specific questions feel free to contact me.

 

Adrianne in IL

[NanceXToo]

My daughter was in Brownies for a couple of years and is now in her first year as a Junior. I just re-registered her for next year, and it was only $12.00 to re-register. Plus we pay $1.00 a week dues.

 

We do do the cookie sales once or twice a year but the "goal" is low enough that it's easy to meet, and we never experienced it being competitive.

 

Unfortunately, Girl Scouts (in my experience) is NOT all about things like camping and cool stuff like that, I wish it was! They mostly tend to do craft type stuff, or sometimes baking something, or sometimes stuff having to do with planting seeds (this year). Field trips aren't very frequent. I don't think overall that it's as "cool" as it could be in general, but she still enjoys going.

[Plucky]

I was a leader for 4 years. My youngest is still a Girl Scout. It does depend on the leadership. We have had a good experience overall. I do not like selling cookies and have been looked down on because we don't do much (I'd rather tend my family and keep homeschooling, instead of selling 3,000 boxes). I'm ready to be done with them, but I don't regret our involvement.

[katemary63]

Girl Scouts is great! But check out 4-H before you committ. I've been in both and If I had to pick, I'd go with 4-H. I think it offers all the same opportunities for learning, leadership and community service, plus a lot more. Camping too!

[Chris in VA]

Dd was a Brownie for a year with a homeschooling group, then went to ps and didn't go to Scouts, and now is back with her old troop, although only 3 girls are the same (which is fine with us) and several more joined.

It's a sweet group that does a lot of fun projects, and several girls are earning various awards, so there are extra field trips and such.

 

I love our leader, and our values mesh on the important stuff. I do not, however, feel comfortable with a lot of the things that are "new" to GS, in particular the Journeys program. Google and see if you agree with it.

 

GS has changed quite a bit from years ago when I was a girl scout (up thru Cadettes). It has never, in my opinion, matched the organization and excellence of the Boy Scout program. I also have seen a tremendous push for "girl empowerment," and I am not completely ok with some of it.

 

But ITA with the majority of folks on this thread--the leaders make or break it.

[WiseOwlKnits]

It all depends on your troop. I'm the troop leader for my DD's troop....still not quite sure how I got roped into that one. ;)

 

Our dues are $15/year and $12/year to the national organization. The uniform costs ~$35 and they last for multiple years so it's not $35 each year. We were completely non-competitive with cookie selling - something I laid out from day 1 with my troop ("If you're looking for a troop where the leader says, 'We're going to sell 1,000 boxes!' then you're in the wrong place. LOL!).

 

There is HUGE variation in different troops in the same city though so ask around. Some, like mine, go camping a few times a year. Some NEVER go camping. Some, like mine, focus on community service projects. Some focus on other things. Ours meets twice a month, some meet weekly, some meet monthly...

 

I'm glad we do it and I plan to continue next year!

[2_girls_mommy]

I am with everyone on the changes. We belong to a small hsed Christian group. Obviously everyone is welcome. We have had P.S. girls before in our troop, but we didn't this year for the first time since I have been a member. The leader lets everyone know that the families and leaders are Christian, so that they know we will pray. We meet in a church, so I am sure they suspect it anyway :)

 

We pay $12 per child and for me to join. Even if you do not lead, you may want to join so you can go on overnighters. And then troop fees vary. We try to keep the cost low for the first semester. Then if you sell enough cookies 2nd semester, that will cover fees. If not, there are fees for supplies, trips and badges.

 

I actually led the Brownies and Daisies together this year and had a sweet year. We are an active group. We meet once a week and have one field trip, camping trip, or party a month. We have a talent show at each awards ceremony that the girls and families really love. We do sell a lot of cookies. But we also have girls who opt out and don't. The cookies give us $ for some really neat field trips. Our girls do wear uniforms, although it is not required. Most start out w/only a vest or sash. But they earn cookie dough for selling cookies, and can spend the money in the store. We have a brother boy scout troop that meets at the same time that we do and that we do a lot of field trips with. I think it is nice for the girls to have the uniforms like the boys. They look so adorable in them too.

The focus of what we have done has been different each year too. Some years we have done lots of camping and hiking and outdoor stuff. This year, many of the families did not seem that interested, so we had a couple of lock ins for overnighters, and less hikes. We will see how next year goes. We enjoy it here.

 

I love our troop. We have made good friends.