I'm resurrecting this topic but with a different spin. My DD is gifted and dysgraphia; straight As, no behavioral problems, extremely easy-going and makes friends easy. She's been in Brownies 2 years now and just finished attending her first week long Brownie resident camp. She said she missed us at night but not during the day. She wants to go back; loved riding the horses. ["Well, at least until I'm old enough for Space Camp," she says.]
She had loved Brownies... until around Jan of this year. She wanted to quit: "it's just like school". I didn't understand until I actually attended a meeting. It seems to obvious to me now. I know the leaders have to work and talk and deal with these girls at their age level...meaning their school-grade level as well. Some barely read at grade level - which is ok - but slows down my daughter's mind that moves 9th-grade gast. When they answer questions, the "quality of the answers" is frighteningly "at grade level".
For example, they are going over "How do animals communicate?" for a portion of their Mammals badge. There are 12 girls in the troop. Over half say, animals don't communicate until the leader gives hints. Then they go around the group one-by-one and each girl gives and example: my cat meows when hungry, dog barks at the door.
They get to my daughter: "The mother mouse takes lots of paper or bark or bedding and pulls it all into one corner and won't come out. She does this to tell you that she's ready to give birth and wants to be left alone." She got it from a library book she checked out the year before.
Has anyone ever heard of a girl "moving up" a troop? This particular Brownie troop is "paired" with a Junior troop (because the leader has girls in both). When they go on a nighttime cookout, my daughter impresses the 5th graders with her knowledge of the stars, constellations, and planets and really doesn't even speak to the girls her age who are too busy complaining they are cold. *sigh*
I know troops in rural areas can have members of all ages. There can even be "Juliette" Scouts who are individuals who pay their dues, do activities on their own, etc. [She could still attend summer camps this way?? Hmm...]
