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We continued with our Pro-Life Prints activity booklet from Culture of Life Studies Program.  Yesterday my two youngest daughters completed Lesson 1: Preborn Babies.  Today we were really ambitious and finished Lessons 2, 3, and 4 mostly because of our family's busy Friday and weekend schedule.
Also, I wanted to have my posts published at the same time as the 44th annual March for Life on Friday, January 27, 2017 in Washington, DC. I won't be attending the March for Life this year, unfortunately, but I was blessed to attend in 2011, 2012 and 2015.  The marches that I have attended are also linked at the end of this post.

This afternoon my 2 youngest daughters and I got back to work again on their Pro-Life Prints.  Besides destroying my favorite laminator while laminating some of their prints that were still wet when I was in a hurry, it was a blessed day! (Uggghhh, I'm going to have to replace my laminator. :(  I was thinking about getting this one.)

Lesson 2: I Am Unique: "I praise you, because I am wonderfully made: wonderful are your works! My very self you know." -Psalm 139:14 (Psalm 139 is my favorite Psalm!)


In Lesson 2 we talked about how incredibly special each of us are and how there is no one else like you. How each of us have our own handprints and fingerprints, even identical twins have their own uniqueness!  So in this lesson my daughters painted a set of handprints, poppy flowers using their thumbs and bird prints because we discussed that if God takes care of the birds needs, surely he will never forsake us and He will take care of us.

Lesson 3: Helping Others: "Yet Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay and You our Potter: we are all the work of Your hand." -Isaiah 64:7

We talked about ways we can help our family and friends and they made a hand print of an elephant because in the book Horton Hears a Who, Horton understands that "A person's a person no matter how small."  One way to help others is to stand up for those who are smaller than us just as Horton guarded the precious flower that had the Whos in Who-ville living in the tiny speck on the flower.

In Lesson 3, my girls used cut celery to paint roses because roses are beautiful and delicate just like preborn babies!

Lesson 4: Praying for Others: "Yet Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay and You our Potter: we are all the work of Your hand."  -Isaiah 64:7 

Lesson 4 was a reminder that the world is a big place and each person on earth is the work of God's hand.  God loves us immeasurably and the hand prints were reminders of how we are to pray for everyone because all of us need prayers.

Here my daughters are painting their hand with different colors because we learned the five finger prayer as a way to remember who to pray for.

The thumb is closest to us on our bodies so we can pray for those closest to us: our family.

Then the index finger we can pray for teachers and those who instruct us.

The middle finger is the tallest and we can pray for those in authority which includes the president/vice-president, community leaders and even our Pope, Bishops and priests and religious.

The ring finger is the weakest finger so we can remember to pray for the weakest and most delicate in our society (preborn babies, elderly, those who are sick and disabled).

The pinkie finger reminds us to pray for ourselves last since we need prayers too!

Here are all the pages from Lessons 2, 3, and 4 to complete the Pro-Life Prints book.


After I get a new laminator and laminate the pages, I'll bind them together and each of my daughters will have a great keepsake book as a reminder to protect and pray for the culture of life.
 
Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I wanted to do this Pro-Life Prints book this week as a way to remember the annual March for Life that is today, Friday, January 27, 2017.  Since I won't be attending the March physically I will be there in spirit and prayers.

Here are the posts I wrote of the 3 March for Life marches I was able to attend so far...







I started a Pinterest Pro-Life board called "L.I.F.E. = Life Is For Everyone" awhile ago, where I have been collecting pro-life posts.  If you are interested in following the board go HERE and click on articles that interest you! 


 Have a blessed weekend!

   

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Today my two youngest daughters (ages 9 and 3) began another Culture of Life Studies Program called Pro-Life Prints. If you aren't familiar with Culture of Life Studies Program it's a fabulous, life-affirming resource that "strives to build a culture of life by helping students to understand the value of every human being and by inspiring a new generation of young people who will defend preborn children, respect all human beings from creation to death, and speak the truth with confidence in defense of the innocent."  Be sure to read more about the program, their reviews and program's components.

Pro-Life Prints comes as a digital download and includes everything you need (excluding art supplies) to make a beautiful and creative 12-page printable activity booklet.

• 4 lessons on the dignity of every person
• Instructor guide
• Discussion questions
• Complete handprint instructions
• Printable 13-page student book

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October is annually observed as Respect Life Month in Catholic Churches across the United States.

Of course, this does not mean that October is the only month to defend life.  Respecting all life, from conception to natural death, is imperative and necessary each and every day, no matter the calendar month.  We are blessed that there are wonderful ministries such as Life Chain Sunday, Priests for Life, 40 Days for Life and Culture of Life Studies Program that bring to light the beauty and dignity of each human life so that truth can be taught to thwart the lies and deceit of the "culture of death".

I was first introduced to the Culture of Life Studies Program from fellow bloggers.

So what is American Life League's Culture of Life Studies Program?

"With our culture waging open war against marriage, the family, preborn children, and the disabled, there has never been a greater need for an educational program that teaches students the truth about the value of all human beings, the sacredness of the sacrament of marriage, and the necessity of the family as the building block of society. American Life League’s Culture of Life Studies Program strives to build a culture of life by helping students to understand the value of every human being and by inspiring a new generation of young people who will defend preborn children, respect all human beings from creation to death, and speak the truth with confidence in defense of the innocent."

Last year my family and I enjoyed doing a "Ladybug Warriors" lesson as part of Culture of Life Studies Program.

Since October, Respect Life Month, is about here my children and I worked on another lesson titled The Beauty of the Developing Human Being: A Defend Life Lesson for Grades 7-8 this past week.  I was given this program in exchange for this review. Though the target age is Grades 7-8, I was able to adapt this lesson for my younger and older children so everyone of all ages can learn something valuable.

As a homeschool mom, I really liked how easy it was to teach this program and it's flexible enough to implement as much or as little as you want in a homeschool or traditional classroom setting.  The lessons can be spread out over four days (or four 50-minute class periods) to complete. We completed the poster activity in four days and we plan on continuing to use the links and many resources contained in the Instructor Guide throughout the month of October.

Each lesson has a warm-up activity which includes brief discussion questions, lecture and discussion with links to worksheets that students can fill out and then there is an activity for reinforcement which has printables of the different stages of life from conception to birth.  We have a family friend who is 6 weeks pregnant so this lesson was very relevant for our family and it was great to be able to discuss how the preborn baby grows and develops inside the womb of our family friend.  

Here are some photos of our family enjoying this beautiful, pro-life lesson:

I placed these posters in page protectors and placed them in the binder where I have the Instructor Guide.  That way, my children can always reference this lesson, their artwork and the wealth of information this program provides.

I extended the lesson and I showed my children the model of a 11-12 week old preborn baby with information about the baby's development.


Did you know that on Week 4 the baby's heart has begun to beat and eyes, ears and lungs begin to form?

Did you know on Week 8 every organ is present, but immature. The baby begins spontaneous movement and is the size of a thumb?

Did you know on Week 12 the baby frequently touches his face with his newly formed hands?

Do you know how wonderfully made you are and God knit you in your mother's womb? (Psalm 139)

We also read a few books about the beautiful miracle of life this week: 

The Miracle of Me 
Angel in the Waters
On the Night You Were Born


Here is an inside peek at Angel in the Waters (which is also a great break to read for the Feast Day of the Guardian Angels celebrated on October 2).


The Beauty of the Developing Human Being Defend Life Lesson created by Culture of Life Studies Progam is a meaningful and wonderful way to teach children in a homeschool or classroom setting the beauty and wonder of each unborn child and how loving and defending life brings much joy, peace and hope!

I have a Pinterest Pro-Life board called "L.I.F.E. = Life Is For Everyone" that I created awhile ago, where I have been collecting pro-life posts.  Please check it out and repin away to help spread the message of life to all the world!



I'll close with another prayer from Day 1 in the Instructor Guide:

Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of life. 
Help us to always treasure the sacredness of every human being's life. 
We ask this through Christ our Lord. 
Amen.