Oh boy, My 8 year old daughter's 3rd grade teacher is pregnant. This is sparking lots of questions, such as; how does the baby get into the mother's stomach? How does the father get the seed? What if the mother doesn't want a seed from the father? How does the father give the mother the seed? There are many more questions. She was present when our cat had kittens 2 years ago, so she is familiar with how the baby comes out. But she has lots of questions about that. I tried giving her simple age appropriate explanations, but my explanations are not satisfying her and she wants to know more and more. She is persistent. Can anyone recommend an age appropriate book, with good explanations? or a good explanation?
Thank you
A friend of mine just showed me a book by Marc Brown "What's the big secret?" - good for this age. you can find it at....
http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Big-Secret-Talking-about/dp/0...
Try the God's Design for Sex series. It is an age appropriate selection of books. You can find them on christianbook.com
As long as you're being open and honest with her, I'd recommend "Where Willy Went" by Nicholas Allan. It's a picture book, aimed at kids her age, that explains, in cartoon pictures and terms they can understand, about how babies are made. It doesn't really touch on sex, just an illustration of a bed and talk about how Mr. and Mrs. Browne "joined."
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375830308/planetesme
My daughter hasn't gotten to that stage yet, but my son had, and I used "Questions Children Ask & How to Answer Them" by Dr. Miriam Stoppard. It covers many subject areas that children are curious about, and provides age-appropriate responses (e.g., what you explain to a 2-4 year old is quite different than an 8-11 year old). I found it very helpful in suggesting the right level of conversation to have, and how to have it. Good luck!
It's been several years since I read it but I liked "It's So Amazing!" by Robie H. Harris when my daughter was that age, recommended for ages 7 and up. I suggest pre-reading it yourself and then reading the parts with her that you feel are appropriate. I found it at Barnes and Noble. There are now two other books in a series: "It's NOT the Stork!" recommended for ages 4 and up, and "It's Perfectly Normal" recommended for ages 10 and up.
Best Wishes, K.
My daughter was/is very mature for her age. She was 5 when I was pregnant with my son. And she asked the questions. I know my child, and I knew a simple explanation wouldn't do, so I told her how the baby got in me "When a mommy and daddy love each other..." I also had her watch episodes of A Baby Story and Birth Day. I did this because my husband worked during the day and it was just the two of us at home. I didn't want to go into labor and her get scared and not know what to do.
BUT, it depends on the child and if they can handle that kind of information.
I am not sure of any books. Maybe someone else can recommend one. I just told her what I thought she could handle. And she did great with it.
A friend of mine just recently had something similar come up with her daughter. She was asking about "becoming a woman" which led to the discussion of the birds and the bees. My friend got on the computer with her and they googled it together and researched it together. Any question she had they typed it in and searched for the answer while my friend explained it to her further. I thought that was a great idea, but I would probably go through and find websites before hand that I feel are appropriate and go from there. It made sense to me since children now a days know computers better than we do haha
Take her to the zoo, and hope the animals are mating - ha ha. My husband got his education from watching their ducks and chickens in the backyard. Same goes for cats, dogs, goats, etc. There is a video that goes from start to finish (people being attracted to each other, to dating... to baby coming out). I think it is by Nova, but I forget what it is called. It's probably in your library.
I came across a book called Where Willy Went... by Nicholas Allan which may help answer you're daughters questions. It is very well written and i feel appropriately illustrated but I recommend you read it first and decide what is best for your own family situation. I hope this helps. S.
My kids liked "Where Did I Come From" by Peter Mayle.
