The Social Institute Launches New Offline Lessons for K-2 to Build Foundation for Thoughtful Decision-Making

Screen-free lessons empower early elementary learners with essential modern life skills before they encounter digital devices

DURHAM, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Social Institute announced today the launch of its new Kindergarten through 2nd grade offline lessons, expanding its pioneering modern life skills education to empower all K-12 students at schools and districts.

The new screen-free lessons are designed to build a foundation for treating others with kindness, making good choices, and handling situations in respectful ways, effectively equipping young students for future success, both online and offline.

This expansion comes as educators nationwide recognize the critical need to start essential skill-building at earlier ages. The new K-2 lessons focus on developing foundational skills like empathy, emotional regulation, and decision-making through hands-on, engaging activities that require no screen time or technology.

“As the conversation grows around how technology should be used in schools, having a curriculum that helps educators teach the skills that students will need to navigate this topic is essential,” says Dr. Jessica Anderson, licensed school and clinical psychologist.

The developmentally appropriate lessons address the growing demand from elementary schools seeking to proactively equip their youngest students with modern life skills. The #WinAtSocial K–2 lessons are completely offline. These screen-free, hands-on experiences are designed specifically for younger learners, who benefit most from active, play-based learning on topics like balancing their time spent on YouTube versus playing outside with friends.

"K-2 is such a formative time when students are like sponges, absorbing everything around them," said Laura Tierney, Founder and CEO of The Social Institute. "By starting with these foundational skills early, we're setting students up for success as they grow and eventually encounter the online world. These offline lessons create the perfect launching pad for our peer-to-peer #WinAtSocial Lessons in later grades that are designed to grow up with students."

The new K-2 curriculum has been developed alongside The Social Institute’s educator advisory board, internal elementary experts, and K–2 families and is designed to:

• Build Character from the Start: Lessons build a foundation for thoughtful decision-making that aligns with health, happiness, and future academic success.
• Fuel Future-Ready Skills: Activities help young students practice skills like decision-making, empathy, and emotional regulation before they start to scroll, click, or play.
• Inspire Fun, Unplugged Learning: Fuel confidence, creativity, and character with hands-on, screen-free lessons and activities.
• Connect Classrooms and Families: Reinforce key life skills beyond the classroom with take-home activities that build strong connections between students, schools, and families.
• Equip Busy Educators: Simple, impactful lessons require no extra training – just print and play.

The new K-2 Lessons build the groundwork for students who will later participate in The Social Institute's #WinAtSocial Curriculum, which currently serves hundreds of thousands of students in grades 3-12 worldwide.

Additionally, The Social Institute announces a brand-new experience for high school students for the 2025-2026 school year. The reimagined #WinAtSocial Lessons for grades 9-12 fuel student voice and choice with agency-building lesson topics and formats to prepare high school students for their futures. As students advance from one grade to the next, the topics evolve to cover what students care about most right now, including how to use A.I. with purpose, manage stress, and stay organized. New features include:

• Student-Driven Learning: Students are able to choose their next lesson topic and engage with content that reflects their goals, interests, and values.
• More Face-To-Face Interaction: With 80% of lesson time spent on in-person engagement and only 20% of lessons spent on device use, students foster deeper relationships and critical thinking while reducing screen time.
• Building Communication Skills: Prepare students for future success with lessons that emphasize eye contact, collaboration, and interpersonal skills that fuel their success beyond screens and their classrooms.
• Automatic Breakout Groups: Create screen-free moments to help students stay present, minimize distractions, and fully engaged without awkward pauses during class time.

“We see first-hand that students are most engaged when they have a say in their learning, so we’re amplifying student agency by empowering them to take ownership of how they learn with 'Choose Your Next Huddle,'” said Tierney. “During #WinAtSocial Huddles, students spend the majority of each lesson collaborating and problem-solving, not staring at a screen. That means more connection and deeper learning.”

The K-2 offline lessons are available for the 2025-2026 school year. Schools and districts interested in implementing a complete K-12 modern life skills approach can combine the new K-2 offline lessons with The Social Institute's established and always evolving suite of solutions for grades 3-12. All lessons are created with the Understanding by Design® framework. For more information about The Social Institute's expanded K-12 offerings, visit: https://thesocialinstitute.com/solutions/new-k-2-offline-lessons-modern-life-skills.

ABOUT THE SOCIAL INSTITUTE

The Social Institute (TSI) is the leader in equipping students to navigate learning & well-being in a tech-fueled world. Through #WinAtSocial, our interactive, peer-to-peer learning platform, we empower students, educators, and families to make high-character choices online and offline. #WinAtSocial Lessons teach essential skills while capturing student voice and actionable insights for educators. These insights help educators maintain a healthy school culture, foster high-impact teaching, and build meaningful relationships with families. Our unique, student-respected approach empowers and equips students authentically, enabling our solution to increase classroom participation and improve student-teacher relationships. Through our one-of-a-kind lesson development process, we create lessons for a variety of core and elective classes while incorporating timely topics like social media, A.I., screen time, misinformation, and current events to help schools stay proactive in how they support student health, happiness, and academic success.