At every stage of development, children need to learn age-appropriate information, attitudes, and skills. Since it is impossible to hide children from this sexually pressured environment, we must empower them to survive in it. This manual suggests how to begin this process. In Early Childhood Programs Young children are alive with curiosity about how their bodies work, why boys and girls are different, and how babies grow and are born. Positive responses lay the foundation for sexual health and self-esteem by helping children feel good about their bodies, good about being a boy or a girl, and good about adults who are willing to help them fugure things out.
Many publications give parents advice about being the primary sex educators of their children.
This manual, written cooperatively by a sexuality educator and five pre-school directors, acknowledges that staff in early childhood programs also play an important role in the sexual learning of young children. As an increasing number of children spend most of their waking hours in child care centers, teachers are the ones who answer children's questions, provide caring touch to children's bodies, respond to children's sex play, and set guidelines for what is acceptable and not acceptable behavior. Schools and parents must be partners in helping children grow up. Therefore, teachers need to realize that sexual learning occurs under their care - inevitably. There's no escape.