As of fall 2022, Wayfinder will serve schools and districts with an entirely new set of K-6 SEL and mental health solutions developed specifically for elementary and early middle school students
BEND, Ore., April 3, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Leading social-emotional and purpose learning provider, Wayfinder, announced today it is expanding its curricular offerings to include a full range of K-12 products and services.
Over the past year, Wayfinder’s expert team of elementary curriculum designers have gathered feedback from hundreds of elementary school educators and students to develop, test, and finalize a new elementary school curriculum.
Wayfinder’s middle and high school curricula, focusing on belonging and purpose respectively, have successfully supported over 60,000 students in some of the largest school districts in the country. According to a recent program evaluation conducted by Stanford University Dr. Heather Malin, Wayfinder’s curriculum was shown to improve student outcomes across six areas: social awareness, identity expression, purpose development, academic engagement, cultural awareness, and belonging.
The Wayfinder team is excited to make social-emotional learning (SEL) and purpose learning accessible to a new group of young learners. The Common Core- and CASEL-aligned K-5 curriculum will take an entirely fresh approach, going beyond SEL to bring authenticity, joy, and self-determination to the classroom. Activities, lessons, and student toolkits invite students to collaborate, explore their thoughts, and practice self-expression.
In addition to individualized wraparound training and technical support, K-5 offerings will include the following:
● 20 Core Curriculum experiential and play-based lessons per year that require less than 5 minutes of prep time each
● An Activity Library that functions as a lightweight solution, with over 200 new customizable. exploratory activities for elementary students—filter by length, skill, grade level, activity type, and more to help students build skills as they move and play
● Engaging videos that lighten teachers’ loads, help them facilitate, and get students excited to learn
● Simplified, printable educator lesson guides that can be implemented in 20-minute blocks or experienced in smaller chunks throughout the day
● Developmentally friendly student toolkits for young learners to reflect, draw, and journal
On top of this, a full 6th grade curriculum called “Belonging: Foundations” will include engaging lessons that foster connections among classmates and help bolster a culture of belonging. Teachers will be able to utilize this 6th grade curriculum to support students through the transition from elementary to middle school.
“[My students] are not totally bought into SEL, but they loved the [Wayfinder] activities,” said Massachusetts fourth grade teacher Tess, after trying out new lessons with students. “They even brought up some good suggestions of how we should be paired with students who are not our friends so we can build trust. Thank you for… helping me prioritize SEL.”
Founder and CEO of Wayfinder Patrick Cook-Deegan says, “We’re excited to bring something totally new to the K-12 SEL market. Our 13 years of vertically aligned, developmentally appropriate, and fully adaptable lessons encompass and transcend traditional SEL.This offers schools and districts the opportunity to support their students to thrive from childhood through graduation and beyond.”
This new curriculum release comes at a time when the need for SEL and comprehensive, preventative mental health support for students is at an all-time high. In December, 2021 the U.S. Surgeon General declared a childhood and adolescent mental health crisis. Recent reports show that most schools are still failing to meet the needs of their students. Way finder’s K-12 products aim to help schools address this crisis with learning experiences that support holistic childhood and adolescent development.
Visit Wayfinder’s website to learn more about their products and schedule a demo with an experienced team member.
Wayfinder is a leading provider of social-emotional and purpose learning tools to schools across the US and in 15 countries around the world. Founded on research out of the Stanford d.School, they are committed to supporting students’ academic engagement and holistic well-being with physical and digital tools that enable educators to build strong relationships with their students and guide them to live lives of purpose.
Media Contact
Matthew Winn, Wayfinder, 1 781-974-9976, [email protected]
SOURCE Wayfinder
