2006-09-02 21:42:27 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Parenting
How mature are we talking about here? The best thing to do is answer their questions when they ask them. The down side of waitng or them to mature intellectually is that by then they will have already matured physically and left you in the dust.
2006-09-02 21:46:17 · answer #1 · answered by Lleh 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's best to start around three or four, using proper names for body parts. From then, you go on according to the age and maturity and feel guided by the types of questions they ask. A six year old asking where babies come from and a nine year old asking the same question will obviously get a very different answer. Answer questions honestly and explain clearly according to the age, but don't wait til they are 12, and lay it all out then. Start early, and add on.
2006-09-02 23:28:03 · answer #2 · answered by Lydia 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are no benefits to be gained from putting off teaching children about sex, in fact it would be a disastrous action. The physical development of children is faster than intellectual development. You can bury your head in the sand as deeply as you wish but adolescents WILL have sex no matter what you try hide from them. Due to the disgustingly poor state of sex education in the US vast numbers of young people are in a state of ignorance which prevents them from protecting themselves with contraception and aids to safe sex. Preaching the creed of abstinence only is a total wast of time and a severe dereliction of parental duty. The US has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the western world and this will never improve if parents and schools keep on failing to protect their children by not giving them the facts to make informed decisions and protect themselves. Keeping children ignorant is both foolish and dangerous.
2006-09-02 22:08:19 · answer #3 · answered by U.K.Export 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The "Facts of Life" should be taught as soon as the child starts talking or asking questions!
ALL 3 of my kids KNOW where babies come from. What a penis is. What a vagina is. If they ask, we tell them.
There is NO intellectual age to start doing this.
2006-09-02 22:04:21 · answer #4 · answered by jennifersuem 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If they are old enough to ask they are old enough to be told ---with one proviso---keep t he explanations at their level of understanding and for heavens sake give then the correct words--there is noithing so embarrassing as hearing a very small girl telling someone that she has a vagina when
she should only use the work vulva until she is old enough to understand what a birth canal is
2006-09-02 21:51:26 · answer #5 · answered by virginia o 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There may be no reference point for the child when you give "the talk" too early. When they are a bit older (and hopefully more mature) they will grasp what you are saying
2006-09-03 02:18:13 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think "teaching your kids" is just a formality, when my mum sat me down i was already like, yeah i know all of the stuff already... whether is just my generation (im 21) i was 8 or 9 when mum sat me down, but i think its coz were animals we just know, but pretend not to until parents tell us, then they wont ask where we found out from...
2006-09-02 21:49:55 · answer #7 · answered by Frooshanti 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They will probably be better able to comprehend the serious consequences of certain human behaviors.
2006-09-03 16:37:33 · answer #8 · answered by daryavaush 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's called understanding...
2006-09-03 02:26:03 · answer #9 · answered by deakjone 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they will take it in better
2006-09-02 21:47:41 · answer #10 · answered by vicky l 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋