My son (now 9) has been involved in AWANA for 2 1/2 years. He normally does fine memorizing Scripture but this year, he is struggling. I am not sure why but it seems to be making him angry and frustrated. I emphasize to him that it is not a competition and that hiding God’s word in his heart is the purpose – not simply memorizing.
I saw prior posts from a couple of years ago where others shared this concern as well. I hate to pull my son out of AWANA, but I really don’t need anything adding to his issues (adopted from Russia at 13 mths, he has ADHD, sensory issues, etc). He has a low tolerance level for stress.
Am I looking at this the right way? Being too sensitive? I don’t mind a little competition but I surely don’t believe that God wanted memorizing His word to be a contest.
The timing on me seeing this couldn’t be better. Karen Andreola just posted a wonderful new article on her blog which I think you will find refreshing with regard to memorization:
Also, on a personal note, we have been using SCM’s Scripture Memory System and it has been wonderful! So simple and definitely effective with zero stress. It only takes a few minutes a day and my kids have memorized so much! Plus it’s free–just print it out. 🙂