New and improved T&T handbooks!

Book One and Book Two feature the same characters your clubbers have come to love, but now verses, requirements and directions are better organized and easier to find. English versions of the handbook offer a parents page so parents can get involved in helping their children learn material and memorize Scriptiure. In addition, Silver and Gold extra credit levels have been updated and awards have been added as an incentive for kids to complete their work. [Online demo of new books is available]

Truth & Training handbooks now have more of a 3-level approach (similar to the 24/7 Ministries Come See, Come Follow, and Come Serve levels) to aid leaders in ministry to kids of different backgrounds and abilities.

Handbook Completion Level	Key Improvements: Easier memory requirements, incremental review Target Audience: Kids without Bible and/or memorization background, kids who have little help at home or start late in the year.
Silver Extra-Credit Level	Key Improvements: Incorporates Scripture memory as an extra-credit component; ensures all existing T&T memory work is in revised handbooks Target Audience: Previous book finishers, kids with background and/or home help
Gold Extra-Credit Level	Key Improvements: Now the "best of" existing Silver and Gold activities Target Audience: High achievers, home schoolers

Regular handbook section improvements:

Content/Requirements

Require only one new verse instead of two (except in cases where it was felt that two verses really shouldn't be split).
There is a review verse in each section – the first three words and page number are provided.
Replace the second new verse we've had historically with a required review verse from a recently completed section.
- To create a cleaner, less-difficult-looking perception, we are choosing to NOT print the entire review verse in the section. Instead, we will provide the reference, the page number where it can be found, and the first three words as a hint/challenge to try the verse before looking back.
- Incremental, section-by-section review also replaces, for the most part, the more concentrated (and difficult) review requirements currently in the handbooks.

Design/Ease of Use

The original reason for creating that layout was to mimic a Web page. We thought kids would identify with this layout and feel natural using it. An unintended effect was the spacing of Bible verses. Placed in a narrow column, the verses appeared to be long and kids often felt like memorizing them was too hard.

Verses have been moved out of the tight, left-hand column design and presented in natural, logical, easy-to-learn phrases to promote comprehension and memorization:

Old Phrasing	New Phrasing
Psalm 100:3 Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.	Psalm 100:3 Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

"To complete this section" requirements is now listed above the leader signoff line to ensure clarity for clubbers, parents and leaders. (We do this for the adults in the Bible-BASED series; shouldn't we do it for the kids too?!)

Discovery section improvements:

In each section there are now "parent pages" - a beginning section within each Discovery (numbered with zeros, such as, 1:0) - to challenge and encourage parents to help their kids memorize Scripture. These brief, low-key sections feature a simple, helpful memory tip or skill that parents can use to teach (and even join!) their kids in Scripture memory. The section will be required for the clubber. If it's not an ideal situation to expect a parent to sign a child's book, a clubber may ask an adult outside club to sign the parent slot (we recognize clubbers don't always have parents who are able or willing to participate, but we also don't want leaders signing kids' books).
Record-keeping sheets will not need to be updated, though there is a new record keeping sheet available.
(Recall that each T&T book answers four key questions with eight answers each, for a total of 32 answers. That means that each of the eight Discoveries in the book covers four of the answers.) To reinforce this learning structure and the focus of each Discovery, we now include a summary of the four answers covered within the Discovery on that Discovery's "title page."

Silver/Gold extra-credit improvements:

The two Silver activities have been replaced with a memory requirement - to memorize the verses that we are removing from the regular handbook sections within that Discovery. (Note that because not every T&T section has memory verses, this Silver memory requirement will typically constitute either four or five memory verses.)
It's important to note that a clubber achieving the Silver level of extra-credit will, in effect, be doing the same memory work that was previously required of all clubbers (with the significant exception of also doing all the new review requirements).
Because the Silver level is not "over and above" past requirements, we encourage clubs to position Silver extra-credit as an expectation for any clubber who has previously been a book finisher. In addition, we have introduced enhanced Silver-level incentives and recognition to encourage Silver as the TRUE standard and expectation for many/most clubbers.
The two Gold activities will remain activity-based and will be selected as the "best of" the four current Silver and Gold activities in each Discovery.

A letter summarizing these changes is included with each 5 pack of Book One and Book Two. Please remember to manage your inventory properly through this transition period (Awana Clubs will not accept the existing Books One and Two or Leader's Guidebook for returns outside of the standard 90-day return policy; nor will the two versions of these books be offered side-by-side).

T&T Trading Cards

The Truth & Training Trading Cards were introduced last year as a motivational tool and have been very well received (over 15% of churches are now using them). A new set of cards is scheduled to come out in October 2007.

Book Three & Book Four

Book 3 will roll out in the summer of 2008 and Book 4 in the summer of 2009.
Content changes will be the same as Books 1 and 2.
Format will be bumped up a notch:
- The look and feel will be somewhere between the first two books and the Trek materials.
- We hope this will help 5th and 6th graders feel like they are being treated as being older than younger T&T clubbers, but not quite like middle-school students.
- This will give younger T&T clubbers something to look forward to as being new, even though they still will be in the same club.

Sparks

The urgency of addressing church struggles with T&T, in addition to other corporate priorities competing for our resources, led the Executive Leadership Team to postpone the Sparks update that was scheduled for 2007 out to 2008.