Book Review ~ My First Little Workbook of Wicca - by: Rev. Velvet Rieth

The Daughter of a friend of mine was given this book as a gift, not long ago.  The 8 year old girl didn't show much interest in it, and since I homeschool more than one child - the book found it's way to me (with full permission from the little girl, of course).

Let me start with saying that I really do like the book; not necessarily because it accurately presents MY spiritual path in a kid-friendly way.  I like it because presents basic, preschool and kindergarten level material in a unique way; also managing to gently showcase an alternative or new age or Pagan spiritual belief-system in a way that does not come across as brain-washing or preachy in any sense.

I had decided, long ago, that I wasn't going to attempt to raise my children with the idea that any particular path is "right" or "wrong".  Finding my own spirituality, and continuing that journey through much of my life, has been such an important and uplifting experience for me.  I want my children to have that.  Sure, being human, I will have my biases, hopefully they'll be minimal in this regard.

I wanted to give them access to stories, myths, legends, teachings, etc. from a wide variety of religions; but, from more of an academic point of view, as opposed to some kind of fancied-up sermon.  This book looks like it's going to prove quite useful in meeting that end.

Most of the stuff that's covered is mostly: colors, letters, a few simple words, phonetic sounds, etc. - essentially the same stuff you might find in a secular preschool/kindergarten workbook from LeapFrog or some similar manufacturer, EXCEPT that it's down with a Wiccan/Pagan theme .  They do have some fun, earth-centered religion songs which are supposed to be sung to familiar childhood tunes (i.e. "ring around the rosy").

Unfortunately, my kids are a little too old to get maximum enjoyment, education, or interest from the workbook, but they are certainly having fun with the singing, and just coloring the pages, using the practice sheets, putting their own spin on the material, etc.

I would absolutely recommend this book to all Pagan/Wiccan/New Age/Earth-Centered parents who have small children at home, just starting to learn their alphabet and colors, and so on.  Even if you don't believe in absolutely EVERYTHING that's in the book, it's easy to tweak if you want to, or to use as an excellent opportunity to discuss the vast array of spiritualities that are included in the Pagan/Wiccan paths.

More Resources For Pagan Parents...

Lady Bridget's Pagan Parents Page is filled with lots of fun ideas for teaching Pagan values, rituals, etc. to children. It also has great stories, poems, etc. and a list of suggested reading material for Pagan kids.

Pagan Parents is a great site, that looks promising. There are links to articles on Pagan parenting, what your rights are, etc.

Your rights as a Pagan Parent. This is an article posted on About.com. Particularly if you're divorcing a non-Pagan spouse who may prove vindictive, or if you may find yourself involved in other legal issues regarding your children and your religion, this may prove exceedingly useful, perhaps even indispensable.

Mamawitch's Pagan parenting pages. This site is currently (as of late September, 2008) under reconstruction by Mamawitch. So, some of the pages may be blank, but it still promises to be a very interesting site, with projects for kids to do, a family book of shadows, and much more.

Care2 - A leaning tree for Pagan parents is an online support group for Pagan Parents.

Edmonton Pagan Parents Circle. This site is extensive, with many articles, resources, fun stories, etc. geared specifically toward Pagan families.

The Blessed Bee is a Pagan family newsletter.

Moon Dragon's Pagan Parenting Partnership is a very interesting site, with wonderful articles on the subject, and some awesome links toward the bottom of the page. I can't recommend this site enough!

And, finally, Solitary-Pagan.net.

I hope you find the above resources as great as I do. :)

A Boy/Girl Scouts Alternative For Pagan Parents

We all want our children to have fun growing up, socialize, get involved in extra curricular activities, etc. But, as a Pagan parent, some programs may be shut off, or not coincide with what we want for our kids.

The boy scouts and girl scouts, for instance, are supposed to only accept children from families that proclaim a belief in one supreme God, and no others. This can be a bit of an issue for kids and parents that do not adhere to one of the big three Abrahamic based faiths.

This is why I was thrilled to discover the Spiral Scouts. They were formed as an alternative specifically for Pagan parents. They are co-ed, and seperated by age group. There are "dens" so to speak all over the place, though they are still fairly new, so there aren't as many as there are boyscout meeting locations.

They accept children and parents from all walks of life, so even non-pagans can benefit from the program. And, it just looks plain fun! I found a group of spiralscouts not too terribly far from where I live, so I'll be looking into it further, and testing it out with my little ones. When I have a bit more personal experience with them, I'll be sure to update you all on what I've found.

In the mean time, this is a quote directly from their website:

"SpiralScouts™ International is a program for girls and boys of all faiths working, growing and learning together. Making its public debut in February of 2001, SpiralScouts™ International has grown into an expanded program available to anyone world wide. We now serve youth throughout the US, as well as in Canada and Europe. "

And, you can take a peek for yourself, and find a group meeting near you, here... http://spiralscouts.org/

Welcome to my Blog!

My name is Larisa, and I am a Pagan parent (gee, do you feel like you're at a "Pagans Anonymous" meeting yet? lol). I have two beautiful little girls, who I stay home with, the eldest of which I'm homeschooling. They are 6 and 3, respectively.

In this blog, I'm going to be mainly sticking with issues that are of particular interest to Pagan parents. I'll be reviewing various programs, discussing news stories, movies, etc. that I think might strike your fancy. If there is anything you'd like me to write about, advice I may be able to provide (having personal experience with being a single Pagan mother of two), etc. please don't hesitate to contact me with that, and I will do my best to provide you with whatever I can that might help.