really super cute illustrations

I just love it when I run across simple means to teach vitally important lessons to my kids.

I love it even more when that means includes absolutely adorable illustrations.

One of my absolute weaknesses in life is adorable illustrations of children and animals.

When I first heard of We Choose Virtues, I was immediately hooked upon my very first peek at their adorable artwork and uniquely outstanding graphic style.

And all of it accompanying learning virtues…wow, who could have asked for more?

I couldn’t wait to receive a sampling of what they had to offer!!

For review I received one of their BRAND NEW products, a little pack of Virtue Clue Cards.

These are actually on sale at the time I’m writing up this review for $5.99 ( regularly $7.95), or come as a part of the many varieties elementary sets for ages 3-11.

This is a wonderful little pack of business sized cards packaged in a clear plastic envelope which Velcros closed, and is complete with one of their cute little butterfly-logo stickers. Within this small-but-mighty packet is contained 12 virtue clue cards and a little instruction card.

Let me tell you, they are certainly every bit as cute, if not cuter, in your hands as they look here! Again, the artwork had me hooked at first sight, but then as I read through the clever catch phrases and the adorable character names of the Virtue Kid characters, I just fell more in love with them!

While these little cards are meant to be a take-along clue giver to help children remember the virtue lessons they have learned from the complete program, I certainly think they can be used in-and-of themselves. (But like me, I’m pretty sure you’ll be wanting the whole kit and kaboodle after seeing how cute these are!!)

On one side of the cards is the virtue with the Virtue Kid, catchphrase, and antonyms. On the other side is a “You can do it!” challenge.

The Virtue Clue cards include~

I am:

*Content (Cake Jake)

*Gentle (Gerbil and Jill)

*Helpful (Hat Matt)

*Attentive (Airplane Betty Jane)

*Honest (Hockey Stick Nick)

*Perseverant (Penny Jenny)

*Self-Controlled (Stop Sign Madeline)

*Patient (Piggy Bank Frank)

*Obedient (Oboe Joe)

*Forgiving (Feather Heather)

*Kind (Kettle Gretel)

*Diligent (Chuck and Duck)

These are definitely great for both boys and girls as they contain characters which appeal to both.

Along with the card set we received a download of the Teacher’s Handbook which can be downloaded for $4.99 or ordered in hardcopy format for $19.99.

This little jewel is included as a part of the many varieties of elementary sets as well.

This 48 page guide to teaching the Virtues is packed full of those adorable Virtue Kids and many other cute illustrations.

It is an outline of how to incorporate and teach this program in a classroom, with some wonderful sidenotes on homeschools and daycares.

This little treasure is very well organized and a total pleasure to look through. My mind just soared with ideas and plans to use these virtues with my own kids. There are many tools and activities along with specific directions on how to implement your individual journey into virtues.

In my hands, this inspiring guide really made we want to obtain a few more of the tools of this program before moving forward with it. I have browsed the website over and over to determine if I can budget any more parts of this wonderful program into our school this year. While I whole heartedly want to use this product with my kids, the $99.00 price tag for the homeschool kit doesn’t fit my budget. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly believe the charts and posters and flash cards are probably of the same wonderful quality as the cards we got, not to mentioned that it’s a bit depressing to have to put a price-tag on this kind of learning. But as a homeschool, I just don’t have the extra budget. I can totally recommend this for classrooms, Sunday schools, elementary age groups, co-ops, or those lucky families with a little larger budget to spare. This is certainly quality learning!!

So how did we incorporate our Virtue Clue Cards into our homeschool?

Well, I started out planning to use one a week, but then decided we would spend a whole month on each one so that we could really get the hang of it. Plus, this just worked better with our current crazy school schedule, and insured that these virtues don’t end up getting put aside. This give me plenty of time to incorporate other activities and learning devices in with the virtues we are learning. So far, Levi has really enjoyed learning the catch phrases.

The first one I thought really fit into many of our current learning discussions and situations around our home, school, and ranch happenings is Diligent.

This one has a picture of Chuck with a super-adorable duck, and states “I start fast, work hard, and finish strong.” In smaller print under that it says “I am NOT… slow to get started or lazy, and I don’t quit early!” (We have talked a lot about these very things in the past couple of months.)

On the other side of the card it states: “Choose to go the whole day without anyone needing to say something like “Hurry up!” or “Get it done!”

Chuck and Duck know you can do it!!

So Chuck and Duck have become a part of our family this past month of using these cards. During the first week in January our family went to Tennessee to visit Grandparents and Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. I showed these cards to my mom and she absolutely LOVED them!

While our family continues to use this fabulous teacher’s handbook and these amazing little jewels (Virtue Clue Cards), I’d suggest you at least take a little look over at the website at all the great stuff they have! At the time of this review, there are some great PROMO codes you can use (You can only use one at a time):

~VIRTUE15 for 15% off your shopping cart!

~SHIPFREE for free worldwide shipping!

*Also, during January and February the 100 Days of Virtues Poster and Stickers will be included FREE with any Homeschool Kit purchase!

While over at the website falling in love with these adorable characters, you really should take a look at the creator of this superb program, Heather McMillan as well as meet some of the other contributors too. I certainly want to thank these creative and caring folks for sharing such a rich and amazing program with our homeschooling community, as well as other learning communities! I definitely am a firm believer in teaching character and more specifically, Bible-based virutes to our children.

I’d also like to include a link to the We Choose Virtues Facebook page where you can find some great tips on parenting, leadership and inspiring lasting virtue just for LIKING their page!! (You can also see some more of that really cute artwork, :)!)

Oh, and one more thing. Don’t forget to click over to our Crew Blog to see what my Crew Mates thought and how they used these with their families!!

Happy Homeschooling!