We Choose Virtues is a program created by Heather McMillan, wife, mother, preschool teacher and children's pastor. It was born from a desire to help children reach their potential through learning good character and how to display it themselves. She wanted them to change from little caterpillars to become the beautiful butterflies God created them to be! She uses the virtues in this program with her own children, in her own classroom and in her church classrooms, and she shares them with us as well.
So what is it? This is a program with 12 simple, easy to remember virtues that translates into all areas of life. These virtues are: I am Diligent, I am Kind, I am Helpful, I am Obedient, I am Forgiving, I am Perseverant, I am Gentle, I am Patient, I am Self-Controlled, I am Content, I am Honest, and I am Attentive.
Notice that these are positive statements, they convey what the child or student IS. I love that this program focuses on that! But it is realistic, we aren't always living out the positive virtue, so the program takes it a step further and gives us an I am NOT statement for every I am statement. And for those of you who want them, each virtue also has a Bible verse in either NIVr or KJV. LOVE IT!!
So what can you expect from We Choose Virtues? Depends on what you are looking for. You can start small with just the parenting cards, which include every virtue, a cute story to help your child remember the virtue character, the I am statement, the I am not statement, some teaching ideas and much more. With these alone you can see your child grow.
But they go so much farther than just parenting cards, the Teacher's Handbook is a must have! This 54 page manual includes 4 simple steps to teach the virtues using up to 9 of the tools offered on the website. Don't think you're a teacher since you don't homeschool? Think again! You are going to love this handbook. Full of suggestions of ways to incorporate these virtues and teaching tools into your life without overwhelming your child. It is included with many of the kits, but can be purchased as a stand alone item as well.
So how did this work for us? My 4 year old is already looking at me and saying things like, "I'm gonna wait and wait and wait with a smile on my face like Piggybank Frank does," (the character for patience) which is HUGE for her. We have the Virtue Poster on the wall in our dining room and she has begun to teach her 12 and 14 year old siblings all about the Virtueville kids, and that is all after little more than a week! It doesn't take much to see this kind of positive character development either.
We spend about 5-10 minutes over breakfast talking about the virtue of the week. I introduce the concept on Monday, we talk about ways or situations in which we can demonstrate that virtue and that's it for direct instruction. The rest of the week I look for "butterfly moments" when she is demonstrating the positive virtue and congratulate her for doing well. When we have "caterpillar moments" when she is acting more like the not statement we talk about it, repeat our I am statement, she asks for forgiveness and gets it and we go on.
You really can't go wrong with this program! In all honesty I plan to use this both in my family and in my classroom when I finish my degree. Sound like something you might be interested in? Today is your lucky day! You have a chance to win your very own set of the virtue flashcards valued at up to $14.99!
Don't want to wait or already know you want more than just the flashcards? We have a special gift for you too!
This month you can take 20% off the purchase of any card set using the code "CARD20"
or you can get 15% off your entire purchase using the code "VIRTUE15"
and all of the KJV editions are being offered at a special low introductory price.
We Choose Virtues even offers their Youth Character assessment, their Family Character assessment, as well as Bible verses for every age to help build virtue in your family absolutely FREE
What are you waiting for? Enter below and/or visit We Choose Virtues now!
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Until next time,
