Our Whole Lives Facilitator Resources

These resources are for Our Whole Lives (OWL) facilitators and families. To suggest additional resources for to ask about OWL program content, facilitation issues, or training, please contact OWL Program Manager Melanie Davis, PhD, at owl@uua.org.

OWL Newsletter

The Our Whole Lives Newsletter provides information and resources for OWL facilitators, program coordinators, parents and others. It’s free! Sign up today!

Sexuality Education Resources for Families

Books and Websites

Parents and Caregivers as Sexuality Educators

Parents and Caregivers as Sexuality Educators is a free curriculum that fosters adult-child communication. It is not part of Our Whole Lives, but it does help adults consider similar to those their children in OWL are learning about. Groups do not require a trained facilitator, and the program can be offered online or in person. Available in both Unitarian Universalist and United Church of Christ versions, the curriculum can be easily adapted for secular use or use with other faith communities.

OWL Taking Flight Webinars

The Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ host monthly educational webinars for OWL facilitators, program coordinators, religious educators, clergy, and others. The topics are related to OWL content but often are not curriculum-specific. The webinar hosts are Dr. Melanie Davis, UUA OWL Program Manager, and Rev. Amy Johnson, UCC Minister for Sexuality Education and Justice.

1st Wednesday of each month, 12:00-1:00 PM ET

OWL Taking Flight webinars explore topics that intersect with Our Whole Lives and Sexuality and Our Faith programs. Co-hosted by the UCC and UUA, these free webinars are created with Our Whole Lives facilitators and program coordinators in mind, while they are also open to the public.

March 6, 2024, Noon-1 pm Eastern Time

Yes, Your Kid

Join Dr. Melanie Davis (UUA) and Rev. Amy Johnson (UCC) to meet Debby Herbenick, PhD, author of "Yes, Your Kid: What Parents Need to Know about Today's Teens and Sex." Dr. Herbenick is a renown sexuality researcher and provost professor at the University of Indiana School of Public Health. This book is research and fact based yet readable and filled with ways parents (and OWL facilitators) can communicate effectively on topics including bodies, puberty, technology, consent, pornography, and more.

Register for OWL Taking Flight webinars even if you cannot attend live, to receive links to the recording and to resources mentioned during the webinar. You'll also receive a link to subscribe to the OWL Newsletter, if you click the option to receive (very limited) email from the UCC.

Registration

View recorded webinars:

OWL 7-9 2nd ed. Supporting Resources

  • Unit and Workshop descriptions for Our Whole Lives for Grades 7-9, 2nd edition (2014)
  • Free OWL Posters (PDF): Download and enlarge these pages to decorate your OWL workshop space and have a handy, long-lasting reference tool! Set includes the Circles of Sexuality model, rev. 2023; OWL Program Values and Assumptions; OWL Bill of Rights (PDF, 3 pages)
  • Special Education Approach to OWL (PDF, 15 pages) is a chapter from the 2nd edition of Our Whole Lives for Grades 7-9 that the UUA provides at no charge online. Find help to anticipate and address the learning needs of autistic youth or attention-related, intellectual, or learning disabilities so these youth may more fully participate and learn.
  • Video list (videos that facilitators are likely to show)

OWL Curriculum Updates and Revisions

OWL K-1 2nd ed. Replacement Pages

Please download and print these pages using the 8 ½ x 11 paper size and “print actual size” options on your print screens. Then, hole punch the pages and exchange them for the current pages in your loose-leaf binder. The page numbers will not change. Our FAQ (PDF) answers questions about this new format and tells how to access the Sexuality and Our Faith companion materials.

OWL 4-6 2nd ed. Replacement Readings

  • 2022: Please refer to this updated list of readings (PDF) from It's Perfectly Normal, 2021 edition. These page numbers differ from those listed in the curriculum, which referenced an earlier edition of the book.

2022 Recommended Updates to OWL for Young Adults, 1st ed.: Since Our Whole Lives Sexuality Education for Young Adults 1st ed. was published, many medical and social understandings about sexuality have changed. The 2nd edition will be available for field testing in 2023. Until then, use this guide (PDF, 8 pages) to mark strongly recommended changes in your copy of the curriculum to make it as accurate and inclusive as possible. If you have questions, contact owl@uua.org.

2020 Recommended Updates to OWL for Adults. Since 2000, much has changed in terms of the language around gender and orientation as well as sexual science and culture. Please use the "Recommended Updates" guide (PDF) to mark strongly recommended changes in your copy of the curriculum to make it as accurate and inclusive as possible. If you have questions, contact owl@uua.org

Sermon: Sexuality Through a UU Lens

Explore the UUA’s long-time commitment to sexual justice and the Our Whole Lives program values of Self-Worth, Responsibility, Sexual Health, Justice and Inclusivity. Written by OWL Program Manager Melanie Davis, PhD, this sermon (PDF) can be used with the recommended readings and closing words suggested within this document.

How to Support Sexuality Education During OWL Program Interruptions

OWL programs may be interrupted or postponed for any number of reasons. We learned a lot during the 2020-2021 pandemic lockdown, and you'll find those recommendations outlined in When You Can't Do OWL... Do This! (PDF) The document includes ways to offer holistic sexuality education without in-person gatherings and includes tips for creating online adaptations.

OWL Email Lists: Community Guidelines (PDF, 1 page) for the Our Whole Lives Facilitators email lists (OWL-Child, OWL-L, OWL-Adult) ensure that communications are helpful and respectful. All email list subscribers are expected to participate in compliance with these guidelines. Trained and approved UU, UCC, and CUC facilitators as well as OWL trainers and those who oversee OWL programs in UCC churches and UU/CUC congregations are welcome to self-subscribe.

Our Whole Lives for Older Adults workshop descriptions (PDF) explain what is involved in this newly developed curriculum that is now included in all Adult OWL trainings as of 2019.

Webinars include best practices for program implementation, new editions, gender inclusion, and making your Our Whole Lives program welcoming to participants of many faiths. Archived webinars are free and available to watch any time. Watch the October 2019 webinar, OWL Community Guidelines and Implementation Tips for Success (Vimeo, 57 minutes).

Our Whole Lives promotional flyers are eye-catching on bulletin boards or as take-home materials. Available for each level of Our Whole Lives, they include OWL values and tables of contents.

Our Whole Lives coloring pages (PDF) created by the United Church of Christ may be used for on-topic doodling during OWL classes. OWL program participants may color in mandala-esque designs that include OWL core values (PDF).

Thank you for your commitment to Our Whole Lives Sexuality Education.