If you live in Georgia, you may have heard about the new hands-free driving law that goes into effect on July 1, 2018.  This has sent me scrambling because the vehicle I drive most does not have Bluetooth capabilities!  A friend of mine recently asked on facebook about this problem and received many great suggestions that I will cover below. But first, here’s the law:

Effective July 1, 2018, pursuant to 40-6-241(c), all drivers operating a motor vehicle on any highway of this state are prohibited from:

• Holding or supporting, with any part of the body, a wireless telecommunications device or stand-alone electronic device.
• Writing, sending or reading any text-based communication, including a text message, instant message, e-mail or internet data.
• Watching, recording, or broadcasting a video or movie.

Penalties:

• 1st conviction – 1 point and $50.00 fine
• 2nd conviction – 2 points and $100.00 fine
• 3rd or more convictions – 3 points and $150.00 fine

As you can see, it’s going to hurt a bit if you are caught!  For my car without Bluetooth, I bought the Gogroove FlexSMART Bluetooth Handsfree Car Kit.  I picked this one in particular because of a reader’s recommendation.  A bonus is that it can connect to 2 different phones so I can program it to mine and my husband’s phones.  It plays right through the car’s speakers.  Mine is supposed to be delivered today and then I’ll update with my thoughts on how it works.

If you’re looking for something a little less expensive and only need it to connect to one phone, I’ve heard good things about the Nulaxy Bluetooth Handsfree Car Kit.

You can also go old school with the Bluetooth Headset earpieces.  I don’t particularly care for this type as they don’t fit in my ear right.  My husband doesn’t seem to have a problem with them, though!

If I were to get something I wore for the Bluetooth ability, I think I would go for a full headset like this.  That way I’m not fiddling with it while I’m trying to drive.

I also had a reader let me know that she uses the Sun Visor Bluetooth Kit and loves it.  
If you don’t have a car with Bluetooth, what are you planning to do?  Do you have any favorite products?

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m super excited about all the great movies coming out lately!  Next up, we are looking forward to seeing PAUL, APOSTLE OF CHRIST.  I’m really excited that it’s supposed to closely follow the Bible! PAUL, APOSTLE OF CHRIST will be in nationwide theaters March 23, 2018!

Using scripture as the only reference, director Andrew Hyatt recreated the story of Paul on film, including the close relationship with Luke, whom at the end of Paul’s life, at his own peril, traveled in and out of the prison carrying Paul’s writings to the community of believers

In PAUL, APOSTLE OF CHRIST, Luke risks his life to visit Paul, who is held captive in a Roman prison under Nero’s rule. Together, they struggle against a determined emperor and the frailties of the human spirit in order to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ and spread their message to the world.  Paul’s letters and writings were vital to the spreading of Christianity, and became a large part of the New Testament.  Our story focuses on how, despite persecution and peril, they shared Jesus’ message of love, redemption and forgiveness with a small community of believers who in turn, took it to the whole world.

Watch the Trailer below:

For More Information:

For more information, you  can view the PAUL, APOSTLE OF CHRIST website.  You can also purchase tickets online.

Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC, Collide Media Group and Columbia TriStar Marketing Group, Inc. for providing tickets to see this movie on its release in exchange for this promotional post. Opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation.

We can’t get enough of Christmas movies and books around here!  My kids love curling up with a Christmas book or listening while I read one before bed.  It helps them settle down for the evening and enjoy some family time.   There are so many great ones that I decided to make a roundup of Christmas Books for Kids.  Most of these we have read, but a few we haven’t.  I’d love to hear in the comments which books are your family’s favorite to read during the holiday season.

One that we really have enjoyed and is new to our shelves this year is the first book – A World of Cookies for Santa.

It’s really neat because it shows different Christmas and Santa traditions all over the world.  My kids found this extremely interesting to see how kids celebrated in faraway places.  Other favorites of course include the Berenstein Bears and Curious George.  You can never go wrong with books from either of those.

A World of Cookies for Santa

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Source: http://www.sciencealert.com

This week my facebook feed has been flooded with articles regarding the eclipse and they all are extremely confusing.

On one hand, you see articles saying that it’s safe to watch with approved glasses.  On another hand, you see articles from eye doctors saying that you should only watch it on tv.

And then there is the chaos of having so many glasses out there that may not be approved for eclipse viewing!

We were planning to go to the mountains, but now I’m so torn about what to do!  I have one child that no matter what we tell her, she has to learn for herself.  I’m concerned she will try to look at the sun anyway and damage her eyes.  I’ve already decided our toddler will stay inside completely, but now what about the rest of us?  I’m honestly not sure.  We may just watch it on the computer, but I’ve also found a wonderful compilation of teacher approved videos about the eclipse that I plan on utilizing in our homeschool.

What are you planning to do?

It’s never easy to have “The Talk”.  You know, the “Sex Talk”.  And puberty.  Let’s not forget that thing that causes our sweet children to turn grumpy and hormonal.  Talking to kids about sex doesn’t have to be hard or incredibly uncomfortable, especially since there are some great resources available to help parents like me along.

I’m all about having books and resources to help me through these tough topics.  Throughout the years of educating our children, we have found some really great books to read with our kids to teach about sex, personal safety, and puberty.  I’m not talking about tossing a book in our children’s rooms and hoping they read and understand.  I’m more about finding resources that we can work through together that will help facilitate some wonderful conversations.  Below, I’ll outline the ones that have helped us out the most and share which age group they are most appropriate.

Books Recommendations

First off, I really like the 3 books by Luke and Trisha Wilkerson.  They are made for the different stages from child to teen and they easily walk parents through what to do and say.  They are Biblically based and offer scripture readings to go along with the studies.  We have used and/or are currently using them with our children.  You’ll notice that these also have excellent reviews on Amazon.  I strongly recommend getting all 3 and using them as your children age.  My husband has used them in talks with our son and even though they were difficult topics, he found that getting through them was much easier with the books to guide.

The Talk: 7 Lessons to Introduce Your Child to Biblical Sexuality is geared toward children ages 6-10.  Although I think some 6 year olds can handle it, we tend to wait until they are on the higher end of the age group for this one as it’s pretty detailed.  I think it depends on your parenting style and your child’s maturity on when you want to start this one.

Changes: 7 Biblical Lessons to Make Sense of Puberty was written for parents to read with children ages 8 to 12 years old.  The book also turns to scripture to help explain how God made everything wonderful, including our bodies.  This one has been very helpful in explaining body changes to our kids.

Relationships: 11 Lessons to Give Kids a Greater Understanding of Biblical Sexuality is geared toward 11-14 year olds and consists of 11 studies.  It covers many things that a teen may be wondering and helps bring them to light and keep the communication lines open.

Another one that I think is a must for any home is Good Pictures, Bad Pictures, which discusses pornography and what to do if you come across it.  We did this as a study with all of our children.  They actually were really interested in hearing about this and hopefully it preps them for when/if they come across anything by accident.  The statistics regarding kids coming across porn by accident are quite shocking!

Other books worth mentioning to check out for the younger ones are these, which we also own and read from time to time:

I Said No! A Kid-to-kid Guide to Keeping Private Parts Private

God Made All of Me: A Book to Help Children Protect Their Bodies

I’m sure there are many more great resources as well for talking to kids about sex.  We have found these ones to be particularly helpful for our family and it has turned into a not-so-taboo subject.  Feel free to leave a comment and tell me about some of your favorites or ways that you have found to bring about discussion with your kids about sex.

Many kids may benefit from summer learning.  I know here in Georgia, many summer days are far too hot to hang outside for long, but I don’t want my kids just watching tv.  Oftentimes, I purchase summer workbooks for kids or we go on adventures and explore the areas near where we live.  There are several summer learning activities for kids that are worth sharing.

Adventure:

Take your kids on an adventure to a state park or somewhere that they haven’t been.  Museums, zoos, and nature centers are all great ideas.  You could set up a scavenger hunt for the kids to find certain nature items.  Look up your local state park and mark your calendar for upcoming activities and then go!  Learning by going and doing is a great way to stay active and learn this summer.  Georgia residents, be sure to check your look library for the zoo pass.  That brings me to the next point.

Library:

The Library is always a wonderful place to be during the summer.  The books are endless, many have puzzles and games that can be borrowed, computer games, and of course – AIR CONDITIONING!  During the summer, some will have special reading programs where your child can win prizes as they read and learn.  Many may also have activities and special plays or other programs.  Be sure to stop by and get their latest calendar of events.

Workbooks:

The workbooks that I have had experience with during summer are the Summer Bridge workbooks.  These books are designed to “bridge” the gap between one grade to the next grade.  The activities are typically more fun than you’d find in a normal school book.

A program just released that we have not tried out yet is the new Summer Brain Quest.  As of this post, there aren’t any reviews on Amazon for them, however some should be up soon.  There is a huge preview you can see for examples of what is in this book.  I’m pretty impressed!

If you know your child needs a little help with a specific subject, you can also try the Kumon workbooks or Spectrum workbooks.

Websites:

There are many websites that offer fun activities for kids that are perfect for summertime. Some are free and some are paid.  We will start with the free ones first.

Free:

We love Xtramath.org.  This is a great way to help reinforce math facts during the summer.

My kids really like to play on Multiplication.com.  Don’t let the name fool you.  Addition, subtraction, and division are all covered on this website through fun interactive games.

ABCYa.com is also a favorite.  You can pick grade level and then venture on to math games, reading games, phonics, coloring, and more!

Paid:

ABCMouse.com is a good one that my kids enjoy.  It holds their progress so they don’t have to start over each time they visit the site.  That’s one benefit to this paid website.

ExplodeTheCode.com can help with phonics issues.  It is a little pricey.  We have the workbooks but haven’t tried the website yet.

Starfall.com offers a few free games and activities, but many are part of the subscription.

My kids have greatly benefited from ReadingEggs.com.  Definitely recommend checking out this program.

Do you have other ways that you use to encourage summer learning activities with your kids?  Please leave a comment and share!  

Also check out our other summertime articles below:

• Summer Bucket List Printable
• 50 Fun Things To Do With Your Kids This Summer!
• Summer Camps: Athens, GA
• Fun and Free (Or Almost Free) Things For Hot Or Rainy Summer Days