FAQ

Overcoming Obstacles is a free, research-based, and award-winning K-12 life skills curricula that provides educators with hundreds of lessons to teach elementary, middle, and high school students the skills necessary for success.

Overcoming Obstacles refers to the skills covered in our K-12 curricula as “life skills” because they lead to the development of competencies in all areas of life. These include skills such as relationship building, goal setting, decision making, and empathy, as well as applying to college, looking for a job, and managing finances.

All materials and support are available on our website for free, now and forever.

Overcoming Obstacles is a nonprofit organization with the mission to ensure that all young people learn the skills they need to achieve success. Though the generosity of our board members, we are able to provide all of our materials and services for free.

There are two ways you can access our materials. If you’re interested solely in the core curriculum, our Elementary, Middle, and High School Levels are all available for download in their entirety directly from our website. No personal information is required to access them—just go to our curriculum page, select a level, and click “Download.” It’s that simple.

You can also download our curriculum as well as additional resources and materials by creating a free “My Overcoming Obstacles” account.

“My Overcoming Obstacles” is a completely free online platform where you can download training guides, standards alignments, student surveys, handbooks for parents, material for substance abuse prevention and bullying prevention, and more. It will also give you access to our upcoming lesson editing platform and customized versions of the Overcoming Obstacles curriculum—all for free! Click here to create your account.

No. Our Elementary, Middle, and High School Level curricula are available to download in their entirety directly from our website. No registration required.

Overcoming Obstacles has been regularly evaluated since its founding in 1992. Most recently, Rutgers University conducted a study among U.S. educators who are teaching the curriculum in their schools. For more details, please contact us.

The Overcoming Obstacles curriculum was based on the Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) report, which had been commissioned by the U.S. Secretary of Labor. The SCANS report documented that life skills including problem solving, decision making, and self-management were an essential part of the effective education of children.

Beginning with communication, decision making, and goal setting skills, Overcoming Obstacles covers more than 25 additional skills, including:

• Anger Management
• Bullying Prevention
• Citizenship
• College and Career Readiness
• Confidence Building
• Conflict Resolution
• Coping
• Empathy
• Financial Management
• Leadership
• Perseverance
• Personal Health
• Problem Solving
• Resiliency
• Respect
• Responsibility
• Self-esteem
• Service Learning
• Studying
• Time Management

With the exception of the Getting Started and Looking to the Future modules in the Middle and High School curricula, the modules can be taught in any order.

Overcoming Obstacles is taught in a variety of settings, including stand-alone classes, counseling sessions, advisory periods, after-school programs, in-school suspension, and peer mentoring initiatives.

Yes, the elementary, middle, and high school level curricula align to many U.S. state and national standards. For more information, please contact us.

Yes! The best way to support Overcoming Obstacles is to share our website, social media pages, and curriculum with others, letting them know about this free, award-winning resource.