Curriculum · Ages 6–12
The Six Life Skills
Children practice understanding feelings, managing stress, working with others, making choices, and setting goals.
1. Know Myself
Naming emotions · Body signals · Needs vs. wants
Practice examples
Emotion charades, body-map activities, “name that feeling” scenarios, strength cards, “what makes me me?” drawings, and short stories where children decide what a character might be feeling.
- Nutrition & body care: Food, sleep, movement, and screen breaks as self-respect—and as signals I can learn to read.
2. Calm My Body
Slow breathing · Grounding · Pause before reacting
Practice examples
Almost no lecturing. A child draws a scenario card — “a friend says something mean.” Round one: react immediately. Round two: pause, breathe, name the feeling, choose a response. Then we ask, “what changed when you gave yourself five seconds?”
- Nervous-system reset: Practical tools to settle the body so learning and choice become possible.
- Meditation & breath work: Portable practices for attention, emotional balance, and self-awareness.
3. Guide My Thoughts
Spotting the thought behind the feeling · “What else could be true?” · Alternative explanations
Practice examples
Maya doesn't invite me to her birthday. Thought: “nobody likes me.” Feeling: sad and angry. Action: stop talking to everyone. Result: even more alone. Then we generate other possibilities — she could only invite five people, she forgot, her parents limited the list, I could ask her, I could invite someone else to play. Ages 6–8 call it “Thought Detective.” Ages 9–12 ask, “is this thought helping me?”
- Self-efficacy: Turning setbacks into information and changing the inner voice from ‘I can’t’ to ‘I’m becoming.’
4. Connect With Others
Perspective taking · Listening · Empathy
Practice examples
Two friends want the same seat. Round one: instinctive reaction. Round two: communicate. Round three: solve it together. Then: “which response protected both people's needs?” Experience, reflection, practice — repeated.
- Communication & confidence: Speaking clearly, listening well, and asking for what I need.
- Social intelligence & self-protection: Reading people and situations, holding boundaries, and staying safe online and off.
5. Choose My Actions
Decision-making · Consequences · Problem-solving
Practice examples
Not “what is responsibility?” but “you promised to help your friend with a project and your favorite show is on — what do you do?” Then we hand them a tool and make it a game: STOP → THINK → OPTIONS → CONSEQUENCES → CHOOSE.
- High-character behaviors: Honesty, follow-through, repair after mistakes, and respectful conduct as daily practice.
6. Build My Future
Ages 6–8: dreams, strengths, trying hard things, a goal of the week, “what do I want to learn?” · Ages 9–12: values, goals, habits, money basics, career exploration, leadership, purpose, long-term thinking, delayed gratification, contribution
Practice examples
We don't say “you can do anything” — that is too simplistic for children with genuinely hard circumstances. We say: your circumstances are part of your story, not the whole story. You can't always choose what happens. You can learn to choose what you do next.
- Financial responsibility: Needs versus wants, saving, earning, giving, and age-appropriate money basics.
- Goal setting & follow-through: Real goals broken into steps a child can own and finish.
- Contribution, purpose & altruism: Helping peers and giving back—where resilience turns into meaning.
Made for each age group
- Ages 6–8: stories, play, simple feeling words, and small goals.
- Ages 9–12: friendships, self-talk, boundaries, money basics, and planning.
A 60-minute lesson
A welcome, a story or scenario, a new skill, guided practice, reflection, and a take-home mission.
Sample lesson timing
- 0–5 min · Connect
“What's one feeling you had today?” No forced sharing, ever.
- 5–10 min · Experience
A short scenario — someone laughs when you answer a question wrong. What happens in your body?
- 10–15 min · Teach
Introduce the tool: PAUSE → BREATHE → NOTICE → CHOOSE.
- 15–30 min · Practice
Five scenarios. Children physically move to corners of the room: react / pause / ask for help / walk away / solve it. Then discuss.
- 30–40 min · Challenge
An escape-room-style group problem the team can only finish if they communicate and manage frustration.
- 40–50 min · Reflect
What happened when we got frustrated? What did we do? What worked?
- 50–55 min · Transfer
Where could you use this in real life this week?
- 55–60 min · Take-home mission
Catch yourself reacting once this week. Pause five seconds. Then choose.
Safe practice, not treatment
Children can pass and are never asked to disclose trauma. We teach skills and asking for help—not therapy or medical care. Families, trusted adults, and professional services remain essential; children are not responsible for overcoming adversity alone.