Last year, we tried giving out the handbooks at the same time, regardless of whether the Start Zone was completed so as to keep the kids on the same page with the lessons. Doing so created issues with monitoring the completion of the Start Zone as the kids weren't motivated to do so once they received their handbook. This year, the T&T Girls Club required the Start Zone to be completed before clubbers could receive their handbook, which worked much better. The T&T Boys Club continued as they did last year, which still isn't working well.
Awana guidelines, as I understand them, require the completion of the Start Zone before the handbook is given; therefore the way AWdb is set up (assuming Start Zone completion) make perfect sense to me.