Trail Life USA & American Heritage Girls: A First Look

Change and new things really aren’t my favorite, but as this year has proven, I do better when I lean into them rather than resist. So when Mr. Butler excitedly started looking into Trail Life and American Heritage Girls as a possibility for us to explore last summer, I didn’t bat an eye. By September, he was ready to sign everyone up and give it a go for the year. If you’re not familiar with these two organizations, they are much like boys and girl scouts with a Christian focus, complete with campouts, earning badges and community service. Even though our schedule was already pretty full with co-op, choir, and sports, we had Tuesday nights mostly open (Zoey had to cut a soccer practice a little short) and both groups met on the same night at the same place. 5 or 6 years ago I would have never believed that my little family could handle all these things or better yet, thrive in them, but as it turns out, there really are different seasons for different paces.

As of this writing, we’ve been involved in these groups for one semester only, which gives us only so much experience. Still, here is an overview of what we experienced. Beginning in September there were weekly meetings where uniforms are typically expected. The whole troop would come together during the evening (AHG at the beginning and TL at the end) and also break into their respective age groups. My 13 year old son is a Navigator, my 6 year old son is Fox and my 10 year old daughter is an Explorer. During their group time they learn and participate in activities that go towards badges they can learn. Throughout the semester, there were service and fundraising opportunities that we participated in, including a flag retirement ceremony during a campout. Many of these events earned badges as well.

Each kid has had a unique experience that has been just what they needed. Rory gets the chance to explore all kinds of outdoor things with regular reminders that God made it all possible. Not that he needed it much, but it’s certainly boosted his confidence and independence. Zoey should be receiving an Aviation badge, a Soccer Pin, a Physical Fitness badge and a couple of event badges for this semester’s work. She’s making friends, but also being motivated to dive deeper into certain things in light of our identity in Christ. Jude has probably benefited the most, simply because of his age. His age group camps a lot and is working on a badge that requires a lot out of him. It’s been really positive for people - especially men - to have expectations for him beyond just his dad and me.

The double-edged sword of homeschooling is that you as the parent/teacher are in charge of everything. You get to decide how the learning happens, which is kind of the whole point, but it can be overwhelming and exhausting when you feel alone in it all. Doing other things - like joining a co-op, sports, and now this - really does diversify the people in your child’s life AND helps lighten the burden of responsibility to all the things. After 8 years or so of homeschooling, I’m still learning a lot of lessons. I’ve seen in real time WHY we choose this path. We get to walk down all the new paths together. I also have grown more familiar with all of my limitations. I just can’t do it all and I never should have thought that I could. Expanding the opportunities my kids have to learn from a variety of people in a variety of circumstances has been a huge blessing to me and my kids. From an ADHD perspective, which seems to be a factor for all of my kids, the structure of badge requirements and built-in opportunities to fill said-requirements helps set us up to succeed on several levels. Because it doesn’t always come naturally to me or brains like mine, I am learning to value organization and structure more than ever. As the semester is coming to an end, I can honestly say our Trail Life and American Heritage Girls experience was a success and we plan to continue!