Thrive! Start2Finish Positive Education Curriculum

At Start2Finish, we believe that all elementary students (grades 1-8) deserve the chance to succeed. With low levels of mental health and high levels of anxiety in young people across the country, we want to provide the tools for educators to support their students throughout the year seamlessly. Whether during Math class or Gym class, we believe positive education is invaluable to create opportunities for better well-being both today and tomorrow.

What is Positive Education?

Positive education is defined as education for both traditional skills and happiness. In Canada, according to UNICEF, children are experiencing high grades but reporting low levels of life satisfaction. There is substantial evidence that positive education is a solution that teaches students skills for happiness. These skills are Social Emotional Learning (SEL), including decision-making, coping skills, problem-solving skills, relaxation and creative brainstorming.

What makes Thrive! unique?

When first hearing about Positive Education and Social-Emotional Learning, we were so excited for all of the possibilities in our programs across the country. However, we saw a problem in the current curriculums presented to us — they did not address the students we served. In March 2020, from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw that our students were struggling as many of their supports, including school, were suddenly cut off. They experienced anxiety, depression, and high levels of stress. These mental health stressors were multiplied by being in home environments where healthy coping mechanisms were often not at their disposal.

Thrive! was created in response to our work with students. We wanted to create a curriculum that specifically spoke to children in communities of complexity. During our pilot Virtual Running & Reading Club, we saw that the curriculum was not only helping our students survive but thrive in extraordinary circumstances. We wish to share this tool with educators and schools who wish to empower students to be their best selves today and tomorrow.

Who is Thrive! for?

Thrive! is designed for elementary school educators who wish to incorporate Positive Education in their classrooms. The curriculum is designed to be seamless and unintrusive. We hope that the tools provided will eventually become a second skin!

How was Thrive! developed?

Thrive! was developed by a certified Positive Educator drawing on the tenets of wellbeing science, including Positive Psychology, Positive Education, Neuroscience and Integrative Health. As we have 20+ years of experience in areas of deprivation across Canada, our curriculum specifically targets areas needed in communities of complexity.

Land Acknowledgement

We would like to acknowledge the land on which we work, and which Start2Finish operates, is part of the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit. For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples inhabited and cared for this land. In particular, we acknowledge the territory of the Anishinabek, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Ojibway/Chippewa peoples; the land that is home to the Metis; and most recently, the territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation who are direct descendants of the Mississaugas of the Credit. We are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land, and by doing so, give our respect to its first inhabitants.

We welcome you to acknowledge the land you are on https://www.whose.land/fr/

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