For program hosts

Help learning become a next step.

Use LifeStarter with the people, relationships, and support your organization already provides. Start small, let learners make choices, and review the work together.

See the pilot outline

Choose a purpose with your learners.

These are suggested ways to use the existing curriculum for ages 14 and older. Choose the activities and pace that fit your group.

Explore a first career

Let the learner choose a role they are curious about. Compare real entry requirements, build an example of their skills, and prepare questions for a trusted adult or program-arranged career conversation.

Learners leave with: A role comparison, a work sample, and one question to explore.

Open career preparation →

Return to work or learning

Start with a manageable goal and the support needed to pursue it. Practice with fictional information, build a resume example, and prepare for a conversation with a local job center or training provider.

Learners leave with: A resume draft and a concrete next action with a follow-up date.

Explore work and support →

Connect learning with mentoring

Use one learner-chosen task between meetings with an existing mentor or adviser. At the next meeting, look at the work, discuss one question, and agree the next step together.

Learners leave with: A work sample, a reflection, and a shared discussion agenda.

Prepare conversation notes →

A 45-minute first session

5 minutes · Choose. Ask, “What would make this week easier?” Let the learner choose a practical goal using the starting plan.
20 minutes · Try. Open the first activity. Use its sample, follow one worked example, and give time to try it. Pause and resume a longer lesson.
10 minutes · Explain. Let the learner show or describe one result. Check one item from the project checklist together, then let them choose a small improvement. Use the 10-minute feedback sheet to guide the conversation.
10 minutes · Connect. Explore one official resource, choose a next action, and agree when to revisit it. An existing mentor or adviser can help with a question.

Use printed notes or a shared demonstration when devices or connectivity are limited. Offer written or spoken reflection, breaks, and the accommodations agreed with the learner.

Agree responsibilities before the first session.

For a career activity, invite learners and an employer or community partner you already know to shape one practical task together. Agree what the partner will do during the session and how learners will receive feedback. The career activity brief helps you record the plan and a backup activity.

Platform and host responsibilities
LifeStarter provides	Your organization arranges
Free curriculum, worked examples, practice files, and project criteria.	Learner recruitment, access needs, permissions, a schedule, and a support contact.
Private learner progress, My Proof records, and optional next-step notes.	Any additional data agreements, approved reporting systems, and permitted review of learner work.
Official external resource links and a conversation-note template.	Human mentoring, mentor screening and training, safeguarding, employer relationships, placements, and direct services.
Role-based staff tools for one configured cohort after separate setup.	Named staff, account verification, appropriate role assignments, access review, and a tested support process.

Separate organization workspaces and automated funder reports remain planned. Discuss implementation services and costs separately; individual learning remains free.

Review evidence with a clear source.

Choose a few useful measures before starting. Agree the eligible group, dates, numerator, denominator, and how missing information is handled. Report what was observed and who recorded it.

Measure	Meaning	Source	When
Participation	A learner attends a session or uses an agreed activity.	Host attendance record; platform activity shows use, not attendance.	Weekly
Knowledge practice	Answers on a defined starting or final check, with its version.	Check record; compare like-for-like tasks and report attempts separately.	Start and end
Project quality	A named reviewer checks work against agreed criteria.	Project plus reviewer, date, criteria, and feedback; distinguish self-review.	At each project
Learner agency	The learner can choose and explain a useful next action.	Short reflection or discussion recorded with permission.	Start, midpoint, end
External next step	The learner reports contacting, applying, or following up.	Voluntary learner report; provider confirmation, if separately permitted, is a distinct source.	Agreed follow-up

Example only: if 8 of 10 enrolled learners submit the agreed project, report “8/10 submitted.” Report how many received a reviewer assessment separately. A resource click or a learner-selected status does not establish employment, enrollment, or service receipt.

Use the host’s approved system for case records and verified external outcomes. The blank worksheet below supports manual planning; it contains no learner data and does not connect to an account.

Keep sharing intentional.

My next steps are private to the learner’s account. They do not appear in facilitator reports. Learners can download notes, review them, and choose what to share. Keep eligibility documents, justice records, diagnoses, and other sensitive case information in your organization’s approved system.

For young learners, the host arranges permission and safeguarding appropriate to its program. Career conversations happen through trusted adults or the host’s established procedures. LifeStarter does not match learners with strangers.

Read the privacy policy →

Use free kits and Academy study sequences

Life Kits provide original transition guides, fictional budgets and editable checklists. LifeStarter Academy provides 444 original four-lesson skill units and 1776 lessons in 13 Kindergarten–Grade 12 rooms, with worked solutions, extra practice, study guides, unit reviews, subject tests and printable packs. The host can inspect the Academy curriculum map to choose an appropriate study sequence and arrange human feedback. Local school requirements and accreditation are separate from these materials.

Younger learners can use public activities with an adult; accounts and the Course Library remain ages 14+. Guest answers and checklist checks are temporary and are not sent to staff or recorded as school grades. The host selects suitable activities, arranges access and safeguarding, and reviews work using its approved records. Use the Academy curriculum map to inspect the actual grade and subject coverage. Availability of these materials is not evidence of learner impact or grant eligibility.

Start with ready-to-use materials.

Open the complete partner planning kit for a program profile, editable delivery plan, budget worksheet and evaluation protocol.

Download a conversation sheet Download a measurement worksheet Download a host checklist

Use the eight-week curriculum for a guided sequence or choose a standalone course. Its project checklist supplies the review criteria.

Learn from the first group.

Keep an initial work sample, one feedback note, and the learner’s revision when they agree to share them. Use the same project criteria to describe what changed, and record any help provided. Ask each learner: What helped? Where did you get stuck? What would you change? Review that feedback alongside work samples, support requests, and the measures you agreed. Use the findings to adjust the next group’s sessions.

Discuss a pilot →

Prepare and inspect a real session.

Build a host session plan · Fictional 45-minute worked session · Reviewer calibration samples · Access readiness checklist

Inspect the actual activity and device journey before recruitment. Published practice samples demonstrate a proposed method; they are not learner results or validated assessments.