It's that time of year. GSUSA is updating VTK with new badges and new functionality. I've been poking around and thought I'd write about the things I've found so far.
Honestly, the program we have now was developed with the idea of single grade troops. There was no consideration given to making the program easy to deliver to multi-aged troops, particularly those at different levels. Pretty much everyone who has run a multi-level troop has figured it out on her own or learned from through unofficial sources--though recently Volunteer Toolkit has started giving ideas for multi-level troops.
I am a member of the Catholic Committee for Girl Organizations that oversees the NFCYM programs for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. In the past I've been the coordinator for the God Is Love program for Daisies, and this year I took on the Family of God program for Brownies.
The NFCYM awards include pins that can be worn on the front of a Girl Scout uniform and patches which are worn on the back. There are awards for each Girl Scout level and the books for younger girls are written for use in the family. However, it is common in my area for Catholic school troops to do the awards as a troop and as a committee we have started offering programs for girls in any troops.
While I certainly believe that parents are the primary educators of their children, and that religious education isn't likely to stick if it isn't lived at home, I've also been there and done that as a busy parent of kids involved in multiple activities and I know that homework, whether from school or church or Girl Scouts is not looked upon fondly. We try to make our day programs fun and spiritually enriching, so they are something the girls look forward to rather than being a burden.
The Family of God book has six chapters and each chapter has a number of activities offered. Girls (or in our case , the committee) select three to do. The chapters alternate between focusing on the family and the Christian community,