What is
Conscious
Curriculum ?
A conscious curriculum is an educational approach that integrates academic learning with mindfulness, emotional intelligence, ethical awareness, and connection to self, others, and the natural world.
The worlds first Conscious Curriculum brand is now the winner of the international
‘Greening Education Solutions Provider’ award!
In recognition of its exceptional contribution towards providing innovative eco-conscious education solutions that inspire and equip schools and educators to foster environmental awareness and sustainability.
7 Key Elements of
a Conscious Curriculum
- Whole-Child Development
- Mindfulness & Presence
- Value-Based Learning
- Nature Connection
- Interconnected, Experiential Learning
- Cultural & Global Awareness
- Flexibility & Student-Led Exploration
We are dedicated to the whole child: mind, body and spirit.
Children will develop critical-thinking skills toward solving real-world problems like climate change, while gaining confidence in their identity, meaning, and purpose. Creating the Origins Effect.
Origins Effect
The Origins Effect is the concept that the guidance that Origins Curriculum provides for children through our Conscious Curriculum will have positive immediate effects that will evolve and grow into long term habits that will positively influence themselves and ripple out into the world around them. Children will develop a profound depth of mindful awareness, while gaining confidence in themselves and fostering the ability to achieve the goals they set.
The Structure of Origins Curriculum: The Mother Mandala
The 4 focal points & guiding questions make up the Mother Mandala-a living visual that illustrates the cyclical patterns of nature and our place within them. While the focal points create a steady framework, the rings are dynamic-they can shift and align in many ways. Each ring independent yet deeply connected to the others. This fluid structure guides the curriculum, allowing learning to flow naturally while honoring the interconnectedness of all life. Each focal point corresponds to a specific color, which you will find organized throughout curriculum.
Internal
Who Are We?
This first lens asks us to reflect and repeatedly ask the question, who are we? We begin with naming physical traits, and finding the beautiful similarities and differences between ourselves and others. We mindfully share with one another about ourselves, our families, and home life. This is an opportunity to practice the art of vulnerability and grow closer through discussion and activities.
The Internal lens asks us to go inward as the days shorten and Fall shifts into Winter. The beginning of the school year is when we teach students initial procedures and lessons, which we build upon throughout the rest of the year. This lens encourages curiosity and teaches kids basic inquiry skills, which help them to understand who they are, how they got here, and their place in the world.
External
Who Lives Here?
As we move into a quieter and more contemplative season, the second lens takes us deeper into our own personal and collective history. The External provides us with an opportunity to look outside of ourselves, relate and honor others, and begin building an understanding of who lives here with us. We extend outwards from ourselves, to our class, our community, and into our world, where we begin to discover and find connections amongst the land and the creatures that inhabit it. We learn about the relevant and personal history of the land we live on and the traditions and lifestyles of Indigenous peoples, both past and present. The External guides us through diverse landscapes and ecosystems, revealing the magic of life cycles on our planet.
Metaphysical
What's Happening?
The third lens is Metaphysical and draws upon our imagination to exercise more expansive cognitive skills. This lens will strengthen interpersonal skills, widen perspective, and encourage emotionally intelligent and empowered human beings. The third lens combines both Internal and External, planting a seed within us, and as we grow we will develop a deeper understanding of who we are, who lives here, and what is happening. As the earth blooms, so do we. Children will unearth the magnificence of their own bodies and how they work, and learn about what sustains us, as well as our planet. The Metaphysical lens reveals the intricacies of our world, and teaches us about how we can nurture this already highly intelligent, complex, and harmonious system. These natural systems and cycles are what propel us forward through not only the seasons, but our existence
Interconnection
How Are We Connected?
The final lens is Interconnection where we draw upon all we have learned in carry out into the wider world around us. We cultivate a sense of deep understanding and empathetic connection with everything around us through deep reflection, and time in nature. This is the point in the curriculum where we dive into the effects of modern societies on the planet, how our climate is changing over time, the repercussions of these changes on the environment and ways that humans can help protect the planet.
Biomes
Using a multidisciplinary approach, we take students on a virtual journey around the world, deep diving into 5 different global biomes. They learn that the Earth is a living body of interconnected patterns and that understanding nature helps us understand ourselves.
Desert・Forest・Aquatic・Grassland・Tundra
As Origins students progress from preschool up through grade school, they will travel the globe as they learn about different biomes of our world. This biome focus creates natural differentiation, as the structure (focal points and guiding questions) of Origins Curriculum remains the same. This spaced repetition and prolonged exposure to information contributes
to long-term memory formation.
Subjects
Each Grade Will Explore Their Biomes Through Origins’ Subjects:
At Origins, we believe that children of the 21st Century deserve an education where they can nurture a sense of belonging to and caring for the Earth and all of its inhabitants. In order to provide such education, we must engage in a kind of teaching that invites a personal shift in consciousness and fosters innovation, imagination, and most importantly, avenues for us to rediscover our indisputable connection with the body of our beloved Earth.
Origins curricular framework offers an eco-system design approach to devising and implementing interconnected learning cycles (thematic mandalas). This approach incorporates the pillars of a sustainable way of life broadly used in the field of ecosocial design such as Ecology, Society, Worldviews, and Economy.
Our lesson plans are designed based on 3 essential understandings:
- That the Earth is a living body of interconnected patterns of relationships
- That by knowing nature’s ways we can learn more about who we are and how we are part of nature
- That mindfulness is a way for us to know ourselves and experience our belonging to the Earth
Using a multidisciplinary approach, we take students on a virtual journey around the world, deep diving into each global biome. They learn that the Earth is a living body of interconnected patterns and that understanding nature helps us understand ourselves. They will learn about the original peoples, the plants and animals, about environmental concerns, economics, water cycles, weather patterns, food systems, soil types, the effects of a changing climate and how the regions are connected to the greater global web. These topics will be explored through the lenses of reading, mathematics, science, history, social studies, biomimicry, language, music and art and more, all the while weaving in eco- literacy and mindfulness.
Through our Conscious Curriculum, a child will develop a connection to, and understanding of their place in the global eco-system, and grow critical-thinking skills toward solving real world problems. They will gain mindful emotional recognition and regulation skills while growing confidence in their identity, meaning, and purpose, in addition to obtaining and solidifying the full range of academic skill sets.
A new paradigm in education is rising as more and more educators embrace the existential questions of our time and begin to value nature as a primary origin upon which to build our human identity regardless of our diverse belief systems.
There is no denying that Humanity is currently facing an environmental, social & economic crisis and these times are calling for all of us to come back into balance with nature. We can invest billions into AI and tech and launch missions to Mars, but the best chance of ensuring humanity thrives in the future is if we can create foundations that support both individual and collective wellness, right here, right now.
What we need is to restore our understanding of the interconnectedness of everything on our Planet and a path to do this is by teaching our children how to live in balance so that we have an entire generation of healthy people who value the wise use of resources, cultural diversity, gender equality and a sense of democracy, and who have the emotional intelligence to navigate life’s challenges.
In this context, educators have both a profound opportunity to transform education as well as a duty to put our vocation at the service of the collective existential questions of our time.
Please join us. We would be honored to have you help us change the world one child at a time.
