I am getting ready to write out a post of all the wonderful things we have used in our homeschool this year and there have been many. Right now, though, I am so, so, so excited to tell you about this next BIG thing. And you will see why this project is so special to me.

We have been using the We Choose Virtue cards for the past year or so in our homeschool. During morning time we review the current card, and I will read children’s books, Bible stories, or fairy tales that demonstrate the quality on the card. Some of you may also remember that last fall I started taking the words from the cards and setting them to the tunes of children’s songs. I did this so my kids could easily remember the sayings on the cards.

The kids love those songs! (Well, most of the time. Sometimes when the songs prick their conscience, they don’t care for them as much.) Now when a child has a hard time waiting patiently, one of us will break into “I wait and wait and wait with a smile” to the tune of If You’re Happy and You Know It. Sometimes it is me, but sometimes it is a sibling who sings the reminder. On occasion you might hear “I make, I make, I make myself do the right thing” sung to the tune of My Bonnie coming from Thomas’s room while he is playing alone. In the video you can hear us singing about Obedience to the tune of B-I-N-G-O. This is one of their favorites, because we manage to work each of their names into the song.

PinUp to this point, I have not been able to share these songs due to copyright concerns. Because I wanted to use the exact words from the cards for memory work purposes, those words were not my own, but Heather McMillian’s. Heather is the founder of We Choose Virtues and a very sweet lady. She got wind of my virtue tunes through the internet and contacted me earlier this year to see if I would be interested in collaborating on a project that would allow her to offer the arrangements on her website. I was delighted and the Sing Along Virtue Songs were born. Now you can download a copy of all twelve arrangements on cute, colorable pages featuring the Kids of Virtueville. The page includes the lyric arrangements and tells you which tune to use for each song.

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In addition to the songs, we have also been using the Parenting Cards during our morning time. Heather sent me a pack of these to review. The over-sized cards are glossy and durable with the virtue, virtue kid, virtue saying, and Bible verse on the front of the card. The back of the card includes teaching tips for the parent to help drive home the message of each virtue. Each card includes a challenge, teachable moments, and a short story about the character on the front of the card. The cards also include ways to say “I am sorry” and specifically ask forgiveness when we fail at the virtue (which we all do — even Mom).

A few things I love about the cards:

  1. We love the details about the virtue kids on the front. We have never used the full curriculum, so the kids were excited to get details about each of the characters and their stories.
  2. I love that the teachable moments are DOABLE. This makes them the perfect addition to how we do We Choose Virtues in our homeschool. Many of them involve conversation or very little preparation. This means that I can continue to drive home the message of the virtue when I have no time to prepare. I simply pick up the card and do what is on the back. And these are meaningful as well. For example on the Kindness card it suggests you make a list for your family. On that list you write what each person wants others to do for them to show kindness (Please Do) and to not do to them (Please Don’t) to show kindness. Imagine my surprise when John emphatically told us to please do play with him and to please don’t not play with him. More than anything, John sees kindness as time and attention. What an important thing for me to know as a Mom. I think it hit home with Olivia as well.
  3. There are three or four teachable moments on each card. This will allow me to cycle through the cards more than once doing a different activity each time.

We Choose Virtues will continue to be a big part of our morning time for next year. We will use the teachable moments from the Parenting Cards as well as sing our songs. Each week I will switch to a new virtue which will keep things fresh and allow us to cycle through the virtues more than once. In addition, I will continue to pair the virtue cards with stories that illustrate the virtue. It is an easy, musical way for us the be reminded to do what is right.

This post contains affiliate links. I received the Parenting Cards for free in exchange for this review. All opinions about the product are my own.

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