OWL (Our Whole Lives) program
For an honest, accurate, and developmentally appropriate curriculum, we recommend the Our Whole Lives Sexuality Education curriculum. Those who seek to infuse secular OWL content with faith values can incorporate content from Sexuality and Our Faith: Companion to Our Whole Lives, which includes United Church of Christ (UCC) and Unitarian Universalist (UU) material. Families of other faith traditions can adapt these faith materials to suit their values and beliefs.
OWL is unique for its embodiment of values throughout each level of the curriculum. For Elementary children, these values are Respect, Relationships, and Responsibility. For Secondary through three Adult levels, the values are Self-Worth, Responsibility, Sexual Health, Justice and Inclusivity.
Our Whole Lives dismantles stereotypes and assumptions, builds self-acceptance and self-esteem, fosters healthy relationships, improves decision making, and has the potential to save lives. For these reasons and more, we are proud to recommend Our Whole Lives (OWL). Workshops enable children, youth, and teens to receive sexuality education that is accurate, holistic, and affirming.
OWL programs are offered in many UU and UCC congregations that incorporate Sexuality and Our Faith material. OWL is used in schools, homeschool associations, community programs, and other settings without the faith component. It is a good choice for families who want their children to receive sexuality education that respects and supports parents and caregivers as their children’s primary sexuality educators.
Facilitator training is strongly recommended for anyone implementing OWL. The UUA and UCC also recommend a partnership of two trained adult facilitators when the curriculum is used in group settings. For information on trainings, visit www.uua.org/re/owl/trainings
Grades: K - older adults
Cost: The curriculum is available from www.uuabookstore.org and https://www.uccresources.com/ Program enrollment fees vary from setting to setting.
OTHER DETAILS
Key features
Type of Tool: Print curriculum
Time required: Workshop and program lengths vary. K-1 consist of eight one-hour workshops, while 7-9 is a series of 25 90-minute workshops.
Special Needs: The K-1, 4-6 and 7-9 second editions include ways to make the program accessible to participants with a range of learning styles and ableness.
Literacy Requirement (does a child need to know how to read): Not for K-1. Otherwise, the amount of participant reading varies. Facilitators are trained to adapt materials for accessibility.
Screens
Screens: No screens
Online requirement: None for program participants. Free videos for parents of K-1 children are viewable here https://www.uua.org/re/owl/videos-k-1 Also, the UUA and UCC offer a free Parents and Caregivers as Sexuality Educators curriculum (for personal use or groups meeting in person or online) at https://www.uua.org/families/sexuality-educators
Time
Parent/Caregiver Involvement: Parent/Caregiver involvement is necessary. Curriculums for grades K-10-12 include instructions for parent/caregiver orientation and use of permission slips. The Elementary levels include materials for at-home completion with parents and caregivers.
Prep Time: Varies from workshop to workshop.
Other characteristics
Modality: Audiovisual, Multimedia, Hands-on/kinesthetic
Adaptive: To qualify to use the name Our Whole Lives for a program, the sponsoring organization must use the curriculum as written and designed. Substantial changes require that an organization create another name for its program. It is acceptable to say a program is “informed by Our Whole Lives” or that it “includes workshop plans from Our Whole Lives.”
Educational Philosophy: Multiple learning theories are employed, and the primary educational model is the Experiential Learning Theory (Kolb, 1974).
Other characteristics: Hands-on, Inclusive of diverse viewpoints and perspectives, Fun and entertaining. K-1 includes sing-alongs.
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