Materials: X=required by Active Relationships (AR)x=highly recommended by AR  O=optional for use by facilitators

Instructional Methods

Learning Activities

x

Facilitator guide or workbook

X

Lecture or similar presentation (by facilitator or co-facilitators)

X

Communication or conflict resolution skills practice

X

Participant workbook

X

Guided discussion (between partners, within groups, whole group)

X

Role play or other creative, musical or artistic  activity

Take-home resources or homework

Guest speakers on special topics

O

Written exercise (in session or for homework)

Additional document, book or text

Reading of text

O

Journal entry

O

Audio Visual aids (Computer, DVD, CD, VCR, overhead projector, TV)

X

Coaching or demonstration of skills by instructor, peer or mentor couple

X

Survey, quiz or relationship assessment inventory

Internet or web-based resource(s) including podcast, webcast

X

Use of pictorials for low-literacy groups

X

Situational analysis of case study, couple interaction, role play

O

Flipchart or posters

O

Use of AV to present educational content (video, DVD, CD, audiotape)

X

Other individual exercise(s)

Other material(s) - list (prop, supplies, learning tools, resource, etc.):

Other instructional method(s) – list:

X

Other couple or group interactive exercise(s) – list:

10.  Is the curriculum available in other languages? YES   If so, which one(s)? SPANISH

11.   Are supportive materials (video, DVD, CD, etc.) available in other languages?  YES   If so, which one(s)? DVD, CD, PPT., Teaching aids

12.   Describe any special features or other noteworthy aspects of this curriculum that are important to your project:

Active Relationships curriculums are currently used in the general population and for unique populations: refugee   communities (Somali, Russian, Boat People, Cambodian), military (Army, Air Force, National Guard), Schools (Independent School Districts and Private Schools), Native American Community, Hispanic Community (in Spanish or English), in Head Start Communities, Federally Funded Healthy Marriage Coalitions and Agencies (including YWCA). Active Relationships Company is a federally awarded, Healthy Marriage agency for the Lower Rio Grande Valley-Cameron County, Texas to serve Hispanic Couples and Youth. Active Relationships classes are in (but not limited to) to the following countries: U.S., England, Germany, South Korea, Italy, Turkey.

Put a checkmark (✓) in the “Skills or Activities” column when you find a skill-building exercise or activity that enhances knowledge or understanding of that particular topic. Skill exercises and activities encourage participants to “learn by doing or discussing” and serve to enhance knowledge, values, self-awareness or relationship skills. These practices require interaction or dynamic participation by individuals, among couples or within groups. When “Skills or Activities” are clearly associated with information on a specific topic, place a checkmark in both columns. Examples of skill exercises and activities are:

• Practicing communication skill exercises (examples: structured dialogs, guided conversations, listening/speaking skills practice, etc.)
• Discussing a case study and problem-solving strategies in pairs or groups
• Completing homework on steps to conflict reduction for couples
• Filling-out a self or couple-relationship assessment
• Participating in a role-play, game or other creative activity

Skills or Activities

Minimum Required Content

✓ (p.47-53)

✓ (p.35-37)

✓(p.35)

✓ (p.48)

✓ (p.35-37)

✓ (p.35)

Commitment to healthy marriage (for current or future relationship)

·   Role of commitment, long-term vision on relationship qualities, dynamics

·   Perseverance and patience in relationship

✓ (p.25-30)

✓ (p.25-30)

✓

✓ (p.28)

✓ (p.28-30)

✓

Communication  

·   Listening and/or speaking skills, effective communication dynamics

·   Body language, non-verbal communication

✓ (p.83-98)

✓ (p.83-98)

✓

✓ (p.86-87)

✓ (p.97)

✓ (p.86-87)

Conflict resolution

·   Dealing with issues, events, disagreements, quarrels and arguments

·   Speaking and listening skills to reduce verbal conflict, escalation

✓ (p.47-52)

✓ (p.47-52)

✓ (p.43)

✓ (p.43)

Beliefs about marriage or family (cultural and/or faith-based)

·   Attitudes, ideas, values about marriage or family life related to couple relationship

✓ (p.41-53)

✓ (p.41-42)

✓ (p.41-42)

✓ (p.49)

✓ (p.42)

✓ (p.42)

Benefits of marriage (for adults, children, community and society)

·   Impact on marital and social well-being; economic, education and health outcomes, social indicators, finances, crime rates, etc.

·   Role of marriage in society and culture(s), marriage as a social institution

✓ (p.41-53)

✓ (p.49-50)

✓ (p.49-53)

✓

✓ (p.49-50)

✓ (p.49-53)

Qualities of healthy relationships and healthy marriages

·   Research based qualities, characteristics and aspects of healthy relationships and healthy marriages

·   Values, attitudes associated with long-term, low-conflict partnerships

6 general (11) sub

6 general (11) sub

Total number of checks under each Minimum Required Content column

Info

Skills or Activities

Advised Content

✓ (p.62-64)

✓

✓

✓

✓ (p.64)

✓

✓

✓

Anger management

·   Emotional regulation

·   Managing emotions/feelings

·   Recognizing, understanding and expressing feelings appropriately

✓ (p.60)

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Caring & empathy, appreciation or soothing behaviors

·   Empathy skills (verbal and non-verbal), kindness, thoughtfulness

·   Emotional supportiveness

✓ (p.77-78)

✓ (p.78)

✓ (p.77)

✓

✓

✓

Cohabitation

·   Issues, reasons for, disadvantages of living together before marriage

·   Research on cohabiting relationships

✓ (p.68)

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Danger signs in relationships, recognizing unhealthy patterns (who not to choose)

·   Risk factors for chronic conflict, negative interactions

·   Destructive, violent or controlling behavior patterns in couple communication or interaction

✓ (p.75-76)

✓

✓

✓

✓ (p.75-76)

✓

✓

✓

Extended Family Relationships

·   Relationships with couples’ parents, siblings and kin

·   Relationships with mother or father of a child other than the current relationship

·   Relationships with child’s grandparent when mother or father is not the current relationship

✓ (p.72-74)

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓ (p.72-74)

✓

✓

✓

✓

Financial Literacy 

·   Basic money management skills (budgeting, banking, saving, planning, investing)

·   Attitudes, beliefs, practices of effective money management

·   Individual and/or couple financial responsibility

·   Negotiation or communication skills related to distribution and/or expenditure of financial resources

✓ (p.60-61)

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Forgiveness

·   Factors to consider in making a decision to forgive, impact of forgiveness on relationships

·   Forgiveness versus fairness, justice and forgetting

·   Forgiveness behaviors (taking responsibility, apologies, letting go)

✓ (p.45)

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Gender roles, issues, male-female differences

·   Beliefs & behaviors about man or womanhood

·   Gender-based role expectations

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Goals (personal, couple and/or family

·   Goal-setting, planning for the future

·   Hopes and dreams

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Infidelity/fidelity

·   Trust or commitment related to emotional, financial and sexual fidelity

·   Fidelity and social boundaries

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Knowledge of partner

·   Partner-awareness activities

·   Identify partner strengths, qualities and values

✓ (p.63-67)

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Knowledge of self, personality

·   Self-awareness activities, self-management skills

·   Identify personality strengths, qualities and values

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Problem-solving

·   Identifying problems, brainstorming, exploring options

·   Building consensus and exploring solutions

✓

✓

✓ (p.81-82)

✓

✓

✓

✓ (p.81-82)

✓

Remarriage, stepfamily issues

·   Healing from loss (examples: death of spouse, divorce)

·   Step-parenting or co-parenting responsibilities, complex in-law relationships

·   Issues with other parent of partner’s child, multiple-partner fertility impact on relationship

✓

✓

✓

✓

Relationship assessment

·   Completion of an informal assessment process or standardized assessment tool

✓

✓ (p.53)

✓ (p.53 - 58 )

✓

✓

✓ (p.55)

Relationship choices (dating, mate selection)

·   Qualities of a good mate, process of getting to know another person

·   Understanding risk factors and danger signs

✓ (p.77 - 81 )

✓ (p.77 - 81 )

✓

✓ (p.80)

✓

✓

Relationship history, past relationships

·   Dating, cohabitation, non-marital parenting

·   Previous relationship’s impact on partner or children

✓ (p.100 - 105 )

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Relationship phases and stages

·   Stages or phases of love, couple bonding, marriage, family cycle

·   Processes of engagement/disengagement

✓ (p.71 - 72)

✓ (p.71 - 72)

✓

✓ (p.71 - 72)

✓ (p.71 - 72)

✓

Roles and responsibilities in couple relationships

·   Manage basic household, family and relationship tasks

·   Boundaries, duties add from reunions

✓ (p.101 - 115)

✓

✓ (p.109 - 111)

✓ (p.99 - 107)

✓ (p.101 - 103)

✓

✓

✓ (p.109 - 110)

✓

✓ (p.102 - 103)

Sexual intimacy

·   Role of sex in marriage, intimacy, impact on health

·   Communication about sexual desires, habits of couple

·   Bio-chemistry, social-emotional dynamics of sex

·   Abstinence until marriage, delayed sexual intimacy, pregnancy and STD prevention

✓ (p.110 - 114)
✓ (p.111)

✓ (p.112)

✓

✓ (p.111)

✓ (p.112)

Shared activities, spending time together as a couple

·   Planning and implementing couple activities

·   Nurturing fun, friendship

✓

✓

✓

✓

Social supports

·   Using or developing network systems including friends, kin, neighborhood and faith community that support the couple or marriage by providing financial or other backing and assistance (e.g., child care, socio-emotional, cultural)

✓ (p.79)

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Stressors, change, crisis

·   Common marital/relationship stressors such as, schedule changes, relocation, job or employment issues

·   Special family circumstance such as, foster parenting, children in foster care, adoption

·   Caretaking of chronically ill family member, aging parent and/or a special needs child

·   Strategies for handling internal/intrapersonal and interpersonal distress

✓ (p.99)

✓ (p.99)

✓ (p.99)

✓ (p.99)

✓ (p.99)

✓ (p.99)

Teamwork, couple identity

·   Collaboration and cooperation as a couple

·   Couple unity --- the “us” or “we” as a couple

✓ (p.52)

✓ (p.52)

✓

✓ (p.52)

✓ (p.52)

✓

Trust & trustworthiness

·   Reliable, consistent behavior in relationships

·   Rebuilding trust after infidelity or other breach of trust

✓ (p.49-53)

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Values

·   Beliefs, principles, morals, ethics

·   Ideals that influence commitment, marriage, behavior in personal relationships, family or kin dynamics and/or social norms

26 general (60) sub

26 general (60) sub
100%

Total number of checks under each Advised Content column

Info

Skills or Activities

Optional Content

✓(p.101-105)

✓(p.101-105)

Abstinence

·   Delaying sexual activity until marriage

✓

✓

✓

Addictions/substance abuse

·   Impact of addictions/substance abuse on relationship/marriage (examples: alcoholism, substance abuse, gambling addiction, eating disorders, co-dependence or other addictions)

·   Awareness of and referral to treatment and recovery resources

✓

✓

✓

Adoption, foster care

·   Deciding to adopt a child or provide foster care

·   Impact of adopting a child or providing foster care (couple relationship/family dynamics)

✓ (p.80)

✓(p.80-81)

✓(p.80-81)

Child support

·   Importance of providing emotional and financial support to non-residential children

·   Understanding the child support enforcement system

·   Strategies for healthy relationship between the residential and non-residential parent

Criminal behavior/Criminal justice system

·   Experience with the criminal justice system

·   Impact of criminal behavior or incarceration on relationships

·   Maintaining relationships during and after incarceration

Death and dying

·   Negotiating and dealing with medical aspects of death and dying

·   Relationships and life closure issues

·   Memorial and burial arrangements, estate planning and disbursement

Employment

·   Making decisions about employment

·   Seeking employment, enhancing employability skills and maintaining employmentImpact of employment or lack of employment on couple/family dynamics

ESL, assimilation

·   Overcoming language/cultural barriers to enhance couple and family communication or stability

·   Resettlement issues impact on couple and family relationships

Health, illness, safety

·   Health and safety behaviors (examples: preventive health care, immunizations, safety belts; bicycle helmets; smoke/carbon monoxide detectors)

·   Illness (examples: short-term, chronic, and/or terminal illness, surgeries)

·   Accidental injuries, Awareness of referrals for health and safety information

Housing

·   Locating stable and safe housing

·   Financial aspects of housing (renting, buying a house)

Mental health, mental illness

·   Mental illness, such as: bi-polar, depression, anxiety, post-partum depression, ADHD

·   Awareness of referral resources for mental health services

✓ (p.82)

✓ (p.82)

✓ (p.82)

Parenting, co-parenting (fatherhood, motherhood)

·   Impact of becoming and/or being a parent on the relationship/marriage

·   Parent involvement and parenting strategies – discipline plans, parenting responsibilities

·   Impact of parent, couple relationship on well-being of children

Pregnancy, Prenatal, Post-Natal

·   Impact of pregnancy on couple relationship and family dynamics

·   Prenatal healthy care

·   Preparing for the birth of a child

·   Infant development and care

·   Impact of infant on couple relationship and family dynamics

✓ (p.83)

TANF services

·   Understanding the child support enforcement system

·   Impact of being a TANF recipient on couple/family dynamics

·   Preparing to discontinue TANF supports

6(9)

Total number of checks under each Optional Content column

Content Type 

Possible no. of chart topics

Total “Info” topics in this curriculum

Possible No. Total “Skills or Activities” topics

Total “Skills or Activities” topics in this curriculum

Percent coverage of topics in curriculum

Minimum Required Content

6

6/6

11

11/11

100%

Advised Content

26

26/26

60

60/60

100%

Optional Content

14

6/14

39

49%

Total

46

110

Preparation and Implementation (Optional)

If instructor training or certification is required, consider the following:

1.  Is training offered at a time and location convenient to your program implementation plan? Training offered at Smart Marriage conference rates per person (see www.SmartMarriages.com) OR at a flat fee at your site for your staff (as many as you can fit in the room) See ARC website www.ActiveRelationships.com  for “at –your-site” trainings. Click on trainings.

a. Locations where training will take place: Smart Marriages Conference Denver, Wed/Thursday June 27,28-Leader Materials included in registration fee. (see AR Pre Institute #107 at www.SmartMarriages.com for registration for this training, download a registration form at the same website)

b. Possible or actual dates for instructor training: For training dates at your site, contact ARC. 877-724.7789 or contact@activerelationships.com

2.  What are the estimated costs associated with preparation and implementation?

a. What are the estimated one-time costs associated with instructor training or certification (include registration, materials fees and travel)? SEE Trainings on ARC website. There are several options.

b. In order to implement the curriculum, what equipment or materials need to be purchased? Leader’s Guide

c. What are the estimated costs per participant for participation (e.g., workbooks)?. Active Marriage and Best Practices is $24/book/couple. ARC participant texts range from $24-$32/couple for workbook plus shipping