7th and 8th Grade Curriculum

Choosing the Best... Path is designed to be appropriate for younger adolescents. Choosing the Best... Path addresses the following topics:

• Sex:  Everybody's Talking About It
  Students will discuss sexuality, identify the risks and possible consequences of premarital sexual activity and discuss self-respect and its role in abstinence.
  

• The Risks of STDs and HIV/AIDS
  

  Students will hear from young people who have contracted a sexually transmitted disease and learn about the most common sexually transmitted diseases, while participating in an exercise that demonstrates how STDs are spread.   

 

• Teen Pregnancy and "Safe Sex"?
  Students will hear others talk about how a pregnancy changed their lives and learn about teen pregnancy.   They will also discuss if "safe sex" is really safe enough and discover how responsibility relates to sexual activity.
  

• Pressures To Be Sexually Active
  Students will identify the four major pressures to have sex, understand the role of alcohol in influencing teenagers and discuss respect and how it relates to not pressuring others.
  

• Choosing the Best Path
  Students will discuss abstinence, the benefits of abstinence until marriage and will ultimately have an opportunity to sign an abstinence pledge.

 

• Set It! The Need for Boundaries
  Students gain knowledge about the components of a healthy relationship and learn how to set boundaries.

 

• Say It! The Need to Speak Up
  Students will learn skills to help them say "no" and explore the role of courage in choosing abstinence.

 

• Show It! The Need to Be Assertive
  Students will learn what it means to be assertive and how to demonstrate assertiveness.

  
  

9-12th Grade Curriculum

Choosing the Best... Life is used as an introductory curriculum to students. Life encourages adolescents to make responsible sexual choices and educates them regarding the benefits of abstaining from sex until marriage. Life addresses the following topics:

• Sex, Emotions and Self-Respect
  Teens learn how guys and girls view sex differently, while grappling with the emotional impact of sex before marriage.
  

• Sex, Alcohol and Respect
  Teens hear painful stories of mixing alcohol and sex, as they learn startling statistics about alcohol.
  

• Sex, STDs and Honesty
  A powerful video introduces students to the consequences of sexually transmitted diseases. They see for themselves the damage of specific STDs.
  

• Sex, Pregnancy and Responsibility
  A real-life teen couple shares the struggle of an unintended pregnancy. After teens evaluate choices and consequences, they see the value of being abstinent until married.
  
  

• Sex, HIV and Compassion
  After watching two young adults share how it feels to live with AIDS, teens separate myths from facts about HIV/AIDS, and in the process, learn compassion.
  

• Sex, Love and Healthy Choices
  Teens hear others share why they’ve chosen abstinence. After evaluating the options for themselves, students are given the opportunity to commit to abstinence until marriage.
  

• Sex, Limits and Self-Discipline
  Beginning with self-discipline, teens learn practical ways to handle sexual pressure from peers and others.
  

• Sex, Saying “NO” and Courage
  Practical role-plays enable students to develop and sharpen assertiveness skills.

 

10-12th Grade Curriculum

Choosing the Best… Soul Mate is used as a follow up to Life. Soul Mate is designed for upper high school students to help them develop interpersonal skills essential for successful relationships of all kinds. It continues to emphasize that sexual abstinence is a critical step to preparing for a lifelong, lasting relationship. Soul Mate addresses the following topics:

• Finding the Right One
  Although marriage is a desired goal for most young people, often too many marriages fail. Avoidance of relational traps that can lead to failed relationships. Keys to finding a soul mate and building a lasting relationship.
  

• Being the Right One
  Every person has his/her own strengths and weaknesses. Learning how to build on individual strengths can increase self-confidence. Self-confidence is an important ingredient in being the one.
  

• Developing Relational Skills
  Learning how to relate to different types of temperaments is an important relational skill. Versatility, the ability to adjust your behavior to meet the needs of others, can be developed.
  

• Dating to Discover
  Compatibility, what a couple has in common, and character are very important for a healthy long-term relationship. Dating provides the opportunity to discover compatibility and character before marriage.
  

• Making Marriage Work
  Developing communication skills, which are critical to a healthy relationship. Marriage requires commitment to each other and the relationship.
  

For more information regarding the Choosing the Best curricula,
please visit www.choosingthebest.org. If you live in the Middle Tennessee area, e-mail us by clicking here.