Plants

Gail asked what we are earning, plants related, so I thought I'd post about. We are going to try to do both the Junior Plants Badge and the Cadette Plants IP. The Cadettes have already done a career exploration and a service project when we all visited the Land Conservatory and learned all about their work to save the native oak trees. They gathered acorns, learned to tell the different types apart and planted an oak sapling. Plus learned about the Conservatory and what the people who work there and volunteers do.

We are doing the Cadette IPs the "old" way, even after they start "requiring" the new way. In the old way, girls do at least 2 skill builders, where they learn something or try something, at least one technology related activity, one service project and one "career exploration," and 2 extras from any of the categories. With the new way, the girls do 2 skill builders, 2 from any category, write their own "smart goal" and do it, and write a "reflection."

So what's a "smart goal," you ask? I don't know, I don't get it. It says they are "simple, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely." Get it "SMART," stupid if you ask me and the 2 girls I work with. If that wasn't written by an "educational professional" I don't what is. It sounds to me like they make up some easy thing they want to do and do it. Okay, maybe I could talk to the girls into that.

But the "reflection," yeah, Girl Scout Police, you try to get 2 always been unschooled, never institutionalized, preteens to write a "reflection." Go ahead, I dare you. Not going to happen, is it? I did it their way, I discussed it with the girls. I got eye rolls, and "that's stupids." You see, these girls have been raised to think for themselves and to not waste their time on stupid filler activities that have no purpose and they have no interest in. They aren't public school drones who will do it just because it is "assigned" to them.

I talked to the 2 girls in question and they overwhelmingly said they want to "do" things, not sit around talking about things or writing about things. They want to go places, try things, learn about new stuff. They'll read a book on their own time. When they are with their Girl Scout friends they want to be out there experiencing things. I asked the younger girls too, same answer. We want to earn badges and do stuff.

Since neither of the girls are interested in doing their higher awards, the dumbing down of which is a post for another day, we will continue to do the IPs the old way, where they get to do more and try more things. We will never need council approval on anything they do. Granted I can see where a public school leader would not have liked the old way. You can't complete an IP in a meeting in your regular meeting room when you have to have a field trip to see or try some technology, meet someone who works in the field and do some sort of related community service. The old way takes longer. The new way you could crank them out quicker and send the "reflections" home as homework. That's not why any of our little group participates in Girl Scouts.

Where was I? Yes, plants. So I still need to read the Junior and Cadette requirements for plants, but I figure that at least a few of their suggestions will be stupid. (See why I don't volunteer at the council or service unit level any more? I just can't keep singing the corporate song and dance anymore.) I thought it might be fun to make planters out of reclaimed things. I have a broken iced tea pot and a storage container with a cracked lid. Shoes are really cool with flowers growing in them. The local community college was supposedly starting a rain garden, but it was supposed to be open last fall and I haven't found a press release about it. I'm going to have to call and ask. But that's all I've got. May and June is the perfect time to do this badge in our climate, so if you have any ideas I'd love to hear them.

Back to my rant for a minute. Where on earth do they find these test subject girls who claim to like all these changes? Pod girls? Girls who are so overworked and stressed out they don't really care any more? Their own girls who they can bribe to skew the survey results? Or is this what institutionalized girls really want? If so, I'm more glad than ever that we chose the unschooling path.