Respect Life Faith Folder

May I admit that I totally prefer hands-on ways to teach my kids whenever possible?  And that when I had fewer kids, I seemed to have an easier time working hands-on stuff into our schooling?  A wee bit of guilt here because I know several of our active kids would truly benefit from more hands-on work with regards to schooling. Besides, book work gets boring quickly.  But I have 9 children and the sheer chaos that is often generated by getting out hands-on materials frequently has me running for the hills.

But I was given the opportunity to receive a copy of a Life Is Sacred Faith Folder from the wonderful folks at Lapbooks for Catholics in exchange for doing a review of the folder so I vowed to make a bit of a change and do better at getting some hands-on material into the children's hands.  It has sadly taken me a while to complete this project because I would get the materials out and things would kind of go like this: baby is settled into her seat and sleeping, I get about 5 minutes of quiet from the baby before the 9-year-old decides they must go mess with her and wakes her up, cue screaming baby, the 3-year-old decides that he absolutely must drive his monster trucks directly through and over the area where I am attempting to work with the 6 and 7-year-old, the 4-year-old decides that she is going to have a major mental meltdown because she wants to know when it will be her turn to do school, the 11 and 13-year-olds see I am busy and use this opportunity to sneak down to the basement to turn the tv on, the 1-year-old finds a pair of scissors that a sibling set down and runs off into the other room to try to cut up a pillow.  Hey, just keeping it real here folks.  So we have finally finished the project and I loved it.

This new version of the Life is Sacred Faith Folder contains a ton more information than their previous edition.  The new version offers you the chance to cover topics such as abortion, euthanasia, contraception and stem cell research.  I opted not to use these materials for this folder because I was working with my younger children but would absolutely add the materials if working with my older children.  The folder also introduces you to several saints associated with pro-life causes and teaches you a bit about each one.  You also learn several prayers and are shown a month by month progression of the growth of an unborn child.

Before starting work on your folder, I would make sure you have an ample supply of glue, file folders, scissors and printer ink (or maybe a laser printer).  You can also add to your folder by using different colored paper and card stock for printing.  I had a nice stash of colored paper and card stock at the beginning of the school year but my children discovered them and decided they make great paper airplanes so our folder was made using plain white printer paper.  If you don't want to print everything yourself, you do have the option of ordering the folder already printed. 

This faith folder is an excellent tool for introducing your children to the many important issues surrounding the pro-life movement.  I loved working with my kids on it and I know they all learned something from it.  I definitely recommend that you find a way to make this folder with your family.