Everyday Anxiety Strategies for Educators (EASE)

What is EASE?

EASE helps educators teach students strategies to address the thoughts, feelings and behaviours associated with anxiety, while also supporting social and emotional learning and the mental health literacy of educators.

Educators get access to a collection of school-based, evidence-informed, curriculum-aligned, anxiety management and resilience-building classroom resources and online professional development courses for use with B.C. students in grades K-12.

B.C. educators now have the option of selecting from two online, professional development EASE courses - one for grades K-7 and the other for grades 8-12, in both English and French. They are provided at no cost.

EASE complements the First Peoples Principles of Learning and supports the integration of locally adapted and applied Indigenous perspectives.

For more information about EASE K-7 and 8-12, visit Healthy Minds BC.

 

EASE K-7

EASE for grades K-7 was developed in 2019 by the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) in collaboration with B.C. educators, school counsellors, Anxiety Canada and other subject experts in the field of child and youth anxiety. EASE K-7 is also available in French.

EASE 8-12

In response to requests from B.C. educators, EASE 8-12 was developed for B.C. secondary school educators. EASE 8-12 is also available in French.

EASE at Home

EASE K-7 classroom lessons have been adapted for use by parents and caregivers to support children’s mental health across home, school and community settings. EASE at Home K-7 activities have been designed for all children to learn life skills that will benefit them now and into the future. When children practise EASE strategies at home, they are more likely to use them. EASE at Home activities are available as downloadable PDFs in English and seven additional languages: French, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Tagalog, Arabic, and Spanish.at Healthy Minds BC. EASE at Home 8-12 activities will be available in late spring 2022.

Prevention and Early Intervention

MCFD is committed to making mental health prevention and early intervention supports available to those who support children and youth. The Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions also brings additional government focus and commitment to mental health promotion, prevention and early-intervention activities through A Pathway to Hope Progress report, as does the Ministry of Education through the Mental Health in Schools strategy.

Together, we are working with the education sector, ministry partners and organizations to contribute to a sustainable and comprehensive plan for supporting school mental health.