We had a meeting this past week and we had a great attendance of eleven girls. We have a total so far of 13 girls as one girl moved from the area and a few others decided they had too many other things going on and decided to wait until next year.
We started out the meeting with the circle and said the promise. Some of the girls already know it from last year and the more we repeat it the easier it will be for the newer girls to remember it. I also did a pinning ceremony where we gave the girls their insignia tabs with the Trefoil pin and daisy pin. From there we moved on to snack. Lynne brought koolaid and pretzels and I popped 2 bags of popcorn. I keep forgetting to print out a flyer for volunteers to send a snack for the kids. It was suggested that we have a snack fund or have parents drop it off at my or Lynne's home some time before the meeting. Feeding 13 kids can get expensive. During snack I went over the next chapter of the journey story about the flower friends.
Part of the suggestions for the journey of daisies is to plant a small garden. Lynne had some seed cards with alyssum and baby's breath for us to use. I bought a cheap litter pan to use as the pot and brought some soil from home. We went outside and planted the garden. Each time we meet they are to bring the garden with them and trade it off to the next girl to take home until the next meeting.
Our craft for the day was going to earn the girls from last year one petal and the new girls 2 petals. This was done so they will quickly get caught up. I had them divide up a box of 100 pieces evenly so that every girl got the same number and there were no pieces left when they were done. We all know that 11 does not divide into 100 evenly. By them doing this and overcoming the difficulty they earned their Honest and Fair petal. They then each got 6 pieces to paint the back of and glue to a foam picture frame that said "Love you to pieces". For the new girls, making this frame and giving it to someone earns them the Considerate and Caring petal that some of the girls already have. Though messy this craft was enjoyed by everyone.
We ended our meeting in the circle again and we did the friendship squeeze. This is just a fun thing to do to end a meeting. They cross their right arm over their left and hold on to the girls' hand next to them. Someone starts the squeeze and makes a happy wish for the troop. She then puts her foot into the middle of the circle to show that she passed the squeeze. Once everyone has had their turn, we all turn in a circle to uncross our arms while still holding hands. With a lot of giggling and couple goof ups we managed to end the circle.
I made up a flyer to hand out to the parents about the hayride event later in the month. I included information for the Veterans Day Parade and the next meeting. All in all, I think everything went smoothly and I managed to keep it in the time allotted.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Saturday, October 9, 2010
The Little Zoo
Now some of you may be thinking the title of this post may refer to the girls. In some cases, yes, it does. In this instance it refers to the small zoo in our area. They have tigers, lions, camels, and various other smaller animals. There is a small petting section where you can have a camel or pony ride and there is a horse drawn cart that takes you about an area filled with ostriches etc.
In the fall they do evening torchlit walks so you can see the animals that are active at night. This was just a fun fall event for us to do, there was really no patches to be earned other then the night hike fun patch I ordered for them. The girls loved it! The wolves were running around playing and they fed ALL the animals they could. We even got pranked by a pair of goats. The little buggers had stuck their heads through one of the squares in the fencing. We sent Lynne to the office to tell the people in charge about it after trying for 10 min or so to get them out. She came back and said they do that all the time and sure enough not 5 min later the rascals got themselves out. So after a couple of finger nips and a few nice new holes in my jacket from hungry goats, the dastardly duo was safe with no help from us.
We did plan on handing out the Mag-Nut order forms to the girls because they only have until the 20th or so to do selling. Only one girl that didn't already have the forms came. So the product manager has to call all the parents that don't have them and arrange a location to meet for delivery of the forms.
I sincerely hope that the girls do well on the sales as that is how we get troop money. If we don't get enough money through the sales, we'll have to start collecting dues for each meeting to cover the costs of the crafts and patches. If that ends up happening we may end up losing some of the girls. The economy is terrible around here and we are all affected. To spare even $5 a meeting is in some cases is too much for parents to do.
I have to plan a regular meeting for later this week. I try to include a lesson of value and a craft at the very least. I am hoping to incorporate a petal earned into this meeting but I'll have to see how I can make that work. One petal that we need to earn is for making the world a better place. I am thinking that we could have a weekend meeting in the local state park and plant a tree. We could have a little sign at it so that they know which one is theirs. I'll have to contact the park to see if this would be allowed and if there are any specific rules we need to follow to do so. That would be something to be done on a weekend meeting this fall or in the spring.
We also need to tour a fire station and if possible a police station and we will earn a petal for that. They have about half of their petals so between those and the journey patches, we have a lot of work ahead of us. I'm working hard to make this the best experience I can for the girls. I hope they all enjoy themselves and learn new and wonderful things.
Until next time.....
In the fall they do evening torchlit walks so you can see the animals that are active at night. This was just a fun fall event for us to do, there was really no patches to be earned other then the night hike fun patch I ordered for them. The girls loved it! The wolves were running around playing and they fed ALL the animals they could. We even got pranked by a pair of goats. The little buggers had stuck their heads through one of the squares in the fencing. We sent Lynne to the office to tell the people in charge about it after trying for 10 min or so to get them out. She came back and said they do that all the time and sure enough not 5 min later the rascals got themselves out. So after a couple of finger nips and a few nice new holes in my jacket from hungry goats, the dastardly duo was safe with no help from us.
We did plan on handing out the Mag-Nut order forms to the girls because they only have until the 20th or so to do selling. Only one girl that didn't already have the forms came. So the product manager has to call all the parents that don't have them and arrange a location to meet for delivery of the forms.
I sincerely hope that the girls do well on the sales as that is how we get troop money. If we don't get enough money through the sales, we'll have to start collecting dues for each meeting to cover the costs of the crafts and patches. If that ends up happening we may end up losing some of the girls. The economy is terrible around here and we are all affected. To spare even $5 a meeting is in some cases is too much for parents to do.
I have to plan a regular meeting for later this week. I try to include a lesson of value and a craft at the very least. I am hoping to incorporate a petal earned into this meeting but I'll have to see how I can make that work. One petal that we need to earn is for making the world a better place. I am thinking that we could have a weekend meeting in the local state park and plant a tree. We could have a little sign at it so that they know which one is theirs. I'll have to contact the park to see if this would be allowed and if there are any specific rules we need to follow to do so. That would be something to be done on a weekend meeting this fall or in the spring.
We also need to tour a fire station and if possible a police station and we will earn a petal for that. They have about half of their petals so between those and the journey patches, we have a lot of work ahead of us. I'm working hard to make this the best experience I can for the girls. I hope they all enjoy themselves and learn new and wonderful things.
Until next time.....
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Introduction
Hello all! I want to share my experiences as a mom and Girl Scout Troop Leader through this post. I am a happily married mother of two. The eldest(Kayla) is going to be seven this year and the youngest(Lily) will be two in a few short months. She is, of course, already showing early signs of terrible two syndrome. We live in a wonderful stone home in the country with our own little pond in the yard. We have neighbors but you have to take a short hike through the woods and maybe over a stream to get to them. This environment sparked my eldest's interest in scouts as I would tell her things I learned from when I was a scout as we explored.
This spring she decided she wanted to join girl scouts. We found the website and filled out the forms for her to be placed in a local troop. She was so excited and to be honest so was I. I loved my time as a scout. It was fun learning, great experiences, and of course COOKIES!
At the time we joined there were only a few months left in the school year, there are summer events but the troop meetings tend to end when school does. She loved going to her meetings. She met so many new friends and being home-schooled, that means a lot to her. As it turned out, the leaders were a bit overwhelmed. This is a daisy troop of kindergartners so not only were the girls new to it but so were the leaders. Being that I did a lot of babysitting, made many crafts, and did Vacation Bible School volunteering etc. over the years, I offered to help out where they needed me. They gave me the jobs of crafts and helping to plan events. We finished off the last meeting of the school year eagerly anticipating the next one to come.
Over the summer we did a few events at the local scout camp, which luckily is about a 10-15 minute drive. One of these events was the summer day camp that lasted 5 days. I was unsure if she would be comfortable being there without me so I volunteered my days to help out there. I chose not to be placed with her so I was given the job of helping out in the camp office with the Director, which enabled me to bring Lily with us. Kayla knew I was on site so she felt safe in this new environment. We both had a wonderful time and plan on doing it again next year. She grew so much that week. She made even more friends and learned so many new things.
As summer began to taper off, I contacted the leaders to see about planning things for the next year. The assistant leader (Lynne) held a picnic at her house to get organised right about the time school started. This is the monumental day that I became leader. Neither of us had heard anything from the previous leader through the summer. Lynne called her that night to see if she was coming to the picnic and it was then that we were told she and her daughter were no longer going to be participating. This left us in a bit of a bind. Neither one of us had much experience at this, though Lynne was a little more informed then I, as she was the Assistant Leader the previous year. Lynne is a teacher for a online school and as we were discussing what to do, she informed me that her work load had gotten increased so she would not be able to devote the time needed to take over being leader but she would be happy to keep the assistant position. So we decided after all the support I provided last year, that I would take over as leader. This is no sacrifice on my part at all. I wanted to be involved and was thrilled that I would get to do more to help the girls. The other moms that had come for the picnic were in agreement so it became my job.
Now being a leader is not as simple as just saying, "OK, I'll do it." You have to become and adult registered girl scout (which I had to do to be a volunteer at the camp). You also have to have a background check done with three written references submitted. You have to do an online volunteer orientation thing and a leadership questionnaire has to be filled out and reviewed. (Thank God for the Internet) These were pretty easy and basically just took time and sincerity. I received a booklet of safety rules to follow and guidelines for the message the girl scouts stand for. There is a lot of paperwork involved in doing events and specific rules that must be followed since other children are in my care. I do not have to have CPR or first aid training but an adult in the troop must. ( I intend to get it anyway as a back up even though Lynne and another mom already have it)
So now the year is underway. After school started they held a Girl Scout sign-up night at the school and they had a table set up on parent-teacher night too. So our five girls became 15 with one more that I have yet to get a hold of. One girl was a transfer from another troop and her mom (K) used to be leader. She is now the assistant leader of her elder daughter's troop and the mom trained in first aid etc. K has been a tremendous help in the few short weeks her daughter has been in the troop. She has been through it all and she has offered to help us along where she can as far as the actual leadership duties. Amazingly enough, Kayla and her daughter became friends at some of the summer events. So she is already comfortable in the new troop.
We had to submit a calendar to the school for meeting in the cafeteria and s'more catalog events have to be pre-registered for. These are awesome events especially as you will generally earn a patch for participating. K gave me a site where you can order patches for events we do on our own. Tomorrow we are taking a night-hike through a local small zoo to see the animals at night and I found a night-hike patch to get the girls. I believe that giving the girls something to take home with them at every meeting is important. It gives them something to hold onto the memory for them. I hope by doing this the lessons learned will stay with them. I also ordered a hayride patch that we will be needing later in the month.
There is also a meeting for leaders that meets once a month. Ours happened to be last night. In the course of this meeting there were several area positions that needed to be filled. I volunteered to be a delegate. From what I can tell on the short explanation of last evening, I just need to go to 3 meetings per year and represent our service area. I'll get something to explain my duties a little better, but as for now that is all I am sure of. K is the second delegate for our area so we'll get to carpool. Now over the past few months Lynne and I have become great friends and so far K and I seem to be developing one as well. Being that we moved to the area a few years ago it is nice to have some friends for me in the area as well as for Kayla.
Now that you all are current I'll end this post. I hope to post after each meeting of the girls as this is primarily about my experience with them.
This spring she decided she wanted to join girl scouts. We found the website and filled out the forms for her to be placed in a local troop. She was so excited and to be honest so was I. I loved my time as a scout. It was fun learning, great experiences, and of course COOKIES!
At the time we joined there were only a few months left in the school year, there are summer events but the troop meetings tend to end when school does. She loved going to her meetings. She met so many new friends and being home-schooled, that means a lot to her. As it turned out, the leaders were a bit overwhelmed. This is a daisy troop of kindergartners so not only were the girls new to it but so were the leaders. Being that I did a lot of babysitting, made many crafts, and did Vacation Bible School volunteering etc. over the years, I offered to help out where they needed me. They gave me the jobs of crafts and helping to plan events. We finished off the last meeting of the school year eagerly anticipating the next one to come.
Over the summer we did a few events at the local scout camp, which luckily is about a 10-15 minute drive. One of these events was the summer day camp that lasted 5 days. I was unsure if she would be comfortable being there without me so I volunteered my days to help out there. I chose not to be placed with her so I was given the job of helping out in the camp office with the Director, which enabled me to bring Lily with us. Kayla knew I was on site so she felt safe in this new environment. We both had a wonderful time and plan on doing it again next year. She grew so much that week. She made even more friends and learned so many new things.
As summer began to taper off, I contacted the leaders to see about planning things for the next year. The assistant leader (Lynne) held a picnic at her house to get organised right about the time school started. This is the monumental day that I became leader. Neither of us had heard anything from the previous leader through the summer. Lynne called her that night to see if she was coming to the picnic and it was then that we were told she and her daughter were no longer going to be participating. This left us in a bit of a bind. Neither one of us had much experience at this, though Lynne was a little more informed then I, as she was the Assistant Leader the previous year. Lynne is a teacher for a online school and as we were discussing what to do, she informed me that her work load had gotten increased so she would not be able to devote the time needed to take over being leader but she would be happy to keep the assistant position. So we decided after all the support I provided last year, that I would take over as leader. This is no sacrifice on my part at all. I wanted to be involved and was thrilled that I would get to do more to help the girls. The other moms that had come for the picnic were in agreement so it became my job.
Now being a leader is not as simple as just saying, "OK, I'll do it." You have to become and adult registered girl scout (which I had to do to be a volunteer at the camp). You also have to have a background check done with three written references submitted. You have to do an online volunteer orientation thing and a leadership questionnaire has to be filled out and reviewed. (Thank God for the Internet) These were pretty easy and basically just took time and sincerity. I received a booklet of safety rules to follow and guidelines for the message the girl scouts stand for. There is a lot of paperwork involved in doing events and specific rules that must be followed since other children are in my care. I do not have to have CPR or first aid training but an adult in the troop must. ( I intend to get it anyway as a back up even though Lynne and another mom already have it)
So now the year is underway. After school started they held a Girl Scout sign-up night at the school and they had a table set up on parent-teacher night too. So our five girls became 15 with one more that I have yet to get a hold of. One girl was a transfer from another troop and her mom (K) used to be leader. She is now the assistant leader of her elder daughter's troop and the mom trained in first aid etc. K has been a tremendous help in the few short weeks her daughter has been in the troop. She has been through it all and she has offered to help us along where she can as far as the actual leadership duties. Amazingly enough, Kayla and her daughter became friends at some of the summer events. So she is already comfortable in the new troop.
We had to submit a calendar to the school for meeting in the cafeteria and s'more catalog events have to be pre-registered for. These are awesome events especially as you will generally earn a patch for participating. K gave me a site where you can order patches for events we do on our own. Tomorrow we are taking a night-hike through a local small zoo to see the animals at night and I found a night-hike patch to get the girls. I believe that giving the girls something to take home with them at every meeting is important. It gives them something to hold onto the memory for them. I hope by doing this the lessons learned will stay with them. I also ordered a hayride patch that we will be needing later in the month.
There is also a meeting for leaders that meets once a month. Ours happened to be last night. In the course of this meeting there were several area positions that needed to be filled. I volunteered to be a delegate. From what I can tell on the short explanation of last evening, I just need to go to 3 meetings per year and represent our service area. I'll get something to explain my duties a little better, but as for now that is all I am sure of. K is the second delegate for our area so we'll get to carpool. Now over the past few months Lynne and I have become great friends and so far K and I seem to be developing one as well. Being that we moved to the area a few years ago it is nice to have some friends for me in the area as well as for Kayla.
Now that you all are current I'll end this post. I hope to post after each meeting of the girls as this is primarily about my experience with them.
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