How Do You Know You Are Pregnant?

A group of 7th or 8th grade girls asked me this question.  I told them I got a pregnancy test and "peed" on a stick. 

They asked me how that worked.  So I told them that there are hormones in your body that help you grow and hormones that help the baby grow.  The test can find those hormones. 

But then the girls got to the real question they were trying to find out.  "How did you know you needed to take the test?"  So, I asked them, "Do you know how someone gets pregnant?" They told me they did, I didn't verify, it didn't matter because what I was going to say next didn't matter if they really knew how or not.

I said, "Well, my whole life I never did any thing that could get me pregnant.  Then when I was old enough, married, and mature enough to be a parent, I did those things that could get me pregnant."

Not sure if I answered the question they wanted but I gave them a teaching moment and boy was I grateful that I did not have to lie.  I was completely honest with those girls.

How Are Babies Made?

One third grader asked me how the baby was made. I told him, "Well, it starts off as a cell. Then it divides in half and then it divides again and it keeps dividing until it forms arms, legs, and everything." He looked at me like I was crazy. I think he thinks I didn't tell him the truth.

I find this question a lot easier to answer.  I can be very technical and tell the truth without revealing any information about how to get pregnant.

One time an older girl asked me this question, she was in the 6th or 7th grade.  After I gave her the explanation she wanted to know how the cell knew to start growing into a baby.  So I told her there was an egg and the egg had to get fertilized.  She asked me how it gets fertilized.  Luckily another student asked a question at the same time and I answered his question avoiding the fertilization question.

How Do You Get Pregnant?

The kids at my school are so excited about my pregnancy. Many students asked me how I got pregnant. I just tell them to ask their parents. One 5th grader said her mom didn't know how. I told her that if her mom was pregnant with her, then she knows how.

Sometimes I wonder if my pregnancy is causing parents to answer questions they weren't quite yet ready to answer.  However, I am not their parent, I am not their health teacher.  I am the computer teacher and I am not going to teach the students how someone gets pregnant.

A Girl Or A Boy

February 22, 2011

Sixth graders are so much fun! (This conversation was in class)

Student: Mrs. Gardner, did you know there's a rumor that if you have a girl you did it because you were in love and if you have a boy you just did it to. . .


Me: Okay, let's talk about something else now....

 

That ended of the answering questions about my pregnancy (after my announcement to the class) & the beginning of the lesson for the day.