Heartwood Institute

Many of today's educational discussions revolve around how subject matter, curriculum content, and formal assessment form the framework for student achievement. The missing element, however, is the critical role that a student's attitude, perseverance, self-esteem, and social skills play in that success. Heartwood Institute has developed a program based on seven key attributes—Courage, Loyalty, Justice, Respect, Hope, Honesty, and Love—to help foster fundamental emotional and social understanding in children and adolescents.

Daniel Goleman, author of the groundbreaking work Emotional Intelligence, looks at emotional and social aptitudes as meta skills, saying, "Much evidence testifies that people who are emotionally adept—who know and manage their own feelings well, and who read and deal effectively with other people's feelings—are at an advantage in any domain of life."

In addition to this evidence, cognitive science research also confirms that teaching through stories is ideal for shaping the minds and emotions of young people. Heartwood's ethics curriculum, therefore, starts with a carefully selected collection of read-aloud children's books and then offers materials to encourage students' critical thinking and writing, and to foster cooperative learning and meaningful discussions.

The most profound hope of both parents and educators is that the children in their care develop into brave, honest, caring, productive adults. Heartwood can help.