dropdeadlegs Posted September 13, 2007 Posted September 13, 2007 I received the flier too, but I missed the meeting. They sent it the day of... too little notice. When are the meetings? I am worried about the timing. I can imagine the kids wanting to only play with each other (lol). They will get better at it soon. I like the fact that the parent attends... that way I can monitor and make sure my son is okay (as far as his allergies). Have you heard of any Daisies, Brownies, or Girl Scouts? Do they still do that? I would love for my daughter to be involved as well. Our den meets twice a month on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday at 6pm. I can't see these young kids being able to handle weekly meetings. More accurately I can't see ME being able to handle it! Did I mention I am the den mother? The pack also meets once monthly, and being a leader, I have a district planning committee monthly, too. I think the older groups meet once a week. I got a flier on girl scouting the following week, so yes, we do have that in our area. My fourth grader would have been a Jr. Girl scout, but she chose to get involved with 4-H instead. (I know almost nothing about 4-H, but my child attends meetings during school hours. Not sure if that's the norm.) There's local contact info via the nationwide girl scout council's website. Here's the link: http://www.girlscouts.org/councilfinder/
Author Jinnah Posted September 13, 2007 Author Posted September 13, 2007 That's great that you are a den mother! I bet that's a lot of work! Do all groups meet on Wednesday's? Monday and Wednesday's are impossible nights for us, which is horrible... a lot of events occur on those nights. I have not heard of 4-H... what is it? Thanks for the link... I will look into that as soon as I post this.
dropdeadlegs Posted September 13, 2007 Posted September 13, 2007 That's great that you are a den mother! I bet that's a lot of work! Do all groups meet on Wednesday's? Monday and Wednesday's are impossible nights for us, which is horrible... a lot of events occur on those nights. I have not heard of 4-H... what is it? Thanks for the link... I will look into that as soon as I post this. I don't think it's that much work being a den mother, it involves a little planning and gathering of materials, but there is a book that gives lots of activities for the whole year and the book was only $2.99. Lots of games, songs, and activities in it involving a monthly theme, and enough info for a meeting every week if you want. There is a little record keeping involved, too. I still haven't had full training yet (first week of Oct.) Each den sets it's own meeting dates and times. I am completely flexible, but one of our scouts had religion on Monday (Catechism) a parent had something on Tuesday, and a sibling had soccer on Thursday. I wanted to avoid the weekends (family time) so we ended up with Wednesday. We chose 6pm because the kids don't get home until nearly 4, they need to do homework, eat supper, get into uniform, and travel to the meeting place. They get home between 7 and 7:30, giving time for bathing and bed. There are three first grade dens just in my pack, which consists of three schools, I think. There are over 300 scouts in our pack of 1-5 graders in the three schools. Since the scouts are from the same general area, many have similar schedules and I think you could find a den that would fit yours. I don't know much about 4-H myself. I thought it was for more rural areas and involved livestock, but they assured me that we don't even have to have a pet. The 4 "H"'s are heads, hearts, hands, and health. I know the first year is 4th grade, nothing for younger kids, and my daughter has to complete a workbook, create a portfolio, attend some activities, but I don't have a lot of info on any of it yet.
Author Jinnah Posted September 13, 2007 Author Posted September 13, 2007 Sounds like a great book. Did you order it through the company? I'm actually interested... maybe next year I can do that. It sounds like a lot of children participate in this. It wasn't exactly the "cool" thing to do when I was growing up... I'm glad to see that kids are now just seeing it as a way to be around friends and have fun. That's great.
dropdeadlegs Posted September 14, 2007 Posted September 14, 2007 I bought the book at the scout store here locally. They had lots of books, but that one was suggested as what I needed to get started and it was cheap! I think some kids do lose interest and see it as less than "cool" when they get older. I was a girl scout for two years in -56 or 6-7 grade and I left because it wasn't "cool" enough. But it's really fun for little ones, and my BF is technically still a scout, he's just a leader now. He doesn't do much of anything except the annual deer hunt at the scout camp about an hour and a half away.
Author Jinnah Posted September 14, 2007 Author Posted September 14, 2007 I'm interested in buying the book just to have... I wonder if that would be allowed. I did "Brownies" in second grade, but I think that was the only year. Kids are so easily influenced even at young ages over what is cool and what is not.
dropdeadlegs Posted September 14, 2007 Posted September 14, 2007 I'm interested in buying the book just to have... I wonder if that would be allowed. I did "Brownies" in second grade, but I think that was the only year. Kids are so easily influenced even at young ages over what is cool and what is not. Sure it's allowed! Check your phone book under Boy Scouts of America to see if you have a local scout store. If not, you can fins scouting stores online. The book I referred to is called Cub Scout Program Helps, but they had lots of pretty cool books.
Author Jinnah Posted September 14, 2007 Author Posted September 14, 2007 Thanks DDL, you are such a big help. I just read your forum about you daughter... has that issue resolved itself?
dropdeadlegs Posted September 15, 2007 Posted September 15, 2007 Thanks DDL, you are such a big help. I just read your forum about you daughter... has that issue resolved itself? I need to read what I've posted and update that thread. you are the 2nd person to ask me on their own thread. I'll get to it....
Love is Tragic Posted September 16, 2007 Posted September 16, 2007 I am on the fence about homeschooling my children. I want to because two of my three children have life-threatening food allergies, and also for religious reasons. I read that 75% on food allergy related deaths in children occur at school and this scares me. On one other hand, I LOVE the school my children go to... but on the other hand am not fully convinced that they can prevent a serious situation from occurring. One of my kids slipped in the cafeteria last year in kindergarten and knocked his tooth loose and was bleeding... no adults noticed... his friend had to go get help... how long would it take for them to notice if an allergic reaction was occurring?! Aside from the fact that he can sometimes be accident-prone, he is a very smart child, and I am worried about teaching him myself (I don't want to "ruin" him or my daughter. I am only qualified enough to be a preschool teacher). I HAVE read that "homeschoolers" tend to out-score children who attend "regular school", but I do not know how biased the results were. Another concern is the social aspect of it. My kids are funny and friendly... every time I go to the school, someone tells me how great they are and how they get along with everyone. I don't want to take that away from them. Does anyone homeschool their children? Do you like it? What are the results? Do the children resent it? Are they keeping up with national standards? Is it hard to maintain friendships? Any information will help. Tell me everything and anything you know about homeschooling. You can even tell me what you would do in a similar situation. Thanks! I was home-schooled 5th through 12th grade, and i loved it! My brother was also home-schooled from 2nd through 12th. It was a great experience with me and had no negative effect on my social skills or academic performance. I dont know what area you live in, but many areas have Homeschool Co-ops that you can join, and they meet a couple times a week so that the kids can be social with each other and even take classes such as art, gym, music, etc. I always had a blast hanging out with the kids my age. I have never regretted not going to an actual public school. Prior to being home-schooled, i had been in both private and public schools. Home-schooling remains the most positive experience of my life. I would complete all my schoolwork by noon, and have the rest of the day to be a kid, as there are no distractions such as recess, etc. Plus, my mother would take us on various "field trips" for educational purposes. I feel that homeschooling enabled me to become very mature at a very young age. Im sure that you are concerned about the social dilemma of home-schooling-there is a risk of your child becoming a bit of a loner,as my brother is. But that is mainly due to lack of being around other children. So i would consider joining a co-op for this issue alone. I suppose your only other dilemma is if you can stand having your kids day in and day out! lol..
Author Jinnah Posted September 16, 2007 Author Posted September 16, 2007 Love is Tragic, thanks for the response. It was very encouraging. What time did you start homeschool in the morning? What curriculum did you use? Were you able to get into college? My kids are friendly so keeping friends won't be a problem. I just want them to be able to make more as the years go on. The Parks & Recreation Center along with the homeschool groups should be a big help. I think my son will do better outside of school. He is very smart and gets really good grades, but he talks a lot in class and plays pranks (like writing a fake name on his test to confuse the teacher). He won't get away with that here, so I think he can learn even more and move ahead faster... maybe even finish school faster.
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