Since returning from our vacation, Juliette has been eager to continue working on her Girl Scout badges. She also wants to work on fun patches so I had to explain the difference between the two. Once she realized that the fun patches were for the back of her smock, she decided that she wanted to work on her Daisy petals first… and continue the Between Earth and Sky Journey we started on vacation, and the Citizen Scientist journey, and, and, and… I’ll try to comment on each badge below.
Considerate and Caring
The next petal we explored was Considerate and Caring. Here are the steps:
- Be considerate and caring at home
- Be considerate and caring with friends
- Be considerate and caring in your community
Starting in the Daisy Girl Scout Handbook, Juliette chose to plan a fun activity for two. She knows how much her little brother enjoys spending time together so she planned an activity for the two of them. For step two, we moved to The Badge Archive for ideas. We discussed the meaning of the Girl Scout motto (“Do a good turn daily”) and I helped Juliette come up with ideas of good turns that she could do. Since the idea is to do it daily, we tried to come up with small things that make an impact along with the bigger things. For step three, we talked about the seven principles of “Leave no trace.” Even though we hadn’t known them ahead of time, we followed each of these principles when we were on vacation in Hawaii so we talked about our experiences there also.
Courageous and Strong
Juliette chose to continue with petals, so next up was Courageous and Strong. Here are the steps:
- Find examples of courage and strength
- Honor courageous and strong people
- Practice being courageous and strong.
The Daisy Girl Scout Handbook includes the story of Malala Yousafzai, and I also found a short bio about Greta Thunberg. Since she had already earned the Make the World a Better Place petal, Juliette was familiar with climate change, which made Greta’s story more relatable. (As a homeschooler in kindergarten, Malala’s story wasn’t as relatable to her life.) We found the idea of Courage Cards on The Badge Archive and she made one to send out to the great cause. (I plan to make a few more with her so we can send them a bunch!) For step three, we talked about a variety of emergency situations and what she can do in each. We also did the Flying with Superheroes activity from Girl Scouts River Valleys listed in The Badge Archive.
My Promise, My Faith Pin Year 1
This award/pin is pretty straight-forward in how you earn it. Even if your daughter is in a troop, she can only do so much in her troop, and then each girl needs to bring the directions home to do with their family. From the VTK:
- Find a story, song, or poem from your faith with the same ideas as a line from the Girl Scout Law.
- Ask a woman in your own or another faith community how she tries to use that line of the Law in her life.
- Gather three inspirational quotes by women that fit with that line of the Girl Scout Law.
- Make something to remind you of what you’ve learned.
- Find out if your faith community offers a recognition program for Girl Scouts.
Juliette chose to focus on being Honest and Fair and wanted to find a song that represented that so I was able to find the lyrics for “We Are Many Parts.” It talks about sharing our gifts and being one with each other (aka being equal and fair). For step two, Juliette called Grandma and she shared how she focuses on being honest and fair in her life. I helped her find quotes from Kate Spade, Maya Angelou, and Angela Merkle, and then typed up what she told me she learned so that she’ll be able to look back and read it when she works on the pin again in future years.
The Catholic Church has the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry. It appears that a subset of that is the National Catholic Committee for Girl Scouts and Camp Fire. There are 18 different (fun) patches that can be earned by Girl Scouts (and Camp Fire Youth) of all ages, as well as two adult awards. It’s no surprise to me that Juliette is interested in earning each patch, but my plan is to hold off so that she’s earning these across her Girl Scout journey instead of all at once her first year.
An Update on Progress
In addition to these badges and this award, Juliette is making progress on several other achievements. In her Between Earth and Sky Journey, she has earned the Bucket and the Firefly. She has also started her Think Like a Citizen Scientist Journey with her STEM Sisters program – technically she’s earned her Think Like a Citizen Scientist badge but has to do a Take Action Project to make it a journey. We’re also working on her Safety Award Pin (she just needs to memorize my phone number for that one). Juliette is signed up to participate in online programs tomorrow and in a few weeks to earn her Global Action Award Year 1 and Cookie Entrepreneur Family Pin Year 1. I know we could easily do the second one ourselves, but I like the idea of her attending a program to learn about her Girl Scout Cookie business since it’s her first time selling, and my first time leading her. We’ll also be attending a Cookie Rally hosted by our local council so she can either earn her My First Cookie Business badge then, or we’ll use it as a launching point for her to get that badge.
Badge Number 8 & 9, and First Award!
- Promise Center (and Home School patch)
- Democracy for Daisies (and 2024 Election patch)
- Make the World a Better Place
- Honest and Fair
- Space Science Explorer (and Mars patch)
- Friendly and Helpful
- Animal Observer (and fun patches: Girl Scouts of Hawai’i, Queen Liliʻuokalani, WWII Remembrance, I Love to Travel, Cruise Ship, Hawaiian Luau, STEM Sisters, Space Science)
- Considerate and Caring
- Courageous and Strong (and My Promise, My Faith Pin Year 1)