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Our Virtue Lesson on Love

Our Virtue Lessons

Consideration

Courage

Determination

Joyfulness

Kindness

Love

Responsibility

Thankfulness

How to use Our Virtue Lessons

Our Virtue Lessons

Consideration

Courage

Determination

Joyfulness

Kindness

Love

Responsibility

Thankfulness

The Virtue of Love

Love is the most important virtue that God wants us to pass onto our children.  

"So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love."  

-1 Corinthians 13:13

The practice of all other virtues leads one to love, also known as charity.  Our Lord's death on the cross is the ultimate example of love that we have.  We hope that by using our resources and activities, reflecting on the sacrifice of our Lord and studying wisdom of our Catholic heroes of the past, will illuminate the true meaning of love for your learners.

"St. John goes even further when he affirms that "God is love":  God's very being is love. By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret:  God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange." 

-CCC: 221

In this lesson we will define Love this way:  

Love is a gift from God.  We sometimes call it charity.  Love is caring for someone, wanting to be near them, and wanting to share with them.  Love is a special feeling that fills my heart.  Love means putting myself in someone else’s shoes and caring about their feelings.  Love accepts people as they are and asks me to treat someone with special care and kindness because they mean a lot to me.  It is treating someone the way that I want them to treat me – with care and respect.  Love is key to the two greatest commandments given to us by Jesus Christ.

Here are the materials and resources needed for Our Virtue Lesson on Love.  To learn more about these resources visit Our Virtue Lessons main resource page or our How to Use Our Virtue Lessons resource page.

Week 1

Defining Love

What does this virtue mean? Definition Sheet

Cut-n-paste Piece (needed for Definition Sheet) 1 per page  2 per page

Virtue Prayer and Examples Sheet

Reinforcement Prayer Card

Virtue Progress Incentive Sheet

Extra Activities

*Choose a scriptural passage provided below to discuss with your child this week.  You may wish to use this passage for copywork purposes.

*Select a book from the list below to read to or with your child to help them see more examples of this virtue in action.  Don't forget that picture books are great for any age group and present ideas very clearly.

*You may want to consider beginning one of Our Learning Projects for Homeschoolers that teaches about this virtue.

Week 2

Understanding Love

What does it look like? Sheet

Reminder Half-sheet Poster 1 per page  2 per page

Aesop's Fable Story:  The Ass and the Lapdog

Aesop's Fable Story:  The Ass and the Lapdog Trace Copywork:  Print  or  Cursive

Extra Activities

*Choose a scriptural passage provided below to discuss with your child this week.  You may wish to use this passage for copywork purposes.

*Select a book from the list below to read to or with your child to help them see more examples of this virtue in action.

Exodus 20:5-6

Leviticus 19:18

Deuteronomy 6:5

Matthew 5:44

Matthew 6:21

John 3:16

John 13:34-35

John 14:15

John 14:23-24

1 Corinthians 2:9

1 Corinthians 16:14

Galatians

Romans 5:6-9

Week 3

Practicing Love

Aesop's Fables Story: The Cat, the Cock, and the Young Mouse

Aesop's Fables Story: The Cat, the Cock, and the Young Mouse Trace Copywork:  Print  or  Cursive

Let's talk about it? Sheet

Extra Activities

*Choose a scriptural passage provided below to discuss with your child this week.  You may wish to use this passage for copywork purposes.

*Select a book from the list below to read to or with your child to help them see more examples of this virtue in action.

*Consider using the Virtue Key Tag Activity to see how many times your children can be caught in the action of practicing this virtue either daily or weekly.

Virtue Key Tag Activity for this Virtue

Week 4

Reviewing Love

Review all lessons and discuss each learners completed My Book - the Virtue of Love Mini-book.

My Book - The Virtue of Love Mini-book

Extra Activities

*Choose a scriptural passage provided below to discuss with your child this week.  You may wish to use this passage for copywork purposes.

*Select a book from the list below to read to or with your child to help them see more examples of this virtue in action.

*Consider using the Virtue Key Tag Activity to see how many times your children can be caught in the action of practicing this virtue either daily or weekly.

Virtue Key Tag Activity for this Virtue

Virtue Themed Video List

Videos that help teach children about Love

Emit Otter's Jug Band Christmas

Additional resources and activities to help teach about LOVE

 Worksheets

The A-Z of Ways to Show Charity 

Bible Scripture Passages

For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that all who believe in him may not perish, but may have eternal life. - John 3:16

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. - Deuteronomy 6:5

But this is just as it has been written: “The eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love him.” - 1 Corinthians 2:9

Yet why did Christ, while we were still infirm, at the proper time, suffer death for the impious?  Now someone might barely be willing to die for the sake of justice, for example, perhaps someone might dare to die for the sake of a good man.  But God demonstrates his love for us in that, while we were yet sinners, at the proper time, Christ died for us. Therefore, having been justified now by his blood, all the more so shall we be saved from wrath through him.

- Romans 5:6-9
 

See more scripture passages that can be used to discuss this virtue at the left.

Virtue Themed Reading List

Books that help teach children about the Virtue of Love

Picture Books

The Legend of the Blue Bonnet by Tomie de Paola* (for ages 8+)

The Value of Charity: The Story of Paul-Emile Leger by Ann Donegan Johnson

Erandi's Braids by Antonio Hernandez Madrigal

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

The Holy Twins: Benedict and Scholastica by Kathleen Norris

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Chapter Books

Mother Teresa: The Woman Who Served the Poorest of the Poor by Caroline Higgins

Novels and Bigger Reads

The Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Parables From Nature by Mrs. Gatty

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Family Projects that help teach children about LOVE

Learning Project: Holy Souls Prayer Project