Reply to Tell me about being a Daisy troop leader

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[quote=Anonymous]Not sure what PP means by "small," but in my experience 15 or so kids is a good number as there are a lot more games and activities you can do with a larger group, larger pool of parents to help, and not everyone will come to every meeting plus you may have some drop outs. I have never said no to "just one more" but would do so if it got close to 20 girls.

I was a Daisy leader for two years and am now getting to my second year of being a Brownie leader. The opinion of myself and other leaders that I know is that the new GS curriculum is really quite boring. Another leader I work with says it was "designed for millennials." This is especially true for the Daisies who have only the Petals and few/no skills patches they can earn. My suggestion is to find out what is interesting to the girls in your group and decide to award the petals or badges as you see fit. For example, the "brave and strong" petal could be for any new outdoor activity you try, the "respect authority" petal could be for any activity you want to do that involves following instruction or directions to some degree. I personally feel it is unfortunate that the new curriculum lends itself so much to "crafty" and sharing-about-feelings versus outdoor activities and trying new things, but really try to do what you think will be fun for your group and things that are relatively easy for you to plan based on your skills/contacts/resources/time. Know that there are a ton of ideas for each and every badge online, when I have been busy I am able to look up ideas the night before and have a good meeting planned for the next day. If you get frustrated by the Daisy "curriculum" hang in there as it starts to get better by Brownies.

I have also found that GS ceremonies, including learning the older GS songs and traditions, are worth the time to as they are very meaningful for both the girls and the families. The girls in my troop have also loved learning new games and that is easy to do (look up online, explain and supervise).

Also, in my experience only a few parents (if any) will offer real help, so plan accordingly. Sign up people for commitments early in the school year, and attach dates to them, while everyone is still feeling fresh and optimistic. I found that I could do most meetings on my own but  to have other parents committed to plan a few special activities (eg pottery session, yoga session, computer session) was really a big help later in the year. And anything like camping really requires extra help, though for Daisies it is usually backyard or indoor "camping," if that and you just need one other family to host it.

I realize this may sound a bit negative but I am just giving you a heads up based on my experience. I have LOVED being a GS leader because it has contributed to the bond with my daughter as she gets older and as I stick with it I have really enjoyed seeing the other girls in the troop grow and see ways that GS has contributed positively to that growth. As a working mom, it is great because it is a volunteer opportunity I can do for my daughter which I can plan around my schedule to a much larger extent than I can plan for school-based volunteer activities. I could keep going but this post is already rather long. Happy to answer any other questions you may have. I encourage you to do it, both for your daughter and because GS is a great organization which needs support. [/quote]

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