Ever since I released my parent-child Bible study, The Talk, I’ve had some great conversations with parents about their challenges and successes talking to their kids about sexuality. Many parents want to know how they should start talking to their younger kids about sex, intuitively knowing they shouldn’t save all the education about it for some awkward conversation during puberty.
Sheila Gregoire from To Love, Honor, and Vacuum told us this is a question she gets a lot from her readers as well. Sheila does a great job asking Christians the right questions about sexuality—a topic that can and does become taboo in church circles. We applaud the work she is doing.
I recently wrote an article for Sheila’s site, How to Talk to Young Kids About Sex: 5 Critical Reminders. I hope is brings some clarity to the subject of talking to kids ages 4-7 about sexuality.
I have two girls and one is in 4th grade and the other in 2nd grade and the one in 4_th grade asked me about sex and i told her and she was confused
Can you tell me more about the conversation? How did you explain it?
I learned that my son, nearly 6, was outside playing with out neighbor girl, age 6. It was after dark and they were in the fort with a flashlight. I went outside and the girl was leaving and nearly out the gate. I asked what happened and she said my son showed her his underwear. I asked if she did anything. She said no and quickly left. I asked my son about it. He started crying and knew he had done wrong. His story was basically that he and the girl exposed themselves to each other. I have no idea how to handle this. My son seems to be overly fascinated by bodies and private parts in general. We have a hard time teaching him modesty anyway. Any thoughts or advice?
Good question, Sara.
Some kids at that age are simply curious, and their curiosity should be met with solid, simple answers.
You might try formally sitting down with him and really talking through some basic differences between boys and girls and why those differences exist.