A person who has not a keen sense of justice, and who is not_Stories from the olden time: Teacher's text book, course IV, part I

[Illustration:

COURSE IV PART I

GRADED COURSE

INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM

STORIES FROM

THE OLDEN

TIME

TEACHER’S

TEXT BOOK

Prepared by

JOSEPHINE L. BALDWIN

HENRY H. MEYER, Editor

THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN

NEW YORK CINCINNATI]

+=======================================================================+

| ORGANIZATION CHART |

+===+=========+===========================+===================+=========+

| | | +---------+---------+ Grades |

+===+=========+===========================+=========+=========+=========+

+---+---------+---------------------------+---------+---------+---------+

| 6|I |Bible Stories for the | | | |

| | | Home—Year 1 | | | E |

+---+---------+---------------------------+ | | L |

| 7|II |Bible Stories for the | PRIMARY | PRIMARY | E |

| | | Sunday School and | | | M |

| | | Home—Year 2 | | | E |

+---+---------+---------------------------+ | | N |

| 8|III |Bible Stories for the | | | T |

| | | Sunday School and | | | A |

| | | Home—Year 3 | | | R |

+---+---------+---------------------------+---------+---------+ Y |

| 9|IV |Stories from the Olden | | | |

| | | Time (including Special | | | G |

| | | Summer Material) | | | R |

+---+---------+---------------------------+ | | A |

| 10|V |Hero Stories (including | | JUNIOR | D |

| | | Special Summer Material) | | | E |

+---+---------+---------------------------+ JUNIOR | | S |

| 11|VI |Kingdom Stories (including | | | |

+---+---------+---------------------------+ +---------+ |

| 12|VII |Gospel Stories (including | | | |

+---+---------+---------------------------+---------+ | |

+---+---------+---------------------------+ + | G |

| 14|IX |Christian Leaders | | | H |

| | | Summer Material) | | | S |

+---+---------+---------------------------+ INTER- +---------+ C |

| 15|X |The Life of Christ | MEDIATE | | H |

| | | (including Special | | | O |

| | | Summer Material) | | | O |

+---+---------+---------------------------+ + | L |

| 16|XI |Christian Living | | SENIOR | |

+---+---------+---------------------------+---------+ | |

| 17|XII |The World a Field for | | | |

+---+---------+---------------------------+ +---------+ |

+---+---------+---------------------------+ SENIOR | | |

| 19|XIV |The History of New | | YOUNG | C |

+---+---------+---------------------------+ | TO | L |

| 20|XV |The Bible and Social | | 24 | L |

+---+---------+---------------------------+---------+ | G |

| |Special Courses for Parents| | | E |

+=============+===========================+===================+=========+

| THE COURSES BEGIN WITH OCTOBER |

+=======================================================================+

NOTE

PLAN 1: When the Graded Lessons were first issued the yearly courses were

grouped to correspond to this well-known classification of pupils, and

the text books were marked in accordance with this plan.

PLAN 2: The departmental grouping by a series of three years to a

department corresponds to the school grading where Junior High Schools

have been organized and is now recommended by many denominations.

Care must be taken to select the Graded Course by age and titles, as

indicated in the left column, rather than by department names.

Prepared for teachers of children about nine years of age

STORIES FROM THE

OLDEN TIME

TEACHER’S TEXT BOOK

COURSE IV, PART I

Prepared by JOSEPHINE L. BALDWIN

[Illustration: The Berean

GRADED COURSE

INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM]

HENRY H. MEYER, Editor

THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN

NEW YORK CINCINNATI

The memory verses from the American Standard Bible

are copyrighted, 1901

by Thomas Nelson & Sons, New York

To Mrs. J. Woodbridge Barnes

WHOSE CLEAR VISION, WISE LEADERSHIP, AND

UNDAUNTED COURAGE HAVE MADE POSSIBLE

THE INTERNATIONAL COURSE OF GRADED

LESSONS, AND WHOSE CRITICISM AND SUPERVISION

HAVE BEEN INVALUABLE IN THE

PREPARATION OF THESE LESSONS FOR PUBLICATION,

THIS BOOK IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED

CONTENTS

PAGE

=Out of Childhood into Youth= 7

=Our Juniors, Their Teachers and Lesson Helps= 11

GRADED INSTRUCTION 11

Reasons for Having a Graded System; The Purpose of the Graded

Course; The Material Used.

THE JUNIOR COURSE 12

Arrangement of Material; The Aims; The Correlated Lesson.

THE JUNIOR PERIOD 14

Beginning and End; Characteristics; Spiritual Needs.

THE JUNIOR TEACHER 16

Personality; Opportunity.

GUIDES FOR STUDY AND TEACHING 19

The Teacher’s Text Book; The Pupil’s Book for Work and Study;

The Children’s Bible; The Rainbow Bookmark; How the Bookmark

is Used; The Bookmark as a Reward.

PROMOTION REQUIREMENTS AND HONORS 26

The Basis for Promotion; Recognition for Extra Work.

=Stories from the Olden Time=

I. STORIES OF THE BEGINNINGS 27

1. In the Beginning 29

2. The Garden of Eden 35

3. Hiding from God 40

4. Cain and Abel 46

5. Review 51

6. The Building of the Ark 54

7. The Flood and the Rainbow 60

II. STORIES OF THREE PATRIARCHS 65

8. The Call of Abram 67

9. Giving Lot the First Choice 72

10. Abram’s Rescue of Lot 77

11. Abraham Entertaining Angels 83

12. The Song of Mary (Christmas Lesson) 88

13. Review 93

=Appendixes= 97

A. Memory Work 99

B. Book List 101

C. List of Stereographs 103

D. Aids for Superintendent and Teacher 105

E. Outline of Lessons for the Year 107

OUT OF CHILDHOOD INTO YOUTH

Traits of Boyhood and Girlhood

At the beginning of the period of childhood for which the Junior Course

is intended, approximately nine years of age, there appears to be in

the life of the normal boy or girl a real transition as the traits and

interests of earlier years give way to those of full fledged boyhood and

girlhood. Strange premonitions of impending physical and mental changes

now appear, with suggestions of riper years that are rapidly approaching.

The physical and mental changes of this period are accompanied by an

awakening of social consciousness. This is noticeable in the friendships

formed, in the increase of love and sympathy for others and in the

dawning recognition of obligations toward others. The opposite of the

same tendency is reflected in the sense of rivalry and emulation and,

especially in boys, in the developing spirit of pugnacity, tempered with

a tendency to defend the weak. This growing social consciousness brings

with it also a stronger consciousness of self, a clearer recognition of

right and wrong and an awakening of conscience which now begins to take

the place of rules made by others as a guide to action.

The Inner Life of the Spirit

The normal growth of the inner life of the spirit is likewise rapid, the

spiritual awakening which may be counted on during this period bringing

with it the first religious crisis in the life of the boy and girl.

For this crisis the most careful preparation should be made. When the

spiritual awakening comes, the child should be given an opportunity to

choose for himself to live as God’s child in obedience to his laws and

in loving unselfish devotion and service for others. When the choice has

been made, the new sense of responsibility which follows must be fostered

and the child aided by suggestion and encouragement in daily conduct

to follow right habits of thought and action. The meaning, need and

the helpfulness of worship may be taught through actual participation

in services of worship suited to the pupil’s age and the manner of his

natural expression of religious impulses and aspirations.

Materials and Methods

The materials provided in the course of religious instruction for

this period take into account the growing interest of the pupil in

definite information and knowledge. This material includes stories

with a rich coloring of adventure and connected historical narratives

appealing to the interests of this age. By the use of these materials

the mind of the pupil is stored with the best Biblical images of strong

and noble character as his studies introduce him to the great heroes

and champions of the faith of past ages. Much emphasis is laid upon

religious privileges and duties, while profitable occupation exercises

are suggested to insure a daily reinforcement of the lesson taught in

the Sunday school hour. By precept and example the teacher may inculcate

habits of neatness, accuracy, punctuality, patience and other virtues. He

may watch over the religious life and as a wise specialist in the field

of soul nurture may anticipate and prepare the way for each successive

stage of that life’s unfolding.

This Text Book

The introductory chapters of this Teacher’s Text Book, entitled Our

Juniors, Their Teachers and Lesson Helps, present in detail the aims, the

methods and the underlying principles governing this Junior Course. A

careful study of this chapter together with the introductory chapters for

the other years of the course will be found most profitable.

The Course and the Writer

We would unreservedly commend the writer of this course, Josephine

L. Baldwin, to the confidence of all teachers. She writes, not from

theory alone, but from long, practical experience in teaching Junior

children. Every one of the lessons contained in this course she has

taught repeatedly. As a teacher of teachers, therefore, she speaks with

authority in the suggestions and directions contained in this Teacher’s

Text Book. The stories and suggestions regarding method in the form in

which they are here presented, are the rich fruitage of her expert

knowledge and training. There are no better courses for use with children

of junior age than this course. It is a tool well fashioned for its

intended use. As such it will not furnish a substitute for intelligent

study and devotion on the part of the teacher, nor will its use lessen

the dependence of the teacher on Divine help and inspiration in teaching;

but these personal qualifications being present, this Junior Course and

the graded system, of which it is a part, should yield large returns for

the Kingdom in the stimulation, growth, and enrichment of the religious

experience and life of children.

THE EDITOR.

OUR JUNIORS, THEIR TEACHERS AND LESSON HELPS

GRADED INSTRUCTION

Reasons for Having a Graded System

The reason for having a graded course of instruction for the Sunday

school is that the children differ year by year in knowledge, capacity,

interests, and needs. Graded lessons are simply an attempt to meet these

differences with instruction suited to each year of the developing life.

The aim of religious education is to fit the child for complete Christian

living, to make him not simply a religious individual but a useful

member of society, intelligently devoted to the highest welfare of his

fellows and of mankind. In order that this may be accomplished he must

have knowledge and his knowledge must lead to action. There is a broad

purpose underlying the graded lessons which is thus stated in terms of

the children’s religious needs.

The Purpose of the Graded Course

The purpose of the graded lessons is to meet the spiritual needs of the

pupil at each stage of his development. The spiritual needs, broadly

stated, are these:

1. To know God as he has revealed himself to us in his Word, in nature,

in the heart of man, and in Christ.

2. To exercise toward God the Father, and his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord

and Saviour, trust, obedience, and worship.

3. To know and do our duty to others.

4. To know and do our duty to ourselves.

The Material Used

The material through which this purpose is to be attained is taken mainly

from the Bible and treated as story, biography, history, or literature

according to the period for which it is used. There are certain facts,

not found in the Bible, the knowledge of which is essential if the pupils

are to see God in the present day world. Therefore, many nature lessons

are given to the little children, incidents in the lives of modern

followers of the Lord are provided for the older children, and broader

studies from the field of modern reform and of missionary movements for

young men and women. There are also lessons on the Book itself and how it

has come to us. All of these lessons start outside of the Bible and lead

back into it for their explanation. The Bible lessons begin with the Word

and go out into life for their application. The one is just as biblical

as the other.

THE JUNIOR COURSE

Arrangement of Material

In the Graded System the Junior Course follows the two-years Beginners’

Course and the three-years Primary Course. In those earlier years the

stories are not chosen chronologically but are grouped under themes. The

sense of time dawns when the child is about nine years old, therefore the

Graded Lessons for the Juniors are arranged chronologically, at first by

periods and later in a straight chronological course from the Conquest of

Canaan to the end of New Testament History.

The Aims

The aim for the Junior lessons as a whole is:

=To help the child to become a doer of the Word, and to lead him into

conscious loyalty to Jesus Christ.=

The aims for each of the four years are these:

=1. To awaken an interest in the Bible, and love for it; to deepen the

impulse to choose and to do the right.=

=2. To present the ideal of moral heroism; to reveal the power and

majesty of Jesus Christ, and to show his followers going forth in his

strength to do his work.=

=3. To deepen the sense of responsibility for right choices; to show the

consequences of right and wrong choices; to strengthen love of the right

and hatred of the wrong.=

=4. To present Jesus as our Example and Saviour; to show that the

Christian life is a life of service; to deepen interest in the Book

which contains God message to the world.=

In the first year all but eight of the fifty-two lessons are the

elemental stories taken from the first five books of the Bible. This is

as it should be, for these stories appeal more strongly at this time

than at any later period. As the first twenty-six lessons are found in

the book of Genesis the stories are easy to find and the child is not

perplexed and confused by having to search for the one he wants among

many books with unfamiliar and difficult names. He is led by easy stages

in his Bible readings, and through the charm of the stories, together

with his growing ability to handle the book in which they are found, the

child not only becomes interested in the Bible but learns to love it.

The second part of the aim implies obedience, and that may be said to

be the key-word of this year’s work. (See the Junior motto and verse

for the year on the inside of front cover of the Work Book.) With these

children, it is largely the absolute obedience of the immature. This

form of obedience is a temporary virtue which must eventually be lost in

self-control. But no one can attain the most perfect self-mastery who has

not first learned to yield obedience to rightful authority. The transfer

of the seat of authority from without to within should keep pace with the

child’s growth in knowledge, in emotional balance and control, in moral

strength, and in the ability to form accurate judgments. The teacher’s

aim is to bring the child’s will into line with God’s will for him.

The Correlated Lesson

In the Junior period it is essential that two lessons be given every

week, the one the regular lesson in the Junior Graded Series and the

other a lesson dealing with the more mechanical part of the instruction.

This is called the Correlated Lesson because it is closely related to the

main lesson. The reason for having it is that during the Junior period

there is a large amount of information which must be given in order that

the pupils may grasp the truths in the lesson stories and learn how to

handle the Bible with ease.

In the first year the books and divisions of the Bible must be taught.

In the other years Bible geography becomes increasingly important as

a background for the lessons, and this is the time when it should be

studied; for the sense of location dawns at about the ninth year and the

interest in geography is at its highest during the Junior period. Some

knowledge of the manners and customs of Bible lands is necessary for

an understanding of many of the stories. All through the Junior period

are required frequent drills on essential facts and all material for

memorization in order that those things may be permanently held in memory.

A Junior child cannot profitably pay attention to one subject for more

than twenty minutes consecutively. The lesson story on any given Sunday

requires that much time, so it would be impossible to combine with it in

one Junior lesson period the necessary correlated information. Fifteen

minutes should be devoted to the Correlated Lesson, preferably the first

quarter of the Sunday-school hour, to be followed by the service of

worship and all the other exercises, leaving the last twenty minutes for

the lesson of the day.

In schools where this plan is followed and the lessons are well taught,

the memory texts are both learned and remembered. The children are

familiar with Bible lands and can associate events with the places

where they occurred. They understand the strange customs of Bible times

and therefore are not puzzled by accounts that would otherwise be

unintelligible. They know the Bible as a book and can find references

easily. The upper grade Juniors can find a score of the great passages

in the Bible without having the reference given. In schools where the

correlated lessons are not taught the children are not only ignorant of

many things they ought to know, but do not gain the benefit that they

should get from the course of study.

THE JUNIOR PERIOD

Beginning and End

Only broad and general statements can be made concerning the division

lines between the different departments of the Sunday school, especially

after the end of the Primary; but the largest factor in deciding when the

Junior period begins is the ability on the part of the pupils to read

well enough to be able to read in the Bible without too much stumbling.

The end of the period is indicated by the beginning of adolescence, and

this fixes the Junior period of the normal child as extending over at

least three years. The course provides studies for four years.

Characteristics

The general characteristics of the children in this period are marked,

differing in many important particulars from those of the period before

and still more sharply from those manifested in the adolescent years.

There is a reaching out for and a choice of companions differing from

the happy-go-lucky way in which the Primary child accepts his neighbors

as playmates and a growing tendency to concentration in groups or gangs

accompanied by the most intense loyalty to the members of the group.

The normal interests which have an important bearing are those in

reading, heroes, the forces of nature, and the attainment of results.

Intellectually, the child begins to seek for reality. The historic sense

develops, and the sense of location both develops and matures during this

period. There is a deep regard for authority if rightly administered by

one who the child feels has a right to rule over him. Memory is strong

and retentive. A deep-seated, though egoistic, sense of justice is

apparent. This is preeminently a time when habits are formed and fixed.

There are limitations here, as in every other period. The child is and

must be more or less self-centered, because this is a time when he must

pay attention to himself and get himself adjusted to the world about him

before he can send his energies out in service for others, as will be

normal in the next period. The reasoning power is very weak, depending

upon sequence rather than causality. The interest in people is altogether

in conduct and not at all in character; what a person does is what these

children care about, not what he is.

Spiritual Needs

The study of even these few characteristics so briefly stated makes it

evident that the children have special spiritual needs; that is, certain

phases of the great fundamental truths which underlie all religious

teaching will make the strongest appeal and be most helpful at this time.

For instance, in God’s relation to us, it is not the Fatherhood of God

which will appeal more strongly, but the Kingship of God, his authority,

his wisdom, his justice and power; but with this presentation of the

majesty of the Creator must be closely associated the thought of God as a

daily Companion, as a Saviour from the power of sin, and as the Giver of

eternal life and a heavenly home. Our relation to God as subjects of the

King, and as dependent upon him for guidance, is linked with the thought

of the privilege of cooperating with him in such forms of service as are

possible to children, and in such manifestations of love as find natural

expression in prayer, praise, and worship.

The Junior in his relation to others must be taught to play fair, to obey

those in authority, to cooperate heartily in the duties and joys of the

home life, and to champion right causes, whether standing alone or in

company with others. The duties the child owes to himself which can best

be taught and are most needed in this period are the formation of right

personal habits, making right choices, and establishing right conceptions

of progress.

THE JUNIOR TEACHER

Personality

A great deal is said about the characteristics of the Junior pupils and

how these affect the plans that are made for their instruction. They also

have a bearing upon the type of adult who should deal with the children

in this formative period. It should not be necessary to say that the

teacher must be a Christian and a church member, for consistency and

common sense alike would demand that he who seeks to prepare recruits

for the army of the Lord must be in active service himself. He cannot

say, “Go”; he must be able to say, as the Master did, “Come, follow me.”

The blind cannot be leaders of the blind. But there are many kinds of

Christians and church members-persons who differ in temperament and in

ways of looking at religious truth.

The Junior period is a time when the pupils are searching for realities.

If normal children, normally trained in the home and church, they have

almost unbounded credulity, which during this period rapidly develops

with growing knowledge and experience into true faith. This is the

God-given time for so strengthening the foundations of religious

belief for the children that in the succeeding periods, when doubts

will normally arise and sometimes beat most insistently upon the house

of their faith, it will stand firm because built upon a rock. It is

a crime to suggest doubts to Junior children or to surround them

with an atmosphere of uncertainty. The teacher who attempts to guide

children in this period should know what he believes, and believe it

with all his heart, and speak with no uncertain sound. This may seem

an almost impossible condition in an age when most learned scholars

find innumerable points of criticism upon which they cannot agree, and

concerning which many declare themselves to be agnostic; but there are

certain great fundamentals which all must believe if they are to be

intrusted with the leading of the young, and those who are chosen for

Junior teachers should have the temperament which puts emphasis upon the

positive and constructive in belief rather than upon the things which lie

on debatable ground.

A person who has not a keen sense of justice, and who is not able to

be impartial and to keep in the background any personal preferences

that he may have, should not attempt to teach Juniors. The children

will apply to themselves the most rigid rules if given an opportunity

for self-government, and will rejoice in obeying them, but they will

resent with the utmost intensity the slightest ruling of a teacher or

superintendent which has in it a taint of partiality or injustice. This

does not mean that the teacher of Juniors must be ideally perfect. The

impossible is not required of anyone in God’s work; but because “we teach

only a little by what we say, much more by what we do, and most of all

by what we are,” it is more important that the Junior teacher should

cultivate those qualities in himself which appeal most strongly to the

Junior child than it is that the lessons chosen for the children shall

present those qualities through the lives of the heroes of the past.

The best teacher is one in whom the pupil feels the presence of religion

as a concrete, natural thing. The best Sunday-school teaching is an

initiation of the pupil into sacred things, and initiation is a process

of admitting one to a society of persons and fellowship. Many persons

have been asked to say what in their experience as Sunday-school pupils

most influenced them for good. The reply, apparently the invariable

reply, has been, “The personality of the teacher rather than the content

of formal instruction.” Nothing in the way of methods or advice can take

the place of wholesome, winning personality that actually lives in the

realities of the Christian experience and truly admits pupils into the

fellowship of this life.[1]

Opportunity

It is the aim of the Sunday school “gradually to bring to completeness

or perfection the worthy qualities and characteristics of each pupil,

and repress the unworthy, to the end that he may do the work and exert

the influence of a true Christian in his environment.” The Junior period

is a time when the Sunday-school teacher is given a unique opportunity

for helping to realize this aim. In the child’s physical life this is a

time of slow growth and bodily vigor, which makes possible a degree of

concentration in work and study not to be expected in the earlier years.

It is a time when the memory is both strong and retentive, and the child

may make the greatest treasures of holy writ his own for all time if he

learns them in these years.

The brain cells are still plastic, though hardening rapidly. It is

therefore easy to get the child to act along suggested lines, and through

incentives and rewards to secure that regular, voluntary repetition

of the right act which is necessary for the formation of a habit. The

fact that this is the great habit forming and fixing period of life

makes evident at once the large opportunity and the corresponding

responsibility of the Sunday school in its relation to Junior children.

Teachers, while endeavoring to exemplify the virtues which they

inculcate, should constantly aim to help their pupils to form such habits

as regular Bible reading and study, church attendance and attention

(which is even more important), punctuality, cooperation, industry,

thoroughness, perseverance; cheerful, systematic, intelligent giving,

reverence and orderliness. It is tremendously important that the children

shall form character building habits at this time; for “whatever is found

in the life as habits of thought, feeling, and action at the dawn of

adolescence will then be greatly magnified and strengthened.”

Another fact which emphasizes the opportunity this period presents is

that at some time during these years, usually toward the end of the

period, comes the first great age of spiritual awakening, when the child

may be expected to become conscious of his relationship to Christ, and

proclaim his newly realized loyalty. In the eyes of the church the child

is a member of the kingdom of heaven. It now becomes the duty of the

church “to see that the child does not lose his spiritual inheritance;

that he is kept in the kingdom and so trained that at the time when he

becomes fully conscious of his relationship to the Divine, he will choose

to claim his inheritance as a child of God and lead the life for which it

calls.”

It is sometimes said that Junior children are “trying,” and this is

absolutely true. Each class tries its teacher, not because the children

wish to be aggravating, but because it is ordained that they shall gain

their knowledge and experience by testing each new situation in which

they find themselves, and each new person with whom they are brought

into close contact. What they are seeking is reality, and they will

experiment until they find out what is true about their teacher. They

are not endeavoring to get their own way, though that may often seem

to be the case. They never like a teacher who is weak and vacillating,

but if in the testing process they discover a teacher who knows what he

tries to teach, who is firm and kind, impartial, just, and loving, they

will yield to that teacher the truest respect, admiration, loyalty, and

affection. The Junior teacher should rejoice in the opportunity that his

task affords. There is no other time in the life of a Sunday-school pupil

when such a ready response will be made to the right influence, example,

and instruction.

GUIDES FOR STUDY AND TEACHING

The Teacher’s Text Book

Two text books are provided with the lessons—one for the teacher and one

for the pupil.

In the teacher’s book it has been the aim to give as much material for

the individual study of the lesson as is possible within the prescribed

limits of the book. Bible passages that throw light either upon the

truth to be taught or upon the meaning of the lesson story have been

carefully selected. The quotations from the commentators will also be

found valuable. The plan of study that will bring the best results to any

teacher using this book is first to read carefully the lesson passage

and any history intervening between the lesson and the preceding one, to

study what is said by the commentators and the Bible references that are

given, and to glance over the suggestions under Lesson Preparation.

When these things have been done the teacher should turn away from

all books and ask himself, “How can I best present this lesson to my

class?” and with the needs of his own pupils in mind, plan the lesson

for presentation. After the plan is settled the method of presentation

as given in this book will not prescribe a method but may be helpful in

the way of suggestion. The importance of individual preparation cannot be

emphasized too strongly, for no ready-made lesson can be perfectly fitted

to any class.

The lessons for the first half of the quarter are taken from the “morning

stories” in the first eleven chapters of Genesis. These stories nourish

the soul of the child as few other stories can, because they keep the

child in the presence of God. It is a God who not only creates, but

guides, loves, reproves, walks, and talks with man as one friend with

another. The nine-year-old child is hardly yet beyond the stage where the

fancies of fairy tale and myth make a strong appeal. For that reason it

seems to him perfectly natural that God in visible presence should meet

and converse with his children. These stories, therefore, strengthen the

God-consciousness within him, and awaken a response which results in the

realization that he, too, may have personal relation with his loving,

heavenly Father.

“The ancient Hebrew had no notion of science. He did not ask for the

immediate cause of physical events. It entirely satisfied his instinct

for ultimate truth to assume that thunder was God’s voice; that God had

planted those cedars whose life reached back before the memory of man. He

related all mysteries to God, and in that relationship his mind rested

and his heart was satisfied.”[2]

This is equally true of the child. His heart is satisfied with God, and

he is not troubled with any questions concerning whether these early

stories relate actual happenings or not. They are gloriously true because

they tell the truth about God. They give the child an axis for his

universe, and that is what he is seeking. The teacher should not try to

interpret the stories, but simply tell them as nearly as possible in the

splendid simplicity of the Bible language.

The Pupil’s Book for Work and Study

This book guides the pupil in his Bible reading and study, indicates

verses or passages for memorization, and through the handwork furnishes

him an opportunity for making the lesson his own. There are several

reasons why this book is of high educational value. One is that it serves

to fix the facts clearly in mind and facts are the basis of ideas. Ideas

cannot be clearly seen until the facts are mastered.

But the book does much more for the pupil than to put him in the

possession of knowledge. It gives him an opportunity to practice

obedience in a different way from anything to which he has been

previously accustomed. In the Primary Department the children do an

increasing amount of handwork, but they do it with the help and under the

supervision of their teachers. The nine-year-old child must learn to work

by himself and to obey printed instructions.

Teachers examining this work for the first time may think that the

pupils’ books for the first year are so stereotyped as to leave no

room for originality. That is true in a sense, and the work has been

prepared purposely in this way, for before the pupils can do original

work, they must have a certain basis of knowledge. They must learn how

to follow printed instructions carefully, and be able to make themselves

do the thing they are told to do at the time they are told to do it.

If through the books of the first year the pupils should learn to be

both accurate and punctual, we might feel well repaid even if no other

results come from this study. But the fact is that while doing the work

exactly as it is assigned they will get the greatest benefit from the

lesson themselves, for the spirit of obedience generates an atmosphere in

which all the Christian graces possible to a child can best develop and

flourish.

The work book ministers to the child’s growing sense of responsibility.

If he accepts the responsibility and honestly tries to meet its

requirements his character is strengthened thereby. If he shirks his duty

his moral nature is weakened.

No teacher can afford to allow the children to neglect the work book. If

they do not do the work there outlined, they cannot learn the lessons, no

matter how well the stories may be told in class. The child learns not

by hearing but by doing. On the other hand the book must never be thought

of as an end in itself, but only as a means to an end. In one school

the most perfect work book shown in the exhibit represented the most

abject failure from the standpoint of religious education. It was made

by a boy whose mother had compelled him to do the work and supervised it

rigidly. He hated it with his whole heart because he was never permitted

to play until that work was done. The mother was exceedingly proud of

the book. To have it completed and neatly done was the end she had been

seeking, and that she had attained. But the book was well-nigh worthless

in the teacher’s estimation because it did not represent the child’s

own initiative and volition. When the pupil, incited by example and

suggestion and rewarded by commendation, chooses to do the work, the book

becomes one of the important means by which the great end of character

building is accomplished for him.

The teacher should always have a copy of the Pupil’s Book for Work and

Study and do the work in it just as he would like to have the children do

it. Of course it should be better done than any child can possibly do it.

If the teacher colors the pictures with water colors, uses illuminated

initial letters, and writes neatly and plainly, his book will be a great

incentive to the children to do the very best possible work themselves.

In the beginning of the first quarter’s work the teacher should remember

that these children are still to all intents and purposes Primary

children unaccustomed to working alone. It is exceedingly important that

each teacher should meet the children of the class during the week after

teaching the first lesson and show them how to cut out the pictures for

that first lesson and paste them in the book. The children would then be

certain to start right, and though it may not be true that “well begun

is half done,” a good beginning is so encouraging to the child that he

is much more likely to keep up the work and to find it enjoyable. But

if he makes mistakes or neglects to do the work at the beginning it is

doubly difficult to interest him later. The week day gathering to start

the children on their handwork might be called a Work Book Social, ending

with games and light refreshments. When the children arrive have them

take their books and read carefully with you the instructions on pages 2

and 3 before doing the pasting and writing for Lesson 1. Suggest that

the picture sheet be handled very carefully so that the pictures needed

for later use may not become marred or defaced in any way. Encourage the

children to keep the book clean and neat. In order that the cover may not

be soiled from use, it is well to make a cover for each book from manilla

paper and place the picture sheet between the manilla cover and the cover

of the book so that there will be no danger that the pictures will be

lost as the book is carried home. Explain that the reading is to be done

each day just as indicated in the book. Great stress should be put at

all times upon the doing of these specified tasks regularly and keeping

strictly up to date with them, in order that the children may form the

habit of daily Bible reading and study.

Incentives and rewards will be found necessary as means for inducing the

children to choose to do the work. Juniors do not love work, but are

interested in the attainment of results, and when wisely led will learn

later to love work for work’s sake. Among the incentives there should be

a department Honor Roll, and a Class Banner. The first year children who

complete their books satisfactorily should be given a social or outing at

the end of each quarter. They like public recognition of every kind, so

the prospect of having the book appear in the exhibit on promotion day is

a strong inducement for doing good work.

Because of the necessary wear and tear on the book and the danger that it

may be lost in carrying back and forth, it is not best to have the pupils

bring their books every week to the school all through the year; but in

the beginning it is desirable to have the book brought each week so that

the teacher may see how the work is being done. After the children are

well started the teacher can use his own book in the class in giving any

necessary instruction.

The Children’s Bible

In the beginning of this Junior work every pupil must have a Bible of

his own, the American Standard, if possible. If the parents will not or

cannot provide one, the school must do so, for the child cannot possibly

do the work as outlined unless he has a Bible to work with. It is also

essential for other reasons. No one can be interested in a book which

he does not know how to handle, and it is impossible for any child to

become familiar with the Bible if the only time he uses it is on Sunday

during the Sunday school session.

If some of the children have a King James Version and some the American

Standard, explain that both are translations into English from another

language, that the King James translation was made three hundred years

ago and that of the American Bible finished at the beginning of this

century. Tell the children also that because we think the American

Standard gives the meaning more clearly we use it in these lessons

whenever any memory texts are printed.

The Rainbow Bookmark

There is no question but that learning the books and divisions of the

Bible is one of the hardest tasks that the children will meet during

the Junior period. Most of the books have names that are in a foreign

language and therefore especially difficult to learn. But as the children

commit anything to memory easily in this period, and as the interest in

new words is strong, the work is not nearly so hard as adults are apt

to think it. But whatever the difficulty may be it is essential, if the

children are to get the best results from the Junior work, that in this

first year they shall learn the names of the books of the Bible, and

learn how to handle the Bible and find references quickly.

The use of the rainbow bookmark has been found helpful in interesting the

children in the study and making it easier for them, and in awakening in

them a desire to use their own Bibles. Its bright colors are attractive,

and the rainbow standing for God’s promises has a beautiful meaning,

which is joyfully recognized by the children when they hear the story of

The Flood. The bookmark is also useful in conducting department or class

drills.

This bookmark is made of nine ribbons in the prismatic colors with indigo

and purple, darker shades of blue and violet, and a white ribbon to mark

the Gospels. The colors are used in this order: red, orange, yellow,

green, blue (light), white, indigo, violet, and purple. The ribbons put

together in such a way that they will not tear the leaves of the Bible

can be secured of the publishing house at 25 cents for each bookmark.

How the Bookmark Is Used

The bookmark is placed in the Bible by putting the ribbon at the end of

the division for which it stands. In this way red follows Deuteronomy,

and marks the five books of Law or the Pentateuch. Orange, following

Esther, marks the twelve books of History. Yellow, following the Song of

Solomon, marks the five books of Poetry. Green, following Daniel, marks

the five books of the Major Prophets. Blue, following Malachi, marks the

twelve books of the Minor Prophets. White, following Saint John, marks

the four Gospels. Indigo, following Acts, marks the one historical book

of the New Testament. Violet, following Hebrews, marks the fourteen

Pauline Letters. Purple, following Jude, marks the other seven letters.

Revelation, the one book of Prophecy in the New Testament, has no ribbon.

There is a peculiar fitness in having white, the combination of all

the colors, for the Gospel story, which is the center and climax of

all the Bible narratives, and it is very desirable to have the life of

Christ marked in a peculiar way which will set it apart from the rest

and emphasize its importance. In the regular order indigo, the darkest

and least attractive of all the ribbons, would mark the Gospels, and

there would be but one ribbon for the letters, which leaves a series of

twenty-one names to be learned in one group.

The Bookmark as a Reward

This device is first mentioned in connection with Lesson 8. In the

correlated work for Lesson 9 slips of paper of the bookmark colors are

suggested as markers for the memory texts, and the children in this way

begin to learn the kinds of books in the Bible. A sheet of paper for each

color is not difficult to secure and would make enough strips for several

classes.

If the school can afford to give them, the bookmarks make a fine reward

to give to the children when they have learned the books and divisions

perfectly. If the parents can afford to buy them and the school cannot,

suggest that they do so but ask them to wait until the children know the

names of the books, so that it will come as a reward in any case.

PROMOTION REQUIREMENTS AND HONORS

The Basis for Promotion

In any graded course of study the pupils are expected to earn promotion

from grade to grade by attaining a certain required average in their

work. In the Junior Course the Pupil’s Book for Work and Study is, as

the name implies, both a guide in study, and a means of fixing in mind

the knowledge which has been gained. To meet the requirements of this

book the pupil must do the daily Bible readings, learn the memory text

or texts each week, do whatever reading is required, and learn the hymns

that are printed in the book. At the beginning of the course the pupils

should understand that the doing of the work for which the Work Book

calls is a requirement for promotion. In all schools seventy-five per

cent out of a possible one hundred is accepted as a passing average.

Therefore, three out of four Work Books satisfactorily completed during

the year entitle the child to promotion. Knowledge that the requirements

of the Work Book must be met in order to earn promotion is with many

children one of the strongest incentives that can be presented to them

for doing that work regularly and well.

Recognition for Extra Work

Every child should be incited to do more than merely meet the requirement

that passes him from one grade to the next. It is to furnish this

stimulation that extra honor work is provided. If the child chooses to

complete the fourth Work Book he earns an honor in that way. If the hymn

given for illustration is illustrated that gives another honor. Learning

the optional memory passages, prayers, and hymns is a third method of

gaining honors; and regular attendance upon the church service a fourth.

I. STORIES OF THE BEGINNINGS

LESSON 1

THE CORRELATED LESSON

At the beginning of this lesson the teacher and each pupil should have

his Bible in hand.

Let us look at this book of ours which is the finest story book in all

the world. What name do you find on the back of the book? The word Bible

means “The Book,” and that is the best possible name for God’s Word,

because it is the Book of all the world, the one of which more copies

are made, sold, and read than of any other. In the last hundred years

316,000,000 copies of the Bible were sent out by the different Bible

societies of the world.

Now let us look at this wonderful Book. Turn to the title-page and we

will read together what we find there. Containing what? So there are two

great divisions in this book of ours, one called the Old Testament and

the other the New Testament, and it is just as you would think from the

names. The Old Testament tells of things that happened long, long before

those that are told about in the New Testament. (Drill on the names of

the two parts of the Bible until the class is familiar with the words.)

Now let us look at the page opposite the first book of the Old Testament.

What do you find there? (The Names and Order of the Books of the Old

Testament.) So you see our Bible, the great Book of the world, is not

simply one book but a whole library of books. How many books are there

in the Old Testament? (If there is time it might be well to let each one

count for himself.) So the Old Testament has 39 books.

(Follow the same plan with reference to the New Testament, and when the

pupils have found that there are 27 books have them find the number of

books in the Bible by adding the two numbers. When you have drilled on

these figures and facts sufficiently give to each pupil a copy of the

Pupil’s Book for Work and Study and show them the first part of Lesson 1,

letting them tell what words are to be written in the spaces as the work

for the following day at home. Do not let them look ahead at the other

lesson, as that is to be taken up after the lesson has been taught.)

LESSON 1

In the Beginning

=Teaching Material.=—Genesis 1:1 to 2:3.

=Pupil’s Reading.=—Genesis 1:1-5.

=Memory Text.=—In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1.

LIGHT FROM OTHER BIBLE PASSAGES

Nehemiah 9:6; Job 12:7-10; 26:7-14; Psalms 19:1-6; 33:6-9; 74:16, 17;

90:2; 95:4, 5; 104:1-35; Jeremiah 51:15, 16; Amos 4:13; John 1:1-3;

Revelation 4:11.

FROM THE COMMENTATORS

Stories from the olden time: Teacher's text book, course IV, part I · 第 1 / 8 段