Meeting Little Learners Where They Are: Simplified Check-Ins for K-2 Students

With today’s technology, kids often seem like naturals. But in the classroom—especially for younger learners—the academic landscape looks a bit different. 

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What works for a 10-year-old doesn’t always work for a 6-year-old. Little ones have unique needs, shorter attention spans, and growing skills in self-expression that deserve extra care.

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That’s why Sown To Grow set out to design the Simplified Check-In for K-2, an age group that accounts for 21 percent of all students in the U.S. By adapting technology to meet early developmental stages, our platform is helping pre-readers engage in meaningful social-emotional learning (SEL) without the frustration of usability barriers. 

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The result: a tool that empowers even our littlest learners to share their feelings, build connection, and develop lifelong habits of reflection.

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The journey to creating the K-2 Simplified Check-In, however, was anything but simple. Although the feature officially debuted for the 25-26 school year, plans were in the works for years. Read on to learn how the specialized feature was expertly developed in partnership with students and educators, and how the rollout experience is going so far.

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Exploring Pain Points: Why the K-2 Simplified Check-In was needed

Lower activation rates were the red flag that tipped off our team to the friction younger learners were facing on Sown To Grow. From there, we course corrected by carefully devising a plan geared towards gathering educator input early and often throughout the process.

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A combined total of nearly 70 surveys, interviews, and classroom observations were synthesized into the following takeaways about the K-2 audience’s experience in the platform:

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This valuable feedback revealed the key priorities to better meet elementary student needs, and provided a clear roadmap for successful feature improvements.

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Developing Solutions: How research and partnerships guided the design process

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After pairing educator insights with years of research, Sown To Grow held brainstorming sessions to support the development of the new K-2 experience prototype.

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While the team wavered between various approaches, they introduced an interim solution of hard copy worksheets with teacher entry of check-ins on behalf of students. It received mixed results, so the full redesign plans continued.

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Evaluating Outcomes: What students and teachers are saying so far

By November 2024, a new prototype was ready to test with teachers, kids, early childhood education experts, and school and district leaders. This process culminated in the May 2025 four-week pilot study, which included 33 classrooms across 16 school districts throughout California and in Chicago. Learn more about the pilot process research plan!

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Based on the surveys, there were still some minor areas to improve, but overall the feedback was incredibly positive—including highlights like ‘100 percent of teachers reported that the K-2 Simplified Check-In is easy for students to use’.

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In addition to visual upgrades, the most helpful revisions for K-2 users were the read aloud feature, talk-to-text option, and more emoji choices.

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"The new simplified version made a big difference,” said second grade teacher Virginia Mota. “Students were able to share much more, and most chose to use the recording option. As an educator, I felt more connected and better able to understand their responses without having to interpret what they typed."

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Others like first grade teacher Marie Richard-White believe the new features contribute to the platform’s delightful experience.

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“I highly recommend the simplified check-in for primary grades because the scaffolding was helpful,” Richard-White said. “The children were so happy to listen to my response in a recording.”

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What’s Ahead: Learning and Growing in the 25-26 School Year 

The K-2 Simplified Check-In is already helping young learners share their voices with confidence, while giving educators deeper insights into student well-being.

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As our team continues to listen, learn, and refine, we remain committed to building joyful tools for educators that grow alongside the needs of all students, in every classroom.

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