Character Training for Children and Teens (We Choose Virtues Review)

As parents, it’s safe to say that we want our children to grow up and become both productive and kind adults in society. In order for this to transpire, we need to instill good character qualities in them and teach them to be virtuous. By definition, virtue is the quality of being morally good or righteous. Oftentimes parents may have difficulty in thinking of ways to teach their children how to be virtuous, or maybe even want to make it fun for them. Most important is making those qualities last a lifetime.

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We Choose Virtues was founded when Heather McMillan saw just how many children lacked honesty and self-control, and her desire was to teach these and other qualities to children. She created a list of virtues, along with fun catchphrases to go with each one, and used those to teach her own children in her home as well as in her preschool.

We Choose Virtues offers products that can be used for families, homeschoolers, kids’ church, schools, youth, and kids. The Schoolhouse Review Crew received 1 of 2 products to review: Parenting Cards and the Youth Virtue Journal.

teacher-virtue-cards-family_grandeThe Parenting Cards are used by the parents at home, and are available in both King James and New International Readers Versions. The King James Version Parenting Cards were originally created for Jewish families who teach their children from the Old Testament, and therefore use scriptures from the Old Testament only. The International Readers Version contains verses from both the Old and New Testaments. Both sets of cards teach the same list of virtues:

  • diligence
  • helpfulness
  • perseverance
  • gentleness
  • contentment
  • attentiveness
  • honesty
  • kindness
  • self-control
  • patience
  • obedience
  • forgiveness

Each card features a Virtue Kid, along with an inspirational story, a Virtue User Challenge, what to say after apologizing, and teachable moments for each virtue. Along with Parenting Cards, reviewers received Kids of VirtueVille Coloring Book,
Family Character Assessment, Teacher’s Handbook, and Butterfly Awards for Kids, all in PDF format.

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The Kids of VirtueVille Coloring book features a coloring page for each virtue, along with 3 puzzle pages. Family Character Assessment is a form to be used for each family member to determine where they are character-wise from 1-10, and allows each person to set a goal for where they want to be.

The Teacher’s Handbook is 50 pages long, and includes 4 steps and 9 tools for parents to teach the 12 virtues to their children. The Butterfly Awards for Kids lets you print as many awards as you need. Simply fill in the blanks with your child’s name and the virtue they have succeeded in.

These tools are recommended for ages 3-11.

jr-high-book-half-sheet_grandeThe Youth Virtue Journal is 100 pages long and covers 9 virtues:

  • attentiveness
  • contentment
  • forgivingness
  • gentleness
  • helpfulness
  • honesty
  • obedience
  • perseverance
  • respectfulness

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The journal was originally designed for use as a counseling tool in the Idaho court system, and therefore contains no scriptures. With this tool students will talk about their dreams, evaluate their own use of virtue, discuss virtue quotes, and you’ll also give your own advice. Along with the Youth Virtue Journal, reviewers received Mentor Handbook, Mentor Meeting Report Form, Youth Character Assessments, and Youth List of Memory Verses and Bible Heroes, all in PDF format. This set is recommended for ages 12-18.
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A big thank you to Becca Carroll of C Family of 6 for writing this introductory post.

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