GoEQ® is a Bible-based SEL curriculum for Christian schools. Designed to teach students practical implementation of emotional intelligence, it helps students develop the tools they need to process and regulate emotions, think critically, respond to everyday situations in a healthy manner, and experience relational success.
The journey of optimizing our mental health begins with understanding the physical brain. Gain an age-appropriate understanding of the anatomy and functions of the brain.
The everyday lifestyle choices we make have an impact on our brain’s health. Discover how various mental and physical lifestyle habits impact the brain's health and its ability to function and think clearly.
Our emotional intelligence influences our choices and behaviors. Obtain a practical understanding of emotional intelligence through real-life applications designed to broaden emotional skills.
Optimizing our mental health includes challenging our irrational thoughts. Acquire tools to identify, evaluate, and reframe untrue and unhelpful thoughts.
Optimal mental health is not merely the absence of mental illness and addiction, but the presence of character strengths that solidify our emotional intelligence. Develop documented cross-cultural character strengths to enhance their lives and well-being.
One of the most important factors affecting our ability to pursue and achieve optimal mental health is our attitude. Accept that brain health is achieved, maintained, and enhanced through consistent effort.
An important but often overlooked component of mental health is having a spiritual connection. The Bible offers us a compass to test our thoughts to ensure we tell ourselves the truth. Understand that spirituality and a biblical perspective on mental health can support them in their journey toward emotional brilliance.
GoEQ® is divided into four units, each covering essential questions pertaining to emotional intelligence. In each lesson, you will find powerful scripture connections, current scientific research, engaging stories, research material, multimedia learning, and age-appropriate learning activities.
The GoEQ® Curriculum is designed to be taught four days per week for 12 weeks, with each daily lesson being about 40 minutes in length. Many teachers, however, choose to spread the curriculum over a full semester or even a full year. The content can be taught more in depth if there is time available, using additional resources provided for enrichment. We suggest teaching the GoEQ® Curriculum at a pace where your students can grasp its principles for optimal benefit. Whatever your timeframe, the GoEQ® Curriculum can be adapted to fit it
Because EQ is not a regular school subject, it may be difficult to make time for it in an already full school program. For that reason, GoEQ™ materials have been developed for Lower Elementary (Kindergarten–Grade 2), Upper Elementary (Grades 3–5), Middle School (Grades 6–8), and High School (Grades 9–12). The curriculum includes 12 weeks of instructional materials for each level.
Yes! In the various pilots done with this curriculum, not every teacher taught it for the designed 40 minutes per day, four days per week. Lessons can easily be cut in half. Many teachers have taken the program slowly, rather than getting through the program material in 12 weeks. One way to fit the lesson material is to preview the lessons and decide which scenarios and activities you are going to do. You may decide to decrease the examples presented and then use the others as a review the following week.
Another aspect of this curriculum is that you can plug various lessons into different parts of the day. For example, the lessons on brain anatomy easily fit into science classes as a sub-unit. The lessons on promoting brain health can easily fit into health or science. Lessons on emotional intelligence and untangling thoughts can be included in Bible, Social Studies, Health, or even worship. Once students have started learning the emotional tools for calming down and untangling their thoughts, you can gently remind them to use the tools throughout the day as situations come up to reinforce the skills that build emotional intelligence. These tools, even in small doses, will go a long way toward fostering healthy thinking and emotional brilliance in your students for the rest of their lives.
The materials provided include: the teacher’s manual with full instructional script, student worksheets/workbooks, discussion questions, activities, stories, PowerPoints, teaching videos, read-aloud books, music playlist, references to information for further study, evaluation ideas, grading rubrics, student objectives, pre-lesson preparation and materials lists, and pre- and post-assessments. Additional materials on the website include further reading for teachers, additional books and videos suitable for students, unit tests for Middle School and High School, letters to send to parents informing them of the content being taught in each unit, and bulletin board ideas.
The GoEQ® curriculum is designed for Christian schools wanting to bring holistic mental health education into their classroom. The lessons have a biblical foundation without endorsing the specific beliefs of any one religious group.
The GoEQ® materials give a broad understanding of brain health and lifestyle habits that enhance brain function. They educate students in the benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet, physical activity, daily and weekly rest and recreation, adequate hydration, abstinence from drugs and alcohol, mindfully limiting screen-time, and the calming, optimizing benefits of classical music. These all have solid, scientific research backing.
Students are given principles to guide their decision-making and opportunities to consider how they can best apply the ideas shared in their lives to support their mental health. They are not pushed to adopt any specific lifestyle or worldview.
The simple answer is yes. The GoEQ® Curriculum is a scripted curriculum allowing anyone to successfully share mental health principles with the children in their lives. While the curriculum was developed with typical classrooms in mind, it can be easily adapted to after-school programs, youth group meetings, homeschooling, or co-op settings.
