brownies/girl scouts

DH wants me to sign up our daughter for brownies. she will be entering the 2nd grade next September. Is it too late to get her involved?
Also can anyone tell me what sort of commitment it will be on my end?

brownies/girl scouts

never too late.. yes Second grade is the first level of Brownie.

Commitment depends on the troop. I'm the troop leader for my 7 girls. But my troop is way lay back. We have monthly meetings on Sundays for an hour and the girls get together another weekend once a month to do something fun. Moms are expected to.. do absolutely nothing other than be helpful and set a good example for their girls. So usually a mom will volunteer snacks or drinks. They rotate.

As troop leader I do the research with the girls on what THEY want to do and what THEY want to earn. The troop is lead by THEM not me or the moms. I give them the tools and the ground work but they come up with ideas. I give them resources to make them happen.

Our busiest time is Cookie Sales and for Texas that just passed. Otherwise, its just patch earning and girl building. Our goal is to teach them confidence in themselves but giving them the lead. Character by showing them community service. Courage but allowing them to lead the way.

BUT.. I've heard of pushy troops.. clique like troops. I just advise you, you don't HAVE to stay with a troop if you are unhappy. Once you're a girl scout they can do all the stuff even without a troop. I did a lot of stuff with AJ outside the troop to earn patches because we had free time. Then the troop asked me to lead the rest of the girls so they could do it too. Then I became troop leader.

Been troop leader 2yrs now.. been a Girl Scout now 15yrs and she's been in since 5.

LOL
I'm not a blood runs green type.. but I do love it.

Message edited 3/14/2016 6:15:35 PM.

brownies/girl scouts

I've tried very hard to get my daughter involved with girl scouts. I filled out the form on their website - multiple times - and never heard back. I questioned some parents at a cookie sale and never got a call back. I spoke with a friend who is very involved and she told me that here on LI troops are very dependent on parents to help, and enrollment is limited by the amount of parental involvement. So, after 3 years of trying, I gave up.

brownies/girl scouts

In Suffolk County, you have to go on the GSSC.US website and register. That puts her on the waiting list. If there is room in a troop and the leaders want more girls, they will call you. The problem is that there are not enough leaders, so not enough troops. In my town, we're the only 2nd grade Brownie troop and we have 18 girls. It's a lot, so we're reluctant to add more girls. I only became a leader because otherwise there wouldn't be a troop.

Re: brownies/girl scouts

As others have said it is definitely not too late. I oversee recruitment where I live and it's not unusual for new troops to form at the Brownie level. Many moms feel they daughters aren't ready for Daisies and though we did it I understand. So you may luck out.

It's hard to say what the time commitment will be and how much uniformity is expected. Where I live some troops are really active, meeting multiple times a month, taking trips, going to all the events. But they are in the minority. We meet twice a month (Grade 3) but plan to drop down to once a month next school year.

We have a waiting list as well- as the person in charge of finding troops I am definitely upset and frustrated to have girls who want to join and can't find troops. But I also understand that leaders don't want huge troops. I tell every mom of a waiting list kid that the only way off is for them to start a troop. When they can, they do, and when it's not feasible I just keep my ears open.

brownies/girl scouts

being a troop leader is a lot easier than it sounds. The troops should be run by the girls and most Service Unit areas (like NY) will give you all the resources you need. They literally have pamphlets and books on anything you need to know.

I see troops with 3 girls because it was just easier. Makes sense to me.

There's no wrong or right way to have a troop. Some are patch crazy others are service crazy and some are just giving the girls a social acceptance place.

Case in point, I am atheist and my troop is mixed faiths. We do work with service and still say the original girl scout promise. I'm not pushing my agenda but helping them build their own. My girls were asked what they wanted to do with their cookie money (goal setting) and they unanimously chose to give their time and use their money to bake goods for the residents at the Ronald McDonald house and to serve the residents who came into the dining area. To help watch the kids they had so the parents could get a break. I was really proud of them for thinking that up. We are also going to do glow-in-the-dark putt putt but hey its half and half! LOL

We have a lot of unplaced girls in our area too. Some troops are huge 24+ and some are smaller like mine. It's all what the leader (or coleaders) are willing to take on. If I grew to 10, I'd push for a coleader to share my load. But I also help out small troops start up. Anyone with less than 10 can email me or call me up for ideas or to just bounce things off of.

There's no one set way. Just guidelines.