What We're Reading and Our Homeschool Read Alouds ll March '21

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 Today I'm sharing my reads and our family read alouds from the month of March..

What would you add to the list? Join The Creative2xmom Family on their journey of being a family of 5! 💑19yrs led to 👱15 yrs, 👧13 yrs, and 👱 9 yrs. Contact us for business inquiries, reviews and collaborations: BethAnn_97@hotmail.com Spring Reading List: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuOMZKqFbkw&t=129s Five Books That Shaped Me As A Parent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P59UdxwXA6o February What We Read: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU8qoglxVzg&t=3s Centered Review: https://creative2xmom.blogspot.com/2021/03/centered-review.html Relationship Goals Challenge Review: https://creative2xmom.blogspot.com/2021/03/relationship-goals-challenge-review_3.html Talking with Teens about Sexuality Review: https://creative2xmom.blogspot.com/2021/03/talking-with-teens-about-sexuality.html C O N N E C T subscribe at http://www.youtube.com/creative2xmom read at http://www.creative2xmom.blogspot.com like me on http://www.facebook.com/creative2xmom follow me on https://www.instagram.com/creative2xmom/ https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/52903?ref=nav_mybooks Music Attribution: Life of Riley by Kevin MacLeod FTC Disclosure: This video is not sponsored. *This video is not intended for audiences under 13 years.

Talking with Teens about Sexuality {Review}

In today's culture of sexuality and preference, many teens are struggling to get a grasp on who they are and how best to approach the world.  And to be perfectly honest, today's parents are struggling to keep up as well.  It's a very different world than it was even 10 years ago.  And to further complicate the issue, parents and teens often cringe at even the thought of discussing sex.  But it's time we take a deep breath and get comfortable.

Authors Beth Robinson, EdD and Latayne C Scott, PhD approach this difficult subject in a straight forward manner that left me cringing at times.  Right off the bat, I wanted to close my ears to many of the topics they were discussing.  Today's teens are being confronted with issues that I didn't have to deal with until I was in my 30's.  But they're crying out for guidance.  In a sex saturated culture, they're looking to us for help and it's time we get comfortable with the uncomfortable.

The common argument is to not bring up many of these topics for fear of our teens being exposed too early or encouraging sexual promiscuity.  But the truth is that much of this is already permeating our culture, whether we're aware of it or not.  Talking with Teens about Sexuality provides a solid Biblical base from which to have these conversations and challenges both the parent and teen to deeply understand the issues.  

This book approaches many intimate topics from sexual identity to social media, pornography to unplanned pregnancy.  I found it to be filled with wisdom and encouragement.  But most of all, I found it challenging... Talking with Teens about Sexuality challenged my own ideas on many of these issues and rekindled my fire as a parent to prayerfully guide my children in health and knowledge.  This is one of the best books I've read on this topic and I'd highly recommend it to parents of today's teens.

*Disclaimer: I receive a free copy of this book from the publisher.  All opinions are my own.

Weekend Links ll March 26, 2021

 

DIY Buttons and Button Crafts

10 Min Pillow Covers for Spring

Easy Lemon Curd

Handkercheif Scarf

Why Cloth Diapering is Truly Easier than it Seems

This Week:

What I'm Cooking:

We had Stuffed Peppers this week.  I love Stuffed Peppers.  They're a little of work... ok, a lot of work... but they are so worth it.

What are you making in this change of seasons?

What I'm Reading:

My stack of books has been tall this month.  Currently I'm loving Pocketful of Pinecones.  It's a gentle fictionalized story of a mother in the 1930's learning about nature study with her children.  It's sweet, innocent, and sometimes overly sentimental.  But it's a nice change of pace and quite inspiring.

What I'm Loving:

This past week, I've been so thankful for our essential oils.  The kids all have the sniffles and OnGuard and Breathe have been used quite a bit.  I've even used a little here and there.  

Do you have a favorite essential oil?

What I'm Doing:

Just like every other homeschool mom, I've been planning curriculum for next year.  I definitely have Spring Fever and dreaming of next year is much more exciting to finishing out this one.  :-)

What I'm Enjoying:

Homemade muffins...

Alice in Wonderland reading...

Afternoons doing school outside...

Evening stretches...

Herbal tea!

What are you up to?

Christ Centered Easter Basket Ideas

 *This post was originally published on 3/12/19.  Enjoy!

As Easter approaches, I've been thinking about what I want to put in the kids' Easter baskets.  It's a fun opportunity for me to treat the kids a little bit and purchase them a few fun surprises.  While I've always leaned toward filling their baskets with practical items, the past couple of years, I've also looked for opportunities to point my kids toward Christ. 

But building a Christ Centered Easter Basket requires forethought and intentionality.  It's so easy to get lost in the pastels of bunnies, chicks, and jelly beans.  As I've brainstormed the contents of our baskets this year, I thought I'd share with you a few ideas for building your own Christ Centered Easter Baskets.

Bibles--I like to gift Bibles when my children are transitioning from one life stage to another: entering elementary school, Jr. High, or graduation.  Or when my little ones are transitioning from storybook Bibles to developing quiet times.  These are a few of our favorites:

The First Message Bible
The Adventure Bible
The Action Bible
Teen Life Application Bible

Books--Books are always a favorite in our house.  There is rarely a holiday that goes by that I'm not gifting my children some sort of book.  And again there are so many wonderful characters and stories to pass on good morals to our children.  There are just a few:

Berenstain Bears and the Easter Story
Easter in the Garden
God gave us Easter
Berenstain Bears Easter Sunday
The Story of Jesus (Little Golden Book)
The Parable of the Lily
The First Easter
The Tale of Three Trees
Amon's Adventure
Our Favorite Easter Picture Books
The Mandie Books
The Sugar Creek Gang

Devotionals--I've been trying to lead my kids in a deep quiet time this year and help them develop the habit while they're still young.  In earlier years, we've gone through devotionals together as a family, and now as they're growing we leaning more toward personal quiet times.  These are a few of the tools we've used and continue to use:

3-Minute Devotions
The Names of Christ
Prayer Journal
Gratitude Journal
Bible Study (to complete with mom or dad)

Jewelry

Fancy cross necklace
Nail cross necklace
Cross bracelet


Toys and Crafts

Easter activity book
Stained glass coloring book
Stuffed lamb
Bible Pictionary

What items do you add to your child's Easter basket?

FREE Homeschool Resources for the Younger Years

Teaching those early elementary years are some of my favorite homeschool memories.  The kids were excited about everything and the whole world was an open book.  Learning was everywhere!

So as my youngest is moving on to a new phase, I wanted to share some of our favorite FREE resources from the early years.  These are some of our favorites from grades K-4th that were used with lots of living books and outdoor time.  Hope you enjoy!

Needs Vs. Wants Freebie for Grades K-1

Me & My Community for Grades K-1

Martin Luther King Jr. Trifold for Grades K-3

Martin Luther King Jr. Organizers for Grades K-2

Martin Luther King Jr. Mini Book for Grades K-2

All About Me Flip Book for Grades K-3

Benjamin Franklins Inventions for Grades PK-2

States of Matter Graphic Organizer for Grades 1-4

Bat Race Game for Grades 1-2

Fall Themed Proper/ Common Nouns for Grades K-2

St. Patrick's Day Reading Comprehension for Grades K-2

Life Cycle/ Butterfly and Frog for Grades K-2

Ladybug Life Cycle Spinner for Grades K-3

Kindergarten Science Doodles

Living/Non-Living Things Sort for Grades PK-K

Chicken Life Cycle Wheel for Grades PK-2

Zoo Scavenger Hunt for Grades PK-1

Pumpkin Themed Time Cards for Grades K-2

What are some of your favorite resources?