Curriculum Review - brite* kids

I had the opportunity to chat with the editor of the new brite* kids Curriculum from AWANA, and review it as well, so today I am very happy to let you know about this excellent resource.

Favorite Features -

• Excellent choice for Sundays
• Solid, Biblical teaching - as I would expect from AWANA
• Incredibly creative, surprising, engaging, and fun activities to help children learn, apply, and remember the point.
• I especially like the "kid questions" asked throughout each week's lesson - excellent way to help children really think about what they are learning and how it applies to their own lives.
• Lots of options - this allows teachers to tailor their classtime to fit their time and students.
• Resources for on-line church
• Resources for parents (or grandparents) to use in home throughout the week - including an email which keeps parents/grandparents up-to-date on what is being taught at church along with ways to continue the learning at home - a review of Bible passage being taught, brite idea, overview of Bible lesson, He We Me questions, main goal of the lesson, and discipleship conversation starter questions to ask.
• Reproducibles
• Focus upon discipling children.
• AWANA is willing to subsidize and give scholarships to churches which are not able to afford to buy the curriculum - this is excellent!
• Digital/downloadable curriculum

I would like to see - 

• Resources, activities which teach the "whys" - Why am I able to believe God is real? Why am I able to believe the Bible is true? Why am I able to believe God and science go together? What am I able to know God is good?

AWANA says; "Research tells us more than anything else, you want programming which is biblically sound and centered on the Bible. However you also know child discipleship has to be engaging for kids before any real learning takes place. As technology, kids, church, and culture continue to shift and change, it can be hard to find something concise, relevant, and meaningful built for today’s kids. This is why we created brite* kids, the new digital Sunday morning curriculum from Awana. Built on the solid foundation of Scripture, brite* speaks to kids in a way which not only engages their minds, but helps foster understanding and life application. The brite* curriculum takes kids through the Bible cover-to-cover every year, starting in Genesis and ending in Revelation. Each week there are purpose-made 'kid questions' which relate to the Bible passage and are phrased in kid-language to help kids understand the value of what they are learning and apply it to their lives throughout the week! We want all kids to become resilient disciples of Jesus Christ by coming to know Jesus and being known by a body of believers (Belong), to place their faith in Jesus and apply the Word of God (Believe), and to reproduce their own discipleship (Become), so another generation will lead and love like Jesus Christ. And brite* kids is the tool to use to make it happen."

I absolutely encourage churches to take a close look at brite* kids. This curriculum will engage children, ask them important questions, encourage relationships, get children thinking, and connect with home. I hope to see them add a "whys" supplement to it, but if you are looking for a curriculum which engages children in teaching them the "whats", brite* kids is absolutely one to seriously consider.