Parenting 'Tweens (9-12) Support Group

Does he really need to know the facts of life at 10 ?

What I have found is that kids learn too quickly from various sources including friends, television, internet etc....it seems that the quicker they learn about 'adult' things the quicker they start getting stressed out more about things and change dramatically.

Let him enjoy his childhood a little longer and help to preserve his innocence, I think kids grow up too quickly now, I don't think it is beneficial to them.

When you feel the time is right then sit him down and explain to him what he needs to know.

My son was 10 when he learned in school. He will be 12 in a month and is starting puberty. He does sometimes get uncomfortable when we talk about sex and such, but then he tells me that some of his friends are already sexually active.

I would just try and sit him down and talk to him. It might be a bit uncomfortable, but if it were me I would rather have the talk with him over him learning some other way.

When my girl has a question about a fact of life, I tell her just like it is, but in a more toned down version. He's/She's going 2 bump into kids his/her age who might give him/ her the wrong info. If they're asking... is 4 a reason... "CAPICHE"?

If we lived on an island I would just wait longer, but I am feeling for some reason that I had better tell him something. I found out the facts of life at 8, my mom handed me a book, and actually I remember that I already knew most of it. I just mean the basic info, and he probably already knows some of it from the animal movies we watch. He knows we are mammals!

I would say just keep dialog open, and when he's ready to know, he'll feel comfortable asking you.

Although I haven't had much experience with kids this age, only myself and my SD to go off of, but it is a little concerning that he doesn't get the anatomy differences yet. I remember understanding the difference when I was 5ish. My 4-year old niece knows boys have penises and girls have vaginas, although she herself would rather have a penis.

I guess penises can seem like more fun!
I will try to find out why he thinks I am kidding when I say girls don't have penises. Maybe it is a question of vocabulary. He knows they are different, but maybe doesn't know the word vagina. I have told him, but much of what I tell him goes in one ear and out the other.

I would wait until he seems curious. You could also try to find a good book that goes over the stuff. But seriously, boys mature much later than girls and if he isn't interested then I wouldn't push it. My son is 13 and a year ago he thought babies came out of a woman's butt. He had no idea a woman had another area down there for babies to come out at. I still didn't go over it with him in depth at that time because he didn't seem to want to know that much. We were just discussing childbirth because of something we saw on a movie.

Well, it came up sort of, in a story we listened to. In the story the kids asked the mom where babies came from and got a totally impossible to understand answer. I paused it and mentioned to my kids that they had never asked where babies came from. They informed me that they already knew, so of course I asked for the explanation.
It turns out that he was able to explain the passage of the sperm to the egg, how the egg divides into many cells, etc until it becomes a baby. No mention of where the sperm comes from or how it gets there. He did know some interesting statistics on how fast the cell multiplies and so forth. But that is fine with me! I guess he was listening at some point. He also mentioned that moms can have babies without being married, something I had, in my denial, sort of implied couldn't happen.
His friends have, I learned recently, been the source of some really erroneous information about other stuff, glad he is on the right track scientifically, anyway.

My son is 9 and know nothing about the facts of life and until he specifically asks I don't see a reason to bring it up.

Do what you feel is best.

Our daughter is 12, and given what I was hearing from other children and their knowledge of sex (some quite interestingly inaccurate I might add)!
So, I wanted her to have some knowledge and found a great book...had a sleepover and sort of left the book in plain view. (the other mothers thought it great idea too)!.
The book is called "It's perfectly NORMAL", changing bodies, growing up, stx and sexual health. Authors Robie Harris and Michael Emberly with illustrations. This book is intended for ages 8 and up.
Best to you, and I wish you healthy open communication with your son.
Lynn.