Introduction and use of the graded lessons, international course; junior manual

Front matter

OF THE

GRADED LESSONS

INTERNATIONAL COURSE

CHAPTER II Reasons for Having Special Lessons for Juniors 17

Marked Characteristics — Habit Formation — Reading Age — Hero Worship— Attainment of Results — Puzzles — Memory — Verbal Expression — Sense of Location — Sequence of Time — Reality — Regard for Authority — Limitations — Gang Period — Relation to God — Relation to Others — Lessons that Meet the Need — A Graded Series.

CHAPTER III The Junior Series of Lessons 29

Part of a Course of Study — The Beginners' Series — The Primary Series — The Junior Series — Life Processes the Basis — Reasons for the Selection — Lesson Helps for Teacher and Pupil — The First Year Lessons — Memory Work — The Correlated Lessons — The Second Year Lessons — Memory Work — The Correlated Lessons — The Third Year Lessons — Memory Work — The Correlated Lessons — The Fourth Year • Lessons — Memory Work — The Correlated Lessons — Department Programs — Summary.

4 CONTENTS

Chapter IV Pages

Organization for Teaching 53

Forming the Department — Grading the Department — Classifying the Pupils — The Advantage of Small Classes — Difficulties That May Arise — Assigning Teachers — The Work of the Superintendent — Teachers Fixed in Grades — Maintaining a Graded Department — Substitute Teachers — Importance of Definite Provision — Workable Plans — A Plan Tested — Advantages in Substituting.

CHAPTER V The Work to Be Done 67

The Aim of the Sunday School — The Junior Opportunity — Factors in Religious Education — The Great Factor — The Teacher's Work — The Lessons Analyzed — Pupil's Text Book — Two Definite Policies — Teachers in Training — Department Spirit.

CHAPTER VI Starting the Course in the Department. . . 79

Lessons Introduced Gradually — Plan for the Average School — Promotions Each Year — The Lessons Tested — Facing the Task — Perseverance Essential.

CHAPTER VII Conditions and Equipment for Teaching 87

Separation — Equipment — Necessary Equipment — Books — Tables and Class Boxes — Honor Record Requirements — Record of Attendance and Offering — Desirable Equipment.

CHAPTER VIII The Teacher and the Lessons 97

The Teacher — The Lessons Story Lessons — The Teacher and the Story— The Teacher's Text Book— The Pupil's Book for Work and Study — The Lesson in Class — The Teacher in Training — Junior Teacher's Standard. --

CONTEXTS 5

Chapter IX Pages

Importance of the Pupil's Book for Work and Study 109

Relation of Doing to Learning — Aim in First Year — Habits Formed — A Progressive Course — A Stone of Stumbling — The Sunday School Coming to Its Own — Determination and Perseverance — The Power of Will and Example — Incentives — Sympathy, Interest, and Assistance — Trust the Children — Things to Remember.

CHAPTER X Transfers and Promotions 123

A Standard for Promotion — Rote Memorizing Insufficient — The Value and Use of Memory Work — Classifying Memory Texts — Memory Hymns — One Requirement for Promotion — Limitations and Exceptions — An Honor Test.

CHAPTER XI Problems of the Small School 137

Importance of the Problem — Necessity for Graded Instruction — Difficulties in the Way — Solving the Lesson Problem — A Temporary Plan — Minimizing Disadvantages — Transfers and Promotions.

CHAPTER XII Results to Be Striven for and Expected 151

The Great Aim — Subordinate Aims — Means to an End — Expressional Activities — A Spiritual Crisis — The Consummation.

APPENDICES Appendix A. Purpose and Aims of the International Graded

Lessons. 165

Appendix B. Outline of Junior Graded Lessons for the Four

Appendix C. Junior Lesson Books, Programs, and Other Requisites for Teachers and Pupils, with Prices 186

What the grain fields are to Western Canada, what the orange culture and the spineless cactus plantations are to California, or the cotton fields to the South, that the Curriculum or course of study, the system of lessons together with the manner of its manipulation, is to the Sunday school — the inspiration of its life and its activity, the source of its harvest increase, the promise of its future greatness.

Henry H. Meyer.

Chapter I The International Graded

LESSONS

JUNIOR TEXT BOOKS FOR TEACHERS AND PUPILS Each Pupil's Book for Work and Study contains a picture sheet. The one -shown here is that issued with Part 2 of the Fourth Year. The boxes contain Stereographs which give pictures of the lesson places for each of the four years.

CHAPTER I

The International Graded Lessons

From the beginning of the Sunday school movement and all through the early days when grading was an unknown word in Sunday school work, Graded Teacher ^ e tea °her of the youngest children held a unique position among her fellows. All other teachers were wedded to their individual classes ; she was wedded to her work. Other teachers moved on through the years with one group of pupils. She remained in her place and the children passed on. These devoted teachers, of a day now happily passed, were forced to attempt the impossible in many ways. The class given to them often included at one end children within the limits of what is now called the cradle roll, and at the other end extended up into the intermediate years. In addition to unsuitable lessons and an ungraded class the "infant class" teacher of the olden time frequently had no separate room in which to teach and even the smallest children were obliged to sit upon chairs or in pews made for the comfort and intended for the occupancy of adults. We can but wonder that any desirable results were obtained when most of what are now understood to be necessary conditions for successful teaching and training were lacking.

io INTRODUCTION AND USE

It was the teachers of the youngest children who felt

the most keenly the inadequacy of the lesson system.

A sense of their almost insuperable prob-

Graded Lessons lems made them desire to meet together for mutual helpfulness, and the fact that they were dealing with the same ages of pupils year after year made such cooperation possible. Primary unions sprang up in different sections and this was providential, for it was the Primary Union — local and international — that started the movement which resulted finally in securing graded lessons.

The first primary teachers' meeting was organized in Newark, N. J., February 19, 1870; the second in New York City in 1871, and a union in Philadelphia in 1879. In 1884 the National Primary Union was organized in Philadelphia and the International Primary Union in 1887. This organization, through its official organ, "The Bulletin," and by, the circulation of leaflets and in correspondence, was able to agitate for a better provision for the training of the young children under the care of the Church. The desire for lessons adapted to the understanding of little children grew rapidly and for several years prior to 1902 there was much dissatisfaction with the uniform lesson system. In the aggregate a good deal of experimentation was carried on with lessons brought out by individual teachers or small groups working together.

In 1902 the primary teachers asked the Interna-

OF THE GRADED LESSONS n

tional Convention to give them a two years' course for beginners. This was done and the course received a warm welcome and was widely used. At the next convention, three years later, the primary teachers thanked the convention for the beginners' lessons and said they would welcome a similar course for the primary children. No action was taken on this request and the leaders of the International Primary Department felt that the most that could be hoped was that the convention of 1908 would permit the extension of the course through the primary grades.

In 1902 the International Primary Department, of which Mrs. J. W. Barnes was then the secretary, Steps Toward issued an outline of graded supplea Graded mental lessons. They were intended to

Curriculum supplement the uniform lessons by

giving a certain amount of information and passages for memorization which it was thought that every child should know before he reached the age of thirteen. These lessons, used in thousands of schools, aroused a desire for lessons selected with the needs of the pupils in mind, and at the same time created an increased demand for a graded curriculum to take the place of the uniform lessons, and of these graded supplemental lessons, which w r ere known to be, at best, but a makeshift.

In January, 1908, a conference of publishers, editors, the Lesson Committee, and lesson writers was An Epoch- h e ld at the residence of Mr. William M.

Making Hartshorne, and the outcome of that

Conference conference was the following resolution :

"That the need for a graded system of lessons is expressed by so many Sunday schools and workers that it should be adequately met by the International Sunday School Association, and that the Lesson Committee should be instructed by the next International Convention, to be held at Louisville, Ky., June 18-23, 1908, to continue the preparation of a thoroughly graded course covering the entire range of the Sunday school."

This resolution was presented by the Lesson Committee as part of its report at the Convention in Louisville in June and was unanimously adopted, and thus it came to pass that the faint hope of the primary teachers in 1905 that the 1908 Convention might possibly grant them primary lessons was changed to a glorious reality, and the adoption of the resolution covering the whole curriculum of the Sunday school shamed the feeble faith of three years before.

A final fact which must be mentioned as vital is that

for more than two years previous to 1908 a group of

workers in the Sunday school field had Lessons Ready « , , 1 . . « r , 1

for Use at wor k outlining lessons for the

nine years of the elementary grades —

4 to 12 inclusive. The Lesson Committee had been

in correspondence with this group. The outlines as prepared were submitted to and approved by them with slight modifications. In this way it happened that the Lesson Committee when presenting the resolution to the Louisville Convention knew that they were ready to issue the first year with suggested outlines for the other years of the beginners', primary, and junior, so that they could be prepared for publication and issued by the various denominations in time for use on the first Sunday of October, 1909.

When the first year of each series was issued a suggested outline for the other years was sent out and these w r ere made available for use one year at a time. The intermediate and senior were later prepared and issued in the same way, so that in the comparatively short space of eight years the Sunday schools were provided with a graded curriculum covering seventeen years of the pupil's life.

The International Graded Course is made up of several series, each series intended to meet the spiritual

needs of a particular group of pupils. Lessons Are ^ e purpose of the course as a whole

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 lessons are planned for fifty-two weeks in each year, and the school year begins on the first Sunday in October. While the lessons are not dated, the best results are obtained, and the coordination of the whole course is made possible, only when the lessons are used at the time in the year for which they were prepared.

For the little children of the beginners' department the stories are very simple and are frequently repeated. They are arranged under themes such* as "God's Care of Life," "God's Gift of the Wind, the Sun, and the Rain," "Jesus Teaching to Help," "Children Helping," "Friendly Helpers." The themes are all related in thought and follow one another in such a way as to keep pace ■ with the developing life. A folder is prepared for each week containing a story to be read to the child in the home.

In the primary, as in the beginners, the lessons are arranged under themes without regard to chronological order. Each year's lessons are an advance in grade over the year which precedes, not so much in the nature of the material as in the truths which the lessons teach and in the interest, knowledge, and experience of the pupil to whom the appeal is made. A folder is prepared for the children in this department, which, in the last year, he can read largely for himself.

When the child is nine years old he has reached the reading age. Here the course is no longer topical and the material is not arranged under themes, for the growing historical sense of the pupil makes it necessary that the chronological order shall be followed. Instead of a folder given to the child each week a book to be used as a guide in home study is furnished for each quarter with a sheet containing pictures for the illustration of the lessons. In this, as in the two preceding grades, instruction is given through stories.

In the intermediate period the lessons become biographical, since for the first time the chief interest of the pupil does not center in the story, but in biography.

In the senior period life problems are studied in the light of the principles in God's Word and ways are found of applying these principles to every-day questions of the present time.

Anyone who studies carefully the aims for the whole course as given in Appendix A, pages 165-170, will see how beautifully the course is developed. It is progressive, moving forward systematically with the developing life of the pupil. It is pedagogical, because constructed on the principles which must underlie all true teaching. It is biblical in the highest sense of the word, because every lesson brings to the pupil in a practical way the great truths found in the Bible. It is unified, each part being built upon that which precedes and preparing the pupil for the studies which are to follow. It is adapted for use in a school of any size, and is perfectly practical. Above all it is evangelistic, ministering so effectively to the pupils at all times and especially in the great spiritual crisis of life, that through the use of this course hundreds and thousands have been led into conscious relations with the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, and have made public acknowledgment of their allegiance to" him.

Chapter II Reasons For Having Special Lessons For Juniors

THE CHILDREN WE TEACH

CHAPTER II

Reasons for Having Special Lessons for Juniors

"The supreme aim of the Sunday school is to develop to the utmost the religious life of every pupil. "*

In order that this aim may be realized Marked - . . . . 111

Characteristics for Juniors it is necessary that the lessons used shall be prepared for the express purpose of developing the religious life of these children to the highest degree. They constitute a group with marked characteristics, differing widely from the primary children, and still more radically from those of early adolescents. It is because they are so different that they must have lessons selected with an understanding of their characteristics and needs, if they are to be educated as they should be religiously.

"The development of habits may be said to be the aim of all education. The capacity for forming habits

constitutes educability."t If this is Formation true > t e J umor years must present the

most strategic educational opportunity in life, from the point of view of the religious educa-

*B. S.Winchester.

t Article on Habit, by J. Clark Murray, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics.

tor, since during these years a great many life habits both of thought and action are fixed.

The graded lessons are so prepared as to assist the pupils to establish the habit of systematic and reverent Bible study through the use of the pupil's work book as a guide. The requirements outlined in this book help also to develop habits of accuracy.

The interests of juniors are important guide posts

pointing the road to success in teaching them. At the

_ ,. time of entering the junior period the

Reading Age ■ ° 11

children have learned how to read.

This opens to them the whole field of literature, and they find the most intense delight in reading whatever children's stories are accessible. Because of their passion for reading they often devour many things not intended for them, and others, such as the "comic supplements," which are avowedly prepared for children but are pernicious and degrading to morals, language, and artistic sense. In religious training it must always be borne in mind that "every new ability creates a new responsibility." When the child has learned to read it is our duty to introduce him to the Bible, show him that it is a great storehouse of the most wonderful and interesting stories, teach him how to handle it, and so guide his training that almost unconsciously he will become an habitual Bible reader. The junior graded lessons are prepared with this as one of the ends in view.

OF THE GRADED LESSONS *i

The age of hero worship has its beginning in the

junior period. The tendency to imitate the heroes of

„ t . history rather than acquaintances in- Hero Worship J _ , f . ^

creases from about thirty to eighty per

cent in the ages eight to twelve. It is in this period

that most of the great heroes of Bible history, both

in the Old and New Testaments, some of the Mac-

cabsean period, and others from the annals of modern

missions, are given to the boys and girls in lessons

chosen specially for them by those who knew their

needs.

A primary child loves to do things; that is he likes

to be busy and finds his enjoyment in the activity. He

will work happily for hours making Attainment of - . 1 . , , , *

Results something which he seems to take an

equal pleasure in tearing to pieces as soon as it is completed. In the junior period this interest gradually changes, and the child becomes interested in attaining some result through his work. The pupils' books have been prepared in such a way that there is work to be done without which the book is not complete. When the writing, picture pasting, and map coloring are done the book is finished and becomes the child's permanent possession. It is a delight to a junior child to own such a book, and to be able to show to others the results of his labor.

The junior child is interested in puzzles. One of the ways in which his power of thought grows most

rapidly is through this interest which Puzzles . r J fe

makes it possible for him to find pleasure in ferreting out things for himself. The work books are so prepared as to take advantage of this interest, and after stimulating curiosity by telling part of a story lead the children to wish to read the rest of the story and find the answers to puzzling questions by themselves.

Among the intellectual characteristics of juniors are

five which are outstanding in importance. The first

of these is memory, which in this Memory . . J

period is both strong and retentive.

This has been realized for many years as a characteristic of this age, but formerly the chief advantage taken of it was to fill the minds of the children with many whole chapters of Scripture, learned often under the impelling power of a hoped-for prize, and occasionally as a punishment for some misdeed, and generally with little or no understanding of the meaning. In these lessons prepared specially for juniors, all the Scripture and hymns given for memorization either contain truths, admonitions, and commands immediately useful to the child, or give him a vehicle for the expression of emotions of praise, thanksgiving, trust, love, and adoration, which all children under the proper influence feel but have no language to express.

The child at this period develops an intense interest in words. He is eager to gain verbal expression, and

this hunger, together with his growing Verbal Expression fondness for his gang, leads him to use

"pig" Latin or to invent some more

intricate secret code. This interest is used to great

advantage in the graded lessons in many ways. The

(see Second Year, Part 4, Lesson 40) never fails to

arouse the greatest enthusiasm. Their own love for

new methods of expression leads the juniors to admire

the man who made a written language for a whole

tribe. The high purpose which the missionary had in

view also raises an ideal which leads directly away

from the low plane of secrecy for selfish and often

evil ends.

The sense of location, which makes the study of

geography possible, dawns in the beginning of the

junior age and the interest matures be-

Location ^ ort ^ e en< ^ °^ ^ e P er i°d- We cannot

in Sunday school teach geography as a study, but because it is known that the day school gives a sufficient basis, the junior lessons contain a full course on the lands of which the lessons treat. A child graduating from the junior department having had the full course, if he has done the required work will have a good general knowledge of every Bible land, and of the physical characteristics of Palestine.

The conception of sequence of time is also a junior

characteristic, as distinguished from the primary age,

when the child knows little beyond the Sequence of i • ^1 r i_ •

Tiine present day in the sense of being

able to comprehend what is meant by the distant past or future. It is this power which makes it possible to teach history, and because it is present in the mind of the child, while no attempt is ?made here to teach Bible history, the lessons are chosen in chronological order. Any other plan would confuse the dawning historical sense. Because it is only dawning when the children are nine and ten years old, the chronological order is by periods, and changes are made from one whole period of time to another; but when one period is begun it is finished before a change is made. From the first of the Judges period to the end of the Apostolic age the chronological order is maintained, and this includes the last two months of the second year and all of the third and fourth years of the course.

The junior child has a growing sense of reality and

a desire to know what are the real things in the world

^ . about him, seen and unseen. This is

Reality ' ., _ .

the time when the very foundations ot

faith are built, for by the proper culture of the spiritual

life the childish credulity, which believes everything

without discrimination, is changed to an increasingly

intelligent belief in the eternal realities. The lessons

OF THE GRADED LESSOXS 25

are admirably planned to meet the child's longing for fundamental truth.

There is at this period a high regard for authority, justly administered by one who has the right to rule. It is imperative that the child shall have Authority* suc ^ a P resent ation of God as will en-

able him to realize that he is the Creator of the world, the King to whom all owe allegiance, and who rules with justice and love. This thought of the kingship of God is supreme in these lessons, and so the need of the child to know of a Ruler who is all wise, perfectly just, merciful, and loving, is met.

The junior child has many limitations. He has very

little reasoning power, and therefore would be unable

. . . . to follow or take part in anv discussion*

Limitations

on cause and effect. He does not care

what people are, and therefore would have no interest in and could not understand character studies. He is interested, however, in seeing what results follow certain lines of action, and he likes to know what people have done, provided their deeds have been heroic or remarkable in any way. These are the reasons why this course for juniors is made up of stories instead of abstract sermons or discussions, and mainly of stories which show the consequences of right and* wrong actions.

In their relations with other people the juniors have a deep interest in a selected group of their own age

. , and sex. This is the beginning of the Gang Period . & - t>

"gang" period, and marks the development of the first stirrings of the social instinct. Because there is a strong desire for companionship it is possible to lead the child to realize that he may have God with him as a daily companion if he will. The child is also at the point when he becomes conscious of his inability to meet and conquer the temptations that arise in his every-day life. As he enters consciously into this lifelong struggle against sin he needs to know that God is a Saviour from the power of sin, and to be led to turn to him in temptation and to trust in him for strength.

The child must realize his dependence upon God for guidance in all the affairs of life. He needs to be

made to understand that his relation God to God is that of a subject to a ruler,

and therefore it is his duty to obey God's laws. He needs to know that it is his privilege to work with God by doing his work in the world. He must be shown that his love and adoration for God may and should be expressed in acts of worship, and that he may talk with God concerning everything that interests him.

In relation to others the junior must be taught to play fair, to obey those who are in authority over him, to work with others in the home by doing his share of

whatever work is to be done, to take Relation to , . , - « . r

Others stand as the champion of every

good cause. He must know also that

there are certain things which he owes to himself.

First among these is the formation of right personal

habits. The only way in which such habits can be

formed is through the repeated doing of right acts.

This is not easy and so the child must be helped to

make right choices, and he must be given right ideals

of progress.

Every one of these things was definitely in mind when the junior lessons were prepared, and it is evident to all who study and use the

T PCCATIC T n t\ t

Meet the Need lessons understanding what the junior child is, that the junior series of the International Graded Course is on the plane of the child's experience, appeals to his interests, and ministers effectively to the upbuilding of his character.

There is a wide difference between the knowledge, experience, and interests of a junior child of nine, and

those of one who is three years older. Series In fact there is no period in the life

when more rapid advances are made year by year. The junior series, therefore, presents not simply lessons for juniors, but four years of lessons carefully graded both in the choice of material and the method of presentation. There is first a year of lessons intended explicitly for normal children nine years old, corresponding to the fourth grade in the day school. There is another series of fifty-two lessons planned for children ten years of age, and a third year of lessons is provided for children eleven years old. In the fourth year, when the pupils are approximately twelve years old, it is known that with the large majority the first great spiritual crisis occurs. The lessons for that year are so selected that they give exactly the studies needed to guide the children to the Saviour, and make conscious and vital their relationship to him. There are certain general characteristics which are common to junior children as a group ; but the variation which is apparent in knowledge, attainment, and interests between the children of any one year and those of another makes it evident that if the lessons are to minister effectively to the unfolding life they must be graded year by year.

Chapter III The Junior Series Of Lessons M

JUNIOR

im of the Course

■^Sfo lead the child to become a doer of the word t\ and to bring him into conscious relations with the Lord Jesus Christ

"Character is tk summation

of habit y habit is the

repeiihoa of iii§f

9wrne

AIM OF THE JUNIOR LESSON'S

The badge pictured here -is that of the Junior Department. It suggests the Junior

Motto, James i: 22, and is in the Junior colors — light blue and white.

CHAPTER III

The Junior Series of Lessons

The junior series of lessons do not in themselves

comprise a complete course of study. They form one

part of a comprehensive whole, the Part of a Course r , t * 111

of Study course 01 completely graded lessons

known as the International Graded

Course. In order to understand fully the ^character

and scope of the junior lessons it is necessary to know

something of those through which the foundation has

been laid upon which these lessons build.

The purpose of the two years of beginners' lessons is "to lead the little child to the Father." The lessons