USA VALUES calls for effective citizens to work with business and educators in the learning and achievement opportunities. In elementary school a willing principal, teamed with an effective citizen, can quickly turn the school’s attention to achievement and success using these early reading and character development materials.

USA VALUES effective citizens partner with the principal and teachers to see that public domain stories are being used to communicate the broad based messages of opportunity, achievement, success, and sharing. They recognize a gift must be given early in the life of an at-risk child to prevent the child from being behind before they start kindergarten. The school kindergarten grades struggle serving children who are not ready and children who are reading at the same time. Public schools take all children and sort it out in the primary grades. While teachers are accountable, they face real uphill challenges that the community should be dealing with on a first things first basis.

The key to success is often the ability to read; the brain’s sensitivity period to learn reading starts at age 0-6. Systemically our nation has created a gap by not delivering to 100% of the children the one-size-fits-one individual gift of early reading skills before the child enters kindergarten. This skill combined with really basic messages of friendship, honesty, respect and work by adult mentors would inoculate the child from failure and being left behind. If this were done first, the effectiveness of the school would skyrocket. Ironically this turns out to be the public schools most reliable, simple and conflicting solution to accountability. This is a systemic quality process basic! MAKE SURE THE RIGHT PROCESSES ARE BEING COMPLETED ON A FIRST THINGS FIRST BASIS. RIGHT THE FIRST TIME TO MAKE QUALITY FREE. We go on to support that at the conclusion of elementary school, all children will understand and recognize personal opportunity. Many studies and examples exist to prove that children who have this emotional intelligence also perform adequately and achieve in school.

Support

In many situations, parents teach their children about choices and civility; and promote good character development; however, in other cases they do not. Our society has progressed to the point that the community must contribute to the teaching of emotional intelligence, and school is the obvious place for this education. These messages must be delivered face to face and be understood by children. Anything less means the community does not want to maintain itself, its values and its safety.

The pre- kindergarten and elementary messages have been comprehensively simplified for children and reviewed for completeness against the quotations in The Best of Success by Wynn Davis and other materials. The messages help children understand the assets and attributes that are needed to turn life's experiences into success. These messages, combined with fun sticker puzzles, photographs, activities, public domain stories from bookstores and libraries, and other materials, allow a mentor or teacher to get the point across consistently. It takes a class an hour a week to get one message across. This expands to six hours per value and four values per school year. This repeated impact creates time in the classroom as the children demonstrate emotional intelligence. The author of Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman, provides the following specific instructions to improve achievement, "Begin early, be age appropriate, run throughout the school years, intertwine efforts at school, at home, and in the community." USA VALUES adds have fun and be easy for the teacher to execute to this short list of important elements. Materials were assembled over a 7-year period of time under the direction of Tom Wolfgram, who looked for a fun and repeatable method to present significant information to children that expands the teachers ability to talk about values. He referenced among others the following books and experts:

Principals, teachers and the community need effective tools that consistently send positive messages to children. A child needs to understand why character is the most direct method to achieving success and sharing.
Please reference Pages 4 & 7 in Support for USA VALUES-CDP.

The Program

Our character development program is based on the premise that there are basic societal values that transcend religious, political and cultural differences. The values addressed in the curricula are compassion, courage, discipline, faith, forgiveness, friendship, honesty, justice, love, loyalty, persistence, respect, responsibility and work.

Each teacher may receive a kit containing a teacher's manual with age appropriate curriculum, stories, folders, stickers, photographs, as well as materials that parents are actively encouraged to use to reinforce the values learned in school. Stories based on family and community values are important and have always held a central place in teaching societal values to children. They lay the foundation upon which children learn, grow and form a value system for the rest of their lives. As children experience the values expressed in the stories, they reflect these values in their attitudes and behavior every day.

In addition to the stories included in the teacher's materials, a book list identifies more than 1200 other stories, each indexed to a message regarding values, assets and attributes. The time allotted to the curriculum is flexible but requires an hour per week.

Classroom Tested

Over the past several years, over 35 schools in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, involving 13,000 children in grades K-5 and more than 600 teachers and principals, have tested and used the character development program. A summary of teacher evaluations indicated that the program was relevant to 97 percent of the children. In addition, 90 percent of the teachers rated the program "effective" or "very effective" in accomplishing the goal of communicating values. The program was evaluated at the end of each value sequence through the use of teacher and principal surveys and on-site visits. During the pilot project in 1997 and 1998, the program was selected as a "Teaching Example" in The U.S. Presidents' Summit for America's Future, for which former Presidents Carter and Bush were honorary co-chairs. Mary Tilleson, a participant in the pilot project and a kindergarten teacher at Lucy Craft Laney Elementary School, Minneapolis, said, "I really feel that a program like this is critical to the development of young children in today's society."

Program Development Staff

Bonnie Hermann, former regional director of training, KinderCare Learning Centers, she also developed curriculum and programs at the New Horizon Child Care Center, a Minnesota-based program for children 6 weeks-12 years. During the USA VALUES two-year pilot process, she worked with teachers, principals and curriculum specialists in 29 schools, including those in the large districts of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Thomas D. Wolfgram, Executive Director, Character Development Program, researched character development programs and assisted in organizing the values-centered curricula and materials around the messages. He has also been in executive and consultant positions with WinCraft Inc., The Miner Group International, W&C Printing and other businesses over the last 25 years.

Click on the following links to review more detailed information:

• What You Need to Know About Emotional Intelligence
• How can a principal create the Ultimate Character Network
• Principal’s and Teacher’s Curriculum Guide
• K-3 Grade Values and Messages
• 3-6 Grade Values and Messages
• 3-4 Grade Supplement to Values and Messages