Toronto-based Peekapak, which has developed a platform to promote social and emotional learning for children, is partnering with Nelson to develop and deliver educational resources to support social-emotional learning in schools across the country.
“A good learning experience begins with a focus on social and emotional well-being.”
Through the partnership, Peekapak is an engaging series of levelled readers that integrate with literacy, reading, writing, and health outcomes. The series explores 10 social and emotional learning themes at four reading levels, making it flexible and accessible for any pre-kindergarten to Grade 3 classrooms.
“My co-founder and I are excited to partner with Nelson to help students across Canada learn skills like self-regulation and empathy,” said Ami Shah, Peekapak’s co-founder and CEO. “Research shows developing social-emotional learning skills can help prepare students to not only achieve stronger academic outcomes but be better able to manage stress, anxiety, and to be more resilient.”
Founded in 2014, Peekapak offers a series of learning activities, e-books, and social-emotional learning activities. The startup focuses on story-based learning and classroom lesson plans, designed alongside early childhood education experts, teachers, parents, and with the help of students.
Programs are based on research to ensure that users can get the most of Peekapak’s platform. The series explores 10 social and emotional learning themes at four reading levels, aiming to make the program flexible and accessible for pre-kindergarten to Grade 3 classrooms.
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In 2015, the startup was selected to participate in the MasterCard Women in Entrepreneurship program, which gave six women-led startups $5,000 in funding, $5,000 in additional resources, and incubation space at the DMZ at Ryerson University. To date, Peekapak has reached over 250,000 educators and students worldwide.
The startup also participated in the Ontario Centre for Excellence’s (OCE) Market Readiness Program in 2015, receiving $164,000 in investment. Through the OCE, Peekapak worked on a project with George Brown College’s School of Early Childhood Education, helping the startup understand how children learn at home and design at-home learning activities for the program. That same year, Peekapak closed $235,000 in angel investment, and, to date, has raised more than $1.5 million in private investment and grants, overall.
“We believe a good learning experience begins with a focus on social and emotional well-being. Educators require the right tools to create a learning environment that is caring, safe, and inclusive,” said Steve Brown, CEO of Nelson. “With Peekapak Pals, students will be engaged, and educators will easily integrate social and emotional learning concepts with English Language Arts.”
Image courtesy Peekapak