Later this summer....
![video of Christina plays on laptop with text that reads "Charting for Girls pdf book and video course"](https://pearlandthistle.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/13.png)
!["is becoming" with arrow pointing to next image](https://pearlandthistle.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/arrow.png)
![](https://pearlandthistle.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/book-in-hand.png)
Hang on, let's start with YOU:
Catholic parents can prepare OURSELVES for the start of our daughter's first period by:
☑️ learning the signs of puberty,
☑️ gleaning wisdom from both scientists AND Church leaders
☑️ thinking through education in age-appropriate stages
☑️ and grounding ourselves in the GOODNESS of our own bodies.
Remember desperately avoiding eye contact with others while watching the sex ed videos in school?
Being pushed on the pill as a teen to take care of your painful periods?
Freaking out about what getting your period would be like or all of the random aspects of puberty?
You want better for your kids.
You want to raise confident daughters who aren't ashamed of their bodies.
You want to raise respectful sons who are deeply aware of their dignity and the dignity of others.
And you want it to be better than your experience - which won't be hard, since it was probably in a crowded gymna-cafe-torium with all of your friends making gross jokes, and maybe a bonus cringe-worthy tutorial from your mom.
![parallax background](https://pearlandthistle.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kevin-schmid-QpKvh4KuaSE-unsplash-1-scaled.jpg)
But how exactly do you teach your daughters to look at cycles as good and healthy, especially if you've never really understood it all yourself?
How do you lay the foundation for your children to see their sexuality and future fertility as a beautiful gift from God while doing justice to the Church's teachings?
And when are you even supposed to start these conversations?!
![A family silhouette in green with words above reading "hold up...isn't it too early to be talking about NFP"](https://pearlandthistle.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/whoa...isnt-it-too-early-to-be-talking-about-NFP-2-1.png)
a note to my fellow overwhelmed parents
I know you're bombarded with alllll of the content and alllll of the things out there that are "vital" for raising emotionally-adjusted, healthy, kind kids...but I promise you this is actually one of them.
After all, it's our God-given responsibility as parents to educate our children on how incredible their bodies are...but we know that isn't the message the world is going to give them.
And this responsibility can be really difficult to live out if you didn't get that education yourself.
I haven't unearthed that elusive "raising kids" manual yet, but I can contribute my chapter: age-appropriate courses and resources designed to help you teach your children about cycles, fertility, and puberty - all with your primary role as the parent at the forefront AND the richness of science and Theology of the Body as its base.
Take a deep breath, say a Hail Mary, and then let's get started.
- Christina
Explore Courses & Resources for Parents
![Family sitting in pew. From left: Pregnant woman wearing a black dress, young girl reading a paper, young girl with flowered dress listening, profile of third girl. On the bottom left, the words "Kids 7+" and the Pearl and Thistle logo appear on a hot pink background.](https://pearlandthistle.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/1-2.png)
CATHOLIC CONNECTIONS
Just starting the conversation with your kids? This is the place to begin: A free course providing an introduction to Theology of the Body for children. All of the depth at a pint size level.
![Family sitting at kitchen table looking at a laptop with a black and pink flowered case and doing homework. From left: Woman with blonde curly hair and glasses wearing a gray sweater. Preteen girl with brown bobbed hair and red shirt. Man pointing to homework with blue dress shirt. On the bottom left, the words "Kids 7+" and the Pearl and Thistle logo appear on a hot pink background.](https://pearlandthistle.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2-5.png)
CYCLE PREP
If you're asking "When should I start talking to my daughter about periods?" start here. Cycle Prep is a first period course to prep your daughter - and you - for her menstrual cycle.
![Woman and two girls sitting at table together From left: Hispanic woman with dark curly hair looks at a folder the girl next to her is holding. Hispanic teenage girl with blue cardigan and orange shirt wearing glasses looking at a pink folder with papers. In distance, another teenage girl looks at computer. On the bottom left, the words "For Girls 12+" and the Pearl and Thistle logo appear on an orange background.](https://pearlandthistle.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/3-4.png)
CHARTING FOR GIRLS
*video course retiring September '24*
Imagine if we didn't wait until a woman was ready to have kids to understand her cycles. Charting for Girls is a teen-friendly version of charting cycles: what's "normal," how to read the language of our cycles, and even using cycles to track energy and mood swings.
![Group of teenagers with arms around one another smiling at the camera under a tent. On the bottom left, the words "For Teens" and the Pearl and Thistle logo appear on an orange background.](https://pearlandthistle.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/4-3.png)
ANATOMY, REPRODUCTION, & FERTILITY
"The talk," but make it Catholic and done in the privacy of your own home. Rooted in the richness of St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body and science, we'll unpack the gift of our fertility through the lens of our Catholic faith - sans the awkwardness.
![A computer screen shows a woman wearing a blue dress talking at a microphone with a bookshelf behind her and a silhouette of the Blessed Virgin Mary in blue on a pink cloud and the words "Assumption" to her left](https://pearlandthistle.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/PT-Photo-background-4.png)