Talk to me about the girl scouts/boy scouts

[ccasanova]

I was never a girl scout so I really don't know what they are about, what they do, how much $$$ it is to be one, etc. I am homeschooling my children, and would like to offer opportunities for them to make lasting friends, instead of just kids that they play with at the park when we go and then not see every again. They have no cousins there age that they can play with, so the more opportunities for deeper friendships the better. Can someone here enlighten me? TIA!

[soygurl]

I haven't had the chance to deal with scouts from the parent perspective yet, but I was in girl scouts for 3 years as a (homeschooled) kid. I have no idea about the cost issue, but IME scouts was NOT a good place to make friends. I went through three different troups in three years, and only once made a friend that I spent time with outside of scouts. In each of the troups I belonged to all of the other girls knew each other from school (always the same school, almost always the same class even) and it was EXTREMELY hard to "break in." I had the same experience with most other mainstreem activities (dance and piano lessons for me). I loved the activities, and wouldn't change the fact that I did them, but the only place I made any realy good friends was through homeschool groups. Then again, I never was supper social as a kid, and always had a little trouble making friends, so maybe part of it was personality. I'm still a firm believer that "public" school kids tend to be cliqy. If you are able to find a scouts troup where not all the kids go to school together (and join the troup at the same time as most of the others) there's a MUCH higher likelyhood of real friendships forming. Also, I had better luck with 4-H.

[PatchyMama]

My dd just started girl scouts.... tho I hesitated because of the anti gay stance of the boy scouts. But after some research I found that the 2 organizations are not connected and the girl scouts has no nasty antigay stuff. So she is now a Daisy and so far loves it

[ccasanova]

what is 4-H?

[chel]

I'm a GS leader. Cost-wise, it just depends on the troop. Most have dues around $20/yr. The uniform is cheap, around $15 for the vest. Patches are usually $1 a piece, but some troop earn a bunch. Being into simple living myself, my troop is overall very frugal. I don't charge dues, don't require a uniform (though even at the national level, uniforms are not required).

As to cliques, most troops where I live are divided among each grade level at each school, but we're in a very active area. So I do see the potential for your dd to feel like an outsider. Your best bet is to start a homeschooling troop. That will also give you more flexibility as far as time of meetings and field trips.

Ideally, I would love my troop to have a homeschooling feel. I don't feel the public schools give dc enough "real life" experiences and find this a great way to supplement my dd's school experience.

[Patchfire]

I'm a GS leader for my daughter's troop. She's the only one in the troop who is homeschooled, but we have four different schools (two public, two private) represented, and two grade levels as well. I think, in all honesty, it depends on the composition of the troop. There is another troop in our service unit that it solely composed of the girls in one grade at one school. There's no way my dd would feel like part of the group there. Since no one is in the 'majority' in our troop, though, no one is automatically 'in' or 'out.' KWIM?

As far as cost goes, there are the basic costs - $10 to GSUSA, whatever dues your service unit charges for the year ($3 is ours), and then we have the Family Partnership Campaign - suggested donation $40 though of course it's voluntary. The girls in my troop all have the sashes (which are only ~$5) and most of them have a Brownie t-shirt (just worked out that way). We tend to do a fair number of events, but they're all optional, and no one makes it to every single one, anyway (well, aside from my daughter and my co-leader's daughter!). Plus, there is always financial assistance available from the council (which is part of where that suggested $40 donation goes).

I really think GS is an outstanding organization.

[AmandasMom]

My dd was in brownies for 2 months and we quit because at every single meeting all they talked about were cookie sales. I'm not going to let some huge coorperation use my daughter as a sales person. It was all about the cookies. No thanks, not for us!

When I was a kid, I was in 4H, but I also lived on a working farm, so I showed horses, goats, and a cow once. I was also in Pony Club.

[dolphinkisser]

[QUOTE=ccasanova;6498299]what is 4-H?[/QUOTE

4H is sort of like a scouting thing but it is very flexible and clubs tend to be multi-aged and gendered. It started off as kids learning about agriculture and it is probably the rural equivelent to scouting.
In our county we are encouraged to do one public presentation, hand in a record book , and enter something in the county fair. You can enter a lot of projects ...not just livestock. You can get blue ( exellent), red( good) or white ( worthy )ribbons. Sometimes the judging gets on my nerves because i feel that it is subjective and random but i focus on making sure the kids have fun and learn something.
Our 4H group focuses on Community services and helping animals ( such as the ASPCA).

[caned & able]

Four H is http://www.fourhcouncil.edu/

Former members of 4H who are famous are: http://www.nndb.com/org/447/000041324/

See also the FFA, http://www.ffa.org/

[AmandasMom]

Oh i forgot about record books! I used to like doing them. And forgot about the fairs too. I used to be in the the county and state fair horse shows through 4H, and just the county fairs with the goats.

[LoveBeads]

Girls Scouts and Boy Scouts are two totally different organizations.

I am allowing my daughter to be a Daisy (future girl scout) but I would not allow my son to be a Boy Scout. I don't agree with their stance against homosexuals.

[sugarbeth]

There's a lot of variety in the groups. I would start by going with your child's interests and seeking out a group that shares those. I'm a Camp Fire leader, and we have a lot of flexibility in how we can structure our groups. I imagine it's the same with the scouts.

Our group is more family-oriented, and I make the parents join also. So it's $30 for a child and two parents, or $45 for a larger family. The vest + the initial emblems are $18, and I charge $3/month dues to cover supplies and the emblems that they earn. Plus we do family field trips every month - sometimes they're free, sometimes there is an admission charge. Last month we went to the salmon hatchery (free), this month we're going to the natural history museum ($2/child).

Some groups are affiliated with churches, some are not. Our group is focused on science and art. As the kids get older, they'll be in charge of the direction our group goes, but that's what we're doing right now.

[ccasanova]

Is CampFire the name of the organization?

[raleigh_mom]

I am also a Brownie Troop leader. We love it. As the leader, I am able to make sure we do lots of fun activities. Yes, I have heard of troops that don't do much, but I really think they are a minority of the troops.

There is one other homeschooled girl in our troop. The others are divided among schools in our area. My dd is making friends and really enjoys it. We paid $10 to National, then the other leader and I had a garage sale to help raise funds for the troop, so parents just paid $15. The troop covers the cost of patches, and most of us got vests off craigslist.org, or ebay. We do have the families pay for extra outings like today's which was $5 per girl. Some girls go to the extra outings, some just go to the meetings.

[rainbowmoon]

I was a girl scout for a bunch of years! it was AWESOME! I have contemplated becoming a leader for many years actually! (maybe I will really do it when my DD is older) I have such fond memories of GS camp and all the activites and skills I learned to earn those patches! one year I even sold the most cookies in my state! woohoo! I still have my sash too!

I don't think I will ever let DS join the boy scouts though due to the anti gay stance (shudder). I will encourage him to do 4-H though and maybe indian guides (I thinkt hat's what it's called).

Glad to know BS & GS are 2 different organizations!

[sugarbeth]

Originally Posted by ccasanova

Is CampFire the name of the organization?

Camp Fire USA

[flyingspaghettimama]

My daughter will be starting Brownies soon, I hope it will be fun. Are parents usually expected to stay (I have a feisty baby too)?

I did 4H when I was a kid, and I think it probably very much depends on your area. In the conservative, rural area I grew up in, the boys did livestock, and the girls, well...we learned how to bake, and sew, and make ojo de dios and other ticky-tacky 70s crafts. I am surprised, and somewhat disappointed, I never learned macrame. It was super horrible. I was homeschooled at the time, but never made any friends there. The leadership was entirely LDS.

I can still remember the smell of that 4H room. Eww.

[Patchfire]

Originally Posted by flyingspaghettimama

My daughter will be starting Brownies soon, I hope it will be fun. Are parents usually expected to stay (I have a feisty baby too)?

With very few exceptions, I am GLAD when the parents leave. :P We meet at my house now, and so often I have all these people in my living room for an hour. Which is... okay, I guess, but a little strange.

[USAmma]

That's a great idea to have a garage sale to raise money!

I know it's a stretch for us, but dd wants to be a Daisy this year. We have paid $50 for the annual membership (including the $40 that dh didn't know was "suggested" donation). Now I need to order a smock for her and patches. Yikes! I know they do a lot of good things, and it's cheaper than music lessons or other things. They have adopted a group of residents at a nursing home and most of their activities involve visiting them for the holidays. They also participate in some of the local girl scout activites like the bonfire a couple of weeks ago.

[dolphinkisser]

Originally Posted by flyingspaghettimama

My daughter will be starting Brownies soon, I hope it will be fun. Are parents usually expected to stay (I have a feisty baby too)?

I did 4H when I was a kid, and I think it probably very much depends on your area. In the conservative, rural area I grew up in, the boys did livestock, and the girls, well...we learned how to bake, and sew, and make ojo de dios and other ticky-tacky 70s crafts. I am surprised, and somewhat disappointed, I never learned macrame. It was super horrible. I was homeschooled at the time, but never made any friends there. The leadership was entirely LDS.

I can still remember the smell of that 4H room. Eww.

Wow....that must have been your bad luck with your 4-H club. That is not how things are in our county at all. We have lots of girls showing livestock and animals. We also have the boys working on cooking and sewing projects.
I am sorry that you had such a bad experience...i never heard of any 4-H club being affiliated with a religion( until now)...so i would not go by that experience as representative of 4-H.