Anonymous wrote:Do the girls in your troop want to do the bronze? I know it's hard sometimes as leaders to separate what our goals are vs. what the girls' goals are. Sometimes I have to step back from what I would do (as an over-achieving GS) and realize that the girls' priorities are different than mine. Just b/c the bronze award exists doesn't mean they *have to* earn it.

Excellent point made right here.

The Junior Badges are pretty good -- well, some of them are. The girls LOVED Jeweler, Simple Meals, and Entertainment Technology. They also liked most of Playing the Past. Journeys -->not interested.

Anonymous wrote:The Journeys will bring about the demise of the Girl Scouts. Our troop ended up disbanding with the change because the girls just weren't interested.

Yup - we tried and it is like more homework. They are awful. Troop disbanded after 6th grade.

And even the new badge layouts are awful. Why can't they be more like the Fireside Girls from Phineas & Ferb??

Anonymous wrote:We have been trying to coerce our girls into one and it just is not working. As a leader, I can hardly stand doing them. As a friend of mine said are they supposed to be going back to school? I am not sure what they were thinking when they created them, but I have to say it does not generate any good will.

Even when GS trainers try to talk them up to leaders they seem to struggle. The journeys are a first-class failure.

Anonymous wrote:Just b/c the bronze award exists doesn't mean they *have to* earn it.

True, but it is a nice entry into the bronze-silver-gold system allowing the girls more information to decide if they want to earn the silver or eventually the gold.

It's a shame the Journeys are so awful.

We have been trying to coerce our girls into one and it just is not working. As a leader, I can hardly stand doing them. As a friend of mine said are they supposed to be going back to school? I am not sure what they were thinking when they created them, but I have to say it does not generate any good will.

Anonymous wrote:Do the girls in your troop want to do the bronze? I know it's hard sometimes as leaders to separate what our goals are vs. what the girls' goals are. Sometimes I have to step back from what I would do (as an over-achieving GS) and realize that the girls' priorities are different than mine. Just b/c the bronze award exists doesn't mean they *have to* earn it.

Exceptionally good point!

Do the girls in your troop want to do the bronze? I know it's hard sometimes as leaders to separate what our goals are vs. what the girls' goals are. Sometimes I have to step back from what I would do (as an over-achieving GS) and realize that the girls' priorities are different than mine. Just b/c the bronze award exists doesn't mean they *have to* earn it.

Thanks for the feedback. I didn't do a Brownie journey with our troop because I can't stand them, but as I understand it, a Junior journey is a prerequisite for the bronze award. I'm leaning toward Agent of Change because it seems more action-oriented. My daughter's troop did Amuse, and it just seems like a lot of well-intentioned but poorly designed navel-gazing.

We are going to do Agent of Change on a camping trip... probably take 4 hours all together. I can't stand the Journeys but I want the girls to do at least one Take Action Project so we'll give it a lick and a promise to check it off.

Agree with 20:06. We ended up ditching the journey and focused on earning badges instead.

I'm 19:31... I've run into leaders who say "just tell them they have to pick one!" I reject that philosophy b/c GS is supposed to be "Girl Led" and in my mind, that means the girls can choose to do a journey or choose to do other badges and activities. If they don't want to do it, they don't have to. I've encouraged them all I can to choose a journey, but that's where my job ends and their job begins. I do not want to be a leader who drags the scouts through a journey they didn't want to do in the first place. Only one of my 12 ever votes to do a journey. I feel a little bad for her b/c we aren't doing one... but the majority speaks and they say "no journey." I think it's partly the name "journey" which sounds long and arduous, partly the subject matter (which sound more like intellectual/school-like topics that the girls don't relate to), and partly the fact that their are books involved (also a connection to school and learning). The girls at this age want to DO things. They don't want to talk about issues or listen to a leader talk about social issues. If their hands or feet are not moving, they think whatever they are doing is boring. If their hands or feet are moving, they generally like it.

(You would think "Get Moving" would be a good one, but it's about energy conservation in the design of a building ... B-O-R-I-N-G.)

The Journeys will bring about the demise of the Girl Scouts. Our troop ended up disbanding with the change because the girls just weren't interested.

Are you planning to follow the book as written or completely re-work them? If you follow the book, the girls generally don't like them. I've heard that the Get Moving journey is especially boring. So, I would tend toward Amuse or Agent of Change.

My girls refuse to do a journey. I've suggested it and asked them to vote on it about 5 times in the last 12 mos. I've described the options and explained that we could do it in 2 mtgs. plus the Take Action Project. I've explained how some of the service projects we already do could be slightly tweaked to satisfy the TAP. They DO NOT want to do a journey. That said, if I could ever convince them to do a journey, I would follow the 2-mtg + TAP formula that this council has created:

http://www.girlscoutsrv.org/volunteers/troop-leaders/junior-leaders/junior-planning-guide/

Good luck

Which do you recommend?