Lesson 1: Asking for Help

What are examples of activities children can do by themselves? What are examples of situations where children might need to ask for help? Who are trusted adults who can help?

In this lesson, children learn about asking for help. Additionally, the lesson focuses on learning about touch and that sometimes people like touch and sometimes they don't. Student learn it is OK to ask for help for all kinds of different things and they brainstorm who they could ask for help. 

Instead of teaching children "rules" about touching, this program teaches that everyone has the right to set boundaries nad expect that those boundaries will be respected. Taking this approach is part of the program's overall trauma-informed approach. The language "asking for help" is more natural for children to use than "tell someone," which carries the notion of tattling and is discouraged in many settings.

Objectives:

• Differentiate between activities that do and do not require help

• Identify trusted adults who can help

• Practice asking for help

Vocabulary:

trusted adult – someone you can talk to who makes you feel safe and comfortable, believes you when you speak, who you know well and your other trusted adults know well.

Lesson 2: Feelings

*We do not teach this lesson during the unit.

What different types of feelings can people have? How do people act when they have a specific feeling? Can you have multiple feelings at the same time? Who can you ask for help if you are confused about your feelings?

In this lesson children learn about feelings. They will learn words to describe feelings, including the words mixed up and confused to describe having more than one feeling at the same time or not being sure about a feeling. Students will think about how different feelings physically feel in their body. 

Being able to recognize and identify feelings is a part of child sexual abuse prevention. Children who are able to recognize and communicate their feelings are at less risk for sexual abuse victimization and for acting out sexually. Having words to describe conflicted or confusing feelings makes it more likely that children will be able to ask for help.

Objectives:

• Demonstrate behaviors associated with feelings

• Recognize feelings can be unclear or confusing

• Discuss which feelings may require help from an adult

• Identify feelings based on described behaviors and visual cues

• Identify trusted adults who can help with feelings
  
  

Vocabulary:

Feeling - a person's emotional state. We use words like happy, sad, confident, scared, and worried.

Physical Sensation - a physical feeling or body signal like hot, sweaty, dizzy, racing heart, breathless, or queasy.

Confused - when you don't understand something. 

Mixed up (feelings) - when you're not sure how you feel or have many feelings at once.

Lesson 3: Bodies

What parts do people have that are the same? What parts do people have that are different? What does "public" mean? What does "private" mean? Which are  "private" and "public" body parts? Who can help us if there is confusion about "public" vs. "private" body parts?

In this lesson, children learn about bodies. This lesson gives children the proper terms for parts of their bodies, including genitals. Doing this reduces the risk of child sexual abuse by giving children anatomically correct language should they attempt to disclose sexual abuse. Children also learn what public and private means, both in terms of bodies and places. 

Being able to accurately name all body parts reduces a child's risk of being victimized. Someone may be less likely to victimize a child who can accurately name the genitals because that child will have the increased self-awareness about their bodies, and should they choose to disclose, they will have the proper language.

Objectives:

• Define "private"

• Identify similar and different body parts

• Practice using accurate language for body parts

• Identify "private" body parts

• Practice appropriate behavior regarding "private" body parts

• Identify who can help with confusion around "private" body parts

• Define "privacy"

Vocabulary:

Public place - a place where lots of people might go or could be. 

Public part - a body part that it is expected to see in a public place. Appropriate to show these parts to others.

Private place - a place where you can go to have privacy/be all alone. 

Private part - a body part that is special and just for you; not for everyone to see.

Genitals - the word we use when talking about private parts (including vagina, vulva, penis, and buttocks).

Lesson 4: Babies

What are some things babies need help with? Who can take care of a baby? How can a baby be taken care of? When can a child ask an adult for help with a baby? What are some things that, as children grow, they can do by themselves?

In this lesson, children learn about babies, including what babies need help with. Children will also learn, through helping adults take care of baby dolls, that babies deserve to be taken care of. The children will have a turn helping an adult to feed, diaper, and hold the baby. Additionally, the class will celebrate what they can do now that they are older.

Self-esteem is built through celebrating children's sense of mastery over skills that they were not able to do as younger children. Children experience nurturing in this lesson and then practice nurturing those who are younger than them. Nurturing is a form of empath. Both self-esteem and empathy are important skills for the prevention of sexual abuse and sexually harmful behaviors.

Objectives:

• Identify activities babies need help with

• Differentiate between activities a child can help a baby with and activities an adult needs to help a baby with

• Demonstrate appropriate care for a baby in a specific situation

• Identify when to ask for help when caring for a baby

Lesson 5: Asking for Permission

When do we ask if it's OK to touch another person? How do we ask for permission? What are the rules related to play to ensure that all feel safe and comfortable?

In this lesson, children learn about asking permission before touching other people. Students will practice asking for permission to hug or touch, as well as practice respectfully accepting "no touching" answers from others. This lesson is about understanding that everyone has a right to say no to touching, and everyone has a right to have their "no touching" answer respected.

Asking for permission and respectfully accepting "no" are important skills related ot consent . Beginning at young ages, modeling respect for boundaries builds the foundation for a more complex understanding of consent as children get older.

Objectives:

• Identify when to ask for permission to touch another person

• Practice asking for permission

Vocabulary:

Permission - asking for approval before you do something

Consent - asking for permission to do something and respecting the answer