01 Sep Key Learning Areas in the Junior Leader Program

Led by our team of ex-servicemen and women, our Junior Leader Program is designed to help children who may be struggling with low self-esteem, a lack of respect, poor behaviour or technology addictions. We use the six Key Learning Areas (KLA) taught to us in the military to help them develop into young adults and ultimately set them up for success in life.

How we teach kids values through military-style training

The Junior Leader Program runs for nine days and is designed around these six Key Learning Areas (KLA):

• Values and ethics
• Confidence
• Teamwork
• Responsibility
• Resilience
• Health & Wellbeing

Each learning session, experience, and physical or adventurous training period on the program will have outcomes based on one or more of these Key Learning Areas.

Values and ethics

Our mentors open up with participants and share their lived experience in the military to help teach kids values and ethics through empathy, understanding right from wrong and ultimately making better judgements based on more than just themselves. 

Self-worth and confidence

Building self-esteem and confidence is critical for developing young adults. Our program includes a range of confidence-building activities for kids that focus on courage and persistence. By demonstrating that it’s okay to fail, participants will learn that as long as they have the will to try and are persistent in their efforts, they will eventually achieve success.

Teamwork

Teamwork is essential in just about every aspect of our life, whether at home with family, at school, playing sport, or in the workforce. Therefore, just about every part of our program involves games that teach teamwork to quickly teach participants how to be a good team player and that working as a team is more efficient than going solo.

Responsibility

From the very beginning of the program, participants will have their creature comforts taken away from them, such as phones, television, computer games and their parents. By taking away distractions and reliance, we’re able to teach children to take responsibility for themselves by making their own beds, polishing their boots, ironing their uniforms, cleaning their barracks, and making an effort to better themselves by participating in the program activities.

Resilience

As children develop into young adults, they will face challenges that will inevitably knock them back. This is why it is so important to learn how to be resilient to better prepare for life’s challenges. At Veteran Mentors, we teach resilience through mindfulness, conflict resolution, resilience games designed for kids, as well as stress management techniques.

These games and techniques are proven to control emotions, reduce stress and achieve success in any given situation no matter what the environment, be that at home, school, the sporting field or at work.

Health and Wellbeing

Physical training and exercise form a cornerstone of our lives and is something we truly believe is an essential part of everyone’s ongoing physical and mental health. Throughout the nine-day program, participants will be involved in healthy living activities specifically designed for kids, and in doing so, learn the importance of a balanced diet, physical exercise and looking after their mental health.

Using these Key Learning Areas as a roadmap for life, participants will be able to successfully tackle life’s challenges and become engaged and contributing members of their communities. 

Find out more about our Junior Leader Program, and how we help create positive change in the lives of hundreds of young kids and teenagers.

You might also like to read what kind of change is possible, as told by our recent Junior Leader participant, Aiden.