Awana Help With Verse Memorization Pt 1

Awana Help With Verse Memorization Pt 1

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Awana Help with Verse Memorization

I had a parent of a kindergarten student contact me today asking for help with Scripture memorization in Awana. Every child will learn and respond to teaching differently, so with that in mind, I simply shared how I teach my own kindergartener.

Wednesday night is our Awana club. We get started immediately the next morning on our new verse.

Here is our schedule for learning verses:
Thursday morning– On the drive to school we listen to the new verse song on the Awana cd. We try to learn it. If it is tough, it is no big deal. No pressure on Thursday because we are just starting to learn it.
Thursday afternoon– Try to say verse on the drive home. It will at least be a little familiar with your child at this point.
Friday morning– We listen to the song and usually break the verse down into sections… sometimes two, sometimes three sections. I never move on to a section of the verse if they don’t have the first part down yet. Don’t overwhelm. And I always start with the location of the verse (Genesis 1:31) and end with it. This will help with association.
Friday afternoon– If he can say the verse now, I offer an incentive. Maybe a starburst. Maybe a snowcone. It may be getting to do hospital visits to visit sick church members with me (he loves doing this.)
Weekend– Break time, but I will randomly ask the verse. Still no stress.
Monday morning– It is now time to know the verse. From here on out, it needs to be repetition. They need to know it and have confidence in saying it. How I usually phrase it, is I say that for the last few days he has been learning the verse. Now it is time to teach it. I’ll tell him to act like the teacher and teach it to me. I ask him to use a teacher voice. He gets into it and is confident with it.
Tuesday & Wednesday– Continue repeating it. Keep playing the songs each day. It is nice to have something to sing to, and not just have to repeat with words.
Key: I make it fun. I don’t get upset at my son if he is struggling. I don’t want him to associate any negative feelings with Scripture memorization. I want it to be a joy for him.
Feel free to share your ideas and tips in the comment section below!