Character and Leadership Curricula Compared (2026)

Introduction

This guide compares twenty-three character and leadership programs that a homeschool family can use at home or in a co-op. Each is placed in a worldview group according to what the publisher’s own pages state, and each row shows ages, format, the publisher’s price, and what outcome evidence the pages read show. The page lists programs with labels; it does not rank them.

The research behind these programs is thin. The studies linked in the next section measured outcomes such as social and emotional skills, behavior, and academic achievement in schools and youth programs, and leadership does not appear as an outcome in their abstracts. The one program in the table with a clearinghouse rating is rated on its school version.

What the research shows

Strong: pooled or randomized studies agree on the direction of the average result, which can be a positive effect or no effect; the label says how certain the finding is, not that a program works. Mixed: studies disagree, the design is observational, or the outcome measured is narrower than the claim. Unproven: a single study, a practitioner framework, or no qualifying studies; a single negative result is labeled as such.

• Mixed · two large school-based studies point in different directions A 2011 meta-analysis of 213 school-based social and emotional learning programs found that, on average, students in the programs improved on social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior, and academic achievement compared with control groups (Durlak et al., 2011). A federally funded randomized study of seven schoolwide social and character programs in 84 elementary schools (grades 3-5) found no differences between program and comparison schools in students’ social and emotional competence, behavior, academic performance, or perceptions of school climate (Social and Character Development Research Consortium, 2010; report PDF). School-based and teacher-delivered, these studies do not test home or co-op use.
• Mixed · small effects A 2017 meta-analysis of 24 randomized trials of out-of-school positive youth development programs found small benefits for academic achievement and psychological adjustment and no significant effects on problem behavior or positive social behavior, and its authors cautioned that the trials had methodological flaws (Ciocanel et al., 2017). The abstract reports no leadership outcome.
• Mixed · modest average gains A 2011 meta-analysis of more than 70 evaluations of youth mentoring programs found modest average gains across behavioral, social, emotional, and academic outcomes, with larger benefits for young people facing more risk and for programs with good matching and guidance (DuBois et al., 2011; the word “modest” comes from the summary release). These are formal programs that pair a young person with an unrelated adult, so the finding is not evidence about a parent or a coach.
• Unproven · practitioner framework Search Institute’s Developmental Relationships Framework, built from focus groups with young people and others, names five elements of relationships that support young people: expressing care, challenging growth, providing support, sharing power, and expanding possibilities. The page does not report outcome data from controlled studies.
• Mixed · clearinghouse rating Evidence for ESSA, a Johns Hopkins University clearinghouse, rates the school version of Positive Action Strong for Academic Competence and Promising for Problem Behaviors (listing), and its separate attendance listing is rated Strong (attendance listing); the outcomes are academic, behavior, and attendance measures from school-based studies, not character. Positive Action was also one of the seven programs in the federal randomized study above, whose report found no average differences across the seven.
• Unproven · no qualifying studies Evidence for ESSA’s CHARACTER COUNTS! listing (listing, filed under Social-Emotional) reads “No studies met inclusion requirements,” which records an absence of qualifying studies, not a finding of no effect. Its Leader in Me listing (listing) is filed under Reading, so it concerns reading outcomes, not leadership.

None of these sources is cited as evidence that a particular curriculum in the table builds character or leadership.

How to read the table

• Clearinghouse rating means an outside clearinghouse has rated the program’s research, linked in the row; it does not say who ran the studies or whether they measured character.
• Publisher-reported means outcome data the publisher shows, linked in the row, which Every Homeschool has not evaluated.
• None shown means the pages read show no outcome study or data; usage counts, awards, and testimonials are not outcome data.

Worldview labels follow each publisher’s own pages; where the Every Homeschool directory classifies a program more specifically or differently, the row adds the directory classification and marks it as EH’s. Rows whose Format cell says “rather than” a character course are listed so that each tradition’s families can see what the publisher lists; they are not stand-alone character programs. Prices are each publisher’s own, retrieved October 2026.

Comparison table

Of the 23 programs, 1 has a clearinghouse rating (the school version of Positive Action), 0 show publisher-reported outcome data, and 22 show none on the pages read.

How each worldview group approaches character

Secular or no worldview stated. CharacterLeads says its curriculum is not religious in nature and organizes each unit around a character word with a video and worksheets (FAQ); CASEL names five competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making (CASEL); Character First Education says it promotes timeless values across cultures and offers 30 character qualities (About, shop); Joy School teaches ten “Joys” of childhood to ages 3 to 5 through a twice-a-week home co-op (Joy School).

Multi-faith. The Virtues Project says its foundation is research into the world’s great wisdom traditions (home page) and sells its family deck in separate faith editions (store).

Christian. KONOS includes Bible in each trait unit (KONOS); Master Books describes its biography set as “filled with remarkable stories of faith, courage, and perseverance” (product page); Simply Charlotte Mason describes a habit-training companion of more than 400 pages of stories, Bible passages, poems, activities, and quotations (product page); Pearables sells one trait per workbook or storybook (Pearables); We Choose Virtues sells a lesson-plan and card kit that includes Bible resource cards (product page); Memoria Press describes classical education as the cultivation of wisdom and virtue through the liberal arts and the Great Books, and lists Christian Studies, classical studies, and literature among its subjects (Memoria Press); Training Hearts, Teaching Minds follows the Westminster Shorter Catechism (P&R). Christian · Catholic: Catholic Heritage Curricula pairs theme cards with a course built on saint stories (The Virtue Tree); Into the Deep covers the theological and cardinal virtues with Scripture, Catechism references, and saint stories (product page); PACE uses monthly virtues with literature and sells a Catholic edition and a non-denominational Christian edition (PACE). Christian · Orthodox: St. Raphael School says its curriculum aims to grow children in knowledge and virtue within the Orthodox tradition (Scholé Academy page).

Jewish. Mussar for Children teaches nine middot through scrolls, activities, and pairings with Jewish holidays (Mussar Institute); Middot: A Stairway of Virtues is a chapter-per-value textbook with source texts (Torah Aura).

LDS. The Mindful Heart describes five levels from Alpha to Omega with the grade labels removed (levels page), and the EH directory entry notes that its materials reference the King James Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price (EH directory entry); Come, Follow Me is the Church’s own home study guide (Church page).

Mennonite / Plain. Pathway Publishers describes itself as an Old Order Amish publishing house and states Christian moral teaching in its readers (Pathway).

Programs without a home route

Three programs are not table rows. Each entry below says why.

• Leader in Me (FranklinCovey). A school-wide framework built on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The 4 Disciplines of Execution, delivered to schools; the home page shows no family or homeschool offering and no results data (Leader in Me). Evidence for ESSA’s listing, filed under Reading, lists no studies that met its inclusion requirements (listing).
• CHARACTER COUNTS! (The Ray Center at Drake University). The Six Pillars (trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, good citizenship) are published for schools; the page read does not mention homeschool use (CHARACTER COUNTS!). Evidence for ESSA lists no qualifying studies (listing); the site reports one school’s 58 percent drop in disciplinary referrals, which is publisher-reported and not an evaluation.
• Character Lab. Its site states that operations ended in June 2024; the tips and playbooks remain as an archive (Character Lab). It is linked here as an archive only.

Practice outside the curriculum

A 2021 systematic review of controlled trials of citizenship education found only 25 such trials, and reports that they largely support participatory methods and cast doubt on knowledge alone producing changes in behavior; the outcome measured was political engagement, not leadership (Donbavand and Hoskins, 2021). For a setting that puts character into practice, the hub’s outside-the-home block lists 4-H, Scouting America, American Heritage Girls, Trail Life USA, and Civil Air Patrol, and the hub’s independence section covers running one’s own work without constant supervision. Each of those organizations publishes its own membership terms; the hub lists them with the homeschool facts each page states.

Picks by situation

These picks match a family’s stated framing and a child’s age; they do not rank the programs, and the evidence column applies to every one of them.

• Elementary, at home or in a co-op, with a secular framing: CharacterLeads, 18 units over 36 weeks; the home-use download for all 18 units is $79, and the co-op license is $375.00 per year for up to 25 students.
• Ages 3 to 5, in a twice-a-week home co-op, with no worldview stated on its pages: Joy School, $129 per year or $199 lifetime; the EH directory classifies it as LDS.
• One framework that more than one tradition can share: The Virtues Project, the family deck is sold in Multi-Faith, Catholic, Holy Bible, Jewish, LDS, and other editions, $19.95 for the Multi-Faith edition.
• Christian, kindergarten through grade 8, in a unit, workbook, kit, story, or habit-training format: KONOS (one trait per unit, other subjects folded in, Volume I Curriculum $110.00); Laying Down the Rails for Children (habit training, $34.95 to $47.95 depending on format); Pearables (one trait per workbook or storybook, from $16.95); We Choose Virtues (a lesson-plan and card kit, $98.99); and What a Character! Notable Lives from History (ten biography collections for grades 4-8, $79.99).
• Christian · Catholic, preschool through grade 7: Catholic Heritage Curricula’s Building Good Character and The Virtue Tree, Levels A and B $18.95 each, The Virtue Tree $30.50.
• Christian · Orthodox, kindergarten through grade 12: St. Raphael School, live online classes rather than a character curriculum; tuition not published on the page read.
• Jewish, ages 4-8 and grades 8-12: Mussar for Children and Middot: A Stairway of Virtues, Mussar for Children $500 one time; Middot $4.95 as displayed. (Two links because the two titles serve different ages.)
• LDS, preschool through grade 12: The Mindful Heart, price not listed on the pages read.

Next steps

1. Read a publisher’s sample or preview before buying. Mussar for Children offers a sample lesson by email request (page) and CharacterLeads links a sample unit (home page); this guide lists no preview for any other row, so check each publisher’s page.
2. Use the hub’s character section for the age-by-age practices that sit beside these programs.
3. Pair a program with independence routines.
4. Read the socialization guide for the self-selection caveat on any claim about outcomes.