Susie Homeschooler

WE CHOOSE VIRTUES (A Mosaic Review)

Virtue:  A virtue is a positive trait or quality deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being.

As a member of the Mosaic Review Team, I was asked to review We Choose Virtues.   Heather McMillan created this product because she simply loved her children and wanted them to reach their full potential.  She thought that children needed to be inspired by simple, positive communication, and by consistent instruction.  Parents and teachers needed an effective language with which to communicate these instructions.

Our first step in this program was to take the Family Character Assessment that is a free PDF download.   My husband and I sat down to each take our test.   I also helped my six year old son by explaining each question.  This took a bit of time but in the end all three of us could plainly see what character traits we needed to work on.

There are twelve character traits in this program.  They include:

Attentive, Content, Diligent, Forgiving, Gentle, Helpful, Honest, Kind, Obedient, Patient, Perseverant, Self-Controlled

We each picked one character trait that we needed to improve on from the Virtual Flashcards".   My son "Batman" needed to work on the character card "diligent".   On the front of the card is a "Virtual Kid" and his friend called Chuck and Duck and the words "I am Diligent".   On the flip side it showed what diligent means.  "I start fast, work hard and finish strong.  I am NOT...slow to get started or lazy and I  don't quit early".  Our cards were the King James version but they are also available in NIV, or a secular version with no bible verse.   Our card read: Proverbs 13:4  The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of 

the diligent shall be made fat.

We spent about 15 minutes discussing what diligent means, and ways that Batman could be better in being diligent in his life.  Batman also was able to color a special coloring page based on this word that I got from the Kids of VirtueVille Coloring Pages which is a PDF download for $3.00.

I found that using the Parenting Cards ($34.99)  were a great support.  These are full color, illustrated cards that are loaded with helpful hints on introducing and demonstrating all 12 Virtues. 

Front and back of the parenting card.

This program takes about 10 minutes a day to review.  Each time I saw Batman being "diligent" I made sure to recognize his positive "virtue".   At times he needed a quick reminder to be more diligent.  I simply said the words "Chuck and Duck".  These were the "Virtual Kids" on the front of our learning card.   Batman quickly got the message and corrected his behavior.  This program is perfect for pre-k through elementary age kids. It was recommended that one card be used per week. 

I was extremely pleased to see that all members of my family made positive growth using this program.  It was easy to use, the cards were vibrant and fun, and overall we enjoyed it a lot.   We continue to use We Choose Virtues as a family so we can better ourselves and take personal pride in our behavior.

We Choose Virtues is giving my followers a wonderful discount.   Buy the Homeschool Kit ($98.99) and get 20% off using coupon code HOME20 by April 30.  Save 15% off on all other orders using code VIRTUE15 with no expiration date.