Brain-First Learning in an AI World
About SOAR
About SOAR Learning
SOAR® began with a former “struggling student” who finally learned how to learn. Today, it is the #1 study skills curriculum in the world — used in 5,100+ schools across 53+ countries.
Brian Winter & Susan Kruger Winter, co-founders of SOAR Learning
Our story
From struggling student to worldwide curriculum
Hi! We are the co-founders of SOAR Learning: Susan Kruger Winter, M.Ed. (I’m the former struggling student) and my husband, Brian Winter, M.Ed. We each spent years as classroom teachers, living the pressure of overloaded curriculum, limited time, and the constant feeling that we weren’t quite doing enough.
What made the biggest difference was teaching students to manage their assignments, due dates, and study time.
We’ve been teaching study skills since 1996, when we were in college together. (We met on our first day of freshman year.) Study skills changed my first semester so completely that I began tutoring other students immediately. Brian was there every step of the way — hashing through ideas, solving problems, encouraging my students — and soon began co-teaching classes with me.
Years later, our own children showed us what we had been missing. As parents of two children with ADHD & LD, our son’s academic challenges led us into the neuroscience of learning, and The Brain Circuit™ model emerged from that work. What looked like motivation problems were executive function gaps — and gaps can be explicitly taught.
Social-emotional learning followed naturally. Helping students succeed always involves coaching emotional intelligence, so over 20+ years we wrote hundreds of articles on the subject. That work now lives in its own curriculum at SELskills.com.
Who we serve
Why we do this work
As educators by vocation, we are dedicated to ensuring every student learns how to learn.
As former classroom teachers, we are dedicated to supporting educators who give so much of themselves.
As parents of two children (now, young adults) with ADHD & LD, we are dedicated to helping families get proper help for their children/teens.
Our mission and values reflect the standards we’ve always held in our own lives, our own classrooms, and our own family.
Our mission
Brain-first learning in an AI world
Our mission is protecting and strengthening the brain that reads, learns, and thinks in an AI world. We bring joy to the learning process by creating blueprints and curriculum that celebrate students’ individual strengths, aptitudes, and creativity. We build students’ confidence and support the creativity of teachers.
In an AI world, comprehension matters more — not less.
What we stand for
Our six trademark values
- Simplicity through Efficient Systems: We seek the least number of steps to be effective.
- Relevance: All learning has a meaningful purpose in students’ lives.
- Joy! Seeking pleasure in life & (school)work. Satisfaction. Ease without resistance. Work/school is a place we want to be.
- Originality & Creativity: We are free to be the people we were created to be, able to express our natural talents.
- Personal Responsibility: We are accountable for our own actions and own our mistakes. We act with integrity: in alignment with our values. We are engaged in our work and take initiative.
- Excellence: We pursue our best work. (NOT to be confused with the “pursuit of perfection.”)
Where SOAR is today
A quiet idea that went worldwide
SOAR’s executive function curriculum is now used in 5,100+ schools across 53+ countries. The 3rd edition of the bestselling SOAR curriculum teaches students how to learn — organization, time management, reading, note-taking, studying, and self-monitoring.
Microsoft named SOAR a “Global Expert in Education Innovation.” That recognition says what 20+ years of school adoption says: teach students how to learn, and everything else gets easier.
The science behind it is animated in The Brain Circuit™ series. Explore The Brain Circuit™ series →
Meet the founders
Get to know us, then find your starting point
Learn more about our own stories and professional expertise on our personal pages: Susan Kruger Winter, M.Ed. → and Brian Winter, M.Ed. →
Ready to see how SOAR fits your world? Educators can start here. Parents can start here.
