KEYS TO HEALTHY LIVING

Keys to Healthy Living is an interactive classroom based, substance-use prevention curriculum for grades 1-12. The goal of this program is to maximize participants’ potential to be healthy, responsible and addiction free young adults.

This program guides children to explore all aspects of their lives: physical, psychological, social, and spiritual. It is based on the current research about brain chemistry, life skills education, risk and protective factors, asset development, community service, and spirituality.

Particularly unique in this curriculum, originally developed for the Russian schools, is that it integrates materials universally appropriate for all children with material developed for children impacted by adverse childhood experiences, including addiction, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, learning differences, including attention deficit hyperactive disorders (ADHD). It also addresses alcohol, prescription and illegal drug use.

Keys to Healthy Living Objectives:

To increase knowledge and use of healthy living skills.
To decrease use of alcohol, tobacco, prescription and illegal drugs.
To increase knowledge of the impact of alcohol, tobacco, prescription and illegal drugs on their own bodies, their families and their communities.
To increase resiliency factors in participant lives.
To decrease risk factors that lead to an unhealthy lifestyle.

Information and Life Skills Content

Anger

Keeping Out of Fights
Negotiating
Helping Others
Steps in Reducing Anger
Steps in Responding to Anger

Feelings

Feelings versus Thoughts
Responding to the Feelings of Others
Recognizing Defenses of Others
Recognizing Your Defenses

Communication

Active Listening
Expressing a Complaint
Preparing for a Stressful Conversation
Standing Up for Your Self
Using "I" messages
Recognizing and celebrating each person's uniqueness

Problem Solving - Goal Setting

Active Listening
Refusal Skills
Choosing Safe and Trustworthy Friends
Learning from Experience
Accomplishing Personal Goals
Making a Decision
Accomplishing Personal Goals Dreams & Goals

Facts about Alcohol, Tobacco,Prescription & Illegal Drugs

Why people become addicted: brain chemistry, dependency and addiction.
Impact on families and communities.
How our bodies, minds, emotions and spirits are affected.

Meditation/Centering

Helping Others
Taking My Place in the World
My Impacting on the World
Meditation
Being Part of Something Larger than myself.