Tell me about Girl Scouts, please?

[aggieamy]

DD was in American Heritage Girls last year and I thought we'd love it. She liked it okay and I can't stand it. I was her troop leader last year and was thinking about doing it again this year but after sitting through the first leaders meeting tonight I just can't do it again. DH wants to look at Girl Scouts instead but I don't know anything about it. Will you tell me all about it? Talk me into it?

 

ETA: The things I don't like about AHG is that our troop is poorly organized, there's no focus on girl leadership, and it's pretty over the top with religion. My family is religious - we're practicing Catholics but I feel very uncomfortable with the religious aspects of the meeting. I feel like we don't belong everytime they start praying or have yet another religious themed song. I wanted hiking, camping, and leadership but that's not what we're getting.

Edited July 25, 2012 by aggieamy

[In The Great White North]

How many other troop leaders are there? As her troop leader did you not get to have any input about how the troop was run?

 

If you want hiking, camping and leadership, you are going to have to start/run your own troop no matter where you go. Which also means doing most of the work.

 

The current (and last few) GS programs are not designed to promote hiking, camping or leadership.

[jelbe5]

Girl Scouts can be great, but it really depends on the troop. I would suggest you call the council and plan to go visit several troops. There may be a homeschool troop. I was involved with GS for 10 years with a multi-age troop which was unusual for our area. I had a great co-leader and that made all the difference.

[Bassoonaroo]

I almost want to suggest starting your own hiking, camping, outdoorsy club.

 

I'd discuss with the AHG leaders why you are leaving (too religious, not enough camping). They may not change, but if they hear the message a few times from different deserters, then they will take notice. Are there other AHG troops around? We have three nearby, all with different amounts of the religious aspects...

 

Visit a few Girl Scout troops. I have found that many don't camp (they leave it up to the council to provide summer camp, but that's more a retreat in cabins -- not a lot of knot-tying, fire-building, orienteering, outdoor cooking) but some do. Take a look at the handbooks the troop is using and ask about the upcoming year. Each troop is different.

[MollyAnn]

As with all scouting programs it all comes down to the individual troop and leader.

Girls Scouts is a tradition in my family, my daughter is 5th generation and I have been her leader since the beginning. She will be starting her 8th year this fall.

I love Girl Scouts, but I will be honest and say I am not that thrilled with the current program. I work mainly out of the older books.

We stay with GS because of the tradition I mentioned above and also because they are so recognized and there are so many oppurtunties beyond badges and current program.

As the girls get older they start working on the big awards: Bronze, Silver, and Gold which teaches them to reach out to their communities, find needs and ways to help. Awards are also earned by helping their councils, helping out at events and leading younger girls. The Gold award opens up scholarships and also allows girls to enter the military at a higher rank.

Then there are the Desinations, Girl Scouts is world wide and there are trips available to every corner of the planet! DD is saving money to travel to Paris and Costa Rica.

It all starts as Daisies and Brownies doing crafts and small service projects like cleaning up a park.

I will say if you want the hiking, camping, and outdoor skills you might have to volunteer to be the leader yourself and find the older Girl Scout books. You can find them at online used book site. I have quite a growing collection. Also look at Boy Scout books.

I really enjoy being my daughters leader, I have a lot of fun on the outings too, most recently we did a Zoo Overnight.

Girl Scouts provides trainings and there are monthly leader meetings so you are never alone. Some of my best friends I met at the leader meetings. There is always a need to leaders, if you wanted to become the leader you will have no problem finding girls to be in your troop.

 

After saying all that, there is a new program called Frontier Girls. They started in 2007 and they look pretty well put together and their program is based on the outdoor skills. They aren't very big yet, there are no local support systems so you are pretty much on your own. They are not religious, but they do stress patriotism. They are worth checking out.

Edited July 25, 2012 by MollyAnn

[Delirium]

There's a bit of religion in GS, its in the pledge, they generally sing a thank you song before snack thats nearly a prayer.

 

The organization really depends on the troop. Ours is fantastic, but we have a large troop that has mini troops within, 1 for Daisys, 1 for Brownies etc its one of the things I love about our group. BUT I had to wait nearly a year to be called from the waiting list.

 

Our troop does focus on the girl's leadership encouraging them to vote on activities and come up with ways to help their community. It really depends on the troop.

 

ETA we do 2 camping trips a year and our counsel sponsors a day camp during the summer with an overnight campout at the end.

Edited July 25, 2012 by Delirium

[duckens]

MollyAnn says:

After saying all that, there is a new program called Frontier Girls. They started in 2007 and they look pretty well put together and their program is based on the outdoor skills. They aren't very big yet, there are no local support systems so you are pretty much on your own. They are not religious, but they do stress patriotism. They are worth checking out.

We are happy with FG. It is the right choice for our family. It is very homeschooling friendly.

 

I was introduced to FG by my friend J, who was excited about it. She was looking for a GS-like experience with badges for her 5yo daughter.

 

One big advantage for FG is you can be your own daughter's leader, and go solo. In looking at the program, J suggested that she be her daughter's leader, and I be my daughter's leader. (In this way we sidestep the complication and paperwork and responsibility of a "troop" since it is just we two at this time.)

 

During the school year, we met every other week to work on badges together. She would lead for some badges, and I would organize other weeks. Hopefully everyone went home with one or two new badges earned.

 

We also had the freedom to work on other badges independently. Likewise, they have been gone traveling all summer, but we have each continued to work at our own pace.

 

Because FG is so new, they are very open to anyone who wants to suggest or write a new badge. Badges requirements are worked on according to child's grade/age level, so children of varying ages can be part of the same troop and work on the same badge. For example, when my younger dd joins FG (if we continue), she will be a Penguin level (age 3-5), and will do 3 requirements for a given badge. Older daughter will be working on the exact same badge, but as an Otter (4 requirements/badge) or Dolphin (5 requirements/badge).

 

And yes, there is a Hiking Badge.

And a Camping Badge.

And many leadership opportunities from either inside the troop or encouraged throughout your community.

There is also a certain amount of community service required by each FG, which can be tough to do for the preschool age. But we make cookies for our local firemen and have adopted a public garden to weed.

 

Also, one month of our lives is not consumed by selling cookies. (I like to eat GS cookies, but I am not a salesman).

 

There are advantages and disadvantages to this program, as with any program. Please feel free to PM me if you have any further questions.

[Elfknitter.#]

GS being religious dominant today seems something the troop leader would promote. We created a homeschooling troop of Brownies last year that was pretty secular. However if you look at the actual values, they are written to be open to a variety of religions.

 

To me, Frontier Girls seems even more religious than GS: http://frontiergirlsclubs.com/about-us/who-are-we/

[Alessandra]

I am a GS leader and I longingly look at the old GS handbooks with all the camping skills badges. Camping is on the back burner for many troops. However, there are some camping troops. In our Council (and I think for all Councils), leaders who want to camp must earn a Troop Camper Certification. I just did this and found other like-minded people taking the course.

 

You could ask your Council which troop have leaders who are Troop Camper certified. That could give you an idea of where to start looking for a troop.

 

If you really like outdoor challenges, you could look for a Boy Scout Venture troop when your dd turns 13. They are co-ed.

 

ETA If you can visit a GS shop, take a look at the handbooks and other printed materials. Then you can ask a prospective how closely they follow these -- that could give you an idea of what to expect.

Edited July 25, 2012 by Alessandra

[RegularMom]

Girl Scouts can be great, but it really depends on the troop. I would suggest you call the council and plan to go visit several troops. There may be a homeschool troop. I was involved with GS for 10 years with a multi-age troop which was unusual for our area. I had a great co-leader and that made all the difference.

 

Yes, it really does depend on the leaders of the individual troops. We were involved with a multi-age homeschool troop for years, and it's been just terrible. We have decided to stop doing GS as a result.

[NanceXToo]

The only "religion" in my daughter's Girl Scouts troop is that the word "God" is in the "Girl Scout Pledge." That's it. She's been in Brownies, Juniors, and now Cadettes.

 

She's liked it, mostly because she has a good friend there, but that friend will not be returning this year, so I'm not sure if my daughter will continue to want to stay without her, we'll see. Personally I wish they did less "crafty" indoor stuff and did more outdoorsy stuff. They really don't. They do a hike once a year, some outdoor winter sledding and games once a year, at the end of each year there's some big field trip to another state, they had a scout day at an amusement park, they do their 'mall day' and sell cookies and whatnot, but for the most part, they meet in a school cafeteria and do more craft type stuff in there. I wish they did more of the type of stuff you tend to associate with Boy Scouts (which we have never actually been associated with, but, you know, the learning about outdoors and survival and so on).

[Mrs Mungo]

Have you thought about starting your own AHG troop through your own church? I know a local Catholic troop. We also have a Catholic leader in our troop. I will say that AHG is an inherently Christian organization, so religion is part of it.

 

On the other hand, our troop does plan camping trips and other outdoor experiences-last year we did horseback riding, gardening, camping, etc. This year we are planning rock climbing for one of our first non-troop-meeting outings.

 

Maybe you could volunteer to be the outdoor coordinator and plan one outdoor activity a month or every other month? Maybe they just need someone to step up and fulfill that role?