Diligent with Diligence

This is not a sponsored post. I bought WCV on my own and loved it so much I decided to become an affiliate. Affiliate links are included.

This morning, I was planning on getting up about 6:15 and about 2 minutes before then I heard Asa yelling for me upstairs. He usually calls my husband in the morning, so this was unusual (and early!). I ran upstairs and he said, “I threw up!” Sure enough, his bed and pajamas were covered in it!

I cleaned him up, changed his sheets while he sat in his little chair next to the bed. When I was finished he crawled back into the bed and went to sleep. It’s been an hour and he’s still there. So, I’m not sure if I should be concerned or happy!

After I thoroughly washed my hands I had a few minutes to read my Bible and catch up on . I’ve been reading a chapter every day and sharing snippets of the book and the prayers on our Facebook page. It’s a fabulous book and I love the author’s insight on why we pray certain Scriptures or prayers for our kids.

Today’s chapter was about praying for diligence, self-control and self-discipline. If you’ve been around here for awhile, you know self-control is something we have worked on, prayed for and discussed with my daughter. We talk about self-control more than anything else. I think diligence, self-control and self-discipline is really what everything hinges on! If our kids we could just get that under our belt!

Praying those scriptures today seemed Providential as we started We Choose Virtues program three weeks ago and the first virtue we studied was diligence! And this week is perseverance! They flow right into the conversations we’ve been having (and have had) about self-control. I can even see the dots connecting in Lydia’s heart and mind. Almost as if she’s realizing–“hey, self-control is a big deal, this is something God wants from me!”

I told you I’d give you a full review of We Choose Virtues after I did it a few weeks and here it is: I am loving We Choose Virtues so far. We use it as “morning devotion” on our school days, but I think it would be a perfect round-the-dinner table devotion or even as a bedtime devotion.  Basically, you get these big cards with the virtue displayed (in the form of “I am…”, not “I need/should be…”) and a quotable definition coupled with a sentence of antonyms (“I am NOT…”), some smaller flashcards, posters and a sticker chart.

The first day, we all gathered around the card and I read the back to them. The back has the teaching: 2-3 object lessons (which are super easy and make a solid point), a story that goes with the cute little cartoon character on the front (and gives a practical example of the virtue) along with a challenge for the week and other helpful hints.

Then we read the front once or twice when and then I hung it up on our bulletin board (isn’t it lovely? I got that purple pocket thingy at Target for $1!). We read it a few more times that day–nothing big, just whenever I’d remember it. Then we took the little flashcard version downstairs and put it on our giant clothespin (this was a gift from church!) so we could say it during dinner to Daddy.

By the third day, Asa could say every bit of the virtue’s declaration! And we had really used it several times during the week–naturally used it! For example, I had the kids dust the dining room before my parents came over for dinner and I’ll even admit, it’s a tough job. So, Asa walked into where I was and said, “Mommy, I don’t want to dust the dining room anymore!” I said, “What does it mean to be diligent?” He replied, “I am diligent. I start fast, work hard and finish strong. I am not slow to get started or lazy and I don’t finish early.” I said, “Do you want to be diligent?” And he went back to dusting!

SCORE!

So far, three weeks in, I totally recommend We Choose Virtues. Honestly, it’s been good for me, too. It makes me evaluate my attitudes and actions. Am I really being an example of diligence? Perseverance? Am I really showing these virtues to my kids? The system is so easy to use–it can be a 5 minute activity or a 30 minute lesson. They even have a free memory verse and Bible story addendum, too!

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I bought the We Choose Virtues homeschool kit  which includes some posters, the big teaching cards (called the Parent Cards), the small flashcards, a rules chart (which the kids actually really like) and a sticker chart, plus some free downloads (like the fabulous teacher’s handbook).

If you want to do it just as a family devotion-type thing, you could get the Family Kit which has the big teaching cards and a couple of posters. Or just buy the main Parent Cards individually and the Teacher/Parent Handbook.