Choose Love For Schools™ is aligned with the  Character and Social Emotional Development Standards (CSED). 

These standards include BOTH Character.org and CASEL’s standards, as well as individual state standards.

Character and Social Emotional Development Standards are guidelines that outline what students should know and be able to do to develop self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making—the core components of social-emotional learning (SEL). These standards help teachers foster character traits like empathy, kindness, respect, and integrity, while also building emotional and interpersonal skills.

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We are also aligned with Brain Health Innovation (BHI), SEL Benchmark Indicators and NCSHE Standards.

In addition, we align with Common Core State Standards and ASCA Student Standards: Mindsets & Behaviors for Student Success.

Choose Love For Schools™ goes beyond these standards and ALSO incorporates Growth Mindset, Neuroscience, Mindfulness, Positive Psychology, Post-Traumatic Growth and Emotional Intelligence into the lessons.

How They’re Used:

School counselors use these standards to:

• Develop lesson plans and counseling programs
• Support multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS)
• Measure student growth in non-academic areas
• Align with SEL, character education, and academic instruction

Choose Love For Schools™ units include a Caregiver Connection section that offers links to videos, activities and discussion topics from our Choose Love at Home program that was designed for quick, easy family instruction.

Many of the Choose Love For Schools™ lessons encourage learners to think about ways they can apply the lessons to improving their communities, and we also proudly offer programs developed for Community organizations and for Athletes and Youth Leadership development because we are committed to helping extend the benefits of the Choose Love Formula™ beyond the classroom.

Within the three levels of MTSS, Choose Love can be a universal support to ALL students. It can also be utilized in small groups with targeted support to provide short-term intervention by a counselor, or intervention teacher.  Choose Love For Schools™ is not a therapeutic program and may not be appropriate for intensive, individualized support and intervention for students with more intensive needs.

Choose Love For Schools™ addresses the root causes of suicide and self-harm including self-esteem, pain management and post traumatic growth in order to reduce or prevent these devastating outcomes.

Choose Love For Schools™ is not intended to be a replacement for therapy. Choose Love For Schools™ is an educational model, not a therapeutic model, and does not attempt to diagnose or provide therapeutic instruction.  The Choose Love For Schools™ curriculum can be easily adopted by Educators, Counselors and Social Workers.

While the literature component is not required to teach the four pillars of the Choose Love Formula™, it offers a powerful and enriching enhancement. Each story has been thoughtfully chosen to bring the Choose Love Formula™—Courage + Gratitude + Forgiveness + Compassion-in-Action—to life through relatable characters and meaningful journeys.

Books have a unique ability to open hearts and build bridges. Through story, students develop empathy, strengthen self-worth, and deepen their understanding of one another. Literature reminds us that all human beings share similar feelings and experiences, no matter our background, appearance, or how we express ourselves. It helps students see themselves in others and realize the powerful truth: we are more alike than different.

This literary journey is part of what sets Choose Love For Schools™ apart, creating space for connection, reflection, and shared humanity.

NO!  The curriculum is written so that the educators can learn alongside their students.  There is very little preparation required, making it easy to teach and easy to learn.

We do, however, offer additional training and support which you can read more about in the Professional Development Workshops section

Yes!  Check out our Professional Development section for workshops and keynote information.

It can be tempting to vilify bullies, but time and again we are reminded that hurt people, hurt people. Ultimately, it is essential to separate the person from the action. The Choose Love formula can be particularly effective resolve bullying behaviors.

 The formula involves elevating Choice Moments…the pause between a stimulus and response where everyone can either choose a courageous healthy response or a reactive one.  The Supervisor, the Bully, the Bullied, the Bystander, and Upstanders can learn how the formula can work to their advantage.

•  Courage to choose a more thoughtful response essential to break free of our automatic reactive patterns.
•  Gratitude to have the skills and wisdom to bring a new lens to the situation.
•  Forgiveness for previous reactive responses without losing sight of accountability or limit setting.
•  And Compassion-in-action to have a deeper appreciation that we are all the same in the want and need to love and be loved.

Based in neuroscience, Choose Love not only reduces and prevents bullying but also allows everyone involved to hold onto their personal power. All of these actions disrupt the pathway to violence yielding healthier, happier, and especially safer environments where entire communities are uplifted.