Curriculum preview
An emotional regulation curriculum for ages 6 to 17
Word Guard is organised into four age bands, each with its own vocabulary, pacing and interaction style. Younger learners get large, one-tap choices and spoken encouragement; older students work with nuance, identity and self-leadership. The framework underneath never changes, so the language carries forward as they grow.
Age-banded pathways
Ages 6–8
FoundationNaming big feelings with simple words, one-tap choices and spoken encouragement.
- · My feelings have names
- · The stop-and-breathe game
- · Kind words, brave words
Ages 9–11
BuildingRecognising triggers, practising the pause, and responding to unkind behaviour safely.
- · Spotting my triggers
- · What a bystander can do
- · Choosing my reply
Ages 12–14
StrengtheningPressure online and in person, group dynamics, and self-leadership under stress.
- · Pressure and the pause
- · When the group turns
- · Repairing after a blow-up
Ages 15–17
AdvancedEmotional intelligence, identity, and rehearsing difficult conversations with intent.
- · Reading the room
- · Hard conversations, calm delivery
- · Leading myself first
What students practise
- Name emotions accurately instead of acting them out
- Recognise personal triggers earlier in the build-up
- Hold a deliberate pause under social or online pressure
- Respond to unkind behaviour as a target or a bystander
- Repair a relationship after losing control of a moment
- Rehearse difficult conversations before having them
The RTL framework
Every lesson, drill and reflection in Word Guard runs on the same four repeatable moves, so the language stays consistent from age six to age seventeen.
Recognise
Notice the body signals and name the feeling before it takes over — heat in the chest, tight jaw, racing thoughts.
Think
Create deliberate space between the trigger and the response, so the thinking brain catches up with the feeling brain.
Lead
Choose the response you would be proud of an hour later, instead of the one that feels fastest right now.
Rehearse
Practise the calm version in advance, so it is already familiar when the real pressure arrives.
For educators and families
Educators see engagement and wellbeing signals — lesson completion, reflection streaks and emotional trends — without ever seeing private message content. Families get the same shared vocabulary at home, so a pause asked for in the classroom means the same thing at the dinner table.
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