The Future Leaders curriculum will teach pre-parenthood curriculum addressing financial, legal, and emotional responsibilities of parenthood as follows:
Pre-parenthood Curriculum
Module 1: So You Think You Are Ready to be a Parent
Keyword: Readiness
Module 1 Summary: Have you ever heard of the old adage (saying), “It takes a village to raise a child”? Well, in many cases, this is true.
Module 2: Basic Human Needs and Safety
Keyword: Needs
Module 2 Summary: The basic recognition that children must consistently be provided with Food, Water, and Shelter is a good place to start.
Module 3: Social Belonging
Keyword: Identity
Module 3 Summary: It is important to have lived long enough to develop a healthy sense of maturity rooted in identity development and a healthy sense of social belonging and the importance of others.
Module 4: Relationships (Bullying/Domestic Violence)
Keyword: Experiences
Module 4 Summary: Perhaps the most important thing that can be learned from the social belonging module is that you must live long enough to understand yourself and your relation to others before engaging the role of becoming a parent.
Module 5: Sense of Purpose and Achievement
Keyword: Self-Actualization
Module 5 Summary: Preparedness for parenting requires that an individual has lived long enough for their experiences to be vast, vetted, and transformed into a value.
Module 6: Exploring the Realities of Being a Parent
Keyword: Parent
Module 6 Summary: Exploring the realities of being a parent is a difficult task to absorb, especially in the absence of ever having this responsibility. Therefore, it can represent challenges to young people who may still be in the process of developing themselves and under the dependence and care of others.
Financial Curriculum
JA Economics for Success Program Brief
Junior Achievement (JA) will be the in-kind financial consultant and will also provide the grant’s financial curriculum. JA is an organization renowned for its prowess in teaching financial curriculum to youth. JA’s purpose is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. Very transparent with their effectiveness, JA employs a third party evaluator to gauge the effectiveness of their programs, maintaining transparency and excellence in the quality of their curriculum. They pride themselves on creating changed behavior through attitude adjustment and gained knowledge.
JA middle school programs are developed with a primary emphasis on entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and work readiness, while providing a strong secondary emphasis on mathematics, reading, and writing skills. Through a variety of experiential activities, students will understand the relationship between what they learn in school and their successful participation in a global economy.
The Future Leaders grant proposal will use the JA Economics for Success curriculum. JA Economics for Success introduces middle school students (ages 11–14) to work and career readiness and personal finance fundamental concepts. They learn introductory business and economic concepts; explore career interests and opportunities; and develop work-readiness skills through the lens of their own interests, skills, and values.
Child Support Curriculum
Optional Curriculum
To expand on the Future Leaders 13 week programming, The Missouri Child Support Program will offer training to participating schools on the optional nine-month Wyman Teen Outreach Program (TOP) curriculum. Schools may choose to pursue the TOP program as an extension of the Future Leaders curriculum. TOP promotes the positive development of middle and high school teens through curriculum-guided, interactive group discussions; positive adult guidance and support; and community service learning. TOP can be implemented in schools via an in school or after school setting in both urban and rural environments. Independent research reviews by federal agencies and organizations have recognized TOP for its evidence-based approaches.