Heather McMillan has came up with an amazing way to incorporate virtues into your home. She is a mother to 4 children aged 14-20. She and her husband are busy in children’s ministry and have dedicated their lives to helping children. The thing that impresses me most with Heather is that she has done all of this while living with a very serious medical condition. She has had a kidney transplant and lived with kidney failure. This has not affected her love for God or her ability to affect the lives of the many children she has influenced.
I was blessed to receive the flashcards to use in our home through the Mosaics Review team. This is not a curriculum or unit study. It is the words you use to teach your children how important virtues are.
We homeschool because I want my children to be children who obey, are kind to others, are content with what God has provided them with and all of the other important virtues that We Choose Virtues has included in their products. I believe that our world would be a much better place if everyone lived by these virtues.
We Choose Virtues was started when Heather developed flash cards for her preschool class she was teaching. The picture to the left shows the flashcard and the business size card of the virtue I am Attentive. She believes (as I do) that when we teach our children virtues, they will be ingrained in their inner most being and will affect every aspect of the their lives as they grow for the Lord. These virtues help integrate both good behavior by praising virtues that they are good at and also help them work on areas that they are weak in.
There is a family character assessment that you can do with your children to see which areas they need help with. This also shows you where you can start if you are wanting to begin with the areas they are weak in .
We Chose Virtues uses really cute characters, catch phrases and Bible verses that go along with these to teach your child inspiring character traits that will last a lifetime. This is so easy to incorporate into your every day life. It is more effective for most children to learn through example than by busy seatwork. These cards make I easy to do that. We chose a different card each week. After putting it on the refrigerator, I used every opportunity to reiterate the virtue during the week.
The three most important virtues are Obedience, Kind and Helpful. This is also the order of importance of the virtues. It is important for a child to be obedient first and foremost. I feel like this also helps us learn that as children of God we must be obedient to him at all times.
The program is developed for children age 3 through grade 5. They also can be used with children of all age successfully. With younger children, you can just focus on the top three virtues and make sure they understand these. These are foundational life virtues that once learned will affect your child’s lives forever.
My favorite is I am Obedient. This introduces Oboe Joe whose catch phrase is Ok, what ever you say, I will obey, right away. My children now go around saying this phrase (okay, they don’t always do it but they do say the phrase so they are learning). This virtue is all about not being argumentative, unwilling or slow and not refusing to do what they are told. I am going to be honest. My children have a very hard time with this. Well, they have a lot of trouble with a lot of the virtues but we are making improvement and I have noticed a significant change since we started using this.
For children who need something more, there are coloring sheets to go along with the virtues. I LOVED coloring these. My older child (who is 14) wouldn’t color but my daughter (age 10) enjoyed these pages. Laminating these would be a great way to have the kids have their own special placemats that reinforce good virtues. The characters are adorable. 
The names also start with the same letter as the virtue (content features Cake Jake). This helps children who are younger or who cannot read yet see the same letter and associate the characters to the traits by sounding out the first letter.
This picture gives you an idea of the difference between the flashcards and the virtue clue cards which are the smaller version. I love the smaller version to give to the kids in the car to go through.
Although this is geared toward younger children, the company is working on a version for older children that is in a journal form. This helps children answer deeper questions about their lives and what they would like to accomplish. It helps them them see how incorporating good virtues can help them have successful relationships, employment opportunities and even help with study habits. There are 18 virtues in the older version and Heather hopes to have it out this fall sometime. I am excited for this and you can look forward to seeing this for yourself then.
Another new exciting thing they have coming out is We Chose Virtues in Spanish.
The website can be visited at www.wechosevirtues.com. You can also visit and like their Facebook page.
For homeschooler’s I recommend the Homeschool Kit. This includes everything you need to teach your children virtues which includes
Reusable tools
- Parenting Cards (Teacher cards for families!)
- Virtue Flash Cards for families
- Kids Virtue Poster
- Three Rules Poster
- Kids of VirtueVille MINI Posters
Consumable tools
Downloadable/reproducible PDF tools
- Teacher's Handbook (no need to print this handbook. Just read and save for easy reference)
- Butterfly Awards
- Family Character Assessment
- Kids of VirtueVille Coloring Pages
All of this is only $98.99. It comes in NIV, King James or secular version (all versions come with Bible verses except the secular one).
As a thank you to my readers, We Chose Virtues has allowed us to use promo code home20 to get 20% off of this kit. This is only good through April so hurry to get this discount.
You can also use the promo code virtue15 to get 15% off of all orders. This code is good FOREVER!!!! This is entered at the end of your shopping experience. Don’t get discouraged and think there isn’t a place for it. It comes right before you put your credit card info in. Only one code can be used at a time.
There are so many good products you really need to go see them. If you are on a tight budget you can get by with just the flashcards. These are the core of the program and include all 12 virtues to get your home and lives in order.
Wouldn’t a peaceful house where everyone gets along and thinks before they act be a unbelievable blessing? I think We Chose Virtues will help our family get here. I’m praying and have seen improvement since beginning this. I think your family will benefit too. God Bless and Happy Homeschooling.
Our family gives We Chose Virtues
1 Smiley - Product not really for our family. Probably wouldn’t buy. This really should probably be a frown face but we hate to be negative.
2 Smileys - Would maybe buy this product if on sale. Not a great fit for our family.
3 Smileys - We really liked this product and would probably recommend this to friends and fellow homeschoolers.
4 – Smileys – Definitely would buy this if the budget would allow. We suggest you check this out to see if it is a fit for your family.
5 Smileys – Would sell the family pets to get this one (just kidding). A must have for our family and we think you should get it too.
Thank you to We Choose Virtues and Mosaics Review for the opportunity to try this product.
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