Are you growing Leaders?

It may sound like an odd question, but when the opportunity to review the Leadership Garden Legacy's program U.N.I.Q.U.E Kids it was the first thing I asked myself. I know that sounds pretty cliche' but with two young boys that are a little quirky and not what most people would call leaders I really had to wonder.
What is U.N.I.Q.U.E Kids?  Growing my Leadership Garden is just one of the components to the Leadership Garden Legacy tool kit. The book itself is written with a fable story setting with wonderful illustrations and simple language that connects to the children ages 8 and up  through a farmyard of characters. The main character suffers with a low view of himself and guilt issues. The children at least mine were rooting for him from the get go.
How does the book come? You can purchase the book as a single piece for $18.95, but the book is only one piece of the puzzle, or you can purchase the Empowerment Tool kit at a discount with a special Spring Special Discount of 20% off using code TOS-SS20D  through May 31, 2013.
What comes in the Empowerment Bundle?  The Family Empowerment Bundle  includes the following items:
 Adult tools: (Ages 13 up) 

• U.N.I.Q.U.E.: Growing the Leader Within  book 
• U.N.I.Q.U.E.: Growing the Leader Within Mp3 audio book download
• The Leadership Garden Guidebook: Cultivating organic experiences, actions, and results that will empower you and those around you workbook

Kids tools: (Ages 5-12)

• U.N.I.Q.U.E. KIDS: Growing My Leadership Garden  book 
• U.N.I.Q.U.E. KIDS: Growing My Leadership Garden Mp3 audio book download
• U.N.I.Q.U.E. KIDS Activity Guide and My Leadership Garden Journal pdf downloads

Family Empowerment Toolkit User's Guide pdf download

This amazing kit will help not only your children but you as a parent and individual plant and grow your own personal Leadership Garden. 

 The Activity Guide serves as a hands on application of the tools your children will learn through their personal journey.  As a pdf download , I found it a perfect combination to print the activities we needed for both boys. It was also convenient and added to the whole experience. I did find I needed to add pages to the Activity Guide to incorporate Scriptures. The book is set up to work in either a Christian environment or a Secular one, and since we try to work a Biblical worldview into our learning I felt having some simple scripture passages would help the boys. Since the Activity Guide is a pdf, it wasn't an issue to include a couple of simple copywork or drawing pages for the boys.

The MP3 audio download of the book being read , added a fun element and another convenient piece of the package. I have a Nook that we use for school and I load the MP3 files onto the Nook so the boys can listen in the car or at the table wherever we are schooling that day. 

The whole program is fun and since both the kids book and the adult book follow the same principles everyone in the family can work at their own levels and grow together. 

With the TOS discount special this already high value package become an even greater value. I can honestly say, this is a product I would seriously look at purchasing if I hadn't received it for review. You don't have to take my work for it, some of my crewmates also had the opportunity to review it and are linked up HERE. I would definitely give this product high marks and am going to recommend it to our homeschool co-op as a possible program for several grades.

Timeless books for boys from Grace & Truth Books

 

With two little boys growing up in a very modern world, I am always on the look out for stories that are timeless and filled with good moral value stories. I was grateful to receive two such books from Grace&Truth Books 

The first book we received Gerrit and His Dog was age appropriate for Cameron to read alone.Cameron has been reading about a page a day as his quiet time reading and has enjoyed the story. We talk about various lessons in the story and character traits as he reads. He often will rush outside to tell Daddy about the story. He wants a dog so bad that I think reading a story about a boy and his dog has lit a fire in him. 

The second story is a surprise for Cameron as he hasn't quite finished the story yet. I hope and pray he will be inspired by the story at the end of the book as much as he has with the first story.

The book retails for $5.50 and can be purchased from Grace&Truth Books ' website. 

The second book we received  A Faithful Boy's Influence was a surprisingly perfect devotional story with Nathan.  I wasn't sure if it was going to be appropriate for a 7 year old, but as we read it together I could see his attitude changing, while we are still working on some issues of character and attitude there is hope.  The second half of the Book is actually perfect for our little family. Ear's for Little Gleaners is a collection of Sunday School lessons so at times it reads like little sermons but it was again a perfect fit for Nathan. It stirred him to pay more attention when we have our devotion time (snuggle time as he calls it).  The book  A Faithful Boy's Influence retails for $6.25 and is worth it and then some. 

 Grace&Truth Books has so many wonderful books I could spend hours searching and if I had the budget for it I could fill our shelves with so many wonderful treasures from the Christian book store. 

They also have a wonderful Facebook page filled with encouragement.  I encourage you to check out their Facebook as well as their Store

The Schoolhouse Review Crew members received a variety of wonderful books from  Grace&Truth Books and share their thoughts on their blogs

disclaimer: As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew I received the above mentioned books in exchange for my honest thoughts on the books.

Choosing Virtues is hard work even in #homeschools

Being good isn't always easy. Thankfully there are helps out there including programs like We Choose Virtue. We Choose Virtue provides an assortment of Character Training  Curriculum and teaching aids.   Heather McMillan the creator of We Choose Virtue sent the TOS Crew Virtue Clues Cards, The Teacher’s Handbook, Kids of Virtueville Coloring Book, as well as free downloads from their website: Family Character Assessment, and Kids Memory Verses, Bible Heroes & Truths.  This assortment of products is just a small sampling of the We Choose Virtue program but was enough for us to really get excited about it.   I printed the coloring book for each of the boys and wrapped them up for Christmas/ Hanukkah week last month. The boys thought the characters were fun and engaging. We introduced the cards and immediately the boys saw the challenge before them. While we have not succeeded in a lot of changes, I have noticed a more willingness to help at least from my oldest. 
The Virtue Clue Cards are on sale for just $7.95 each, and they come in a handy dandy, take-everywhere pouch.  While they are small, they pack a lot of information into each card. The characters and the cards themselves are very colorful and eye catching. 
The coloring book is a $3.00 pdf download and includes each of the Virtueville Characters.
I love the coloring book in pdf format so I can print multiple copies, I started out with 1 full set for each of the boys, but since they had so much fun. I am printing our focus character as part of their Monday scripture activities. 


The Teacher's Handbook is packed full of ideas and simple steps to teach your children strong character education. The Handbook is available as an e-book for only $4.99 and has ideas for homeschoolers as well as Daycare/ Preschool teachers.
Be sure to check out what the rest of the crew thought of this program HERE

Check out WE Choose Virtue on Facebook for inspiration and ideas to go along with the program.

We received the products listed in this post as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew in exchange we have shared our honest opinion of the product.