We Choose Virtues Review and Giveaway

Our character is the sum of the many daily responses we choose in the situations that confront us.  These responses become habits, which become our character.  A person who has the characteristic of attentiveness is habitually attentive - paying attention to what goes on around them.  A person who has the characteristic of honesty has made it a habit of always telling the truth, no matter the consequences.
My husband and I went looking for a character curriculum that would give us tools to encourage our family to develop positive character qualities.  We wanted something fun, child-friendly, and easy to implement.  We found We Choose Virtues and sought out the opportunity to review some of their products.  We received two products: The Kids Virtue Poster – This poster lists all 12 virtues, with a small picture of the child that represents each virtue, and the helps on what that virtue is and is not.  The Teacher Virtue Cards – This set of 12 cards is the heart of what we used.  The front of each card is has the virtue you’re focusing on with the child who represents it.  One thing we loved right off is that each virtue has both a positive catchphrase defining the virtue and the antonym defining the opposite, both on the front of the card.  There is also a scripture verse related to the virtue (The card uses the NIrV, but as we use the King James Version of the Bible we just printed out the verse to hang on the mantle.). The back of each Teacher Card has an inspiring story of how the child character learns the virtue, a Virtue users challenge, teachable moments, "What to say after 'I'm sorry'", and more. 

How We’ve Used We Choose Virtues

It’s been simple!  We introduce our children to the new virtue by holding up the teacher card and looking over the front first.  We read aloud the catchphrase telling us positive ways we demonstrate that virtue.  For “I am Gentle” the catchphrase is “I speak quietly and touch softly.”  We read the antonym as well “I am NOT…rough, harsh, or loud, and I don’t destroy things or hurt people.”  We invite the children to look closely at the child pictured on the card and ask them to tell us what they see.  One of the things my little ones saw right away on the card for gentle was that the little girl has an animal peeking out of her pocket.  Each virtue child has a special object with them.
That is when we read the child’s story from the back of the teacher card to learn how they relate to the virtue and why they have their special item.  Gentle Jill works in a pet store and has learned that her friend the gerbil will only stay in her pocket when she’s quiet and gentle.  We talk about why that is, and when we might need to be gentle in our everyday lives. 
On subsequent days we use the teachable moments and other ideas from the back of the Teacher Virtue Cards after reviewing the catchphrase and antonym.  We also use the poster on a daily basis as we ‘catch’ the children doing a virtue, or as we correct a child who is not remembering a virtue.  In both instances they are brought to the poster.  If we have caught them being good we praise them for being “gentle like Jill” and specifically telling them what we noticed them doing.  If correcting them we ask what virtue they think they were forgetting to use.  We point it out and have them repeat the catchphrase and antonym and talk briefly about what part they were having trouble with. 

Final Thoughts

We Choose Virtues has give us an easy way to be consistent in our efforts to build positive character traits.  It has also helped us define the negative aspects to our children and inspire them to work for the positive.  We are seeing progress with our entire family as we are consistent.  We’ve enjoyed We Choose Virtues so much that I’m an affiliate. That means I can share the newest coupon codes with you, so here they are:

• “family” for $3.00 off the Kids Virtue Poster, no expiration date set
• “Virtue15” for 15% off your entire shopping cart, no expiration date set
• “ourhouse” for $15.00 off the new Family Kit, November only.

You may use one code per order, but you may just want to wait a bit because I have . . .

A Giveaway for You!

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS CLOSED. 

The generous folks at We Choose Virtues are offering one of my readers the same package we received, the Kids Virtue Poster and Teacher Virtue Cards.  There are several ways to enter:

• Leave a comment telling me you want to win!  Be sure to include your email address in this first comment please.
• Visit We Choose Virtues and tell me what animal is next to the company logo at the top of the page.
• Leave a comment telling me one virtue your family needs to work on. 
• Follow Our Busy Homeschool and tell me how you do (email, Google Friend Connect, etc).

Giveaway is open to US residents only and ends on Saturday Nov. 12, 2011 at 6:00am.  Winner will be drawn by Random.org.
{Disclaimer: I received these products free in exchange for an honest review, as well as one set to give away.  All opinions presented herein are my own.}