eternalknot Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 I live with my brother, and together we have six kids. The older five are boys ranging in age from 8-13, and the youngest is my 5 year old daughter. Four of our boys are in scouts. We share juggling of the kids' extracurriculars, but since my brother coaches the kids' soccer and baseball teams I usually end up doing the boy scout stuff. My kids' dad lives several hours away and has never been involved in the day-to-day stuff. My daughter has always had to tag along to the boys' things, including five years worth of boy scout meetings, events, and working on achievements. The dens and pack have been great about including her when and where possible, and she's learned a lot just peripherally (but also working alongside her brother and cousins as they work through their manual). For her birthday the webelos boys chipped in to get her a whittling knife of her own :). She cried when we told her she couldn't be an official boy scout. I think it was the first time it had occurred to her that she was different than the other five (boys). I saw a girl scout handbook at a used bookstore and flipped through it. It was probably an old version, but the badges had a very different flavor to them. There seemed to be a lot more crafty type things. She'll do crafts, but she's more of a rough-and-tumble, get-your-hands-dirty girl. She's only ever lived with five boys - boys who wrote the stereotype. I'm wondering if I should look into Girl Scouts, if it'd be a good fit. I'm sure some of that is based on the local group, but generally speaking if you have experience with girl scouts AND/OR boy scouts I'm interested in your input. Either way, she'll probably keep working alongside our boys as they do their achievements just because it's interesting to her. I'd like for her to feel "official" though, so I'm considering Girl Scouts for next year. :bigear: ? And TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenneinCA Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 It really depends on the leader of the Girl Scout troop you get. But I would say that for a young Girl Scout (your daughter is 5?) the chances of it being as rough and tumble as the stuff she has been doing with the boys is slim. Very very slim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 Boy Scouts as an organization is just run so well. Girl Scouts? Not so much, imo. It does depend on the leader a great deal. Maybe you could find a more "outdoorsy" group, but for 5's, you probably won't. Maybe you could start a Daring Club for her--based on the book The Daring Book for Girls (and its sequel, The Double Daring Book). Just add in adventure stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 My daughter enjoys Girl Scouts (she was a Brownie for two years I think and now she's in her second year as a Junior) but they DO tend to do more crafty type things most of the time. I wish it was more COOL stuff! :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 My dd is a Daisy, where your dd would be as well. They do crafty type things, but they also have camping and outdoor activities as well. Maybe you can give it a try? We had to pay a $12 registration fee, but that was it. We didn't buy all the "stuff" until we decided (after three meetings) that it was a good fit for our dd. You can probably contact a local troop and ask if they have a trial period where you can pay nothing. My ds was a Boy Scout and we were permitted to try out different troops in our area (we moved quite a bit because dh was military) before we chose one. We visited each at least twice before deciding which troop to choose. Our local Girl Scout troop is made up entirely of homeschoolers. If there is a similar troop in your area, I am sure they would be more open and understanding of the need to "try before you buy." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 She could do Girl Scouts as a Juliette (individual, non-troop) and do whatever badges etc. interest her. If you want to give her a chance to hang with other girls, then you'd need s troop...and if she ends up with a clot of little girls who already know each other from school, watch out. You might want to offer to be a co-leader in that case.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treestarfae Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 Girl scouts have something called High Adventure http://www.girlscouts.org/for_adults/leader_magazine/2003_fall/high_adventure_trips.asp I've seen boys and girls get together to do adventures. You can check your state park website for a junior ranger badge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainbowSprinkles Posted November 14, 2010 Share Posted November 14, 2010 My dd is part of the American Heritage Girls and we absolutely love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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