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Treflienne

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Posts posted by Treflienne

  1. 2 hours ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

    Siblings are a distraction and can hurt the program.

    My experience is in GSUSA where tagalongs are strictly discouraged.   But still, sometimes the only way a mom can volunteer is if she can bring her younger child along.   (And if she does not volunteer then there is no troop.)   So if the only way you can get enough volunteers for a GSUSA troop (or perhaps for a cub scout den) is to have tagalongs, then you cope the best you can.

    As far as who to recruit for being the tagalong watcher:   If there is a parent who always has a younger sibling with them at drop off and pick up,   especially if the family lives far enough away that the parent doesn't go home during the meeting but instead hangs out at a nearby playground,  then that parent would be a good one to recruit. 

  2. My kindergarten Daisy Girl Scout troop had a similar issue.   The other leader had a preschool daughter (too young to participate with the 5-6-year-olds) and our meetings were at a time of day when the dads were still at work.    Our solution:   recruit a third mom, who had a Daisy daughter and a 2-year-old daughter.   This third mom came to every meeting and looked after the two younger siblings. (She typically brought somthing crafty for them to do.  And they only occasionally joined in with the older girls when it was something they could do without being disruptive.)   And after a couple of years, when the younger siblings were old enough not to need so much extra attention, this mom was willing to  become a troop leader also. 

    Of course,  it may depend on the personalities of the particular preschoolers.

     

    • Upvote 1
  3. On 6/25/2018 at 10:48 AM, T2Eagle said:

    Dangers from wagons, none that I can think of.

    Surely some of you in your childhood must have done what I did:  Drag your radio-flyer wagon to the top of the hill.  Climb in.  Let gravity take you to the bottom.  Hopefully you picked an appropriate hill.

    But used as a tool,  rather than as a gravity-powered car,  wagons seem quite harmless.

    • Upvote 1
  4. 47 minutes ago, RememberSchiff said:

    According to the nbcnews article

          "Trained “playworkers” monitor the children, though they step in only if absolutely necessary — much like lifeguards."

    And according to https://govisland.com/things-to-do/activities/2018-playgroundnycs-yard

          "There are play:groundNYC playworkers in the Yard at all times."

    Not exactly free range.

     

  5. On 6/23/2018 at 8:15 AM, RememberSchiff said:

    We know how to create women leaders. When we look at our life results of our alumni, you know, three-fourths of our female senators were Girl Scouts. All three female secretaries of state, Girl Scouts.

    When I go to Silicon Valley, almost every female tech leader who was born in the US, she was a Girl Scout. Almost every female astronaut that's gone into space is a Girl Scout. So we know what works.

    Correlation is not causation.

    Causation could flow in a different direction.  The same families and communities that had the resources to provide ample educational opportunities for their girls may also have been the ones who had the resources (in money but especially in time) to get the girl scout troops organized. 

  6. 11 minutes ago, ParkMan said:

    All our talk about structure of troops is for nothing if there are no girls to join.

    That's my concern.

    So far my daughter doesn't know of any other girls in our town wanting to join Scouts BSA.   Maybe some will appear before February.   Or maybe we'll need to join with nearby towns.

  7. 14 hours ago, shortridge said:

    Whether a Girl Scout goes camping, and the quality of her experience doing so, is entirely in the hands of the adult leaders. My daughter was in it for three years and never even went day hiking. By contrast, you can’t advance in the future Scouts BSA without going camping.

    "entirely in the hands of the adult leaders"?  Actually no.   If the majority of the girls in a troop don't want to camp, then they can vote down any camping plans,  even if the adult leaders are willing to camp.  (Happened to my daughter.)

    However I basically agree with shortridge.  If the adults are unwilling to camp then the troop does not camp, no matter what the girls want.  

  8. 22 minutes ago, Jenn said:

    My son has dyslexia/dysgraphia so writing out the answers to these questions would be a challenge for him and this requirement would discourage him from advancing.  

    And some boys, even without dyslexia/dysgraphia, will decide that the goal is not worthwhile if too much writing is required.   I've seen this in non-scout settings.

    24 minutes ago, Jenn said:

    But making this an additional requirement really bothers me- especially because I asked specifically if they imposed any additional requirements before deciding to join this troop. 

    If they are used to working with kids who write easily and like writing,  they might not even be realizing that this would be viewed by some kids as an onerous extra requirement.   You can educate them here.

    25 minutes ago, Jenn said:

     I'm sure I could work with the SM to make an accommodation for him.  But I actually don't think they should be requiring these worksheets for any of the boys. 

    I've talked with school-teachers about somewhat similar issues in the past.   Sometimes a special agreement was reached for just my child.  At least once, because I raised the issue,  the policy was changed for all three classrooms in that grade --- not becuase I ask for that, but because my conversation with the teacher helped the teacher realize that there was a problem.

    So I would recommend:   educate as to why this is a problem.   only ask for an accomodation for your son.   If they fix it for everyone, great.   If not, you have at least set precedent and can tell (privately) the parents of other struggling boys about this precedent so that they too can ask.

    • Like 1
  9. 2 hours ago, gblotter said:

    His LDS granddaughter could always be a Scout. It's called Girl Scouts USA.

    I'd recommend that people with middle-school girls deciding between BSA and GSUSA might want to look at and compare the Boy Scout Handbook, with the Cadette Journeys Books: "Amaze", "Breathe", and "Media".  (And also the Cadette Girls' Guide to Girl Scouting.)   That will let them see the program materials that the troops have to work with.

    Of course,  national program materials aren't everything.  Enthusiastic and energetic local volunteers, and a group of like-minded girls, could work together to have a good scouting experience even if they don't like the official program materials.   But they might just want to compare and pick the program that appeals to them most.

    For some girls it might be GSUSA.  For some girls it might be BSA.   But the national program materials from the two organizations are VERY VERY different.

    • Upvote 1
  10. 53 minutes ago, Saltface said:

    Between the cost of the uniforms and superiority of other fabrics when it comes to outdoor performance,

    On scoutstuff.com it looks like there used to be a supplex nylon shirt that has been discontinued?   Am I guessing right?   (  https://www.scoutshop.org/new-uniforms/ladies-fit-supplex-nylon-ls-shirt-609302.html )  What is the story here?   (I am completely new to BSA.)

  11. 2 hours ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

    Long short short, she lamented the fact that the onl,y time you see girl scouts is during cookie sales, and then they do not l;ook like Girls Scouts as she remembered from her day.

    The Girl Scouts have gone down the path from practical uniform to (impractical) dress uniform to (today) no uniform at all.

    The early uniforms were sturdy cotton, in a color that did not show dirt, and with bloomers to wear under the skirts so that the girls could move freely without worrying about immodesty.  (May not sound practical by today's standards, but was much better for active and outdoor activities than the then-fashionable clothes for girls.)

    The uniforms stayed in sturdy fabric through the 1940s.

    By the 1960's, they had changed to being dress uniforms.  Still uniform in appearance, (and recognizably similar in appearance to earlier uniforms), but of lightweight fabric and much less practical for active and outdoor activities than what the girls would have normally been wearing as play clothes.

    In the 1970's GSUSA dropped the idea of a uniform having a uniform appearance.  It was now mix and match.  A junior girl scout could choose a forest green turtleneck OR a white (print) blouse, paired with shorts or trousers or a jumper, or with jumper over shorts, or with jumper over trousers.  Every girl looked different.  And totally unsuitable for active or outdoor use: fall down once and you had a gaping hole in the knee of the pants.

    By the time I was a senior girl scout (early 1980s) our uniforms looked nothing like scout uniforms.  In fact, we were mistaken for being flight attendants!  And the uniform was unsuitable for any active outdoor activity.  My troop made our own "activity uniform".  We could buy the plaid blouse material by the yard, and made for ourselves neckers (large, square neckers) and wore them.  Ironically, we were more readily recognized as scouts/guides when wearing our completely unofficial neckers than when wearing our official uniform. (Part of that was that we were GSUSA but living in Europe.)

    And today?  GSUSA has no uniforms for anyone grade 4 and higher.  Just a vest OR a sash (no uniformity here).  If one wants to look neat, (and few troops seem to encourage this) , one can wear the vest or sash with one's own white shirt and tan pants.  Girl Scout troops are barely identifiable as such by clothing, and look really sloppy even when identifiable.  And often they leave the vest/sashes behind when doing anything out-of-doors, because they are impractical.

    Having a scout uniform that is recognizable as a scout uniform is among the things about BSA that is appealing to my daughter.  Sure hope BSA doesn't start walking down the path to no uniforms.

    • Upvote 3
  12. 16 minutes ago, Eagledad said:

    Second, the infusion of adults without the youth scouting experience will naturally dilute the patrol method part of the program to the point that it won't be recognizable in 10 years (10 years is roughly two generations of scouts). That is because after working with dozens of units over the years, I don't believe patrol method can be implemented correctly without some patrol method experience.

    Well, once upon a time, long long ago,  Girl Scouts and Girl Guides did use the patrol system.   Some of us remember it and value it.   (Of course, the troop that I was in that implemented it best had two leaders who had both grown up in the Girl Guides (UK), not in GSUSA.)

    • Upvote 1
  13. 33 minutes ago, Eagledad said:

    I believe the BSA membership would have been better off if National hadn't done anything the last 10 years because there are other reasons besides morality to resist gays, transexuals and girls. However, we are witnessing that without any internal resistance, traditional conservative outdoor youth organizations in North American can be changed by just a few assertive adults.

    What about the girls who want a chance to join a "traditional conservative outdoor youth organization"?   BSA, even now,  fits that definition better than other options.

  14.  “No justification of virtue will enable a man to be virtuous. Without the aid of trained emotions the intellect is powerless against the animal organism. I had sooner play cards against a man who was quite skeptical about ethics, but bred to believe that ‘a gentleman does not cheat’, than against an irreproachable moral philosopher who had been brought up among sharpers.”   ― C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man

    We, as scout leaders / scouters can help out with the practical training,   even if we need to leave the philosophical foundations of morality to the families and religious institutions.

  15. 1 hour ago, Hawkwin said:

     I would personally focus more on what brings us together, the 95% of things we have in common, than the 5% that might make us differ. I think BSA will be much more successful if it does the same.

    Many kids get sound moral teaching at home, or at a religious institution.  For them, the scout law is merely re-inforcing what they should already be learning, and applying it in practical situations.

    It is for the minority of kids that don't get sound moral teaching at home or church (or synagogue or temple or school or . . .)  that even the "95% of things we have in common" that they can get through scouting is much much better than nothing.  These kids can benefit from learning "I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring . . ." (current GSUSA law) even if the scout law does not touch on sexual morality.

    • Upvote 1
  16. 3 hours ago, qwazse said:

    ?? Since "inception" ?? The Gold Award (by that name) was rolled out in the '80s. Or, are they lumping together Eaglet, 1st Class (both versions thereof), and Curved Bar?

    Looking at this history of "rebranding", we see GS falling into a perpetual cycle of re-branding beginning a decade after Low's death. Whatever compelled GS/USA to abandon the Eagle as their mascot? 

    I have no idea why they dropped the Golden Eaglet.  But . . .

    The "First Class" award had recognition problems of its own. Back when it was the top Girl Scout award, you could get the reaction, from people familiar with boy scouts but unfamiliar with girl scouting, that it wasn't a very a high level award -- since they were, presumably, thinking of BSA where first class is followed by three higher ranks.

    Of course "Gold Award", at first, had the problem that no one had ever heard of it.  And I don't think that it has fully overcome this problem.

  17. On 5/15/2018 at 8:33 AM, desertrat77 said:

    I also like their approach of the women being identified as "Girl Scouts" and not utilizing the false exclusivity of Gold Award only, like the BSA does with Eagle ("Four Eagle Scouts playing in the ___________ Bowl.")

    Did you notice in the "lifetime of leadership" video, one woman was labelled as "Celine Dion Girl Guide & Singer".   The inclusivity is including other WAGGGS member countries.

     

    • Upvote 1
  18. So I realize I have been too negative.  While GSUSA's current focus on civic engagement is not what I am particularly looking for for my daughter, some families may very well be looking for this.

    Expecially now that girls will have two scouting organizations to choose from (BSA and GSUSA) it is good that GSUSA is being clear about their emphases, for example: "G.I.R.L. Agenda 2018: Leading Change Through Civic Action".  This will help families select the program that they feel is most appropriate for their girls, instead of being disconcerted that the GSUSA their girls have joined has modernized and does not have the same emphases that they remember from childhood.

    Perhaps it will be useful for scouters and scoutleaders on both sides of the BSA/GSUSA divide to be able to articulate, in a positive way, the different strengths of each program, so that families of girls can make a thoughtful choice.

    (And yes I am aware that there have already been other scouting or scout-like organizations open to girls, such as BPSA or AHG, but for many families those are not a realistic option, because there are no units in their vicinity.)

    • Upvote 2
  19. 4 hours ago, desertrat77 said:

    I also like their approach of the women being identified as "Girl Scouts" and not utilizing the false exclusivity of Gold Award only

    I, cynically, see two reasons for this

    1) This lets them include lots more women, including those who were only a Brownie for only a year.

    and

    2) The Gold Award was introduced in 1980, so the very oldest Gold Award recipients are in their early 50's now.  This would rule out many older women.

    Moreover there is not good, short, phrase meaning "person who earned the Gold Award". The best I am aware of are "Gold Awardee" or "Gold Award recipient".  None of these roles off the tongue as smoothly as "Eagle Scout" or "Girl Scout" or "[adjective] Scout"

    • Upvote 2
  20. 5 hours ago, Eagle1993 said:

      I figure if they do coded messages it would be “Don’t forget to sell those cookies.”  

    After having been rather uninvolved with Girl Scouts for a while, I got much more involved again as my daughter reached the age to join.

    Slowly I have been forming the impression that what the girl scouts (national and council) currently wants for the girls to do is to a) beg and b) badger.

    Let me explain myself.  

    a) beg: There is a huge emphasis on the cookie sale, and also an emphasis on the fall product sale.  It is made very clear to the troops that no other fundraising whatsoever may be done unless these two fundraisers are done by the troop.  These provide but little money to the troops themselves, and involve the girls begging their friends, relatives, and neighbors to buy overpriced stuff that they don't actually need or want.  My daughter has even been sent emails from the council saying " Online Sales Your goal is $200.00 and you have $0.00 in total online sales. " when her troop was skipping the fall product sale.

    b) badger: The girl scouts have shifted from emphasizing service projects to something they call "Take Action" projects.  It seems to be an encouraged thing for the girls not so much to do helpful things themselves, but to persuade other people to do things.  For example, from the "Junior Girls Guide to Girl Scouting" (page 6 of the bronze
    award insert) one of the example "take action" projects is petitioning the local government to add a stop sign near the school. The example given in the Junior "Agent of Change" Journey is persuading local people to volunteer at the local animal shelter.  The current emphasis "G.I.R.L. Agenda 2018: Leading Change Through Civic Action" seems
    right in line with what is in the books.

    I'd rather, at my daughter's age, the emphasis be on how she herself can be helpful "to help other people at all times" and to "do a good turn daily", rather than on her trying to persuade other people to do things that she thinks need doing.

    And far as what girl scouts wants the leaders to do, the emphasize is two-fold: a) cookie sale (and fall product sale) and b) register more girls

     

  21. 7 minutes ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

    Just whatever you do, DO NOT DRY IN A DRYER!!!!!! (

    I echo this:  DO NOT DRY IN A DRYER.

    You may need to wash multiple times, trying different options.  Another to try:  pour liquid laundry detergent directly on the grease spot and rub in thoroughly.   Let sit about five minutes.   Wash in warm water (if it were not for the uniform patches, I'd say hot water).   About five minutes into the wash cycle add liquid NON-CHLORINE COLOR-SAFE bleach.

    Hang dry and check whether grease spot is gone.   If faded but not gone, repeat the process.    If not faded try another type of detergent or stain remover.

     

    • Thanks 1
    • Upvote 1
  22. 2 hours ago, desertrat77 said:

    That said, I still received an old-school scouting experience during those years.  My scoutmasters grit their teeth, shielded us from the more obnoxious elements of the ISP, and focused on traditional, outdoor-oriented scouting. 

    Something similar is being done currently by some of the more traditional GSUSA leaders, since the current GSUSA program makes the outdoors completely optional.

    I will find it interesting to see how many of them decide to switch scouting organizations to a more traditional scouting program (BSA) and how many will stick with GSUSA and make the best of it, given their long ties to that organization.

    So despite the concerns some of you have that BSA is becoming too progressive by admitting girls,   I expect that some of the most "progressive" families may continue to prefer GSUSA for their girls, and BSA will get girls whose families don't mind the more conservative reputation that BSA has.

    • Upvote 2
  23. 7 minutes ago, allangr1024 said:

    If memory serves,  when BP found out that girls wanted to do scouting, he set up a separate organization, the Girl Guides, and had his wife run it separately from the Boy Scouts.

    Actually, it was his sister, Agnes, that he recruited.  He didn't marry until later, and his wife Olave did eventually become World Chief Guide.

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