TOS Review: We Choose Virtues

One of the many and varied reasons that we homeschool our kids is that it gives us the time and opportunity to develop their virtues, build their moral sense, and strengthen their character. We want kids with self control, self discipline and integrity who act with honesty and courage and display mercy and grace to those around them. Heather McMillan feels the same way about kids, so she developed We Choose Virtues to "simply inspire character that lasts". This is a full curriculum for families, teachers, and homeschoolers to use to teach character to kids. This is not a "one time" curriculum, it is intended to become a lifestyle for you and your kids, taking advantage of every teachable moment that crops up. Here is a little more info on how it works.
We were sent these Virtue Clues cards, the coloring book, the family character assessment, and the Kids Memory Verses, Bible Heroes, and Truths chart as well as the Teacher's Handbook.
We incorporated the cards, coloring book, memory verses and the ideas from the handbook into our daily circle time. The cards are full color, on sturdy cardstock and contain the virtue (one virtue for each card), a quick saying for the kids to memorize, a short explanation of the opposite of the virtue, and a picture of the person who goes with that character on the front of the card. On the back of the card is a practical application of the virtue and a sentence of encouragement.

For example, the Obedience card has, on the front, a picture of Oboe Joe playing his oboe and it says, "I am Obedient." The phrase for the kids to remember is, "Ok, whatever you say, I will obey, right away." The opposite is "I am NOT... argumentative, slow or unwilling, and I don't refuse to do what I am told!' On the back it says, "Choose to go the whole day doing everything exactly as you are asked to do it... with a smile! Oboe Joe knows you can do it!"
The kids enjoyed learning the sayings on the card, using repetition, the coloring pages, and the games suggested in the handbook. We also worked on memorizing the Bible verses attached to each virtue, and reading about the Bible characters as well.
I would love the opportunity to try out the full curriculum on my kids. I loved the way it is put together. I love that each virtue is explained, demonstrated, and illustrated. I especially loved that each virtue was linked to a person from the Bible and to a memory verse. I firmly believe that the only lasting change in our lives (kids and/or adults) comes from God working in our lives and not our own strength, so I was delighted to see that this curriculum leans heavily on His strength and His truth to teach our children. I did wish that the memory verse was on the card. This would have helped us to memorize it, and I think the verse was more important than the opposite of the virtue.
I must say, however, that this curriculum is only going to go as far as you, the parent/teacher/adult are willing to take it. This is not something that you can spend five minutes (or even an hour) a day on, and expect to see results. This is a tool to changing your lifestyle. If you don't implement it, it will not work.
I also want to clarify that there is MUCH more to the curriculum than I received. Check out the full thing here. Currently, they are having a clearance sale!
Read what other Crew Members had to say here.

I received this product for free for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own.