Nurturing virtue: The Adventures of Mali and Keela

I know it has been a while since I did a Nurturing Virtue post. There are two reasons for this, one is that I am working on a rather large project related to our virtue studies, which I will eventually share as a whole on this blog, and you will understand where my energies have been going (I just don’t have time at this point to duplicate my efforts into the project I am working on and posting it here too, but it will eventually be available to all of you in its completed form).

The second reason is that we have been taking a little break from our usual routine to work through the book Mali & Keela: A Virtues Book for Children.

It is a chapter book filled with stories about the adventures of these two friends. Each chapter/story incorporates four virtues. At the end of each chapter there are review pages where you can read the definitions of the virtues used in the story, reflect on how/when they were used in the story, and then questions which foster further discussion of the virtues and how we use them or what they look like in our own lives.

The book was not written by the authors of the The Family Virtues Guide, but it is based on this program and can definitely be used in conjunction with the Virtues Project cards and books.

We read a chapter once every 2-3 days, then spend the time in between chapters going through the review section and thoroughly discussing each topic and learning quotations related to these virtues (this part I have added myself).

This book provides another enjoyable way in which you can discuss and share virtue learning with your children. There are also many fun activities you could do with your children, building on the stories and discussion.

On a side note: for those of you who do not follow this blog on Facebook, I shared a link to an interview on Oprah with Linda Kavelin Popov, the co-founder of The Virtues Project. So, if you are interested in seeing that, hop over to my Facebook page.

Happy weekending to you all! We will be out enjoying the first wonderful signs of spring and celebrating the Baha’i New Year (March 21st) which completes our 19 day fasting period and ushers in the new year and new season…a change I have never experienced quite this acutely, spring here is really like a re-birth after a long, cold winter. It is truly a celebration!

Read aloud chapter books

Although Rylan is reading completely by himself (and spends a large portion of every day with his nose in a book), and by this I don’t mean beginner readers, he is reading books about animals, the ocean, and dinosaurs filled with scientific terminology. He amazes me every day. I basically got him started on phonics, and once he discovered the joy of being able to read himself, he took off, I couldn’t stop him, not that I wanted to, but I would have to say beyond the basics he has taught himself read. It has been an amazing process to watch, but I digress…back to reading aloud…he still loves Ramtin and I to read to him too. Thank goodness, because we love reading to our boys. I spend a lot of time reading to both Rylan and Damian at the same time. During that time we opt for picture books that will also appeal to Damian. Rylan often reads to Damian during this time too. But when we have time alone with Rylan we tend to read chapter books to him. When he was four we started with The Magic Treehouse series, and he loved them! We have gone through the entire series (barring a few which I skipped because I felt they were on subjects we didn’t need to cover just yet). We also read most of the accompanying study guides to gain further insight into the topics touched on in Jack and Annie’s adventures. If you would like to go through this series with your children, you can also download the Magic Treehouse passport, so they can mark off the books and complete various activities as they go on journeys with Jack and Annie. In fact, Tanya at Homeschooling x3 is even going to use the series as a history curriculum for her youngest next year. I am sure in a year or so Rylan will be ready to read the whole series again (this year he and Ramtin already re-read several of them).Right now we are reading Charlotte’s Web, and when we are finished I was considering starting the Little House on the Prairie series. I have never read these, at least not that I can remember, but I have read many rave reviews about them on various blogs and in several books. I want to expose my boys to the classics, but I was on the fence as to whether these would appeal to Rylan, but after reading this post by Angie I have decided to definitely give them a try.What read aloud chapter books have you loved reading with your children?