Botvin LifeSkills Training Elementary School Program
Program Overview
The Botvin LifeSkills Training Elementary School program is a comprehensive, dynamic, and developmentally appropriate substance abuse and violence prevention program designed for upper elementary school students. This highly effective curriculum has been proven to help increase self-esteem, develop healthy attitudes, and improve their knowledge of essential life skills – all of which promote healthy and positive personal development and mental health. LifeSkills Training is comprehensive, dynamic, and developmentally designed to promote mental health and positive youth development.
According to a study, published in the Journal of Drug Education, more elementary schools in the US choose to use the LST program over all other evidence-based prevention programs.
This program is also aligned to CASEL’s social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies. To view all LST alignments, visit our website here.
Program Learning Objectives
Personal Self-Management Skills
Students develop skills that enhance self-esteem, develop problem-solving skills, help them reduce stress and anxiety, and manage anger.
General Social Skills
Students gain skills to meet personal challenges such as overcoming shyness, communicating clearly, building relationships, and avoiding violence.
Drug Resistance Skills
Students build effective defenses against pressures to use tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs.
Program Structure
Grades 3-6
Program consisting of 8 class sessions per year across all three years
Level 1 (Grades 3/4) – 8 class sessions
Level 2 (Grades 4/5) – 8 class sessions
Level 3 (Grades 5/6) – 8 class sessions
30-45 minute class sessions
Taught either on an intensive schedule (two to three times a week) until the program is complete, or on a more extended schedule (once a week for 8 weeks)
Program Materials
- Comprehensive, easy-to-use Teacher’s Manual
- Student Guide
- Access to Botvin Health Connections: E-cigarettes and Vaping Resource (register here)
>>>Click here to request a free sample lesson<<<
Resources
Additional Resources
Botvin Health Connections: E-cigarettes and Vaping- A new resource for addressing this health crisis
Electronic cigarette use and vaping among youth has increased at an unprecedented rate. It is imperative that we maintain our focus on implementing evidence-based programs that demonstrate the strongest reductions in youth smoking. The Botvin LifeSkills Training (LST) program has been proven to reduce youth smoking by up to 80% by addressing the risk and protective factors associated with a variety of substances.
In response to this crisis, we created Botvin Health Connections: E-cigarettes and Vaping; a resource designed to strategically enhance specific lessons in LST to bring this health crisis to the forefront while amplifying the demonstrated reductions related to youth smoking. This easy to implement resource is structured to support LST Elementary, LST Middle School, and LST High School programs. Click here to fill out a short form to download this new resource.