OP,

I have been having this policy disagreement with my SU -- one that is hell-bent on forcing multi-grade troops. There is merit to the idea that olders and youngers can learn from or teach each other. I get that. And if there are not enough girls in each grade to make a troop, then of course they should be combined. But, IMO, it is ideal to have single grade troops both for the girls and for the leaders. As previously mentioned, if you have a leader of a 4th grader and you also have a couple of 5th graders, the latter will be orphanned when they move up to Cadettes. The leader is naturally going to be more aware of her own daughter's grade level (b/c that's what she knows). Also, parents get to know other parents b/c their daughters are in the same class/grade. When parents getogether, they tend to take leadership roles b/c they say "I'll do it if you will..." So, you tend to get leadership teams who are parents of the same grade-level girls.

If you have mixed grades, you have situations where the 4th graders want to earn X badge, and the 5th graders don't b/c they already did that the year before. Or the 5th graders want to do the bronze b/c they've earned some badges already --- but the 4th graders don't have enough experience and would rather earn some badges. If you have just one grade level, your planning as a leader is smoother and the girls' experience is more progressive and cohesive b/c every girl is moving through that level from square one to the end.

I also think that the "bullying" or friction is more likely when you have kids at different social speeds -- the older girls being socially faster and more likely to shun or mock the younger girls who are not as sophistocated.

The most important reason, however, goes to the heart of why girls join/stay in GS.... they want to be with their FRIENDS (girls they already know)! If there are enough 4th and 5th grade girls to have two troops, you can be sure that any 4th graders joining GS want to be with the 4th graders they know... and the 5th graders want to be with the other 5th graders. They usually have the same school concerns/classes/teachers and they want to share.

I feel like my Service Unit has made a high-and-mighty policy decision about girls needing to mix up and they want to socially engineer how girls relate. They aren't taking into consideration the reason girls stay in scouts -- to be with their friends. I have a troop that is all one grade but I've been told on numerous occassions that this is not going to be allowed, etc.

IMO, if you have enough girls for two troops per GS level, the nature of relationships (both leaders and girls) pulls troops toward having one grade level in a troop. Forcing girls into troops away from their friends/grade level peers is too much "big brother" for me. Let the girls be with their friends and save the social engineering for someone else!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One challenge with, say, a 4th and 5th grade troop: If the troop leader is the mom of a 4th grader, she is not going to be with the 5th graders when they bridge to Cadettes. She will stay with her daughter. There may or may not be a troop for the 5th graders to go to.

What would happen to those 5th grade girls then, if no one starts a troop for them? Could they just stay with the younger girls anyhow?

They could join an existing Cadette troop with openings (this is possible - many girls quit at the age, so there may be a troop with openings). Or they just won't have a troop.

In my school, all the troops are single grade. All girls bridge together, and the Daisy troop of first graders becomes a Brownie troop of second graders.

The programming for Juniors and Cadettes is dissimilar regarding badges and journeys. There is some possible collaboration, but you would really limit both groups if you only gave them options where they could all do the same thing.

PP -- another q: about how many girls do you have in each separate level?

PP -- Are your separate levels broken up by grade? Or by Brownies/Juniors etc?

Also how long are your meetings?

We have a large mixed age troop. I act as the leader of the troop and then we have three assistant leaders. I'm mostly responsible for the overall organization of the troop -- scheduling, registration, volunteers, etc. I also plan meetings for the age group that my daughter is in -- which is the oldest group. The assistant leaders plan activities for the younger groups. Because we've been at it a while, we recycle a lot of activities and field trip ideas from year to year.

We have meetings all together every other week. We get together in a circle and say the Pledge of Allegiance, and the GS promise, and sing a song. We quickly talk about what the different levels are going to do or the girls share about a trip GS activity they did with each other. It's actually very sweet to have all the different ages together. We then break up and each level does their own thing. In addition to a leader, we also have a parent volunteer for each group to help.

We do some activities, like Cookie Booth sales and World Thinking Day, all together. It's great to see the older girls help the little ones. Our troop didn't intend to be a mixed age troop, but because a number of the girls had younger sisters who wanted to be Girl Scouts, for ease of scheduling for families, we just added them to our roster and went from there.

Anonymous wrote:One challenge with, say, a 4th and 5th grade troop: If the troop leader is the mom of a 4th grader, she is not going to be with the 5th graders when they bridge to Cadettes. She will stay with her daughter. There may or may not be a troop for the 5th graders to go to.

What would happen to those 5th grade girls then, if no one starts a troop for them? Could they just stay with the younger girls anyhow?

So which style of troop organization have people had more success with?

One challenge with, say, a 4th and 5th grade troop: If the troop leader is the mom of a 4th grader, she is not going to be with the 5th graders when they bridge to Cadettes. She will stay with her daughter. There may or may not be a troop for the 5th graders to go to.

But if all the girls are the same grade, then the leaders can stay with the girls the whole way through.

Thanks PP.

They sometimes are organized by grade AND level, but this is the choice of troop leaders and parents, not anything required by Girl Scouts as an organization. (In fact, Girl Scouts generally likes troops to have mixed grade levels if possible, so that there are older girls who can be leaders to younger ones and younger girls can learn from more experienced girls.) But the "fourth grade Junior troop based at So and So Elementary" is a very common thing because logistically it is easier much of the time, if there are enough girls to have a viable troop at each grade level. And it's OK to do, but certainly not required. It is fine to have, for instance, a Junior troop with fourth AND fifth graders, but the key is having new girls coming in when the fifth graders move on to Cadettes in sixth grade, leaving the rising fifth graders to be the older girls the next fall in that troop.

By the way, GS troops also are not strictly affiliated with particular schools either. Most of the troops meet "at school, after school" because it's simply more convenient for the parents and the girls and the leaders, and that is just fine. But our sixth grade Cadettes are from two different schools. It just depends on what works for everyone.

As girls get older and some leave Scouting, and those who keep going in Scouting also have many more demands on their time in middle school, the older troops tend to be mixed groups of girls from several different schools, and tend to meet at times and places other than at school, after school. (But teen Girl Scouts get to do the coolest stuff.....so that's a great reason to stay in Scouting!)

Hope this helps.

In your area, are Girl Scout troops typically organized by level (Brownie Junior etc) or specifically by grade level (3rd Grade Brownies, 4th Grade Juniors)