There were some great things at the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention this year!  There were several great speakers and a gym full of vendors.  I was able to work the My Fathers World Booth for my friend who was sick and that was exciting.  I loved helping others and answering questions women and some men had about the curriuculum.  It was a great learning experience! 

There is always one or two booths or speakers that really seem to make an impact on me and this year I would have to say it was generations of virtue with Julie Hiramine.   She did a talk the first night called Setting a Paradigm for Purity.  In this talk she told about what you need to be talking about with all ages and things you need to address with boys or girls.  It was excellent!

 Sex and Purity and body image and all those fun fun topics are not easy to share with our kids.  A lot of us come from homes where we were just handed a book and told to read it and ask if we have any questions and some of us were not told ANYTHING!  Some really felt they were on their own.  Some of us may not have come from Christian Parents or real convicted ones in this area and so you don't know how to present this information to your kids.  Well this group did such a great job in addressing all of this.  I have never felt this educated in this topic and I learned so much to be able to share with my family.  I thought I would share the list of books that they recommended for different issues.  I know they have more resources and you can check out their site here.  I will mostly be talking about things that will effect me now or soon to be.   Our children are BOMBARDED with so many bad things in this generation, you can not escape it unless you are a hermit.  I want my kids to have a pure heart before their future spouse, I want them to know how obeying God in this area will do nothing but bless them but we have to be more equipped then ever before to help our children make healthy choices for their lives and even then we have to pray, pray and pray some more.

These are great stories to read to your young children with story lines about saving your heart for your future mate by making it a fairy tale story and learning to follow the scroll (God's word)  even when its really hard and being very blessed by it!

Princess and the Kiss  A wonderful story about purity and saving your first kiss!

Squire and the Scroll  Join the young squire as he learns valuable lessons about purity on his journey to retrieve the Lantern of Purest Light. Great for boys and girls, no matter their age.

This book tells about where babies come from, the front of the book for young children (only information they can handle, nothing graphic and the back of the book for older ones)  She reads this once a year.  For the ones out there that do circle time, these resources would be great, however some topics should be one on one with each child.  Prefer.  mom with daughters, dad with sons.

The Wonderful Way Babies are Made  This entertaining, colorful book is full of wonderful real-life illustrations and age-appropriate text to teach your children about God's creation. Great for families with kids of all ages.

Some special time with your daughter-I love the idea of having a regular tea party with her growing up-they have so many devotionals to do with your daughter starting with this one at 5yrs old!

Just Mom and Me Having Tea  You and your daughter will love this special, tea-themed study. Full of creative craft ideas and discussion topics, this study is sure to make the most of your mother-daughter time.

Julie talked about how boys should be taught right off the bat about how he should treat women!  The book that she loves for this one is by Rick Santoriums wife Everyday Graces.  She reads a little of this during lunch.  Covers all kinds of manners.

Everyday Graces  From good sportsmanship to thank you notes, good behavior in everyday situations and special occasions, the classic stories found in Everyday Graces make this compilation a comprehensive resource on etiquette for the whole family.

This one is a great one to read to remind our children that anything under the bathing suit is private and that no one should be touching or looking at them there, its an awful subject to have to address but we want our children to know how to react and tell us if there is a problem with anyone.  This book shows this in a real gentle non scary way.

The Swimsuit Lesson  Mark and Lisa’s summertime fun turns into a valuable lesson every child should learn!

The next one teaches 10-12 yr old boys about all the weird things that are going to go on with their bodies soon.  We are fast approaching this book.

Lintball Leo's Not-So-Stupid Questions about Your Body  A must-read for every coming-of-age boy about to be experiencing, or already in the midst of, puberty. Includes sage advice and encouragement about how to honor the Lord with your sexuality

And last the three book set that helps a girl going through her first menstrual cycle.  I have quite a while before this one but I loved the ideas Julie has for these.  The 1st book is given to the daughter when she is 10-12 before she starts so that she can prepare and not be scared when it does happen, the 2nd one is for when she does and Julie who has 5 girls says when this happens she takes her daughter out for dinner and gives a present full of fun girl things, a shaver, bath gels, candles, and this book-she also encourages her to pray about this new part of her life now and give it to God.  I thought that was great.  The 3rd book is for mom who will be parenting a young woman now!

Beautifully Made!  Written by Generations of Virtue, this is a wonderful, yet practical set of books that celebrate womanhood! The time comes in every girl's life when she transitions into womanhood. Let these resources help you explain these changes in a way that is positive and even fun!

You don't NEED any of these resources but they sure could help you get through difficult topics and do it by teaching your kids in a God honoring way.   I learned a lot and look forward to getting some of these great books to help us through our journey.  She really stressed that we don't want to wait until they are 16 if we can help it.  Telling them our expectations and what God has planned for them young (age appr things of course)  will help prepare them when all their emotions come full force.

Angela