Sex Education, Puberty, and General Health

[Guest MDufek]

If you haven't done it, you will eventually need to....so what do you guys use?  

 

My son is 10 and about to start "5th" grade.  For my older two we just waited for them to ask questions and they also had "the talk" at school in 5th grade and Health class once a year in middle grades.  That was always a good time to bring up the subject of their changing bodies and a chance to answer any questions they might have been too embarrased to ask at school.  Since we are no longer in the public school system, it is on me to spark these conversations and so far waiting for him to ask questions is not working, since he's not asking!  

 

Is there a good resource that you have used in your homeschool curriculum?  We are catholic, but I am not interested in being overly preachy at this point, just informational.  

 

Any help is appreciated!!

[rmtzc2009]

Following with interest!    

[redsquirrel]

My UU church has an "OWL" course that runs in 1st, 5th or 6th, and 8-9th grade. My eldest son is in the 8-9th grade OWL right now and I have taught 1st and 5th grade myself. We frequently have 'visitors' from other churches in our OWL classes. OWL usually runs for 6-8 weeks so it isn't too long a class. You can just call the church and speak to the Religious Education Coordinator or RE Director or whatever they have.

 

We use "What is Happening to Me? A Guide to Puberty" by Mayle in class. I also found a great book for boys put out by the "Our Bodies Ourselves" people. My son liked it very much. We also have "What is going on down there?"

[nerdybird]

I've found that my girl has more questions than my oldest boy does.

 

So I went to the library and checked out "The Care and Keeping of You" and went through it with her over the course of a few weeks of bed times. She still had more questions after reading it, but they were mostly about relationships. I didn't think it necessary to go over boy-girl relationships with a 7yo, but it did make me aware that I needed to start planning that section of the curriculum sooner than I originally had.

 

I bought "The Boys Body Book" for DS1. It is gathering dust on his shelf. DH has had "the talk" with him about puberty and all. That happened around his 10th birthday. I am leaving this ball in DH's court for the time being, but I will probably do a health unit with him next year, going through the aforementioned book.

[VeteranMom]

Dh is responsible for the boys, 11 and 12.  He hasn't done anything yet.  I figure within the year, he'll talk to my older son.  Boys are slower to mature and hit puberty, so I don't feel "the talk" needs to happen as early as it would with a girl.  I was responsible for my dd.  I bought her a couple of books and she's asked a few questions.

[KarenNC]

My UU church has an "OWL" course that runs in 1st, 5th or 6th, and 8-9th grade. My eldest son is in the 8-9th grade OWL right now and I have taught 1st and 5th grade myself. We frequently have 'visitors' from other churches in our OWL classes. OWL usually runs for 6-8 weeks so it isn't too long a class. You can just call the church and speak to the Religious Education Coordinator or RE Director or whatever they have.

 

We use "What is Happening to Me? A Guide to Puberty" by Mayle in class. I also found a great book for boys put out by the "Our Bodies Ourselves" people. My son liked it very much. We also have "What is going on down there?"

My daughter just finished the 8th grade level of this. Extremely comprehensive, excellent experience. It's a joint curriculum developed by the UU and UCC churches, so you may find the classes at either denomination. Each has its own religious accompaniment to the basic material.

 

This is the basis for her half credit high school health class (she'll have alg 1, Spanish 1, and health high school credits from 8th grade/summer before 9th) . In addition to OWL (which covers sex ed and healthy relationships), she's read through a high school health textbook (Glencoe), and done their online quizzes, participated in a self-defense class with Girl Scouts (in addition to her regular martial arts studies), talked about self-esteem/body image with Girl Scouts and watched "Miss Representation," and attended a one-man show on the effects of addiction. She has been previously certified in CPR/first aid through Girl Scouts as well. I added in a couple of websites on teen nutrition and exercise as well and called it done. 

 

When she was in about the 5th grade, she became very, very interested in the books on puberty. I think we bought 3 or 4 of them and let her read them in addition to having "the talk" :) (didn't have access to 5th grade OWL, unfortunately). Knowing that I entered puberty at 9, I'd been talking with her fairly indepth about that since age 8, so it wasn't a brand-new topic.

[...................]

So, my kids having been always homeschooled and our house TV free are rather Innocent........I bought my son the Boys Body Book and it was ok. I mean, he read most of it, said it was a good and liked that it was clear and straightforward.

 

So my sister, hearing that it was good decided to buy it for my nephews who are 1. Older 2. Much more "knowledgable" about the world in general. 3. When you get two boys together the dynamic is always higher energy....

 

Needless to say, the laughing and yucking it up and pranks that resulted from the arrival of this book at her house as well as the looks from my sisters husband, and comments all around and more laughter, caused such a ruckus that she promised me never to tell them who recommended it ...

 

So... I would say the target age is on the younger end for that book. Lol