This is Ted

I have a favorite chart. Yes a favorite chart. Yes, Ted is that chart. Here's a picture.

So in girl scouts there are different levels of girl scouts. Daisies are kindergarten through 1st grade. Brownies are 2nd grade through 3rd grade. Juniors are 4th through 5th grade. Cadettes are 6th through 8th grade. Seniors are 9th through 10th grade. And ambassadors (not shown on the chart) are 11th through 12th grade.

The Girl Scouts' big thing is being girl led. This means the girls get to be involved and make choices and decisions, however that varies from age group to age group. What this chart shows is how much the leaders are involved and how much the girls are involved from beginning to end. You see that the daisies have some involvement, while over by the senior side the leaders still have involvement, so no one group ever gets total control. The general goal is to reach a point where the girls can lead their meetings and the leaders move from the leader role to more of a mentor/adviser role.

What I love about the chart is that it visually shows where the girls should be in their roles for their age group. For instance, a browning, 2nd or 3rd grader, can do more than make a choice. They can brainstorm ideas. If the troop is out camping, they can chop vegetables or collect fire wood or watch a pot and make sure it's not about to boil over. They can do things and 9 times out of 10 they want to SHOW you they can do something. In a tiered troop that in addition to daisies and/or brownies has older girls that are seniors and/or ambassadors, the older girls can lead the younger girls in getting a badge that they share. There are two badges that I know off the top of my head that is shared across the board through all the age groups that earn badges (daisies are a special in that they are learning what girl scouts is all about), those badges are the Girl Scout Way badge which is about what girl scouts are about as well as some of our legacy, and the First Aid badge. To me the Girl Scout Way badge is the best one to have the older girls lead the younger with because it's simple and easy and really shows full circle what girl scouting is about, being girl led.

So that's my favorite chart. I just finished my training to be a facilitator (trainer) so I can train leaders in various things, such as the new leader training, things about badges, as well as various other things. I plan on bringing that chart with me every time I train because that chart is important I think that leaders should see that chart more often. Anyway, Sanders out.