New to forums; Juliette input needed! :-)

[JulietteMom 10]

Hi, everyone! Seems this is a terrific place to get ideas, learn from other people's experiences, and get feedback from a variety of perspectives.

 

Our daughter will be 7 in a couple months, was a Daisy with a local troop, and we've been told that we won't be allowed to earn extra patches or badges other than what the rest of the troop can earn. Soooo...we are registering her as a Juliette and I am coordinating lots of projects to do in cooperation with her former troop and other local troops, as well as encouraging other time-crunched families to register their girls as Juliettes. I'm looking into what is involved in becoming a Juliette mentor, and am having a devil of a time finding resource materials. I hate to just get started, then find out I'm missing some vital steps.

 

I've gotten in the Council and service unit e-mail loops, so I've been to the first Safety/Paperwork meeting, and will attend any others they offer. Going to try and find relevant handbooks (like Safety-Wise) second-hand or free to keep my personal costs down, as well as uniform pieces for the child-unit.

 

Anyone have any thoughts about finding Juliette guidelines and resource materials?

[johndaigler 10]

WELCOME, Juliettemom!

 

If you haven't already tried this:

 

http://www.gpgirlscouts.org/girls/juliette/

 

good luck,

 

jd

[JulietteMom 10]

Hey, thanks! I got to surfing, and found that with some simple 'googling'...great info there. :-)

[ScoutNut 147]

You should contact your council about training and any council specific rules about Juliettes.

 

Most councils do NOT let Juliettes do money-earning activities or even sell cookies. They can not have an individual bank account.

 

I would only go the Juliette route with a 1st grade Brownie as a very last resort. Half of the fun is being with a group of girls, learning new things, independence, & leadership. The girls learn a LOT from interacting with the other girls & their leaders.

 

If the only reason you are going Juliette with your 1st grader is because her Troop Leader refused to recognize outside badgework, then you should just move her to another Troop. Or talk to your SUM about forming your own Troop. Most communities have a waiting list for Brownie Troops so this might be an option they would jump at.

 

 

[Torveaux 10]

My daughter just turned seven and is in a small troop in her school.

 

Fortunately, the leadership, such that it is, realized that it was better for her if she could work on Try-Its and such at her own pace in addition to the ones done as a Troop.

 

My wife held a party for the girls over the summer at which they worked on some Try-Its items. She is not a leader, just a great mom.

 

I would second the suggestion that you look elsewhere or form your own troop. There are likely others who want a more robust program.

 

Either way, I applaud your effort to do the best for your daughter.

[JulietteMom 10]

Thank you all for your input...

 

Here's my thinking: I'm waaaaaay too busy to start a troop, and don't really want to join another troop as co-leader, just for the purpose of changing the way the leader does things (that seems to be a great path toward conflict, NOT something the girls need to see!). So, we go Juliette and work with the troops to help make area GS more cohesive and more energized. For example, I plan to organize and conduct the Bureau of Land Management's "Girls Get with the Land" patch next year, and possibly do the EPA Waterdrop patch for other area troops as well, work on some other outdoor, "more robust" patches and badges with my daughter and invite and involve the other troops ~ hence strengthening the girl-group bonds as well as encouraging my daughter to explore all her interests. Nobody gets jealous or feels like they are in a competition, nobody feels I'm pushing them to change their troop, everybody's happy.

 

Juliettes will also give our family the freedom and flexibility to do all things Girl Scout (GS camp, major outings, patches & badges) while not being bogged down with permission slips, money issues, dues, registration forms, etc. so on.

 

I've found a few resources online, and was hoping to hear from others about their experiences with Juliettes, whether at a council level, a troop level, or as the parent of a Juliette. :-)

[ScoutNut 147]

"don't really want to join another troop as co-leader, just for the purpose of changing the way the leader does things"

 

Why would you go to a new troop that you felt needed "fixing"? You might as well just stay with the old one then. You also don't need to join as a co-leader if you don't want to. Surely there are troops in your area that are being run correctly?

 

We don't have a lot of Juliette's in our area & the ones we do have were older. With having to fund the whole thing themselves & finding groups to do activities with, most decided it was easier to just find a troop that they & their daughter liked.

 

It sounds like you are planning on putting a lot of time & effort into this. Good luck & Happy Scouting!

 

[JulietteMom 10]

ScoutNut, it's not that the other troop needs 'fixing'...my husband and I simply have different ideas of what scouting should be: we think it ought to be about 'growing the girl', each to their own abilities and interests while challenging them a bit and exposing them to different things to 'TryIt' out. It's about community and service and honor and self-confidence and learning new skills and teaching those skills to each other. It's about encouraging each other and applauding each other's efforts, not competition.

 

This growth can happen in a group dynamic, which is why we'll go out of our way to incorporate other troops into our activities and to include her in GS camp and large GS outings.

 

We are in Vermont....not a lot 'in our area'. ;-) There were NO troops two years ago, and only two now of Brownie level that she can actually get to (within reasonable driving distance).

 

ScoutNut, thanks for the comment about the time and effort I'm putting into this decision; it's not an easy one to make, and we want to do it right so everyone benefits. :-)