Fourth Grade 2016 - Age 9

Fourth grade is feeling a bit *weird* to me. In the past, I've felt each grade to be an exciting new page in the book of Tessa. This year feels more like we've started a new paragraph on last year's page. I can't quite pinpoint why. Maybe it's our curriculum. Maybe it's Tessa's age. Maybe we've hit some sort of homeschooling plateau. Maybe it's the gloomy skies. Maybe it's simply the nature of fourth grade. Whatever the reason, the plan is pretty simple this year...relax, march on, and enjoy.

Tessa's Third Grade 2015 - Age 8 pic. - Look how much her hair has grown!

Tessa's first day of fourth grade!

Brownie My Promise, My Faith Pin

Here we are about two years out from the last time Tessa earned a My Promise, My Faith pin and I feel nearly the same way about the requirements as I did then. Again, this award seems to be written directly to the girl, but it feels so abstract and intangible. Even though Tessa has two more years of knowledge, life experience, and skill under her belt, I still can't imagine her tackling this on her own. In all honesty, it was a booger for me to plan. Researching and aligning the steps to a specific line of the Girl Scout Law is very time consuming and really not all that much fun.

My goal for this pin was to design a scouting helper that was accessible to Tessa...something enjoyable that was simple and flowed from one step to the next with ease. Instead of having a bunch of separate little projects, I poured all of the steps into one cohesive, easy-to-use booklet. I ended up putting a lot of time and energy into this project, so I was a little happy cloud when it worked just as I had planned.

The resources listed below are the ones we used to fulfill the requirements of the Brownie My Promise, My Faith Pin. These requirements may also be found on page 37 of The Brownie Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting.

My Promise, My Faith Pin

You can earn this pin each year that you're a Brownie. You'll find that Girl Scouting and your faith have a lot in common!

1. Choose one line from the Girl Scout Law. Find a story, song, or poem from your faith with the same ideas. Talk with your family or friends about what the Law and the story, song, or poem have in common.

• Tessa selected "Honest and Fair" with a focus on "Fair" from the Girl Scout Law.
• Tessa read "The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard" and completed the corresponding activity from Growing Girls "Living 'Fair' All-In-One Booklet".

Tessa completed a clock and coin activity to help her better understand that every worker in "The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard" received the same agreed-to pay no matter what time they went to work at the master's vineyard. On the next page, she learned that the master of the vineyard represents God, the workers God's people, and the pay eternal life in heaven.

2. Find a woman in your own or another faith community. Ask her how she tries to use that line of the Law in her life.

Once again, I opted to help Tessa complete this requirement in an alternative way so I could control the quality of the lesson. Instead of finding a living woman of faith, I chose a historical woman of faith. Tessa has been studying modern American history this year and has a keen interest in the times and people surrounding the Civil War. I knew Harriet Tubman, a deeply religious Christian abolitionist who lived from 1820 to 1913, would be a good pick for Tessa's historic woman of faith as a Brownie.

• Read Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford to Tessa, a Caldecott Honor Book that focuses on Tubman's spiritual journey as a slave and conductor on the Underground Railroad. (Tubman and this book would also work well for the "Courageous and Strong" line of the Girl Scout Law.)
• Completed "Harriet Tubman" drawing and writing prompt from Growing Girls "Living 'Fair' All-In-One Booklet".

Tessa's completed drawing and writing prompt for Tubman. She wrote, "She led slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad," for how Harriet Tubman was fair.

3. Gather three inspirational quotes by women that fit with that line of the Girl Scout Law. Put them where you can see them every day!

• Tessa chose, cut, and pasted three quotes on being fair that she found inspirational from a selection in the Growing Girls "Living 'Fair' All-In-One Booklet".

Her favorite quote was...

"It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself."

- Eleanor Roosevelt, Former First Lady of the United States

How funny, I just noticed that we used a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt for Tessa's Daisy My Promise, My Faith pin too. Quite a quotable lady. It will be interesting to see how many more times she pops up during Tessa's Girl Scout career.

4. Make something to remind you of what you've learned. It might be a drawing, painting, or poster. You could also make up a story or a skit.

• Completed Growing Girls "Living 'Fair' All-In-One Booklet".

5. Keep the connection strong. Talk with your friends, family, or a group in your faith community about what you've learned about your faith and Girl Scouting. Ask them to help you live the Law and your faith. Maybe you can show them what you just made or perform your skit!

• Instead of sharing her completed booklet, Tessa opted to print and pass out the color version of the "Honest and Fair" faith-based bookmarks included in the Growing Girls "Living 'Fair' All-In-One Booklet" activity pack. I was a little surprised by how excited she was to do this. She had a whole list of people she wanted to give them to.
• Shared Tessa's work for earning her Brownie My Promise, My Faith Pin with the world via this blog.

Looking for more My Promise, My Faith pin ideas?

Check out my Considerate & Caring Kit - Girl Scouts - "My Promise, My Faith" Pin - All Steps! printable scouting helper.

Introducing Growing Girls Scouting Helpers on Teachers Pay Teachers

I am super excited to introduce Blue House School's new Growing Girls Scouting Helpers store on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Growing Girls Scouting Helpers TPT Store

I have immensely enjoyed sharing my daughter's Girl Scout badge-earning efforts these past few years on Blue House School blog. In this time, I have been both humbled and delighted to learn that other leaders and parents have found these posts useful in our shared pursuit to help girls grow into strong, independent women. Understanding just how overwhelming and time-consuming researching and planning badge projects can be has led me to want to help even more.

Growing Girls Scouting Helpers offers printable paper activity packs designed to fulfill various Girl Scout badge steps with minimal supplies, ink and time. They are perfect for the leader on the go, or a quick-and-easy way to squeeze one more step into a troop meeting. Many are also ideal for multi-level troops where a leader's time may be divided, for home use, badge make-up packets, and Juliettes.

Shop Growing Girls Scouting Helpers at Teachers Pay Teachers. Be sure to click the green star under my name to follow me and receive new product updates and sale announcements.

Follow the Growing Girls Scouting Helpers Pinterest board for new product updates as well!