Customer Reviews

Welcome to the Daisy Flower Garden

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I originally purchased this Journey for use with my Daisy Group, but I found it so cumbersome and school-like that I ultimately rejected it in favor of extending activities for earning the petals.

My Daisies were at the time entering Kindergartners, going to a full-day program, with scouts after school. Since these young girls were adjusting to a 7 hour school day, I didn't see myself reading them a story from this book and having a "discussion" about the flower characters and tying it into an activity that would take several consecutive weeks.

The story is flavored with multiculturalism, to the point of being trite. To me it felt awkward and too much like scripted PBS children's programming rather than a backyard neighborhood group of scouts getting together to try new things.

Also, GSUSA's new "Journey" program is entirely level-based. If you run a multi-age group (as I do now) the Journeys become even more cumbersome. I hear GSUSA is discouraging flex troops now, but in many situations, it's the only option. Our Service Unit includes rural areas where only a few girls are scouting together.

I ran the original Daisies through 2 years of programming using a combination of petals and fun patches. I felt the petals were more open-ended and easier to work into 1-hour chunks, and if we did an activity that could not be tied into the Girl Scout Law, I gave the girls a fun patch for the back of their vest, which over the two years became a wearable scrapbook of all the fun they had together.

Journeys seems to have been created by educators, and perhaps it would work well in a classroom setting, but I don't think it's something that is very practical for many scout leaders.

Kiwi Magazine Review:
You don't have to be a Girl Scout to enjoy this wonderful book! The book centers around gardening and all of the wonderful lessons that the Girl Scouts teach such as friendship, courage, conservation and respect. There are fun activity pages for ages 5-7. So, if you plan to dig a garden, dig into this book for some inspiration of maximizing the teachable moments. This book can be obtained at the Girl Scout website [...] or at your local girl scout store. It is sold alone or as a set with an adult guide. This is a read-aloud book for parents or teachers because there is a great deal of text and the level is a bit complex for kindergartners and first graders.

Product Description
Welcome to the Daisy Flower Garden In this journey for kindergartners and first-graders, a favorite pastime-gardening-meets the Girl Scout Law. The result is a storybook world of flowers and little girls who, together, do great things. Girl Scout Daisies will especially enjoy meeting the colorful, global characters who teach them to live the Girl Scout Law.

I was very disappointed to see that the characters in this book are never pictured in their girl scout uniforms or attending meetings. And don't expect something like a handbook-- the text is not instructive in recipes or crafts, but is more of a story. The main thrust is how three friends learn about the Girl Scout Laws, but I don't think the idea of assigning a different flower for each one really worked. I also agree with another reviewer that the multiculturalism is rather trite, especially considering there is little substantive information about each culture, just statements about how Chandra is from India, Campbell is Irish- and Italian-American (Campbell? Really?), etc. I wish the girls had been portrayed earning their petals or preparing to go on overnight camping trips as Brownies.

My granddaughter is not a Daisy, but she enjoyed this book very much. I has lots of activities for her age group and older.

My 5 year-old wanted to do scouts just like her big brothers, so my husband promised her she could work on Daisy Scouts. He ordered the book and it arrived with a slight crease in the middle of the binding, but not enough to really affect the use of the book. So overall, we're happy with the purchase.