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Virtues for 2007-2008 |
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- September: Orderliness
- October: Friendship
- November: Respect
- December: Humility
- January: Sincerity
- February: Spirit of Service
- March: Heroism
- April: Decency
- May: Optimism
- June: Self-Control
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Weekly Themes |
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WEEK 1
Using a Planner
Are there better ways all of us can be using our planners? Should some of us think of starting to use a planner? If you haven’t started using your planner as part of your routine, now is a good time to do so. Also, it is important that when filling in our agendas we do it neatly and completely. The monthly and yearly goals the girls set with their advisors can be written down in their agendas for easy reference—it beats post-it notes! (See Week 3 for more about this.) The girls all received agendas on the first day of school, so let’s explore the tools it offers and the expectations included in it to help the girls develop both academically and personally. These agendas have a wealth of information in them that can help students develop the virtue of orderliness.
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WEEK 2
Maximizing Material Order
Could the reason there is a mess in the girls’ lockers/closets/dressers/schoolbags be that they don’t know how to organize these spaces? Ron Morrish identifies the keys for compliance training in his book Secrets of Discipline: 12 Keys for Raising Responsible Children (available to borrow from the school) as: providing direct supervision, giving direct instruction, and starting small. A girl might need a parent or teacher to accompany her, in a supportive but insistent way, while she cleans up. Little by little, she will get the picture of what “clean” or “tidy” really means and, even if she needs some prompting, learn how to keep things in order. This week, let’s try the above “keys for compliance,” and help the girls to tidy up their personal areas and begin to think of this task as an ongoing one.
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WEEK 3
Priorities, Goals and Challenges
If you don’t know where you’re headed, you won’t be able to figure out how to get there. This week is a good time for advisors to help the girls set goals for the month and the year. Examples of goals are: a challenging but realistic academic average, the area of order and responsibility they will concentrate on, the other virtues which are a particular point of growth for each girl, and what fun activities they can get involved in. Parents and advisors can work as a team to help the girls make a good start to achieving their goals. Take care to make these goals clear, and ask the girls to write them down in their agenda, so they can be reviewed regularly!
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WEEK 4
Remembering Responsibilities
Children, as they grow, become increasingly responsible for their behaviour, and we can and should count on them to help out. Hopefully, they will accept this reality with good will. Good will, however, cannot replace good memory. Having a routine helps us to remember what it is we are supposed to do. However, routines can be upset, and shouldn’t be counted on as the only guide for our actions. It is important that the girls understand and are convinced that good habits and virtues are the real goal. This week, let’s try to undo any dependencies the girls might have on waiting for an adult to remind them about their tasks and responsibilities. While firm reminders are often necessary, especially with the younger children, let’s also give the girls the opportunity to get things done by their own initiative.
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