I was given the following items to review…
- Integrity Time Online Know It Downloadable Curriculum {26 lessons, ages 4-7}
- ABC Integrity Time Tunes ~ you can buy the CD on their website, or as a download from iTunes.This is an additional purchase and is necessary for the program in my opinion.
- Integrity Time Online Grow It Downloadable Curriculum {26 lessons, ages 7-10}
- Integrity Tunes 2 Grow It ~ you can buy the CD on their website, or as a download from iTunes. This is an additional purchase and is necessary for the program in my opinion.
After spending hours looking over this, I made the decision to use it for our character development this year! It seems like a perfect fit and I think the music will really draw my kids in, they LOVE music! Since my kids are ages 4, 7, and 11 I decided to go with the Know It {recommended for ages 4-7} curriculum, and focus on Ladybug and Krash mainly. I won’t require PacMan to participate, but he will always be welcome.
To prepare for our year, I created a lesson binder, and a song binder.
I also printed and laminated the characters and made popsicle stick puppets. I had a long piece of styrofoam so I made a little display to make it easier to find them during our lessons.
PacMan snapped some pictures while I was teaching the very first lesson, on our 2nd day of homeschool this year.
My favorite parts of this program are the characters and the music. When I presented the characters to my kids, they loved them.
We met 4 characters on the first day,
- Complaining Clemo
- Helpful Henry
- Positive Polly
- Selfish Sellie
Just the characters alone were such a fabulous teaching tool as the kids could really relate to the faces the characters were making.
I made a playlist for the music and it was really easy to jump to the songs {which are specifically listed out for you in the manual}.
What I Love ~
The music! It is awesome and although not faith based, it aligns with my Christian faith. The messages are definitely messages I want my kids hearing. My kids LOVE the music, especially Ladybug, who dances around!
The characters! With the program, you get printable characters and I love the artwork. The names are great, and are really meaningful to my kids. This hands on addition makes the lessons come to life in a great way.
The lesson manual, song printables, and organization. It really is all prepared at the beginning of the year and then I can just sit down and teach. It took some prep work in the beginning, but now I am done and just teach!
Thoughts to Consider ~
I have no negatives for you, just some thoughts to consider. The curriculum is written to a class, not a family. This is fine and is adjustable as you speak to your kids if homeschooling, but it is something I think as a homeschooler you might like to know!
There aren’t new characters presented with every lesson. My kids LOVE the characters so I needed to bring them out for each new lesson. I wish there was a new one introduced in each lesson. For lessons that don’t have a new character we just review and role play with the ones we have already met.
Final Thoughts ~
Obviously I have positive overall thoughts, as we have chosen to use this as our character program for the year. We are up to our 4th lesson, doing one per week, and I am already seeing great results. The other day at our camper, one of our kids was being grumpy and complaining, and Ladybug said, “He’s being like Complaining Clemo!” While it wasn’t exactly fabulous that she called her brother out, I was thrilled to see the lesson stuck!
If you are looking for a character development program to use, I definitely recommend looking into Integrity Time. You can see more in my Learning with Ladybug series, where I share a bit about what we did each week!
Integrity Time is offering a giveaway for you! Enter to win your choice of either Integrity Time Online Program!
Based on the program you’d like to win, please choose which Rafflecopter widget to use. The top is for the Know it {ages 4-7}, and the bottom is for the Grow It {ages 7-11}. You may enter both, but you may only win one.
Giveaway is open worldwide, US winners will receive actual CDs, all others will receive a download of the music. Curriculum is an online subscription. Giveaway ends 10/2/13.
1) 1 Integrity Time Online Know It 1 Year subscription and Know It! CD
· ABC Integrity Time Know It (preschool – 1st grade) is a unique program designed to teach our young children foundational values of Integrity. It includes 26 Lessons based on the ABC’s – A stands for Attitude, B stands for Behavior, C stands for Cooperation, etc. The children will learn through games, special snacks, fun puppets, and creative songs many lessons about the importance of choosing what is true and good and right.
· The Integrity Time Online subscriber will receive the entire 26 lesson curriculum in PDF format, along with excellent resources and supplemental materials to expand the Integrity Time Lessons.
2) 1 Integrity Time Online Grow It 1 Year Subscription and Grow It! CD
· Integrity Time Grow It (2nd-4th grades) teaches children about some of the pitfalls which hinder integrity, including cheating, teasing, tattling, being mean, and being lazy, and shows how to avoid these pitfalls. The program encourages integration into the academic world of reading, creative writing, journaling, and art through guided journal entries, and student booklets. Integrity Time Grow It includes 26 lessons with 26 original integrity stories.
· The Integrity Time Online subscriber will receive the entire 26 lesson curriculum in PDF format, along with excellent resources and supplemental materials to expand the Integrity Time Lessons.
