Character training is something we feel is very important for our children but, sometimes fitting that into our school schedule just seemed too hard. I was excited to review We Choose Virtues for the Mosaic Review Team and see how this tool could be used in our homeschool. Heather McMillan began We Choose Virtues out of her love for children and her desire to see them reach their personal potential. Her observation is that children needed to be inspired by simple, positive and consistent instructions, and parents and teachers needed an effective language with which to communicate these instructions.
Our first step was to take the Family Character Assessment which is a free PDF download. We went through the assessment together and, while I encouraged the children to choose best where they felt they were, I also gave some guidance - especially to our 8 year old who apparently felt she was as close to perfect as you can get. Our 11 and 10 year old children did great assessing themselves and when I reviewed it with them felt they really had a good grasp of what character traits they needed to work on.
Next, after looking over the assessments we chose an area that we felt we could all use a little improving - we chose attentiveness. We used the Virtue Flash Cards {$14.99} to go over what being attentive is - "I watch and listen carefully. I am NOT ... forgetful, distracted or distracting and I don't ignore or interrupt!" Our cards were the NIV version {these are also available in a King James version and a secular version with no bible verse} and also included this bible verse - "Pay attention and listen to the sayings of those who are wise. Apply your heart to the sayings I teach" Proverbs 22:17. The kids copied the bible verse and then colored the page that went along with our virtue from the Kids of VirtueVille Coloring Pages {$3.00} - which is a PDF download, that I copied hole punched and added to our bible study notebooks we use.
I really loved the Parenting Cards {$34.99} which gave tips on - teachable moments, virtue user challenge, what to say after "I'm Sorry", and a little blurb about the Kids of VirtueVille - for Attentive it was Airplane Betty Jane.
Front and Back of Parenting Card for Attentive.
I loved the fact that these virtue lessons took less than 10 minutes a day to review and we began seeing changes immediately. I created a chart and each time I caught one of the kids doing something that showed they were putting their virtue into place they received a sticker. We decided ten stickers would earn them an ice cream cone. Also, really loved the colors and graphics that We Choose Virtues uses - the characters are fun and engaging.
There are many ways to purchase the We Choose Virtues items - as a kit for the homeschool family the cost is $98.99 and includes all of the items I mentioned above plus tools, which though not necessary, would be a wonderful addition. You can also purchase tools individually. As a minimum I feel you really need the Parenting Cards. Also, We Choose Virtues offers a wonderful comparison chart you can find here - that may help you decide which products would work best for your family.
Heather recommends these items for preschool through elementary. Our children are 2nd, 4th, and 5th and I feel were the perfect age for this product. Though, I will continue using We Choose Virtues even through next year when our son moves into middle school.
We Choose Virtues has been so kind to offer my readers a few discount codes which can be used toward purchases - HOME20 will save 20% off of any homeschool kit through the month of April or you can utilize coupon code VIRTUE15 and save 15% off of any purchase - good indefinitely.
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