Parenting: 4 & 5-Year-Olds Community

My mom handed me a book when I was in 5th grade and that was the extent of it for me. I agree earlier is probably better, depending on your kid. Let us know how that goes, ok?

My experience was like Deb's. About 6th grade a book.
I hope to do better with my boys. Although this is when I wish DH was here to do that. The boy/guy thing.

I agree with your DH but then again my oldest will be 10 next month and has yet to ask much about anything. I mean she pretty much knows nothing about sex, reproduction or even periods. I've always been open with her and answer all her questions in an age appropriate yet honest way but she's very disinterested in such topics at this point. In June, I brought up this subject with 10-12 other moms of girls (9 years old) in her class and was relieved to hear all but 2-3 were still as uninformed as M is.

Now, if she appeared to be a child who would be an early developer I would have talked to her more deeply when we had our first chat about puberty last year. But as it was, she barely cared to listen to details about physical changes, vitamins and face soap. At that point, I even bought her an American Girl book called the Care and Keeping of You but she looked at the cover and said, "No thanks, we can talk more about this stuff later, okay Mom?" I still have it in my closet along with another that discusses reproduction and intercourse.

I guess I've seen no need to rush it since she's not asking but did set a timeline and made the decision that around the time she turned 10 we needed to sit down and have a coffee chat about what she can expect from her body in the coming years. If that goes well, I'll continue on to more of the Birds and the Bees. They do not teach Sex Ed until 5th grade at her school.