Girl Scouts - Occoquan,VA

As a Troop Leader myself...I would love for the GIRLS to voice their opinion. My Daisies are wonderful. We have two meetings a month with various activities and "lessons". We usually have at least one outing per month as well. Matter of fact today we are going rollerskating. At our last meeting we planted our own flowers talked about the environment and how plants help the world. We also have visisted the local botanical garden. We have made friendship bracelets and everyone picked a name out of a hat and made a bracelet just for that girl. We are going to the zoo in May, we've played musical chairs, and other games to show our fairness and honesty. Each activity we do corresponds with a troop meeting, and a petal or fun patch. Our next meeting we are tackling recycling with the Kindergartners...by having them collect all broken/unusable crayons.

So in my opinoin if the leader is not doing the above then yea she's a in a lame group. Chances are this leader won't go on to next year and you may have to step up. I for one have also assigned each girl a meeting and she has the activity for that night. You might offer to conduct a meeting for the leader and show her by example what you expect.

If you need more info contact me and I will be glad to help.

GS is not about Camping, Crafts and Cookies. It's about Character, Confidence, Courage. If your leader is not actively makiing the troop about the girls then yes you should say something.

About being a leader- it is by far the most DIFFICULT job I have ever undertaken. Yet so rewarding. Keep in mind that a good leader, (and I hope that I am) can spend at least 10-15 hours a month preparing for all meetings, activities, and such. It is time consuming and there are days where I think, what have I gotten myself into...then I look at my daughter and see how much she has learned since October 2010 and I know I'm doing the right thing.

edit also the girls even at the Daisy Kindergarten level are "incharge"...our service unit is very adament that our girls no matter what age. We did participate in cookie sells, however we did not have a booth...as yes I did think it was much too cold in Novemeber to have the Ks out in front of the store. But, I did talk to the parents before I made a decision, however they all said "no not this year". I am always asking for parent and girl input...

The one thing I have found when bringing up ideas to scout leaders (we are in Boy Scouts) is that , in most cases, it will come back to you to become the leader....so be prepared. Not to say you shouldn't voice your ideas, I just wanted to bring that to your attention.

It might help to talk to the troop leader of your older daughter, see if she knows any other leaders of younger troops or what her advise is. You could strike up casual conversations with the younger's troop leader and mention some of your older daughter's favorite things. If you are able to build a repor with her, you might be in a position to assist her and implement some outings.

Is your younger daughter in Daisies? I was a Daisy leader once (about 15 years ago), and we were pretty limited as to what we could do with the girls. I remember they weren't allowed to sell anything, and I wasn't allowed to collect dues. I was allowed to ask the parents to each make a donation so that the troop would have some funds.

Brownies also have limitations, though not as many. They are not allowed to go camping, but they can go on a field trip to a camp site and have a cookout or campfire.

Ask some questions and see what you can do. Unfortunately, your younger daughter might have to wait until she's a little older to do some of those things.

If you say something to the troop leader it should be, "How can I help?", Followed by something very specific such as "Can I organize cookie sales this year?", "I'm getting camping certified and would like to suggest (blank) activity in May", "I would like to put on (Blank) Try It". See what happens when you are VERY specific. It sounds like you have though, but jut incase. If that doesn't work, ask your schools coordinator if they need more leaders for this age. (They probably do) and there may be some girls on a waiting list.

Some things to think about. When we see this type of behaviour we sometimes think the person is being controling which may very well be. It also may be that she's new and overwhelmed and has to "do" things first to know how to delegate or what to ask for. Sort of wrap her mind around it all. If you're there next year, keep trying and maybe ask to co-lead.

I've noticed at our school the troops are very different as far as involvment. Some only meet once a month and don't expect a lot. Some meet every other week and go to as many association activities as possible and then some.

Anyway, I know this can be frustrating and I wish you were a parent in our troop. We have great parents but another willing to help is always welcome ;-).

Added: Also to those who say they can't co-lead there are MANY things that need to be done for the troop. There is a LOT of paperwork and accounting for the troop to track everything from the forms needed in an emergency, field trips money, tracking the the try its. Then there is buying or coming up with the supplies for the troop. Just some of the areas to help a troop (accounting, Try it tracker, field trip coordinator, drivers for field trips, supplies coordinator, cookie coordinator, even just a registered adult body for those times you need to meet the adult to scout ratio.......) So those who could NEVER do it, think of the smaller things in the big picture you might be able to lend a hand with, the more the parents help, the better the troop activities are.

I think the best thing you can do is step up and offer to help the troop leader of your younger daughter's troop. Afterall ALL troop leaders are volunteers.

You are right that your older daughter may have an awesome troop and leader. So why not contact her and say as much? Let her know you think the world of her and you'd love any "notes" she's willing to share.

Then you have a choice, either you can diplomatically approach your younger daughter's troop leader and say, "Hey my older daughter is in GS and they've done lots of fun things. I was thinking if you're interested I could share a list of their activities and outings with you and maybe get more involved to help out next year?" You could offer to become a co-troop leader or if you sincerely have doubts, you could become a leader and start a troop of your own.

I can't think of any GS leader who wouldn't welcome a mom helper at meetings or possibly someone to help schedule some outings. Just know that to become a leader you need to do online training and register and be approved by the Girl Scouts. First aid, CPR and other trainings are all part of the bigger picture.

So get those great ideas complied from your older daughter's leader and give it a shot!

When my daughter first started in Daisy's, the Troop Leader was horrible. She was always late, never worked on getting their petals, and the projects they worked on were either too easy or too hard. There was no inbetween with this woman. My daughter hated going to the meetings. I thought it was a huge waste of time and money.

Fortunately, the Troop Leader announced that she was "too busy" to continue for the following year and two other moms decided to be Co-Leaders of the Troop. They are awesome and they follow the Girl Scout Handbook. Now that the group is in Brownies, they are having a blast while learning a lot!

Today, we're going to see "Annie" at a local high school. Their troop will also get to visit behind the scenes and talk to the actors.

I'm so glad that those other moms decided to step-up and co-lead, because it's certainly something that I could never do. I'm just not that type of person. So, maybe that's a route that you could explore. I would probably start by talking to your older daughter's troop leader and go from there.

Good Luck!

As a Junior (and former Brownie) troop leader, I agree with Aunt M.'s post.

I'd add that each troop is different and can do as much or as little as the girls want (and the parents are willing to support) and as much or as little as the leader(s) are able to do. I've seen super-active troops with lots of outings beyond meetings, and others with mostly their regular meeting times, and some where the regular meeting times were always structured as field trips, so it can vary widely. That's not unusual.

Before talking to the leader, just a moment of "benefit of the doubt": Consider whether the younger girl's leader is indeed overwhelmed -- does she have other kids at home (assuming her child is one of her Daisies), does she work outside the home, are there other issues you might not know about with her? Is she perhaps a brand new leader who's walking on eggshells and not quite sure what to do?

Yes, do keep offering to help, and do be very specific. Offering to become camping-qualified is fantastic. It is , a big deal as it initially requires you to do not just a class but pretty much a weekend camping trip with other adults-in-training. So be certain first that if you do it, the troop leader will be welcoming of that and say yes to camping for the troop once you're qualified. (In other words, communicate clearly with her. And know this, some troops just don't camp that much, or at all, and there's no GS requirement to camp as a troop.) You might find out first if the girls and parents are enthusiastic about camping, because without a lot of parent involvement a Daisy troop isn't likely to camp.

Some troops have a system where different parents offer to lead different badges or in this case, petals. You could talk to the leader about whether she would like to try that. The parents must be willing to sign up and commit to the preparation work, getting materials, etc.and that takes time and effort and readiness to be totally into the projects when those meetings roll around. But it's a way to spread the work beyond the one leader. Talk to other parents about volunteering more. Does the leader have a roster of parent helpers who stay for each meeting? Some Daisy troops I know do that too.

The activities do, or at least should, ramp up each year, so in a few years your daughter might be as active as your older one is. Also, don't figure that the same leader will be with this troop by then, or even that your daughter will be in the same troop. Things change each school year. As girls hit Juniors, things change again as you may find with your older child-- we now encounter a lot more conflicts with other activities outside meetings. It curtails our ability to be as active with outings as we'd like because they run up against sports, church, dance, family events, etc. So know that each year changes. And consider becoming a leader yourself - it's terrific.

I have 2 girls who are now senior GS, they started out as brownies in 1st grade (the levels changed a few years ago). I've never been a leader, but I've been a registered GS and volunter for 10 years.

Your older daughter definietly has one of those very rare troops. I've never seen a troop that's done so much at a Brownie level. When my girls were in Brownies, the big events were going to Suessical and to the camporee, smaller activities included local high school plays, participate in the city clean up, Christmas caroling at nursing homes, making small crafts for Meals on Wheels. They also did alot of activities at thier meetings and earned lots of try-it badges.

Basically the Leader is allowed to run the troop in anyway she chooses (how often and long the meetings are, what they do at meetings and activities, how involved parents are) as long as she follows all the safety rules. I been involved with troops where all the parents are asked to register and are encouraged to help out, and other troops where you basically drop your child off and pick them up, and everywhere inbetween.

It would be wonderful if you could get certified in any type of training. Even if there's already an adult who is certified, it can always come in handy.

When you talk with the leader, I would approach her by saying something along the lines of "Susie's sisters troop went bowling last week, the girls had an awesome time, do you think the your troop would like to do something like that. I'd be happy to help organize it"

Since not all troops are the same, try to reach out and find another troop for your younger daughter, that give can her the type of GS experience she would like to have.

You sound like you would make a troop leader!
Be prepared to co lead or to take over any time you make "suggestions"..

I do agree about asking around your area for a different group. Or volunteer to assist this leader.

I would talk to GS leader. If they group is not doing what you think they should be doing maybe the other mom is really burnt out and is outta energy or ideas. Maybe infusing new ideas with her will help. I wouldnt have the conversation in front of the GS troop. Maybe call her up and offer to take her to coffee or llunch. Then maybe you can speak to her about her ideas for the troop this year. Mention to her you would like to be camp certified and if she didnt feel comfortable taking girls camping, you and some other parents would LOVE to take girls camping. I would sorry to say it tip toe on eggshells. I remember back in the day when we were in GS our trooop leader was not organized.

My other option is, maybe have LS join campfire. My mom finally split my older sis and I up for about the same reason. I only lasted a year as a campfire girl, this mainly was because all the popular girls....yes in elemtary we had BIG popular group. I just founf it wasnt for me. Thats when I started dancing, which turned out a professional thing until i got injured.

Sorry i sort of rambled. I hope some of this helps. having all boys they will be BS. my hubby was he still has his first BS outfit!

good luck mama,-Libby

Your oldest daughter hit the lottery. We are in our 3rd troop in 4 years.
This year we have 3 leaders. The main leader confessed she hates every minute of scouts and would love to quit. The reason? They made her take 22 hours of training and they keep making her fill out paperwork.

We did 2 field trips and almost nothing at the meetings which are only an hour long and 20 minutes is spent on snack. We earned 2 badges in 1 year. Half the girls quit.

Before that the leader made them whisper, color, and eat a hug snack right before dinner. She was "advised" to give up the troop or they would kick her out. She had some issues. She was the worst!

The one before that allowed girls 3-16 in the troop(yes, 3 is too young). A group of 4 moms used the meeting to discuss their horrid marriages and 3 ended up divorcing within 6 months of each other. This was all discussed within earshot of everyone, including the kids. They did tons of field trips with the donations including the movies, going out to eat, and to a water park. Nothing scouty was done and the leader had issues with everyone and did some dishonest things. It was a train wreck.