Hillsdale College
Core Virtues

Great stories to cultivate the moral imagination

Our Program

Core Virtues offers a literature-based approach to moral education for children in grades K-6. Instead of focusing on didactic lectures and classroom activities, we provide age-appropriate literature, fables, poems, biographies, and fairy tales that present powerful images of good and evil. Such stories stir the imagination, bring the virtues to life, and awaken in children the desire to gain virtue for themselves. Our program draws upon the perennial tradition of the cardinal virtues to present a cohesive framework for moral education that emphasizes the necessity of virtuous habits for a complete and happy life. 

We Provide:

Recommendations for stories, biographies, and poems that cultivate the moral imagination

Resources for teachers, school leaders, and parents who wish to help children engage with great stories and grow in virtuous habits

Guidance for understanding and explaining moral action based on a traditional philosophical framework