Awana

At the beginning of the school year, I began longing for something that I could use to help take my kids deeper into God's Word. We have so many children's Bible story books and collections to choose from, but after awhile they become redundant; you just feel like they need more.

Hadley and Caleb both can retell me most of the common stories repeated over and over at church or the select favorites that keep showing up in those treasuries for kids. For that matter, Caleb can even remember small details that a lot of adults might have forgotten. But...there's more...so much more to the living Word of God that my heart wants them to experience.

I never want these stories to just be stories to them like Cinderella or Where the Wild Things Are. I want these lessons to do what God purposed them to do centuries ago when His Spirit led men to record them. I want them to change my children's lives - transforming them from the inside out.

I honestly can't remember if I ever even prayed about this desire in my heart or not, but either way, God provided an answer this October when my family got reintroduced to a church group whose Bible program was foundational for me years ago. In my elementary and early middle school years, I took part in a children's group called Awana at a local church that my Aunt Susie and cousin (Diane) invited me to. I fondly remember all the fun we had in game time, the enormous amount of Scripture we learned, and the council time where we heard mini sermons prepared specifically with our age group and maturities in mind. Recently, I can't remember if someone reminded me about this group or if God was the one that moved me to check out if my old church was still following this program, but somehow I found out they still have an active Awana group. Though it had crossed my mind in years past, I assumed my kids were too young for it yet. This year, however, I was pleased to find out that there are classes designed specifically for kids both Caleb and Hadley's ages. 

With everyone being sick this fall, we got off to a little bit of a late start, but about half way through October, I finally was able to take Caleb for his first Awana experience and he loved it. Along with the other three and four year olds who attend, he became part of their "Cubbies" class. 

To begin, the kids are given an entrance workbook like the one pictured below to complete. It has a Bible lesson for the kids to do with their parents as well as a Scripture verse and the Cubby motto to memorize. Typically, the little booklet is supposed to take two weeks to complete, after which the child is awarded their vest and handbook for the year, but since were we a bit behind, Caleb completed his entire booklet the first week. His leader was absent our first visit as well and the person filling in for her didn't know Caleb was supposed to wait to get the vest and handbook until AFTER he completed the entrance one, so we walked out with both of those the first night as well. (Oops!) It was a good thing though because Caleb also got another lesson completed in that book his first week, helping him catch up with the others.

His teacher was pretty impressed that he had completed three lessons the very first week, and to be honest so was I. His little brain just soaked up those memory verses. It was so refreshing to see a program that was designed to do more than just share a simple story and a craft. My son was hiding God's word in his heart!

The workbook is designed perfectly for this age group. When I went through the program years ago, I remember it being self paced; you could learn as many Scriptures and finish as many sections as you wanted each week. For this age group though, everyone covers the same amount of ground each week. They include Bible stories that relate to the Scripture for the week as well as a story about Cubby Bear following the same theme.

Apple Acres is the intro book (Left). They alternate yearly between the Honeycomb book and an Appleseed one so that the kids who attend both when they are three and when they are four don't have to repeat the same material their second year. 

Here's an example of a short Cubby bear story each lesson starts with.

On the page following the Cubby story is a Bible lesson. Parents are given a script they can use to tell the story and are directed to take out a Bible to look up the passage with their child, showing them that the story is found in God's Word. I love this feature! Sometimes I think there is a disconnect because we just use the little books we have at home or handouts and picture cards at church, but this is a great reminder to take our little ones right to the actual Book - the source. Though they don't tell you to read the whole passage from Scripture to your child, sometimes I do. I like Caleb to hear the real God-breathed words. 

Sometimes rather than a new story, they will have a lesson like this one, reviewing and reinforcing the theme for that section. Here Caleb was reviewing that "God is Creator."

On the page to the right you'll find the memory verse for the kids to practice. Again, they designed the curriculum perfectly for this age. Rather than lengthy verses or just random short ones that don't connect, they chose very specific Scriptures that go along with the themes and stories and then shortened them if necessary. For example, Romans 3:23 really says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," but they only have the kids learn the first part as shown above. On some pages they have longer memory verses but have part of it in bold so that kids who are more advanced can learn the whole thing while younger students or those who have trouble memorizing can learn just the bolded portion. The parent just checks the little box at the top of those pages marked "short" or "long" so the leader knows how to test their child. The goal is for parents to work with their kids at home to learn the verse and then they are supposed to sign off at the bottom once their child is ready for the leader to assess them. Though Caleb is usually prepared, his teacher is great about helping teach those who need a little extra help.

At the bottom of the page the kids also have a review verse from a previous lesson to go over again. This is a great feature because it doesn't let the kids just memorize their Scripture verse for one night and then forget. This is where these lessons seal themselves on their hearts.

In the top right hand corner, there is an activity or craft for parents to do with their kids and sign off on as well. Again, it is all connected to the theme for the week. 

On Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines, and Easter, they have special holiday pages with a little extra if you and your child want to go the extra mile. (This page gives an example of part of the verse in bold and the short/long boxes to check above it that I was talking about above.)

Here is Caleb doing one of the crafts suggested in the parent section. As we learned about Jesus as the Good Shepherd we did activities like making sheep out of cotton balls and hiding them around the house to play hide-and-seek. We also did the project below for Caleb to keep in his room, reminding him that God is always with Him.

Caleb's favorite part of the handbook is looking at the awards. He's earned his Appleseed patch for completing the first section in his book as well as five of the assessment emblems for finishing his entrance book and several other units in his handbook.

Dave was pondering one night how much of this they would really remember down the road, and in all honesty, I told him that probably most of the Scriptures that I can repeat verbatim I learned while in the Awana clubs. It is such a solid program and I am a testament of how effective it is in engraving those precious words into the minds of children who will later be able to recall and use them as adults.

I'm glad that Hadley has the opportunity at only two years old to take part in this too. I had no idea a group even existed for kids this young, but Awana does provide materials for churches to create a class for this age group if they desire. Thankfully, God put it on the heart of one of the ladies at this particular church and now Hadley is enrolled as a Puggle!

I wasn't quite sure what a Puggle was, but that didn't matter. I knew she'd be getting good teaching and that's what was important. (By the way, in case you weren't sure, "puggle" is the term used to describe a baby platypus. Who knew?)

They didn't let me down! Hadley has an amazing teacher. I couldn't be more pleased with the way she meets the kids at their level. From the story to the crafts to even the snack, she makes sure they understand the concepts she teaches.

The entire year of Puggles is focused on God as Creator...."A whole year to cover just the first part of Genesis?" you may be thinking...I had the same question at first! However, they really do a in-depth job of having the kids look at each piece of God's creation and consider all that His hands have made. His Word does say that nature testifies of Him after all! And, after seeing what goes into the instruction of each week and the learning that takes place, I think it is just the right pace for these little hearts.

Hadley's garden...God made vegetables!

God made the sun, the moon, and the stars.

God made birds.

God made farm animals.

Though the Puggles review memory verses in class, they don't have to come back each week with one memorized like the older kids do. There are no badges to earn at this stage either, but shirts are available for purchase if you want. Since they aren't necessary, at first I thought I'd skip the extra cost since Hadley has plenty of t-shirts already, but after seeing everyone else with one,my girl started asking me about hers. She was so excited about it that I went ahead and spent the money and was glad I did. She's so proud of it!

Unlike the older groups, Puggles don't have workbooks. They do have a set of picture cards with the lessons parents can order though if they want which match the ones the teacher uses. If you know me, you know I can't pass up learning materials, so I definitely asked for a set for Hadley.

The front of the card has the main point of the lesson.

On the back are pointers for parents and five days of activities to try with your child for each lesson.

Aside from the classroom time at Awana, the kids also have game time to look forward to each night when they are finished with the learning portion. From bouncing balloons to playing tag, the leaders always have something fun up their sleeves. The socialization aspect is great too, especially for Hadley who isn't with other kids as much as her older brother.

One night they tied chocolate donuts to strings and the kids were supposed to try to eat them as they dangled.

Hadley didn't quite understand "Duck,Duck,Goose," but they helped her.

Caleb knew what he was doing though!

After game time comes awards. At the beginning of club each night they gather in classes on the gym floor to pledge to the American and Awana flags and hear announcements before doing some songs. At the end they meet right back in these same spots and each teacher has a chance to hand out any awards the students may have earned or tell what their group is learning. There's been more than one evening when I've gotten choked up as I saw how proud the kids were of themselves as they received their awards, looking around for their parents to make sure they watching too. What a wonderful thing to be so enthusiastic about!

The word enthusiastic is putting it mildly to describe how thrilled Hadley is to get to go each week. "I'm going to Puggles! I'm going to Puggles!" she'll chant on the car ride there. "You going to Cubbies, Caleb?!?!" Then, right to her teacher she runs as soon as we walk in to get a big hug and join her friends.

Though it wasn't my motivation for signing the kids up, I get a huge benefit out of this program too. Each week for the hour and a half that they are there, I have time to sit and have my own quiet time. Whether it's spent working on my own Bible study or reading, there is a chunk of time now reserved for "me time" that wouldn't have existed otherwise. 

At first I went in with the kids to their classes to make sure I was comfortable leaving them, now a lot of times I just hang out in the car enjoying this beautiful view from the parking lot.

Even Reid and Dave benefit because they get one-on-one quality time with one another. Sometimes they take advantage of the stillness of the house to play together and other times they watch PBS, but whatever they do it's time spent bonding just the two of them. 

All in all, I'd say Awana is well worth the fifty cent dues we pay each week. If this sounds like something of interest to any of my blog readers who live local, I'd love to get you set up with our group. If you live somewhere else but are still interested, there are Awana clubs all over the U.S. and I'm sure with a little searching you can find one right near you. We are sure glad we found ours!