Saint Jerome Catholic School believes in Discipline With Purpose,
a development approach to teaching self-discipline.
The program is based on 15 self-discipline skills that provide adults and students with a common way to talk about growing and becoming self-directed. The skills are developmentally appropriate to show how they can relate to one another in a positive manner.
The goal of Discipline With Purpose is to teach self-discipline.
Saint Jerome Catholic School believes each student is responsible for their own behavior in order to maintain a Christian atmosphere within the school. Respect for oneself, others, authority and property, and a safe and healthy environment to learn and grow is at the heart of St. Jerome’s philosophy of discipline. Students behave in a morally responsible manner that brings credit to themselves, their families, and the school. Parental support is an important part of the school’s discipline philosphy.
Basic Skills
Those that are prompted from
Birth-K Internalized: Grs. K-3rd
1. Listening
2. Following Instructions
3. Questioning
4. Sharing: Time, Space, People and Things
5. Exhibiting Social skills
Constructive Skills
Prompted Grs. K-3rd
Internalized Grs. 3-7
6. Cooperating with Others
7. Understanding the Reason for Rules
8. Independently Completing a Task
9. Exhibiting Leadership
10. Communicating Effectively
Generative Skills
Prompted Grs. K-7th
Internalized Grs. 7-12
11. Organizing: Time, Space, People, Things
12. Resolving Mutual Problems
13. Taking the Initiative in Problem Solving
14. Distinguishing Fact From Feeling
15. Sacrificing/Serving Others
Grouping the Skills
The skills are grouped into three categories. While children of all ages can be taught about all fifteen skills at every age, during some phases of a child’s development it is best to focus on certain skills.
The first five skills are the Basic Skills. They are difficult for children in Kindergarten through the end of grade 3 to demonstrate on their own without help. The most basic of all skills is Listening. The symbol for the Basic Skills is the handshake. It reminds us that people need people in order to get along in an institutional environment.
The second five skills are called Constructive Skills. Children in grades 4-7 are developmentally ready to learn these 5 skills. The symbol to represent the second set of skills is the liberty bell, since learning the rights and responsibilities expected of members of our society requires citizens to use Constructive Skills.
Five additional skills are learned from grades 8-High School. The last five skills are called Generative Skills. The demonstration of Generative Skills requires a more comprehensive world view. People are motivated to demonstrate these higher level skills when the needs of others can be recognized and are considered to be important. The symbol of the transmitter reminds us that people who want to make changes in the institutional or democratic environments must transmit what they know to transform the world in which we live.
Please refer to the Discipline With Purpose website
for a more comprehensive explanation of this program.
Blossoming out of with Discipline with Purpose and supporting our faculty, staff and parents to infuse self-discipline into the dialogue with students and children is the tenants of Teach for Transformation. You can find more HERE.
Vasiloff/Lenz – Discipline With Purpose All Rights Reserved
