About Us

I have taught The Five Needs of Life in my Special Education Employment Training Class for the past 15 years, while at Fauquier High School. Using The Five Needs of Life is a great way for me to begin the year with my students. It helps me to explain the questions: why jobs are needed, how to perform at our best on the job, and the consequences/ rewards for our choices that we make. The Five Needs of Life is also thought provoking and generates multiple question and answering periods between my students and I. Another good asset about teaching The Five Needs of Life, is that I can continuously revisit each of the needs several times throughout the year. The students begin to see how the Five Needs show up in their daily lives at work and at home. They hopefully begin to understand that when a need is not being met that it can affect other aspects of their lives or performance on the job. With The Five Needs in my lesson plan, I hope to help my students become more self-confident, gain an understanding of their freedoms, and respect their boundaries, and to appreciate their relationships with others. In all, I want to help my students to be the best citizens, workers, and family members that they can be. The Five Needs of Life is a great resource for helping me to provide an impactful lesson plan for my students.

It is with great pleasure that I write this letter of recommendation on behalf of The 5 Needs by Wendy Swenson. I first learned about The 5 Needs from Wendy when I was working in two different elementary schools in Fauquier County. As a school counselor, I was able to teach and use these principals in multiple small groups at my two schools. I found that the students I worked with, both male and female and ranging in ages from 9 to 11, took to learning the needs quickly and always enjoyed the lessons. The material was framed in a way that was easy for children to grasp and really highlighted the importance of meeting these needs: Staying Alive, Freedom and Boundaries, Love and Belonging, Power, and Fun. Through The 5 Needs, I believe students can learn a lot about how to take care of themselves and handle difficult problems in life such as bullying, emotional regulation, family stressors and much more. The program offers a wide lens on how to address the needs and still makes it fun for students. The needs can apply to anything and everything we do and really are a great tool to use in the school setting. I would also recommend them for older children or adults and hope to implement them in the high school I currently work at. I am happy to offer my full support for Wendy Swenson’s The 5 Needs and think she has created an extremely worthwhile program.

I have been a general education and a special education for the last 30 years. I have my master’s in special education. “The 5 Needs in Life” materials by Wendy Swenson, is essential for our world today. Schools should use this program starting in preschool all the way to high school. The 5 Needs in Life can be incorporated in most academic curriculums. With the high suicide rate of children as young as 10, the first need is “Staying Alive”. Wendy’s first need covers the basic needs, depression, and suicide prevention too. “Love and Belonging” is the second need. Wendy also goes into loving one’s self, an important thing to learn. How to fit in and use of social skills in making friendships is part of this need as well. How to maintain a friendship and share in activities is also taught in The 5 Needs in Life materials. “Freedom and Boundaries”, helps children know that there are certain boundaries and rules. If you follow the rules, you have the freedom to start hobbies, watch TV, exercise, and play games. “Power” can be emotional, mental, and physical. This can even be part of a P.E. class as well as taught in academics and groups. Caring about ourselves and our bodies. Yoga, meditation, and self-care can be part of a Health class. The need to understand the power we each have is essential and can be learned. There are a variety of ways to have power which can be explored. “Fun” is what everyone needs in their life. Have the students join clubs or games of their choice in school. Teaching the joy of fun and how important it is can help students and adults. This program has many good qualities for our school population.

The 5 Needs in Life is a wonderful, meaningful program to include within your curriculum. Not only does it incorporate the five basic needs to survive, it breaks each one down allowing the student to identify the root of any issue that may inhibit emotional/personal growth. This program is easy to follow, and modify to accommodate all ages, and grade levels. Getting to know your students on a deeper level is crucial, so you are able to meet their needs to ensure academic and emotional growth. The 5 Needs in Life will be incorporated in my classroom curriculum again, this year!

A number of years ago I read The 5 Needs out of curiosity. I had no idea how doing this would in many ways affect how I would learn about myself from my past, my present and help with my future. I personally never thought about my life in these categories. All I knew about me, and life was the way things were at home growing up. Not the best in many ways. Learning about The 5 Needs helped me as an individual to grow and learn to become a better me, mom and nana. What I’ve learned I’ve tried to pass on to my children and grandchildren. I learned Staying Alive by taking care of my health in every way was important. Not always easy based on the varied things we each go through and how we handle it. Love and Belonging well, learning to love myself hasn’t been an easy journey for me and feeling the right to Belong wasn’t so easy either. Freedom and Boundaries I had no idea based on how I grew up I had a right to either of these. Power, again the way I grew up had now idea I had, or could have, this in my life on how things go in my life. Fun had very little of that growing up. As an adult someone would say, “What do you like to do?” when I respond with “I don’t’ know” they are confused. When you haven’t tried much of anything fun in your life you just don’t have answers. I believe as long as we are breathing, we can learn something new each day about ourselves, how to grow and be a better person. I’m 73 and I’m still a work in progress. I’ve come a long way with the lessons I’ve learned from this program, but I am still learning daily.

The Five Needs was an excellent resource for me as an elementary school counselor. Some elementary students have difficulty making and keeping friends. They definitely benefited from learning more about themselves in The Five Needs. Once they understood what it was that they needed, they were better able to understand the needs of their friends. I recommend The Five Needs because it is so versatile. It can be used with different grade levels and different groups. The Five Needs worked well with Friendship Groups; however, I believe it could be incorporated in other groups, such as Divorce, Social Skills, Anger/Behavior Management and even Peer Mediation Training. The Five Needs Groups worked well for students in second – fifth grades who needed a small group for different issues because it offered direction to groups that lacked a specific theme. The students responded well to the program because it pertained to real life. Students became excited when they were able to make connections to each of The Five Needs. Many were motivated to use their imaginations and talents to expand on their learning. When students were interested in teaching their friends what they had learned from The Five Needs, I knew the groups were a success.

The 5 Needs program helped an elementary school reduce chronic truancy. In collaborative effort, staff gathered with parents and students who missed more than 15% of school days. The 5 needs were taught to parents and students in an interactive format. Data showed that The 5 Needs helped families feel more included and reduced attendance barriers.

The Five Needs is a recognition of what every child needs to walk through life. Wendy offers a road map for families, childcare workers, church programs just to mention a few to help them become successful in years to come. It is affirming to everyone working with children that there will be mountains and valleys but, in the end, all is conquered. Conquered with success. Every baby step leads to success.