Puberty Curriculum Free
Is free really free?
Sure, we all like to get a deal. Nothing makes us happier than finding something we really want or need at a lower price than we thought we’d have to pay. Sometimes, the objects we get by bargain hunting work out great; other times, we wish we had paid a bit more to get something of more value.
One popular Google search related to puberty curriculum is “puberty curriculum free.” I suspect this search phrase is popular because parents and educators are trying to teach kids about puberty without having much money to spend. Since puberty education typically isn’t one of the top priorities for schools, there might not be much funding available to purchase curriculum and train educators. That makes free puberty curriculum appear to be a good deal. But is it?
As with any purchase, we often get what we pay for. “If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys,” (Sir James Goldsmith, British financier, tycoon, politician) Well, teaching puberty education can resemble a circus if we aren’t equipped with the proper tools.
In researching “free puberty curriculum,” these traits were frequently present:
- Curriculum that is branded with menstrual hygiene products sold by the source
- Outdated resources
- Vague lesson plans
- Lack of scope and sequence
- Absence of skill building: a focus on knowledge, not skills
- Broken links to lesson materials
- Lack of scope and sequence within the grade level and across the grades
- Lack of alignment to National Health Education Standards and/or National Sexuality Education Standards
- Sexist, binary, and non-inclusive messages and language
So, remember what these wise men said:
While very little research exists on what makes puberty education effective, we can learn from the body of research done by Dr. Doug Kirby on the “Characteristics of Effective Curriculum-based Programs” that were designed to prevent STIs and pregnancy among teens.
Learn more about the value of Puberty: The Wonder Years and its evaluation outcomes.
