As a concerned mom, I'm mindful of the habits my daughters are forming in all aspects, from the food they eat to the books they read. I know from experience that it's easier to form good habits early on than to try to change bad habits later. That's why as I've learned to live with my autoimmune diseases, including Celiac, I've also learned to read the labels on food, cleaning products, and personal hygiene items. I've eliminated MSG's, gluten, high fructose corn syrup, red dye #40, parabens, BPA and other harmful plastics, artificial colors and sweeteners, and things along those lines to the best of my ability for the girls. I want to give them a healthy start in life so that, Lord willing, they won't have the health problems that I have.
Vintage Remedies is a company that believes in natural, whole foods, not the "food products" you find on your grocery store shelves. Jessie Hawkins, mom of 4 and founder of the company, has written the book Vintage Remedies 4 Girls ($45) to teach girls in the 7-13 age group about healthy living.
Here is the description from the website:
Our new workbook is packed with over 200 pages covering every aspect of natural living including wellness, nutrition, herbal medicine, immunity, natural cleaning and body care, and the conservative use of valuable natural resources. Girls will learn how to identify unhealthy foods, how to create a healthy real foods menu (and prepare it for some friends!), how to make natural cleaning supplies and skin care, how to make cheese, how to grow culinary and medicinal herbs, how to create basic herbal preparations, and much, much more!The book is divided into three major topic sections: Food, Nutrition, and Culinary Skills; Health and Body; and Natural Living. The emphasis is on self-sustaining resources, organics, and green living. There are tips for growing your own garden, supporting a healthy immune system with essential oils and herbs, recycling, and more. There are appendices at the end of the book with quizzes, a schedule for the lessons, and a list of resources for further learning.
This workbook is flexible and can be used for existing scouting groups, to form new girls groups, as a homeschooling curriculum, or to create fun mommy - daughter projects throughout the year. Each of the 18 chapters includes a brief lesson on the topic, a featured project, instructions for moms or group leaders, and a selection of additional projects on the topic for in depth learning. The book also contains sample schedules to adapt for homeschooling families, scouting groups, etc as well as convenient shopping lists for each project, complete with a resource guide and tips for parents and leaders.
Our favorite part of the book was the recipes for homemade soaps and lotions. I especially like the Vanilla Brown Sugar Body Scrub. It not only smells great, it works to exfoliate your skin without the use of parabens, PPG, PEG, or any of the other unrecognizable and unpronounceable ingredients in most soaps and lotions at the store! I had almost all of the ingredients in my cupboards already, with the exception of the grated cocoa butter. Big Sis' favorite project is the homemade all-natural lip gloss. These kinds of things make great Christmas or birthday gifts for friends and family, too.
The chapter on Cleaner Cleaning was a great resource for us. Big Sis tends to drag her feet about household chores, but this chapter gave her a little incentive to try harder since it gave clear directions and reasons for cleaning, including ideas to make our own healthy cleaning products.
I think the book would work well for homeschool co-op groups, Girl Scout troops, or 4H groups. There are some projects and recipes that would be fun group activities.
Vintage Remedies also has books for boys, tweens, and younger children. They offer e-classes as well. Be sure to visit their website to learn more.
For more reviews, visit the Crew blog.
Disclaimer: I received Vintage Remedies at no cost for the purpose of review. No other compensation was given for my honest opinion.
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