Awana at Home™ is an at-home version of the popular children and youth discipleship program. It is intended to support parents who have their children in an Awana club at a local church, but it is available to all parents--even if you do not attend an Awana registered church. The Awana at Home™ Parent Kit comes in a neatly packaged, hard-sided, fold-out type book. Inside you will find a 66-page At Home magazine, an Intro CD, tracking chart, and 8 audio CDs featuring 24 episodes of Adventures in Odyssey. Each episode corresponds to a lesson within the at Home magazine. Once you have gone through all 24 lessons, you can take a break or start over again at lesson 1.

The premise behind Awana at Home™ is found in Deuteronomy 6, which gives a clear plan for parents to train their children spiritually. Awana has identified five Master Life Threads which must be cultivated throughout a child's growing up. The five life threads are: Respect, Wisdom, Grace, Destiny, and Perspective. These threads are presented within the context of each of the 24 lessons. Awana at Home™ is not a stand-alone Bible course. Nor is it a program that will fix every problem in your home. Used consistently, it will help to ground a Biblical worldview and faith in your child.

There are a variety of ways to use this product. You could listen to one Adventures in Odyssey episode and then do the corresponding lesson in one week, or you could do several lessons per week. You can do an entire lesson in one day or spread out the lesson over a week. I like the variety of options open with the program!

One point all parents must consider is if they have a clear picture of where they want their children to be spiritually at 20, 25, and beyond. I believe it is the goal of all Christian parents to raise children who do not have any doubts that God exists, who read their Bible regularly, and who attend worship services weekly. Parents most likely also desire that their adult child will pray daily, participate in Bible study, share their faith, and spend time volunteering in their church. On page 64 of At Home magazine, the heading states, "Let's Make a Life-Defining, Long-Lasting Spiritual Impact on Your Kids' Lives." I believe that using the Awana at Home™ program will help parents steer their children towards reaching these goals.

Awana at Home™ is appropriate for all ages of children but is specifically targeted toward preschool through high school children. I am a strong supporter of the Awana program and think it is the best outreach program for children and teens. I am excited that they have created a product to bridge the gap between home and church. Their website has a variety of free resources to help support parents. I love the fact that Awana believes that parents should be the primary spiritual influence in a child's life. The Rice Family gives Awana at Home™ two thumbs up (or really 12 thumbs). Find a local Awana club at www.awana.org.

Product review by Tina Rice, Contributing Writer, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, April 2010