I have been sitting on some BIG news for quite a while, and I am equally energized and humbled to share with you that we are putting the final polish on our 2nd edition- The Zones of Regulation Digital Curriculum. Our new online curriculum platform includes over 100 NEW resources along with reimagined, expanded, and updated lessons from the original edition to make The Zones easier to teach and more engaging to learn. As we are reaching the light at the end of the tunnel, I’ve been reflecting on the most gratifying parts of this journey. Here are four things that I’m taking with me as we move forward into our exciting next chapter:
1. Dream Big: In starting this process, I realized that we had an opportunity to totally reimagine the look, feel, and pedagogy of The Zones. I posed questions like, “How can we make it more engaging? How can we make it easier to implement? How can we make it more differentiated and accessible for learners? How can we make it nimbler to update and evolve over time?” The answers to these questions led us to the fully digital platform that we’ve arrived at.
2. Community Centered: My amazing team and I have been listening to you, our Zones Community. We kept track of your questions, your feedback, and your ideas for making The Zones easier to teach and more engaging for learners of all ages and abilities. Your passion for your work with learners has always driven what we do. We are grateful to be collaborating with a number of our community members to research and pilot the new curriculum with learners, and we can’t wait to hear your feedback too!
3. Embrace Creativity: Creating and designing The Zones has always sparked so much joy for me. In this new curriculum, we have redesigned and expanded every single visual and graphic to build a robust Visual Library that includes diverse characters and settings that I am so proud of. As an OT and educator, creating and adapting visuals was one of the most fun, yet time-consuming components of my job. I’m thrilled that we can make these resources readily available and more accessible for Zones leaders and learners alike.
4. Lean into Learning: One thing I didn’t fully anticipate when we set out to build our new curriculum was how much I would learn along the way – it’s been a rewarding journey! I’ve had the pleasure to learn from experts in Universal Design for Learning (UDL), neuro-diverse affirming and equity-centered practices, digital instructional designers, educational platform developers, and so many more. This means my tiny team has expanded, and I’ve learned to listen with curiosity and trust my gut (and my team) to lead us in the right direction.
If you have attended my live Zones Trainings over the past several years, you may have heard me promise a second edition, more lessons, and new content. I did not forget, though it took longer than I hoped to make good on my word. It is with immense pride to share the wait is nearly over: The Zones of Regulation Digital Curriculum will be live in July 2024! Pre-orders are available now. Thank you for coming along with us as we enter this new phase of our evolution.
With gratitude,
Leah Kuypers
Creator and CEO of The Zones of Regulation
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