I have a troop of 7 girls whose ages range from 8 to 10. They enjoy the activities I set up and the meetings but they don't listen when trying to explain an activity or inform them of what is going on during a meeting. My co-leader and I have sat them down and talked with them about this chit chat and not listening cause it causes delays in getting things done but the day we did this towards the end of the meeting they were back to their talkative old selves. Anyone got any ideas on how to keep them quiet while we are trying to explain things?
2007-12-05T08:40:52Z
I do keep the explanations brief but they talk the entire time and ususally interupt me several times.
2007-12-05T08:43:13Z
PS I do act like the adult they have missed activites due to the talking. So they know the consequences of the continuous talking...
2007-12-06T06:27:59Z
For all those who suggested I give the girls time to wind down - my meetings are at 6pm not right after school. My meetings always have atleast 2 activities (crafts) plus a game planned and not having fun isn't the problem. And I do use the quiet sign which works for all of 5 seconds. The girls just like to chat and gossip. I think I am going to try the being quiet first and waiting until they notice I've stopped talking and if that don't work than the explain it even though they are talking and for those who listened they participate and if all else fails then each girl will get a turn running a meeting. These seem to be great ideas. Thanks...
Bears Mom2007-12-05T08:31:48Z
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Keep the explanations brief....they are there to have fun and not feel like they are at school.
I was a Cub Scout Den Leader for two years. I had nine boys in the den. I spent the entire week preparing for the one day of the week they would come to my house. They knew there would be an awesome game to play , a planned craft to do,or an outside activity, like going in the back of McDonald's to see the cook and how everything is prepared, and of course cookies and juice. Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts, should be fun, and not so much like school, ease up a bit. Start the meeting by telling them what is planned for the time they are there,and then start in with the projects immediately this will take the edge off( don't try to be like a school teacher, just be an adorable Mom.) I never ever had a difficult moment with my boys....I had a co-leader but she only showed up about five times in the year( no help there)She did come to the pack meetings once a month...Yeh!..Anyway, enjoy these years , they go by much to quickly...Good Luck!
They need some time to blow off steam before the meeting gets underway. If school is over at 3:00, and your meeting starts right after school, consider starting at 3:30, and give the girls a few minutes on the playground to run around and work off some energy.
After that, they should be ready to settle down more. Remind them at the beginning of each meeting. Use the "quiet sign" (holding up your hand with three fingers) and keeping it held up until everyone is quiet and eyes on you.
If they STILL don't get it, try this: At the beginning of the meeting, give each girl a roll of pennies and explain that every time a girl is talking out of turn, she has to put two pennies in the "chat jar." At the end of the meeting, the person who has the most pennies left gets ALL the pennies in the chat jar, or she doesn't have to pay dues that week, or whatever, or she gets a small prize (a $2 gift certificate at a local fast food restaurant, etc.)
And if there's one particular girl who is just too disruptive, sit down with her and her mom privately, and explain that her constant chatter is too much of a disruption, and that either the girl is going to have to learn to be quiet when necessary, or the mom is going to have to come to the meetings to discipline her herself, because you cannot be stopping the meeting all the time to correct just one girl.
Also, consider that in this day and age, some of them may be on ADD medication that has worn off by the end of the day. You may need to have a quiet talk with the parents to see if any changes in medication are order.
Inform the parents of the problem you are having. The parents need to be available to pick the girls up any time during the meeting. When things get out of hand, call the parent and the child leaves. Until the parent gets there the child should sit on the floor by the door.
You could also inform the parent if you continue to have these issues the parent will be required to stay and correct these issues as they happen. If the parent does not want to stay the child may not stay either.
I was a Brownie troop leader for a while. The meetings were right after the school day and I think the girls had too much pent-up energy sometimes. I was very pregnant at the time and did not have the strength to deal with this, so I had them run a few laps around the schoolyard before I would even start the meeting. They were happy to do it and settled down afterwards.