IN teaching children and others how to visualize God's truth, we must
remember the Ten Demandments and keep them.
_First Demandment:_ You must love the child. Preaching to children is
an _affair of the heart._ You must love them before you can reach them
with the truth. A teacher seeking to win and teach little hearts must
first have the degree of L. L. C. which being interpreted means "Love
Little Children." God will confer on you this degree. Don't begin
until God marks you with it.
_Second Demandment:_ You must remember that the eye is the child's
open door to the heart. It is eighteen times larger than the ear gate.
They receive eighteen times more truth by their eyes than they do
through their ears. They are always seeing things. You must remember
this--sayeth the Second Demandment.
_Third Demandment:_ You must believe in the large opportunity and high
privileges of working with children. It is the mountain top of
importance. It is dealing with the largest soul value of the world. It
yields quickly its reward. Be first on the ground. It is the richest
ground in the Kingdom of Heaven. It brings early harvest--a harvest of
Gold.
_Fourth Demandment:_ You must learn to know the child, study him like
you would a book, or as carefully as you do your lessons. Study him at
close range, and by loving contact. Chum with him. The best text book
on the child question is the child himself. Master your object as well
as your subject. This is the highest teaching of the highest order.
Read Chapter III of this book.
_Fifth Demandment:_ You must use short words. Little folks like to
catch your meaning at first hearing. Listen to them as they talk one
with another. They use but few words, and they are short and to the
point. Use common words, because they use them. Don't use silly words
or baby talk, or speak in an unnatural tone of voice. They don't like
affected tones. They don't talk that way when they address each other.
They don't want you to talk to them in that fashion. They call it
"silly" and "sissy." It takes an educated man to use their language,
but go to the University of Childhood and learn there to be an
uncommon talker--which means--talk the talk of childhood.
_Sixth Demandment:_ You must be brief. Much of our work with children
is useless, because it is over done in the matter of time. Cut it
short so it will cut in--always just when they want more, and the next
time, they will be glad to listen to you. Clothe your ideas in short
sentences. Seldom use words over two syllables, and even then make
them the words they use when they are doing their own talking. In
using the objects always hold them up in full view of the children,
and keep them there. In a short sentence name the object you are thus
about to use. It will keep them from spending the time wondering what
the object might be. Let the object talk and it will. Make your talk
short, and stop when you are through. Be brief, but full of ideas.
_Seventh Demandment:_ You must be sure to preach the Bible. To get the
Bible into their hearts is _your_ task. Stick to your task. All truth
is good, but Bible truth is best. Use the best with little hearts. The
Bible is the greatest story book in the world. That is the reason
little folks like it when you tell them the wonder stories out of it.
Show them a story. Clothe a lad in oriental garb, and call him Joseph,
and while they are looking at him, tell them the much loved story of
Joseph and his brethren. Give the boy a lunch basket, and tell the
story of the boy that supplied five thousand with his lunch one day
when he passed the basket and its contents, over to the Master. This
is putting the story over by objects, and it puts it in and under and
it sticks for all time.
_Eighth Demandment:_ You must begin with the known, and work up to the
unknown in the handling of objects. Jesus asked for a drink of water
from the Samaritan woman and from that water from Jacob's well from
which she had drawn the water for her home since childhood, He began
to reveal to her the water of Life, and she drank from that fountain,
and her home town in Samaria had a Billy Sunday awakening from the
well of Jacob. Jesus began with water from the Well of Jacob. He ended
with a talk about the water which cometh down from above.
It will help you and greatly vary your program if you ask the children
to bring their own objects with them some times which they have found
by the wayside, and then you may give them a spiritual lesson. They
will never forget the lesson, and often, in other days, when they see
those objects again, they will remember your lesson.
_Ninth Demandment:_ You must not be afraid of object lessons which may
have a little slant in them toward a happy little surprise.
Sometimes the effect we were not looking for makes the most lasting
impression. It is this quality that makes a fairy tale so fascinating
to children. Wonder objects can make truth as charming as the ways of
fairies. Wonder objects provoke curiosity, and curiosity is the mother
of attention. This is the best type of attention. Look over the wonder
lessons of this book and work them. Children never forget a thing as
long as they continue to wonder about it.
_Tenth Demandment:_ You must pray over and about your objects. Just as
the minister prays over the elements of the Lord's Supper, so pray
over your objects. God can bless things as well as words, and this He
will do if both things and words are used for His glory. These Ten
Demandments are like ten guiding stars throbbing in the night. All of
them are Pilot Stars seeking to guide the wise lovers of children as
did their Father's star long ago to the place "where the young child
lay."
=CHAPTER II
"OBJECT TEACHING IN THE BIBLE"=
_In this chapter we find the Bible authority and example for Object
Teaching. Read this chapter before you give your first lesson_