Blog Tour: Teaching Children About Sex Using the Temple as Your Guide by Cherri Brooks

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Book Description:

It’s time for the talk. Teach your children the truth about sexual intimacy in a world of shifting values and ideas. With expert advice and age-appropriate wording, you learn how to use the temple as a beautiful analogy to discuss with your kids the sacred subject of sex. Timely and clear, this book is a must-read for parents, teachers, and leaders.

Rorie's Review:

I was a bit hesitant to review this book, because talking to my kids about sex makes me pretty nervous. But, just because it makes me nervous, that doesn't mean I can stick my head in the sand and make it go away. This book will really come in handy for me because recently my school district tried to add a sex-ed program that was completely inappropriate. With the things I learned in this book, I can now arm myself with proper information to teach my children.

I have dog-eared several pages in this book. One of the things that stuck out to me in particular was when the author said that we should approach talking to our children about sex the way that we talk to them about the temple. We don't constantly tell our children all the negative things about going to the temple (i.e. "Only sinful people can't go to the temple") instead, we focus on using encouraging words and give our children something to look forward to. While we definitely want to teach our children why we wait until marriage for sexual relations, we also want to teach them why it is a beautiful and sacred thing and something to look forward to and not be scared of.

I thought as a mother of four boys, I was off the hook when it came to talking about "girl stuff" such as menstruation, things that happen during puberty, etc. No such luck for me. :) The author points out that each gender should understand the basics of what is happening with the other gender so they can be empathetic to the changes that are going on.

There is so much information in this book that I know I will need to read it multiple times before I can process it all. I am glad that I have something based on my own values that I can turn to to teach my children about sex.

Andrea's Review:

First, I need to say that I'm not typically one for parenting books. I definitely don't have all the answers, but I prefer talking to people I know over reading a stranger's ideas.

That said, my children are getting to the point that I know I need more preparation than I have to talk to them about sex. My parents didn't really talk to me about sex, so I don't have any sort of blueprint to go from when it comes to approaching this. When I was given the opportunity to review this book, I decided that it was probably a good idea to check out what the author had to say, especially because it is given from an LDS standpoint (the values held by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).

This was not a comfortable read for me, and I'm still nervous to talk to my children (although the author points out several times that it's ok to feel that way). I didn't necessarily agree with everything that I read, but overall I thought the book had a lot of good information.

I liked that the book was broken down into age groups. Some of the potential questions asked in certain age groups shocked me, but they are probably realistic and it's good to be ready for them.

The most important thing that I took from the book is that it is imperative that we talk to our children throughout their younger years in a way that helps them understand how special our bodies are. We can give the wrong impression and make them feel shame and guilt if we focus on the negatives and don'ts all the time. If we are open and teach them starting when they are young, they will most likely feel comfortable coming to us with questions they have. We can be sure they are getting good information when we take the initiative, instead of leaving it to media, friends, etc.

About the Author:

Cherri H. Brooks grew up in Centerville, Utah and attended Utah State University where she earned her M.S. in Family and Human Development. She is the author of the LDS Living Magazine article, “Talking to Kids about Sex.” Her blog is www.timelesstemples.blogspot.com. She lives in Clarksville, Tennessee, with her husband and three children.

Title: Teaching Children About Sex Using the Temple as Your Guide
Author: Cherri Brooks
Publisher: CFI and imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc.
Published: February 2015
ISBN: 1462115497
Source: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for a review.
Purchase: Amazon | Kindle