{Review} We Choose Virtues

Character. It's an important thing. It's also something that is often overlooked. If you take a look around you it's not hard to see that character development and education takes a backseat to many so-called more important things. But when it comes down to it your character is who you are. You may be the most intelligent, the most talented, the most beautiful person in the world, but if you are not a good person, a virtuous person, a person of good character all of those positives will be overshadowed. As parents, it's our duty to instill these values in our children. To make sure they grow up to be honest, caring, hardworking, etc. And that is where We Choose Virtues can help.

We Choose Virutes was created by Heather McMillian out of a desire to teach children how to reach their personal potential. How to help them change not only their actions but their attitudes as well. Her program consists of 12 virtues- combined with easy to remember catchphrases and antonyms- that effectively teach children and give parents and teacher the tools and language to help guide them in their journey.

What I Recieved:

For the purpose of my review I was sent a set of Virtue Flash Cards (secular edition), a sample Parenting Card, the downloadable Teacher's Handbook, a PDF of The Kids of VirtueVille Coloring Pages, and the free download of the Family Character Assessment.
 

 

How We Used the Product:

We Choose Virtues is suitable for early-childhood up through elementary ages, so Rylan is my only child outside this age-range. (Though, he can definitely use some extra character development, so he participated too!)

We started by going over each of the virtues by looking at the flashcards and reading the catchphrases and antonyms, and discussing any new vocabulary or things they didn't quite understand. Then I gave each of them a copy of the Family Character Assessment. We went down the list and they gave themselves a score for each virtue. When they were done we went back down the list as a group. I asked them harder questions and brought up certain hypothetical situations. For the most part they did very well in their assessments.

Then they each chose a virtue to work on during the week. I also asked them to memorize the words on the card. We tried to come together at least once a day to discuss how they had found ways to exercise their virtue. I also gently reminded them when I saw that particular virtue being ignored. The parenting cards come with many suggestions for activities that will help make the virtues stick, and the flash card set also give a couple different little games to play to help keep the virtues in your mind. Both of those were nice additions to help us learn the virtues.

The Bottom Line: 

This product is well-made, kid friendly and gets the job done. What I liked most about the product:

• I appreciate that there are different versions available. (NIV, King James and Secular) I had seen this product in the past and didn't realize there was a secular version available. 
• The materials are high-quality. The illustrations are beautiful and a lot of care was taken to ensure that the materials would be ones that draw children in. 
• I love the catchphrases and antonyms. It's one thing to define a virtue, but by telling what it is NOT takes the learning that one step further. 
• I love that the material gives the parent the words and tools to help their child. We all want our children to grow up to have good character, but sometimes it can be hard to find the right words or you begin to feel like the bad guy all the time. This product is a great help in both those areas.

Cost is probably one of the only downsides to this program. The materials are well worth the cost, but many times families on a budget just can't justify that cost. Thankfully, there are some options to help make the program a little more accessible.

If you can't afford the whole kit, you can still get started by purchasing some of the individual parts. If nothing else just get the Virtue Flash Cards ($14.99)or even the Virtue Clues ($5.50) both of which have the virtues, catch phrases and antonyms on them and can be used in many different ways. If you are interested in purchasing an entire kit, you can use the promo code HOME20 to receive 20% of the Homeschool Kit through the month of April.

To make We Choose Virtues even more accessible, Heather is offering 15% off any order! Just use the promo code Virtue15.