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  • Home
  • Our Approach
    • Program Overview
    • Why Stories?
    • Implementation
    • The Morning Gathering
    • Suggested Book Lists >
      • Year One Suggested Book Lists
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      • PDF Book Lists
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  • About Us
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      • Mary Beth Klee
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  • Virtue of the Month
    • Virtue Cycle Definitions
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  • Holidays
    • Labor Day
    • Veteran's / Memorial Day
    • Thanksgiving
    • Hanukkah
    • Christmas
    • Martin Luther King Jr
    • President's Day
    • Black History Month
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    • Women's History Month
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    • Immigrant Heritage Month
  • Poetry
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    • Saint of the Month >
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      • March Saints
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    • Eastern Faith Traditions
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    • Kindergarten Goals
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Virtues Cycle Definitions

The following are definitions of virtues keyed to the academic three-year cycle.  These are copyrighted to the Core Virtues Foundation and may be purchased as posters here.  The text definitions may also be used by schools in other formats (make your own posters!), but only with proper attribution on the poster (©️Core Virtues Foundation)  For a fuller listing of definitions, scroll down.

 September  Respect is treating others with high regard.
                        Responsibility is doing our part for the groups that make us whole.

October        Diligence is doing what needs to be done with devotion, dedication, and determination.
                        Self-Control is stopping to think about my actions before I enact them.
                        Self-Discipline is giving the best of myself and saying "no" to my weaknesses.
                        Perseverance is pushing on despite difficulty and hardship.
                        Patience is bearing pains and trials calmly and without complaint.

November    Gratitude is thankfulness for the gift of life and the gifts in life.
                        Wonder is to marvel at mystery, to stand in awe before the unexplained.
                        Stewardship is caring well for the gifts given us: our lives, our world, our talents and those                                          entrusted to our care.

December    Generosity is giving with an open hand and an open heart.
                        Charity is caring, and working to be kind. Charity is giving of heart and soul and mind. 
                        Service is helping others with a cheerful heart.

January         Courage is moving beyond fear. Courage is finding the strength to venture and persevere. 
                        Courage is bravery that strengthens the small, makes them feel tall, imagines the call, to                                                    conquer one's fear and then persevere. (K-1)

February       Loyalty is being faithful and true to our duties, relations and ideals.
                        Love of Country is being devoted to our nation - loving its ideals, honoring its heroes,                                                       respecting its past, and working hard for a just and noble future.
                        Honesty is truthfulness: loving the true, telling the truth, and living truthfully in word and deed.
                        Justice is giving the other his or her due.

March            Compassion is feeling the pain of others and acting to end their distress.
                        Faithfulness is standing by those we love, those we serve, and what we believe.
                        Mercy is showing kindness to one who is weak or in need.                        
                        Mercy is showing compassion to the enemy, the wrongdoer, or those over whom one has power.

April               Forgiveness is finding it in your heart to pardon or excuse.
                        Graciousness is acting kindly, courteously, and making another feel special.
                        Courtesy is showing respect through kindness, politeness, and consideration of the other.
                        Gentleness is treating others with kind words and mild manner.
                        Humility is avoiding the temptation to exaggerate our own abilities and underestimate the                                                 abilities of others.

May                Hope is finding the light in the darkness, and trusting in right endings.
                        Joy is the fullness of spirit that blooms from the loving heart.
                        Wonder is the first step on the path of knowledge.
 
June               Heroism is taking noble action for a good cause.
                        Lives to Learn From: Learn from those who act well, think well, forge new paths, and seek a                                           better world.
                        Wisdom is knowledge of the things that matter.

The following chart is a fuller guide to the definitions used in the the program. Different grade levels will be best served by different definitions. Some apply to all grade levels (K-6) and others are specific to lower or upper grades, or targeted to grade-specific cycles.
Virtue
Definition
Grade Level
Beauty
pleases the eye or ear and lifts the drooping spirit.
K-6
Beauty
reveals truth and promotes goodness.
5
Charity
is caring, and working to be kind.
K-6
Charity
​is giving of heart and soul and mind.
K-1
Charity
is love.
K-6
Charity
is self-less giving to those in need.
2-6
Charity
​is the root and mother of all the virtues.
K-6
Civic Responsibility
is doing our part as citizens of a democracy.
2
Compassion
is feeling what others are feeling and trying to help with their troubles.
K-2
Compassion
​is feeling the pain of others, and acting to end their distress.
3-6
Constancy
​is standing firm in the good.
4
Courage
is doing what is right in the face of fear.
K-6
Courage
is moving beyond fear.
K-6
Courage
 is finding the strength to venture and persevere. 
K-6
Courtesy
​is showing respect through kindness, politeness,
and consideration of the other.
K-6
Diligence
is working your very hardest and staying with it.
K
Diligence
is steady, earnest, and energetic effort.
1-2
Diligence
​is doing what needs to be done with devotion,
dedication, and determination.
3-6
Diligence
is doggedly doing your best.
3-6
Duty
​is doing our part, living up to our obligations.
3
Empathy
​is standing in another’s shoes.
K-6
Empathy
​is trying to understand another’s thoughts and feelings.
2
Faith
is trust in the Divine, confidence in the Creator,
love of the Living God.
K-6
Faithfulness
​is standing by those we love, those we serve,
and what we believe.
K-6
Forbearance
​is patient self-control, waiting and enduring when one would rather not.
6
Forgiveness
is having enough heart to let go of hurt.
K-2
Forgiveness
​is being able to forget wrongs done to us.
K-6
Forgiveness
​is finding it in your heart to pardon or excuse.
3-6
Forgiveness
is freeing yourself from anger and the other from guilt.
K-6
Generosity
​is giving without thinking about getting.
K-2
Generosity
​is giving with an open hand and an open heart.
3-6
Gentleness
​is treating others with kind words and mild manner.
K-6
Gratitude
is thankfulness for the gift of life and the gifts in life.
K-6
Graciousness
​is acting kindly, courteously, and making another feel special.
K-6
Heroism
​is taking noble action for a good cause.
K-6
Honesty
​is truthfulness: loving the truth, telling the truth, and living truthfully in word and deed.
K-6
Hope
is finding the light in the darkness, and trusting in right endings.
K-6
Humility
is knowing that I am definitely not perfect.
K-6
Humility
is avoiding the temptation to exaggerate our own abilities and underestimate those of others.
3-6
Integrity
​is living life faithful to good principles and high ideals.
5
Joy
​is the fullness of spirit that blooms from the loving heart.
K-6
Justice
is giving the other his or her due.
K-6
Justice
is making a space for the rights and needs of others.
K-6
Kindness
​is caring for each other in all we do and say.
K-6
Kindness
​is finding the gentle way to work and play.
K
Lives to Learn From
​Learn from those who act well, think well, forge new paths, and seek a better world.
K-6
Love of Country
​means being devoted to our nation — loving its ideals, honoring its heroes, respecting its past, and working hard for a just and noble future.
K-6
Loyalty
​is being faithful and true to our duties, relations, and ideals.
K-6
Magnanimity
​is noble generosity that leaves all pettiness behind.
6
Magnanimity
 keeping your eyes on high ideals
and undertaking great deeds for noble reasons.
6
Mercy
​is showing compassion to the enemy, the wrongdoer, or those over whom one has power.
3-6
Patience
​is the power to wait peacefully.
K-3
Patience
​is bearing pains and trials calmly and without complaint.
4-6
Perseverance
​is sticking to it—even when you’d rather give up.
K-3
Perseverance
is persisting.
4-6
Perseverance
is pushing on despite difficulty and hardship.
K-6
Prudence
​is practical wisdom. It is choosing the right means to a good end.
6
Resolution
​is being bold enough and firm enough to act on behalf of a good cause.
5
Respect
​is treating others politely and kindly.

K
Respect
​is treating others with high regard regardless of their race, their place, or the color of their face!
1
Respect
​is treating others with high regard.
2-6
Responsibility
​is doing your part for the groups that make us whole.
K-6
Self-control
​is stopping to think about my actions before I enact them!
K-6
Self-discipline
​is applying ourselves to our tasks.
K-6
Self-discipline
​is giving the best of ourselves, and saying “no” to our weaknesses.
K-6
Service
​is helping others with a cheerful heart.
K-6
Steadfastness
​is standing constant, firm and unwavering for a good cause.
3
Stewardship
​is caring well for the gifts given us – our life, our world, our talents, & those entrusted to our care.
K-6
Temperance
is moderation in our appetites, passions, and desires.
6
Wisdom
​is knowledge of the things that matter.
K-6
Wonder
is to stop and say: “Wow!”
K-2
Wonder
is to delight in beauty and mystery.
K-6
Wonder
is to marvel at mystery, to stand in awe before the unexplained.
3-6
Wonder
is the first step on the path to knowledge.
K-6
Imagination
is letting the mind take flight, forming a new image of how life might be.
K-6

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