girl scouts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My older DD is in Daisies. We are in NoVA, and it took forever to find a troop with an opening, and she will be aging out of this troop at the end of the year, so we will need to start all over again in the search for a Brownie troop. From what I understand, this is a common problem, and there's no ability to form a group that lasts beyond 2 years or so, because every time you move up a level, you're on your own to search for a troop, and then it is an entirely new mix of kids.
I did Girl Scouts from K-5th grade as a child, and this was no a problem back then (1980s).
I'm a money manager, but I can't afford the time commitment to be a good Troop leader. Fortunately, the 2 ladies who volunteered to lead our troop are excellent. There's lots of inexperience at the council level that has impacted our troop's ability to get some things done. Every time we reach out with questions, we're talking to someone who is new to their role and also doesn't really have a clue. We've been told that lots of the more experienced leadership dropped out during the pandemic.

That is extraordinarily unusual. My daughter has been with the same group of girls for six years now. I know of no troop in our area who just disbands as girls reach each level. (Of course troops do occasionally disband, especially as the girls get older)

The troop has a mix of K and 1st grade, mostly K. Troop leaders’ DDs are both K. So, my 1st grade DD and one other girl will need to find a new troop for Brownies.
Surprised to hear this is unusual, as the coordinators for our area indicated this is a common problem here.

Ahhh… got it. Is your current leader not willing to keep the first graders and just have a multi level troop? (No judgement if that’s the case - it’s definitely harder!)
If you do need to find a new troop hopefully you find one for her grade that she can stay with for the long term.

I'm the PP, and no, they've already said that they have no interest in trying to run a multi-level troop. I'm hoping she and the other 2 1st graders (there's actually 3 of them out of the 9 kids in the troop) can find a Brownie troop that will take all 3, but I'm not hopeful. My understanding is that interest in my area is very high, and there just aren't enough open slots in existing troops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My older DD is in Daisies. We are in NoVA, and it took forever to find a troop with an opening, and she will be aging out of this troop at the end of the year, so we will need to start all over again in the search for a Brownie troop. From what I understand, this is a common problem, and there's no ability to form a group that lasts beyond 2 years or so, because every time you move up a level, you're on your own to search for a troop, and then it is an entirely new mix of kids.
I did Girl Scouts from K-5th grade as a child, and this was no a problem back then (1980s).
I'm a money manager, but I can't afford the time commitment to be a good Troop leader. Fortunately, the 2 ladies who volunteered to lead our troop are excellent. There's lots of inexperience at the council level that has impacted our troop's ability to get some things done. Every time we reach out with questions, we're talking to someone who is new to their role and also doesn't really have a clue. We've been told that lots of the more experienced leadership dropped out during the pandemic.

That is extraordinarily unusual. My daughter has been with the same group of girls for six years now. I know of no troop in our area who just disbands as girls reach each level. (Of course troops do occasionally disband, especially as the girls get older)

The troop has a mix of K and 1st grade, mostly K. Troop leaders’ DDs are both K. So, my 1st grade DD and one other girl will need to find a new troop for Brownies.
Surprised to hear this is unusual, as the coordinators for our area indicated this is a common problem here.

I don't think most of us are familiar with multi-grade troops. Typically the girls form a group based upon their grade level - our school has a Kindergarten Daisy troop and a 1st grade Daisy troop, for example.

Multi-grade troops are more common in upper grades or in more rural areas. In most of the DC suburbs we have more than enough girls in one grade at a school to form a troop. Our school usually has two troops per grade level.

I lead a multilevel troop in the middle of DC and have found a lot more multi-level troops than what I was used to back in the 90s. It is a lot more work on the leaders, so please do not propose making a troop multilevel unless you are willing to fully colead your girl’s level. When we’ve been asked if we can expand a level, we say sure if you’re willing to recruit enough girls and lead that level. Nobody’s taken us up on that offer so far…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My older DD is in Daisies. We are in NoVA, and it took forever to find a troop with an opening, and she will be aging out of this troop at the end of the year, so we will need to start all over again in the search for a Brownie troop. From what I understand, this is a common problem, and there's no ability to form a group that lasts beyond 2 years or so, because every time you move up a level, you're on your own to search for a troop, and then it is an entirely new mix of kids.
I did Girl Scouts from K-5th grade as a child, and this was no a problem back then (1980s).
I'm a money manager, but I can't afford the time commitment to be a good Troop leader. Fortunately, the 2 ladies who volunteered to lead our troop are excellent. There's lots of inexperience at the council level that has impacted our troop's ability to get some things done. Every time we reach out with questions, we're talking to someone who is new to their role and also doesn't really have a clue. We've been told that lots of the more experienced leadership dropped out during the pandemic.

That is extraordinarily unusual. My daughter has been with the same group of girls for six years now. I know of no troop in our area who just disbands as girls reach each level. (Of course troops do occasionally disband, especially as the girls get older)

The troop has a mix of K and 1st grade, mostly K. Troop leaders’ DDs are both K. So, my 1st grade DD and one other girl will need to find a new troop for Brownies.
Surprised to hear this is unusual, as the coordinators for our area indicated this is a common problem here.

Ahhh… got it. Is your current leader not willing to keep the first graders and just have a multi level troop? (No judgement if that’s the case - it’s definitely harder!)
If you do need to find a new troop hopefully you find one for her grade that she can stay with for the long term.

I'm the PP, and no, they've already said that they have no interest in trying to run a multi-level troop. I'm hoping she and the other 2 1st graders (there's actually 3 of them out of the 9 kids in the troop) can find a Brownie troop that will take all 3, but I'm not hopeful. My understanding is that interest in my area is very high, and there just aren't enough open slots in existing troops.

If you haven't already, definitely talk to your local Service Unit Manager. She should be helping all three families navigate this, and hopefully find a place for the three of them to stay together. Be aware that she's also just a volunteer mom, though, so be kind. (Not that you wouldn't be, of course! It's just that a lot of people think the SU managers are paid staff and have unreasonable expectations for them.)

[Anonymous]

It’s pretty boring so far. Still at brownie level though.

[Anonymous]

For us, yes totally worth it! My 15 year old quit GS after middle school but was in a neighborhood troop her entire elementary school years. She made some very close friendships that she still maintains. For that, it was so worth it.

[Anonymous]

What happens at the national convention? Is it actaualy fun for kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What happens at the national convention? Is it actaualy fun for kids?

No. It's meetings and voting on stuff. It isn't for kids. Some older girls go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What happens at the national convention? Is it actaualy fun for kids?

No. It's meetings and voting on stuff. It isn't for kids. Some older girls go.

There are two parts. The actual national conference is meetings. Unless you’re a delegate probably not worth going. The next three days are the exhibition hall and events. My DD are I are going this year and are super excited.. we have a few troops in our SU who went when it was in Ohio (the last in person one) and they said it was awesome and they had a ton of fun - they were juniors at the time. They’re going to Orlando as well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GS is terrible. Very cliquey and has a mean girls vibe to it. There's too much emphasis on selling product as well to raise money.

I agree! my daughter was bullied by one of the troop leaders daughters, it was handled unprofessionally as a result.

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry that some girls have negative experiences, but that can happen anywhere. Girl Scouting offers so much to girls. You might need to persevere to find a troop or camp that matches your child, but the organization overall offers so many opportunities.

[Anonymous]

We love Girl Scouts. Many girls from our school are in our troop (16 out of ~40). Our troop is fairly active and we have a lot of fun activities and outings.

[Anonymous]

I was a Girl Scout as a kid and it was just awful. Bad memories of bad programming surrounded by bullies and cookie stress, handbooks full of badges that we never earned, and "camping" in cabins (???).

[Anonymous]

Too bad the Scouting America (formerly BSA) troops for girls were not available then for your daughter. They offer the outdoor experience Girl Scouts used to have without the cookie stress. And, girls have the pride of earning everything they are awarded. Since opening to girls 5 years ago, the program has been well accepted by girls, who no longer feel it is an “alternative” choice. Girls now make up about 30% of membership. My daughter will become an Eagle later this year and has loved it.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the troop leaders and the children in the troop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GS is terrible. Very cliquey and has a mean girls vibe to it. There's too much emphasis on selling product as well to raise money.

While agree that there's too much emphasis on sales, we've had the complete opposite experience with inclusiveness. My daughter is terribly shy and Girl Scouts has been a boon for her - the girls are so sweet and kind and make a point to include her in everything. They also have a special needs girl in their group that they are so wonderful with.

That's been our experience too. Now that the girls are getting older, they are all *very* different kids. They don't do a lot of activities outside of school together, and my sense is they don't all run in the same circles in school, but while at girl scouts it's a safe space for them all to be themselves and have fun.

+1 it's been great for my very shy child.