TOS Review: We Choose Virtue

For about seven weeks now, we’ve been starting our weekdays with We Choose Virtues. As part of a TOS Review, I received their Parenting Cards (a physical copy – I chose NIV, but they also offer a King James Old Testament-only format) and a file full of downloadable material as well – that included a Kids of VirtueVille Coloring Book, Family Character Assessments, Teacher’s Handbook, and Butterfly Awards for Kids (all PDF dowloads).

These were fun. The kids always asked to read about more than one card. With a fun little format, easily read in just a few minutes for each card, and fun words like “Wanter”, the kids thought these were hilarious. They weren’t tedious, and with thirteen cards, we read through them all multiple times without repeating so often that they got old. They are recommended to focus on one card per week, but my kids loved the variety better when we worked through one each day and repeated often, so we ended up doing that. These are recommended for ages 3-18, and while I can’t imagine an 18 year old really appreciating these so much as my elementary aged children, the virtues to be learned are applicable clear through adulthood.

Touching on obedience, kindness, diligence, self control and more, these cards are parenting tools to teach character education. We read and discussed and memorized with these over breakfast typically, and I could see the conviction going on in my children’s hearts. The words that I say, day in and day out, spoken slightly different, but not coming from me but from a card from a company that believes this to be important enough to provide a product to teach it… that was pretty cool. I could see them realizing that I’m not the only one who thinks this is important! Scripture says so, and we worked to memorize many verses to help us remember.

With Teachable Moments and suggestions on how to become more _____ (insert character of the day here), the Kids of VirtueVille and their visual reminders that when you see specific things in everyday life, to think of the lessons learned on character. It’s just the sort of thing my kids will remember, and they really enjoyed that part. The writer obviously has a lot of experience with kids – these “talk” to them in a way few things do. Love that!

While I may have been guilty, of pulling some cards out more often than others, to teach virtues that some of my children struggle with more than others, the kids loved these, and I loved them too. I could see them learning, understanding, and growing as we talked about important character qualities taught in Scripture and spoken through these 8.5″x5.5″ cards.

The downloadable bundle was well done. The family assessment was… hilarious. No two ways around it. Not that the assessment was so funny, but my kids assessment of themselves was downright interesting. Who would have thought that all this teaching would result in perfect children? To hear them tell it, they struggle no longer. Oh, we laughed. Maybe the Honest card should be the next one we pull out!

The Coloring Book is super cute, with a few word games and pictures of the “people” we learned. The teacher book was great to get me started, but I didn’t have to refer to it very often once I’d read through it and gotten started. I appreciated that – the Parenting Cards are simple to teach. With brightly colored pictures on everything (except the coloring book – that’s the kids’ job!) everything is well done and fun to look at. The kids would ask to look at the card we’d done on their own afterward. That’s pretty cool.

The Parenting Cards are $38.49. The Downloadable Bundle is $7.99. Through August, Promo Code BTS20 will lower that price, or the price of anything in the We Choose Virtues Store, by 20%. We Choose Virtues is on Facebook, Pinterest, and have a blog for you to follow as well. I spent a little bit of time reading on their blog, and they offer some great ideas to reinforce the character training alongside their products.

Many on the Crew reviewed We Choose Virtue. Some reviewed the Parenting Cards and downloadable bundle like I received, and others reviewed a Youth Journal for ages 12-18. Check out the Review Crew Blog for more reviews to find out what everyone else thought!