Sex Ed

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I am also interested in this. My daughter is asking technical questions which I don't know how to answer. I don't want to scare her to death as the true technical aspect of sex is too much for her in my opinion as even when she sees kissing she freaks out, hides her eyes, and absolutely will not watch anything PG + because she thinks it will have kissing. She has seen my friends boy and her male cousin naked and so knows there is an "extra part" to them but has not questioned it or spoken of it.

Now, sorry if this is too graphic but my daughter told me she knows she has "3 holes" down there. She asked where the babies come out of and I told her. Then she asked me how does a baby get to be in your tummy? I didn't know how to answer this so I have put her off (by changing the subject). I need to find a way to explain it without lying and without freaking her out. She is 9 years old.

She has absolutely no clue about anything sexual at all. She doesn't even know it takes a girl + a boy. I feel she thinks a baby just gets to be there as she seems frightened that a baby will just be in her tummy when she doesn't want it to be there. She also asked about breasts getting bigger and states she does NOT want that to happen to her.

I don't think explaining the actual act of sex is appropriate (she is emotionally much younger than 9) but she is going into 4th grade with kids who know things I am sure so I want to prepare her without freaking her out. Any ideas?

LOL, this reminds me of a time when DS was fascinated by all things human body and mechanical (and therefore was curious about sex) and was preschool age. He'd been asking all those questions about pregnancy, and I kept trying to explain, but it's just a difficult and complex subject. I was relieved when we went to Health World Museum and found they had a whole exhibit on babies and how they come to be (after the sex part) and a life-size cut-in-half model of a pregnant woman. DS, who was interested in how babies were BORN, looked all of it over, fascinated, and then looked at me and asked "but how do you take your leg off?" Took me a minute.

Mama, I think the advice of getting a book that discusses it from a technical perspective will help you out, let her know you're preparing her for a health class at school. DS lost interest for a while, and then regained it as the subject came back to school. He also is freaked out by kissing, romance, and won't allow us to use the "s-word" in the house, even by way of explanation.

We bought him one of those books on puberty that are out there, and let him read it on his own...and then he and I had a discussion about the CLASS, and what he might see and hear there (I found out they would be demo-ing a condom, so I dug through drawers and found one to show him, and explained its use so he wouldn't be shocked by it. Probably more important for a boy.)

Our main source of reproductive education has been with our plants and animals. The older son (11.5) is learning about genetics (dominant, recessive, co-dominant) and the younger son (5.5) is interested in how animals mate. We have tortoises and snakes.

Personally I don't think any age is too young to start learning the biology behind reproduction and with our older son, who had the "human growth and development" class the past two years (4th and 5th grade), the information that he's been given has meshed nicely with what he already knew, in terms of creatures. Most of what they talked about was just differences in bodies, going through puberty and a very general introduction to the concept of sperm + egg = baby. They briefly talked about STD's and condoms.

I personally wouldn't want any kids to go to an abstinence only sex ed class. Just teach the concrete facts, with no judgement. Everyone should know how their body works.