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The following text is borrowed from the official YMCA Adventure Guides site. You can click HERE to get to there.
What is YMCA Adventure Guides?
YMCA Adventure Guides is a program offered in YMCAs across the country designed to strengthen the relationship between a parent and a child. Included here is detailed description of the program purpose and elements.
Why
YMCA Adventure Guides Exists
During their elementary school years, children learn rapidly, becoming much more aware of the world around them. They begin to see things differently and ask questions about who they are, where they came from, and why things are as they are. During this time, children tend to see their parents as guides, teachers, and heroes. They start to understand that parents protect and nurture them. Ideally, during this period, we learn how to talk with our children more than at them. A strong relationship is based on our ability to ask open-ended
questions that help our children think and move beyond simple yes or no responses.
During these years, we strive to invite our children to accept challenges and
opportunities, celebrate accomplishments, and face fears.
We have designed the YMCA Adventure Guides program to assist you and your child on your journey of discovery. While activities with the whole family are important, we see tremendous value in supporting and strengthening the ability of a parent and his or her child to communicate at an early age in ways that are caring, honest, respectful, and responsible. We seek to encourage you as a parent to “get to know your kid while your kid is still a kid.”
For these reasons, we have designed the program for one parent and one child to participate together for most activities. If this dynamic is not practical for your family or others in your group, be flexible and work with your YMCA leaders to develop a structure within the program that works for you.
What
YMCA Adventure Guide Participants Do
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Determining
the Membership of Circles(Tribes)
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By gender. Boys and girls develop differently during the early elementary years. Boys need time to be boys and girls need time to be girls. Experienced programs tout the success of gender-specific Circles. However, if a parent has more than one child, or the program is small and just starting out, it may be difficult to separate genders into separate Circles.
By neighborhood or other common bonds. Some members would prefer to be in a Circle with others from their neighborhood (or their place of work or worship). This keeps travel time to a minimum and often allows children to relate to friendships already established.
By meeting night. More often than not, parents who show interest in joining the program will also be involved in many other things. Because scheduling is a concern for them, they might prefer a Circle that meets on a given night of the week for the biweekly or monthly Circle meetings. At that point in the agenda when you are ready to break into Circles, a call-out process (depending on numbers in attendance) seems to work well. “All those who prefer a Monday night meeting come to this corner; all those who prefer a Tuesday night meeting come to the front of the stage,” and so on.
By ages. A fourth way of breaking into Circles is by age group—grouping children together by kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and so on. Single-age Circles allow activities to focus on age-appropriate needs and interests. Circles grow up together and share many passages. There is no competition among younger and older children. But if you use this method, be aware of two possible problems. One is the parent with two children of different ages in the program but who prefers one Circle. The second possible problem relates to Circle longevity. Normally, a parent and child’s involvement lasts three to four years. If all members of the Circle start while in kindergarten and stay in the program three or four years, this Circle will die out at the end of that time, unless it adds new members along the way.
YMCA
Adventure Guides Compass Points
The
program focus is the adventures of a parent and child and of their Circles and
Expeditions. At the forefront of the program are the Compass Points, which give
members a sense of direction and an inspiration for activities. These points
are broad enough in scope to allow for variety and creativity in designing activities.
The four main direction points on the compass are the essential components of the program.
• The Family
is True North—the focal point of the program.
• Nature
and the camping experience are integral parts of the program.
• The
spirit of the program is experienced through belonging to a small Community,
called a Circle.
• Fun
is the magic of the program.
The YMCA Core Values of caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility make up the other directional points. Along the journey, adults should model, teach, and demonstrate these values as well as give children many opportunities to practice and celebrate them. Adults should also point out and discuss with children any behavior that is inconsistent with these values. Initially, these four values provide guidance in helping children select activities, make decisions, and choose appropriate courses of action—both in the program and in their lives. As children grow, these values become their own internal compass.
The Compass Points allow you and your Circle members to personalize rituals, activities, and events. You can develop Compass Point activities relevant to your own town and your own common experiences. For example, a group in Texas may build a theme around Texas explorers and pioneers, while a group on the coast may use a scuba or water exploration theme. In each case family, fun, nature, and community might take on a slightly different meaning.
Who
Participates in YMCA Adventure Guides?
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This program is unique to the Buehler YMCA and reflects the creativity encouraged in the Y-Adventure Guides program.
There are 9 Primary Awards: Starter / Songs / Campout / Program Goals / Names / Craft / Recruitment / Nature Trip / Meetings
There are 3 Advanced Awards: Community Service/ Nature Report/ Outdoor Skills
Overview: The Primary Awards are “tested” at Tribal meetings and the Advanced Awards are “tested” at Nation Campouts.
The 9 Primary activities must be completed before attempting Advanced activities. The award activities are designed to provide an appropriate level of achievement for the children, while still not being too challenging to complete.
The Primary Awards are designed so that even the youngest kids can get involved and join in the fun of Achievement and Recognition with their parents early in the Y-Adventure Guides program.
The award activities are designed to foster and promote the following: Self confidence; Personalizes the meaning of the Y-Adventure Guides’ aims; Builds a sense of community with the Tribe; Teaches kids how to use their hands to make things; Enhances an appreciation of the things that the Great Spirit has surrounded us with in forest, field and stream; Encourages all to realize the human benefit of service to others.
Most of the awards provide options for completion, to provide the parent and child Teams may have some flexibility, choice and diversity in how they participate in the Order-of-Eagles.
Primary Awards: Tribal Testing
Activities may be completed in any order and tested and awarded during the monthly Tribal meetings.
| Bead | Color | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | Purple |
Signifies Officially Joining the Adventure Guides |
| Songs | Black |
Memorize Songs: |
| -America | ||
| -Friends Forever | ||
| Campout | Green |
Nation Campout Attendance |
| Goals | Orange |
Memorize Program Aims, Motto, and Pledge |
| Names | Yellow |
Know all the Dads and Daughters Names in the Tribe |
| Note: For large Tribes Eight pairs is sufficient | ||
| Craft | White |
-Make Significant Craft Project for Nation/Tribe |
| -Make award for Nation Campout | ||
| -Make a “significant” craft project and show to Tribe | ||
| Recruitment | Pink |
-Recruit a New Member |
| -Bring a prospective member to a tribe meeting | ||
| -Participate or help with Recruitment Night | ||
| -Preparing and distributing recruitment materials | ||
| -Remain in program for 4 years | ||
| Nature Trip | Blue |
-Attend and report on a “recognized” nature hike |
| -Attend a Friday overnighter in connection with a Nation campout or a Tribal campout | ||
| -Participate and report to tribe on a canoe or similar trip | ||
| Meetings | Red |
-Host Meeting/Attend and Report on other tribe meeting |
| -Be “significant contributors” in planning or running a Nation event | ||
| -Participate in and report on a significant parent/child adventure | ||
Advanced Awards: Nation Testing
Activities may be completed in any order and tested and awarded during Nation Campouts.
Note:the advanced beads are not to be attempted until ALL of the primary tasks have been accomplished.
| Bead | Color | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| Service | Red
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Organize and/or participate in a significant way in |
| one or a series of community service or ecological events. | ||
| Be prepared to report on the event and answer questions relating to the “who, where, what, why and how” of the event(s) and how your participation made a positive impact on someone else’s life | ||
| Nature | Brown |
Collect and be able to identify 10 things from any |
| nature-related groups such as the following: | ||
| Trees, Birds, Mammals, Fish, Insects, Planets, Constellations, Rocks, Etc. | ||
| The items can be collected in person, by photograph or by book or Internet research | ||
| Outdoor | Tan |
- Demonstrate/Explain an Advanced Outdoor Skill |
| Cooking a meal over a campfire, Catching a fish, Starting a fire with a single match using only fire materials found in nature, Learning rope knots, Testing the quality of water in a pond, Etc. | ||
| (The above activities will be reported to the Nation testing group, but need not be demonstrated live to the council) | ||
| -Master the ability to orient and/or navigate using a map, compass, the sun, moon, planets, constellations and/or other natural landmarks | ||
| -Complete a second project described under the Nature category | ||
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