Hawthorne C.A.R.E.S.
C – Cooperation: Children must have the opportunity to practice working together in many and varied ways all through the day. We can better accept differences when we work together and feel a sense of community and belonging together.
A – Assertion: the ability to stand up for one’s own ideas without hurting others and without negating others. Children must be coached and taught to do this. Children must be given the chance to practice in a "safe" environment where dialogue about one’s ideas and feelings is encouraged. Without many opportunities to practice, children will have difficulty thinking for themselves in the face of peer pressure.
R – Responsibility: The only way to learn to be responsible is to have many opportunities to practice being responsible. Children need to begin with small amounts of responsibility and then gradually be given more as they meet with success. As adults, our most powerful teaching tool is trust and belief in children’s ability to come through in responsible ways.
E – Empathy: Our world is growing more and more diverse and complex. The best response is to learn how to accept and respect differences. Parents and educators want children to be capable of carrying out conflict resolution. Children must have empathy in order to do conflict resolution. Empathy gives us the capacity to care. Empathy comes from "knowing" others – Empathy grows from the practice of building relationships.
S – Self Control: The ultimate goal of discipline is that children will be in control of their own behavior and behave in an ethical manner. This skill comes like that of responsibility. In order to be in control of yourself, you must have many opportunities to truly practice the skills that are involved. The opportunities need to come in small increments that are manageable and will lead to success. The reward for ethical behavior is intrinsic—the good, proud feeling inside that comes from having done the "right thing". Like responsibility, self-control comes when adults trust and believe in the children they work with.
