Sunday School Curriculum – Grapple Junior High

Grapple® Q&A

What is Grapple?
What’s the difference between Preteen & Jr. High?
Is Grapple quarterly?
What do I get when I purchase Grapple?
What is the price?
Where can I get a sample?
Will we need a computer in our classroom?
What version of the Bible does Grapple use?
Is there any connection to the Lectionary?
Is Grapple topical or themed?
What size group does Grapple accommodate?
How long are the lessons?
How many volunteers do I need?
Is Grapple easy for the leader?
How much prep time does Grapple take?
What kind of supplies are needed?
What’s the MyGrapple.com website for?
What’s on MyGrapple.com?
How do students get on MyGrapple.com?
What makes MyGrapple.com safe?
What if one of my students doesn’t have a computer?
How are students monitored?
How will parents know MyGrapple.com is safe?
How often can students use MyGrapple.com?
Will MyGrapple.com content be specific to that week’s lesson?
What’s the return policy?
How do I get tech support?
Who do I go to with questions?
How long will lessons be available on MyGrapple.com?

Q. What is Grapple?
A. Grapple is Sunday school curriculum tailor-made for today’s youth to help them understand and own their faith. We currently have two age-levels available: preteen (ages 10-12, grades 4-6) and junior high (grades 7&8). It is the ONLY Web-supported Sunday school experience for these ages. Kids will “grapple” with the issues their age deals with the most, finding answers by digging into the Bible.

Q. What’s the difference between Preteen & Jr. High?
A. See the age-level comparison for details.

Q. Is Grapple quarterly?
A. Yes, Grapple is a quarterly, dated curriculum. Each age-level has a unique two-year scope and sequence.

Q. What do I get when I purchase Grapple?
A.Youget a Grapple Pak and 16 weeks of access to MyGrapple.com. The Grapple Pak contains a reproducible Grapple Guide with 12 lessons and 12 Bible studies for kids, and a Grapple DVD with discussion sparking videos to spark kid-to-kid grappling with their most relevant issues, and three fun countdowns. MyGrapple.com is an online community where students can interact throughout the week, play fun games, interact with clues for the next week’s lesson, keep up-to-date on events and announcements, and more! Both the in-class and online experience are tailored to meet the needs of each individual age-level.

Q. What is the price?
A. Grapple is available in four different packages depending on the number of kids and teachers you have:
Grapple Pak + Web access for up to 10 kids/teachers         $89.99
Grapple Pak + Web access for up to 25 kids/teachers          $109.99
Grapple Pak + Web access for up to 50 kids/teachers          $129.99
Grapple Pak + Web access for unlimited kids/teachers         $149.99

Q. Where can I get a sample?
A. Click on the Grapple Sample link on either the preteen or jr. high home pages.

Q. Will we need a computer in our classroom?
A. No. All classroom time is conducted through the use of the Grapple Pak printed materials. The Web portion of Grapple is a student “take-home” piece they will access throughout the week.

Q. What version of the Bible does Grapple use?
A. New Living Translation (NLT).

Q. Is there any connection to the Lectionary?
A. No.

Q. Is Grapple topical or themed?
A. Both. Every quarter of Grapple has three main themes. For Preteen, the three themes are relationships, faith, and choices. For Jr. High, the three themes are relationships with God, others, and themselves. Within each theme, students will be given four topics to discuss that relate to the theme.

Q. What size group does Grapple accommodate?
A. Any size—break into as many groups as needed. The Grapple Guide is completely reproducible, so it’s simple to photocopy both the leader guide pages as well as the student pages. Plus the lessons are available on MyGrapple.com as PDFs, so you can make as many copies as you need.

Q. How long are the lessons?
A. They are written for 60 minutes, but can flex to 1½–2 hours.

Q. How many volunteers do I need?
A. You need one leader to manage the Web page and one large-group leader (these can be the same person). For the Grapple Teams (small groups), if you have six or fewer kids, keep them together with you as the leader. If you have several Grapple Teams, try these ideas: facilitate all the teams by moving around from team to team, assign a preteen to be the team leader, or recruit adults or teenagers to be team leaders.

Q. Is Grapple easy for the leader?
A. Yes, very easy. Grapple doesn’t require a lot of prep or props. Everything is written out and the students facilitate the Bible studies. MyGrapple.com is also very easy to administer.

Q. How much prep time does Grapple take?
A. Half hour to one hour. The leader will want to read through the lesson, gather the minimal supplies, copy lessons, and check out what games the students voted for online.

Q. What kind of supplies are needed?
A. Copies of the Bible study from the Grapple Guide, Bibles (we recommend the Live Bible from Group), pencils, paper, markers, poster board. All classroom supplies will be very easy to find.

Q. What’s the MyGrapple.com website for?
A. MyGrapple.com is the answer to your wasted take-home paper blues. This is where you and your students create an online community that is your very own. MyGrapple.com guarantees your message goes home because it shows up where kids want to be…online!

Q. What’s on MyGrapple.com?
A. MyGrapple.com has clues that help prepare students for next week’s lesson, the Grapple Challenge to help kids live out their faith, the Grapple Verse for the four-week theme, fun and positive computer games, opportunities to vote for what games they will play on the next Sunday, a calendar of events, announcements, and a Web forum where kids can communicate with each other online, make prayer requests, post care messages, and post God sightings.

Q. How do students get on MyGrapple.com?
A. Each student will be given a login and password from the leader/administrator to access MyGrapple.com.

Q. What makes MyGrapple.com safe?
A. MyGrapple.com has many layers of security. The servers where MyGrapple.com is hosted are secured with the highest levels of technology available. Plus, your MyGrapple.com website is a closed-church community, which means that only the kids you have given permission to will be allowed on your site. Students will not be able to interact with other students or leaders from other MyGrapple.com church sites. MyGrapple.com also doesn’t contain any links to outside websites, so your kids will never be directed to a site that could be unsafe. All communication on MyGrapple.com is public to your whole class and your leader(s) to ensure that no improper communication takes place between anyone. Lastly—for your parents to feel safe—kids will be required to get parent permission before they are given access to MyGrapple.com. You will send them home with the MyGrapple.com parent permission slips that they must get their parents to read and sign (this is also a great way to keep Mom or Dad in the loop). Once you have received the permission slip back, you will give the student a login and password to start using MyGrapple.com.

Q. What if one of my students doesn’t have a computer?
A. We realize that not every student will have a computer. However, there are many other places a student can go to access MyGrapple.com. Here are a few suggestions: the library, your church, school, or a friend’s house.

Q. How are students monitored?
A. The leader and/or administrator willmake sure that students are using MyGrapple.com to communicate with each other in a positive manner. Any inappropriate postings can be quickly and easily removed.

Q. How will parents know MyGrapple.com is safe?
A. Parents will know it’s safe because the parent permission slip will give them information regarding their child’s safety on MyGrapple.com. They will also have access to MyGrapple.com through their child’s login and password so they can verify first-hand that the site is 100 percent safe. And lastly, Grapple gives you Parent Connect e-mails to communicate with your parents—these give parents practical advice about their kids, safety tips, fun ways to connect with their kids, and more.

Q. How often can students use MyGrapple.com?
A. Students can access MyGrapple.com during the week as much as they want. They will want to be online to communicate with each other, play games, see what’s new, and be a part of the voting for your next class.

Q. Will MyGrapple.com be specific to that week’s lesson?
A. Yes. You can tell MyGrapple.com (with the click of a button) to automatically post each week’s lesson information following the scope and sequence, or you can choose the order and flow of lessons by posting the lessons manually. Whatever you choose, the information on MyGrapple.com will pertain to the lesson.

Q. What’s the return policy?
A. Grapple is 100 percent guaranteed. If you aren’t satisfied, send it back for a full refund. No questions asked!

Q. How do I get tech support?
A. 1-800-975-4006 OR e-mail productsupport@group.com

Q. Who do I go to with questions?
A. Call or e-mail Customer Service: 1-800-447-1070; info@group.com.

Q. How long will lessons be available on MyGrapple.com?
A. Grapple is designed to be used within the quarter for which it is intended. The lessons on MyGrapple.com will be available for 16-17 weeks each quarter. Each quarter will be available from the 15th of the month prior to when the quarter starts, and will be removed on the 15th of the month after the quarter ends. After that point, the quarter will be removed, and cannot be accessed any longer.

Lesson availability on MyGrapple.com
Fall: August 15 - December 15
Winter: November 15 - March 15
Spring: February 15 - June 15
Summer: May 15 - September 15