Whether virtual or in-person, Great Conversations provides a fun, interactive, medically accurate, developmentally focused approach to the topics of puberty and sex for families to attend together. 

The Chat Virtual offers:

• Learning together in familiar environments like your home.
• Additional privacy for conversations with each other.
• Learning in shorter segments of information with time between workshops to process.
• Any family combination of additional adults and children – even a pet! can attend together without additional costs. 
• Families with a younger preteen aged 9 through age 12 who might benefit from a single workshop or the entire series.
• A chance to attend a live session alongside other families in a virtual format.
• Families might include friends or family who live in another city or state.
• Learning from a team of expert instructors.

The Chat In-person offers:

• Learning together in a classroom/auditorium space with families from the general public in the same developmental space.
• Having opportunities to hear and learn as other families talk and share with each other and interact with the instructors.
• Families with a preteen aged 10-12 who might benefit in learning away from a home setting with a single grown-up.
• Learning from a team of expert instructors.

We invite you to chose the option that works best for your family.

Our team at Great Conversations recognizes research that shows when we normalize learning together about bodies in puberty and how they work and grow, we change the narrative from shame and embarrassment to one of building empathy, compassion and respect for each other.  Our virtual workshops have included all genders since 2020 and over 12,000 families have given us their enthusiastic thumbs up on how much they appreciate the chance to learn about the entire puberty experience for all humans together.  Great Conversations is committed to bringing programs on the important topics of growing up to girls, boys, and gender expansive youth and their grown-ups.   

Although some of the physical parts of puberty are determined by specific body parts and hormones – much of the puberty experience is shared by all people. National Standards for Sex Education include learning in all gender environments to promote emotional and physical health and reduce the confusion and stigma often associated with these topics. Whether virtual or in-person, Great Conversations provides a fun, interactive, medically accurate, developmentally focused approach to the topics of puberty and sex for families to attend together.  Our curriculum is in alignment with the work of our colleagues at Seattle Children’s Hospital and Stanford Medical Children’s Hospital.

Our goal for 35 years has stayed the same: for families to leave our programs with more confidence having conversations with each other on the topics of growing up.

Our classes are designed for the physical, emotional, cognitive, and social developmental space of typical 9-12 year olds. The content aligns with the recommendations in the Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Kindergarten-Grade 12, written by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States – in addition, we adhere to other nationally recognized educational standards for this age group. Our book, Will Puberty Last My Whole Life? written by Great Conversations’ co-founders, Julie Metzger RN MN, and Rob Lehman, MD includes many of the topics covered in class. Great Conversations has been talking about puberty and sex to families for over 30 years and many thousands of families have attended our programs. Our instructors have backgrounds in education, nursing, health, community advocacy, social work, and research – most of the instructors have been teaching these topics with families for many years. Please contact us if you’d like to discuss this further.

The content of the curriculum, the humor, and stories are geared for the 9-12 year old. We recognize that younger children often have questions about body changes and also experience changes of puberty. We encourage families to begin having conversations in their homes to meet their child’s readiness and wait to attend The Chat until they are developmentally ready. There are some wonderful resources that might be interesting for you to explore together on our Resources page.
Sometimes an older child will do just fine in our classes when they are waking up to their changing body – some older kids have reported that they feel self-conscious they are older than most of the preteens attending.
Additionally, there are resources for older teens on our Resources page.

The goal of our class is to promote further communication between children and their parents or trusted adult resources. We recognize the diversity of families and welcome a parent, grandparent, guardian, or other close family member of any gender to attend with your preteen.

Yes. Because the class offers an opportunity to learn and discuss things together, some families have told us they wish they had come separately with each of their children. We invite each family to choose what works best for them.

We often have families attend with endocrine, gender identity, and physical and cognitive differences. Additionally, some families attend that have experienced trauma or have anxiety about their bodies or growing up. We believe that every child has a unique story about growing up, and it is important for everyone to have access to accurate information on healthy relationships, sexuality, and their bodies. Because the experience of puberty is typically attached to specific body parts and hormones, our discussion of those experiences will be also (while recognizing a continuum of gender and sexuality). Our focus is both on what is unique and what is shared in the growing up process. While Great Conversations covers general puberty and sexuality, we do not include information on the specific health needs of every individual in their specific puberty journey. We encourage families to continue those conversations at home and with their primary health care provider.

We believe that every child has a unique story about growing up, that gender and sexuality are varied, and that it is important for everyone to have access to accurate information on healthy relationships, sexuality, and their bodies. Gender identity and same sex relationships will be covered briefly and in alignment with the nationally recognized educational standards on these topics for ages 10-12. Because the experience of puberty is typically attached to specific body parts and hormones, our discussion of those experiences will be also, while recognizing a continuum of gender and sexuality. Our focus is both on what is unique and what is shared in the growing up process. Throughout our class, there may be topics you wish were covered at greater length, or less, or explained in the context of your family or community values. We encourage you to use the information presented in class as a launching point for further conversations at home.