Is your school schedule/routine as packed as mine is? Does it feel like you cannot possibly add one.more.thing? I struggle some days to get the basics in, but I keep seeing an area we really need to focus on more – character. It’s not that my children are rotten, or treat others poorly. They truly are pretty good. It is that I know what standard I have set for them (all of us, actually) and not my standard but His standard. There are numerous examples in scripture of the importance of character.
Pointing them out and discussing them as we came across them in our reading wasn’t quite enough. I didn’t want to turn to nagging at them either. I also don’t quite feel comfortable with many reward systems–it almost seems like bribery. I want these qualities to be a part of my children, part of who they are and something they do because it is the right way to behave and treat others. I also need an easy way to implement this. Not asking for much, am I?
Welcome to my busy week, We Choose Virtues. I have been seeing their products pop up on a few blogs I keep up with. I liked how the posters and charts looked, the idea behind the curriculum materials is sound. I still didn’t know if this was something that would work for our family. Well, the Lord saw to it we received a sample of their offerings to check them out. We received in the mail their newest component, the Virtue Clue Cards ($7.95 but currently on sale for $5.99). These are colorful, sturdy cards the size of business cards in their own little pouch. There is a card for each of the twelve virtues featured in the curriculum. Besides the virtue, the cards show the Virtue Kid and “catch phrase” for each one. This is great to carry with you to help in being consistent and implementing the current virtue as you are out and about.
We also received a download (PDF) of the new coloring book. This has a page for each of the Virtue Kids and some extra activity pages. This is available for $3 or free with the purchase of any kit. Another download item we received is the Teacher’s Handbook ($4.99 PDF or $19.99 physical book) This has many great tips as well some reasons why and how to incorporate these virtues in a classroom. The book has been written with a classroom in mind, but I have found some great ideas to use in my home.
I must admit, I was a bit disappointed to not receive more of the core items to get a good feel for this program. I felt what we received were merely support materials. These are great support materials. But honestly, would I have hung the posters (11×17) or the chart (also 11×17 plus 108 butterfly stickers)? Probably not. We just don’t have a school area or wall space to utilize in this way. Once I read through the Teacher’s Handbook and colored my own pages from the book (to match our Clue Cards–making my own mini posters, I printed them at half size) I was excited to use these materials in our day.
I love the printable
character assessment and
memory verse/Bible hero pages. The characters and catch phrases are really sticking with my children. They aren’t missing the bright, colorful posters and charts. I am lousy about keeping up with charts anyway. We have been keeping up with these virtues, though. We (I) pick one to focus on for a week (or two if things aren’t looking improved by the end of the week). We read the information on the Clue Card and talk about how using this virtue looks in our daily life. We will spend another day (or later in the same day) reading the associated Bible verse(s) and that is it for the “formal” lesson time. The rest of the week is spent watching for that virtue, or where that virtue is missing. Integrating this throughout our daily activities has been easy – and productive. Once we have gone through each virtue once, we will do the assessment again. I don’t expect my children to have these things perfect, but I do hope they see the improvement themselves. These virtues are something they will practice and live throughout their lives. I’d like to give them a great start.
There are numerous kits for schools, families, or churches. The materials are available without the scripture references where applicable. Look for “faith based” for the materials with the scripture included. There is a comparison chart on the website to see what each kit comes with or to build your own based upon your needs (and wall space–the illustrations and Virtue Kids are really great!) At the time of this review, there are some sales:
VIRTUE15 for 15 % off the shopping cart is still available
SHIPFREE for free worldwide shipping
There are some items currently on clearance due to an upgrade in the poster paper. These are only available while supplies last. For the most up-to-date information, refer to the website.
To read what other Crew members thought and how they incorporated these materials, check out the reviews on the
Crew blog.
As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I received these materials in order to write this review. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions expressed are my own.
