Last night at our neighborhood meeting, we had break-out sessions for leaders to meet and share ideas with those at their same level. As an experienced leader, I was assigned to moderate the Brownie leader group. In the course of the discussion, a leader ventured to ask me what I would do with the Journeys if I were still a Brownie leader. In response, I cast an apologetic look at the group and said "I wouldn't buy them."
The response I got was written on the faces of the twelve leaders who were participating and ranged from relief, to agreement, to joy. All of these Brownie leaders had in some way attempted to work with these materials and found them to be a dud. Echoing what I've been saying for a year, I heard "they're too much like schoolwork," "the kids don't like them," and "I can't make them fun."
When the Brownie leaders adjourned, I wandered over to the Daisy leaders who were still engaged in discussion and inquired about their experiences with the Journeys. The response I got was very similar to what I received from the Brownie leaders. Neither group like the fact that to work through the Journeys so much precious troop meeting time had to be devoted to the books over a sustained periods of time and that spreading the work out over many meetings was confusing to the girls who didn't necessarily connect that it was all one Journey. Many conveyed that they weren't sure they were "doing it right."
I encouraged the leaders in attendance to take unused materials back to the Council shop and I encourage all of you reading this article to do the same. National uses sales figures as "evidence" that their programs are successful. With that in mind, "use resources wisely" and return the books.
What I found most interesting about this mini-survey of about two dozen leaders is that they found the new Journeys to be so difficult as leaders. These are supposed to be "canned programs" aimed directly at new Daisy and Brownie leaders who need "what to do" spelled out. Clearly in that goal, GSUSA missed the mark by a wide margin.
If you're keeping score, that's two strikes, the girls and the leaders don't like them. Maybe if we all return the books we have on hand, that will be the third strike and the Journeys will be out.
The response I got was written on the faces of the twelve leaders who were participating and ranged from relief, to agreement, to joy. All of these Brownie leaders had in some way attempted to work with these materials and found them to be a dud. Echoing what I've been saying for a year, I heard "they're too much like schoolwork," "the kids don't like them," and "I can't make them fun."
When the Brownie leaders adjourned, I wandered over to the Daisy leaders who were still engaged in discussion and inquired about their experiences with the Journeys. The response I got was very similar to what I received from the Brownie leaders. Neither group like the fact that to work through the Journeys so much precious troop meeting time had to be devoted to the books over a sustained periods of time and that spreading the work out over many meetings was confusing to the girls who didn't necessarily connect that it was all one Journey. Many conveyed that they weren't sure they were "doing it right."
I encouraged the leaders in attendance to take unused materials back to the Council shop and I encourage all of you reading this article to do the same. National uses sales figures as "evidence" that their programs are successful. With that in mind, "use resources wisely" and return the books.
What I found most interesting about this mini-survey of about two dozen leaders is that they found the new Journeys to be so difficult as leaders. These are supposed to be "canned programs" aimed directly at new Daisy and Brownie leaders who need "what to do" spelled out. Clearly in that goal, GSUSA missed the mark by a wide margin.
If you're keeping score, that's two strikes, the girls and the leaders don't like them. Maybe if we all return the books we have on hand, that will be the third strike and the Journeys will be out.
