Girl Scouts - Keller,TX

Just know that meetings are not "required" and if she really wants to do girlscout stuff without all the meetings and such, look at becoming a "lonestar"... Or, become a leader of a couple of girls (you need 5) and meet when it is convenient for you.

Hi, my daughter is in her 2nd year of girlscounts (she is 7) - we had to join a troop from a different school due to the meeting schedules. Even though the other girls in the troop knew each other from school my daughter fit in just fine - and I think it's great that she has friends that DON'T go to her school. Plus the other school is like .... 10 min away. So we can still set up playdates and stuff and it's not far away at all. Oh, also our troop meets twice per month - and we do outside activities maybe .... once a month or so. Not much of a time committment - also like another poster said, if you can't do a certain activity, no biggie. There have been a couple weekend activities that my daughter just couldn't do, and it was fine.

Alot depends on the troop she is in. My daughter was in GS for years and her troop participated in a lot of the activities provided by the council. They even went to the International Camporee twice ; here in the US and England.. Her troop was not just from her school and she made quite a few friends.

It's typically an hour each week. They might go on a field trip on some weekends (not too many usually), about once a year they will camp overnight at one of the Girl Scout camps, then in the summer they are usually offered the chance to go to a Day Camp or a Residence Camp. All these activities are optional, they aren't required. The Scouts offer them chances to explore many different activities while earning badges, to see what M. interest them as they get older. On the whole it's a great experience!

I think you got some great advice/information. The only other piece that I can add is - I am a single mom of a 6 year old boy and a 2 year old girl. We investigated boy scouts for my son, but at the age he is now, the parent HAD to stay at the meeting. Next year, I can drop him off for the meeting. My concern was - I couldn't really stay in the meeting with him and keep a 2 year old quiet. Next year, I can drop him off and at least take the 2 year old outside or to the playground for an hour or so. So, be sure you understand what your requirements are as a parent. I personally just couldn't dedicate the time this year - while managing his sister too.

Good luck!
L.

We love the girl scouts! Each troop is different. The first troop we were part of met only once a month and did very few outside activities. The one we are in now meets every other week for about 2 hours after school on Mondays. The calendar is jam-packed with activities, but, you can always pick and choose which ones you wish to do. You can find a less active troop if you want to. Honestly, it is a great experience! The friendships, the sisterhood... it is worth it.

Our troops meets every two weeks in the school library. I would ask specific questions about the anticipated schedule. How many field trips? Driving arrangements? Expectations of parents to assist with snack, volunteer at meetings, driving, various sales (fall product and cookies) and other time commitments. I would also do your best to get a firm idea of costs. Is it a pay as you go (fee paid at each meeting) or a lump sum up front? Look for cheaper uniform items on ebay.

The troop is only as good as the leaders. Are they committed to doing worthwhile activities or just shuffling the girls to various field trip locations? How long have the leaders been doing this?

My daughter's troop has done some projects that have required time...reports on her favorite planet & animal. Assembling an individual care package for a sailor overseas then shipping it. This all takes time.

I personally believe in Girl Scouts 100%. When I was a child, I had a very seasoned and respected leader. Now as an adult and parent, I realize that Mrs. Bobsin was the sole reason for the success for our neighborhood GS troop.

We just formed a new troop for Daisys, mostly from WIllis lane, but two others....only six girls. Meeting twice a month on Wednesdays.
Also Brittany M Williams is forming a new Brownie troop now. Friend her on Facebook!!

My daughter is 6 and a Daisy Scout (that is 5 and 6 year olds- 2 years)

Then they bridge to Brownies. If your daughter is in 1st then she will be going to brownies next year. Most GS do not do much stuff during summer so her joining now would only be a few months.

Each group is different. I help co-lead my daughters. We meet every other Friday at 3:30 at St. Elizabeth's . I see that you are in Keller. Half our girls go to SEAS the other go to other Keller Schools. Sometimes we only meet 1 friday and we do outings the on a Saturday. We usually meet 2-3 times a month. Except this month is a little different. We have a few "spring" things. Such as Daddy/Grandpa Daughter dance, rangers game and pinewood derby.

If you would like to come to our troop since we meet early we would be glad to have you join! Most troops meet in the evening. This wouldn't have worked for us! Also some troops have as much as 20 girls! We have about 12 and our girls are active. We get to do lots of things and it never costs you anything. A lot of troops will charge supply fees. I have some friends that have paid 50-150 dollars a year! the girls should be selling and "earning" activities free!

We do the nut sale in the fall and the cookie sale in the spring. Cookies alone we raised over 3,000 dollars for our troop! We are going to Great Wolf Lodge in May for free (unless you wanted a private room and it was a fraction of the cost only 75 bucks)

My advice would be to find a tropp that is only 1 division (like just daisies) some troops combine such as 3 daisies, 4 brownies and a junior etc...
Find a time that works for you for their meetings and troop that is active! they should be able to do Girl Scout things and earn patches with their troop!

If you have any ?S just ask. You can also come visit us. The troop reg per year is only $12 and so far we haven't had to pay anything all year!

HTH

E.

I have 2 daughters in girls scouts, they started as Brownies in 1st grade and are now Seniors. We've had our ups and downs over the years, but overall its been a wonderful experience. They had many opportunites open up to them over the years because of Girls Scouts.

Each troop has it one set of dyanmics. My oldest started in a troop that had girls from 4 different schools. I thought it was great because the girls didn't know each other really well, they were more likely to work with each other, and the chatty giggling was minimal. As the years go by, more and more girls drop out of scouts. Yet out of the 6 girls in her Senior troop that are in the lower age bracket, all 6 were in that original brownie troop (although they were in different troops over the years).

As far as time committment, there are troops that meet once a week, others that meet once a month with an activity once a month, and all other combinations. Some meetings are an hour, others 1 1/2 hours. You'll need to see what time this troop is planning on meeting.

I am a big fan of the Girl Scouts, having been a scout and also serving as a leader of my daughter's troop for several years. The time commitment and quality of the experience will vary with the troop that she is involved with--all troops depend on volunteer leadership and the help of all of the parents, especially at that young age. Many parents (including me) also juggled schedules with multiple kids, multiple activities and busy work and home schedules.
You should visit the parent meeting and find out if there is a mother that has volunteered to be the leader and what their vision is for the troop - how often they plan to meet and where and also what role she expects other parents to play. I would also find out what kind of time commitment is required of swim team.
The nice thing about girl scouts is that a group can stay together on a year round basis (even if they don't meet during the summer) beyond a particular sport season. I volunteered to be the leader (actually we had co-leaders) so that I could arrange meeting times on days that were convenient to my schedule.

My daughter is in her 7th year of GS....her troop has always met twice a month for two hours with usually one field trip scheduled each month that was optional but usually involved earning a badge so most girls want to attend. Her troop now meets once a month but it's because they've kind of gotten past the age of the crafts being that important. As one mom said, the troop is only as good as it's leader. We are very blessed to have a leader that works very hard to make sure this experience is very meaningful to the ten girls who are in our troop. The larger the troop, the less personal it will feel, that's why our leader has kept ours small but I've seen some with close to 20 girls in it. You have to be prepared that every January - March is cookie sales time. That can be time consuming because you have your personal sales and then almost all troops do weekend (or weekday, too) booth sales as Walmart or Kroger or wherever. Camping trips tend to be two nights Friday - Sunday. We just went to Camp Bette Perot in Palestine, TX last weekend :-) As far as costs, you will pay $10/year to the GSA and then probably yearly troop dues (ours are $40/year) that covers craft stuff, snacks, etc. Some field trips can be quite pricey but cookie money is often used to help offset some of those costs. It's a great experience but it is a committment of both time and money...we have lost girls over the years who had to let it go because there was just too much going on in their lives. Oh, one other thing, a lot of troops (including ours) takes the summer off so maybe that will help in your decision. Best wishes :-)