Think of your own work life. Do you like to settle in first or rush straight to a meeting? You probably like the chance to greet co-workers, take off your coat, and use the bathroom before digging in to the intense work of your day and get items organized. In other words, you prefer a soft start to your work day. A soft start for students mimics the way you likely prefer to start your day – with a chance to settle in before beginning work. This strengthens the sense of community in the classroom and empowers students with making their own choices.

The activities you choose should connect with your students. The important thing is that students are able to start the day with a choice of quiet, structured activities. Soft Start allows students to interact with peers as they get ready for the day or how they prefer. As you start the school year, you may provide only 2-3 choices. As the year goes on, you’ll add or change the choices. You might swap activities for variety. Or you may change to activities that reflect your students’ preferences. For instance, with a class that loves to draw, you might add markers, colored pencils and water color paints to the soft start choices. You will teach students how to carefully use these activities, engage, etc.

Soft Start is an invitation for students to start their day mindfully. It is a simple way for students to ease into their school day work. Even with a soft start, the class can do their normal routines such as attendance, emptying backpacks, sharpen pencils, gather the materials for the day, etc. Then, instead of immediately completing work, they select a "put your mind at ease" activity to warm up their minds after they sign-in provided a posted greeting or predetermined way of signing in.