Program Tracking - from Nightmare to Daydream! (part 1)

Keeping track of the four Girl Guide program areas and the four subtopics, and the four out of six activities that the girls have to complete in each of the four subtopics, not to mention the two interest badges they have to earn in order to complete each program area... well it's complicated just to fit into one sentence, never mind keep track of.  Over my five-and-a-half years as a Guide Guider, we have put quite a lot of time and thought into how to maintain the records in a pleasurable and sustainable manner and have two primary tools we use to keep everything organized.

One is a rather complicated spreadsheet, to which we regularly add new formulae in order to make it easier and more magical to use.  It is colourful and definitely a work of art, not to mention precise for those with perfectionist tendencies.  In combination with two other documents, the spreadsheet helps us to make sure that everything gets recorded and the badges get handed out in a timely and accurate fashion.  The spreadsheet and its friends will remain a mystery for now, however, until a future post.

Today I want to share the second method we used to keep track of our program badges.  A few years ago I designed a full-page badge sheet designed to slide into sheet protectors and fit into a binder. The idea is to have all program, camping, cookies rising, and service badges for each Guide purchased at the start of their time as a Guide.  As a Guide earns badges, they are removed from their sheet, and given to the Guide.  Last year, I redesigned the badge sheets to fit on 4x6 photo paper and in an old photo album.  Now each girl gets one page of the album, containing four 4x6 sheets, each with a specific set of program badges on them.

The rewards of this system are vast.  It allows a very clear picture for both Guider and Guide of which badges they have earned.  We have also begun to incorporate the sorting of badges into our early Guide meetings.  The girls have a chance to do both visual and tactile exploration of the program.  In combination with a round-robin of each of the program areas (in fact the badge sorting counts for that joyous catch-all: You in Guiding - Learn about Guiding #6), we have found this meeting to help connect the girls to the Guide Program and to its purposes, goals, and intrigue.

Below you'll find links to pdf files for the four 4"x6" layout sheets that are easily printable on 4"x6" photo paper, as well as the letter-sized layout sheet (8.5"x11").  Finally, I've included the meeting plan we used this year for the meeting described above.  This was our third meeting, after we'd played get-to-know-you games, talked at the parents, discussed meeting rules, and divided into patrols.

You in Guiding, You and Others 4x6 Layout (pdf)
Discovering You, Beyond You 4x6 Layout (pdf)

Camp and Cookies 4x6 Layout (pdf)

Service 4x6 Layout (pdf)

All Program Letter Layout (pdf)

Program Sampler and Badge Organization Meeting Plan (pdf)

Uniform Order: Form and Tally Spreadsheet!

Now that the Girl Guide store is online and everything must be shipped to us, I like to create a mass uniform/badge order at the beginning of the year, to help share shipping costs for our new girls.  To this end, I created a uniform order form, which I update each year.  The form includes complete pricing and sizing information and explains each uniform piece.  It is for Guides, but could easily be modified for other branches as needed.

I also try to buy all of the badges I will need for the year in September. This includes all program badges for new girls (I'll write a post about how I keep track of program badges another time!), camp badges, service badges, cookies rising, patrol crests (our unit has four fixed patrols - I'll save that, too, for another post) and replenishing my stash of interest badges (we usually keep 3-4 of each in stock - again, another post!).

So, to go along with the order form, I have a spreadsheet that tallies all the orders for me. The spreadsheet has three sheets in it.  The first is a general tally of the order and is where I enter the uniform ordered by girls/guiders, and the program and other "general" badges I need.  The second sheet has a list of girls and what year they are in both in Girl Guides and in Guiding in general, which fills in the needed year pin, camping badge, cookies rising badge, etc. information on the first sheet.  The third tab is where I list the interest badges I need to order, which will be summarized on the first sheet.  Once I have all the data in the spreadsheet, it's easy to go over to the Guide store and enter it all in to place the order.  By comparing the amount generated by the spreadsheet and the amount of my order, this has saved me from mistakenly ordering too few or too many items on more than one occasion.  Obviously it will need modifying to suit your needs and to match any updated Guide Store prices or tax rates.

I hope it can help some other Guide Guiders and possibly other branches too!  Enjoy!

(The following links will take you to a Google Drive Preview - you should download the files to open them in Open Office.  If you don't have Open Office, it is an open source office program comparable to Microsoft Office, which is available here: http://www.openoffice.org/.)

Uniform Order Form
Guide Store Order Planning Spreadsheet