"Learning accurate information about their bodies from a reliable adult isn’t traumatic for kids. Hearing misinformation from an unreliable source can be."
~ Saleema Noon (respected and renowned sexual health educator)
Our focus for Sexual Health Education in the Early Years can be best summarized by looking at our curricular Big Ideas: → Knowing about our bodies and making healthy choices helps us look after ourselves → Learning about ourselves and others helps us develop a positive attitude and caring behaviours, which helps us build healthy relationships → Adopting healthy personal practices and safety strategies protects ourselves and others → Having good communication skills and managing our emotions enables us to develop and maintain healthy relationships Listed below are several, but not all, of the possible topics and skills that are introduced in the Sexual Health portion of the Health and Physical Education curriculum from Kindergarten to Grade 3: ★ learning the correct names for body parts ★ strategies and skills to use in potentially hazardous, unsafe, or abusive situations ★ identifying caring behaviours in groups and families ★ how to identify a safe adult ★ knowing the differences between appropriate and inappropriate ways of being touched ★ understanding personal boundaries ★ developing an initial understanding of consent ★ managing and expressing emotions
The Ministry of Education and Child Care developed a great resource guide which aims to "provide teachers with a useful starting point for teaching a variety of health education topics", focusing on supporting student sexual health and mental health. Topics include Consent, Body Science, Internet Safety, Puberty, Safer Sex, Brain Science, Bullying and Well-Being. The guide provides considerations for each topic, instructional strategies, and some tips on how to respond to the unexpected in your classroom. Near the end of the guide is an incredibly useful tool in the form of a timeline to be used for suggested topics (Grade 1 example below). This breaks down the curriculum into sizeable chunks and helps us focus on what to deliver, when.