The Cradle roll of the church school

Front matter

Qass.

Book

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT

Introduction

'T^HE Cradle Roll is now recognized as an •*- extension department of the church school.

It was in 1877, in the Central Baptist Church of Elizabeth, New Jersey, that the first Cradle Roll was organized. The names of the baby brothers and sisters of the Primary children were entered in a birthday book. These little children, too young to attend Sunday school, were visited in their homes, remembered on their birthdays, and were really counted as a part of the school until they were able to attend the sessions of the Primary Department, or, as it was then called, " infant class."

From this small beginning the work has grown and developed until at present there is no branch of the church school which is more beautiful or far-reaching in its influence, or which has a stronger hold upon the home, than has the Cradle Roll.

The baby in the home is often the strongest link which binds that home to the church. It is not surprising, then, that these " idols of hearts and of households "

x INTRODUCTION

have made a place for themselves in this extension department of the church school.

It is these little lives that during their first three years come under the watch-care of the church through the Cradle Roll Department of the church school.

When the mother's arms hold for the first time the tiny, helpless, priceless being God has given, the mother-love enfolds that baby life, shielding and supporting it. In a like manner the church through its extension department reaches out and enfolds the little life which is just beginning, surrounding it with loving care and providing for its religious nurture, for the purpose of the Cradle Roll is to help the parents in providing Christian training for their little children and to open the way for the babies and their parents to come into closest relationship to the church through the church school.

Every school should extend its influence into the home through this department. There is no school so small, so isolated, so poor, so large or so prosperous that it can afford to neglect its babies and little children. They are its greatest asset.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

ix

Introduction .

Chapter I THE BABY AND MOTHER

i

Little hands that cling so tightly

To the guardian of your fate! Tiny feet that press so lightly

'Neath your wond'rous featherweight, Who am I to guard you rightly,

Who am I to guide you straight?

Yet you cling as though you knew me Worth your trusting, every whit;

And the thought goes singing through me — Shines about me where I sit, —

That the Power which sent you to me Knows that somehow I am fit. 1

— Burges Johnson.

/^\F all the things in God's great, beautiful ^^ world, there is nothing quite so beautiful, quite so precious and quite so interesting to study as a little child.

Heredity and Environment

We are told that the first three years of life are very significant. At the begin-

1 From Childhood. Used by permission of Thomas Y. Crowell Co. 1 ning the little life may be started right or the soul may be marred. Indeed, before the baby's eyes open upon the world, an influence has begun to shape his character. Mrs. Lamoreaux emphasizes this fact when she says, " Life is unstained by guilt in its early years. It comes innocent from the hand of God, but fingers long since vanished have traced lines that mar the perfect whiteness."

Heredity is a mighty force in shaping the character of the child. Through its influence, parents may mar or beautify the lives of their children. Fortunately, however, the child is not dependent upon his parents alone for the stamp upon his character. Down through the ages there has come to him the impress of the many influences which have shaped human nature and which cannot be entirely lost in one or two generations. Tendencies, both good and evil, are bequeathed to him. He is a " bundle of possibilities," and whether the good and beautiful or the evil shall develop is determined largely by environment and training.

We cannot change the child's heredity. He is here with his " heritage of the ages." The most the parent can do is to try, with God's help, to shape the life through nurture.

The first three years of the child's life are the mother's golden time of opportunity. She should realize what wonderful possibilities lie within that little body, possibilities of " strength and activity, of unlimited knowledge, of a pure and noble moral character, which shall fit him for a life of service among men and of communion and companionship with the divine."

Beginnings of Education

As he starts " out from the shore of the great unknown " the baby is ignorant of everything, even of himself. He lies, a little helpless bundle, in his mother's arms, able to do little more than cry when hungry or uncomfortable. Sometimes at the sound of his mother's voice, as she sings or talks to him, his lips quiver into a queer little " three-cornered smile." He does not understand her love but he feels her care. Very soon he reacts to sensations, either agreeable or unpleasant, which come to him. He is attracted by a light and if allowed to do so, gazes at it with wide-open eyes. He starts at a sound. If it pleases him, he turns his head toward it and smiles. If the reverse, he turns from it and cries. He has learned to locate the sound. Now he recognizes his mother and turns in fear from strangers. He discovers his fingers and toes and learns the way to his mouth. He also makes the discovery that it is possible to get what he wishes by crying for it. Sully says that " it is several years before he knows his own body as an object separate from other objects, and with all of its parts connected and vitally related."

Continuing his discoveries, some day he finds that he can creep or hitch himself over the floor until he can reach his ball or rattle which rolled away from him. Then the day comes when after he has pulled himself up by a chair, he balances himself a moment and takes a step or two quite alone. Soon he masters the art of walking and the feat of talking. Now he is " getting into mischief " everywhere, his busy little fingers grasping everything within reach. He takes an object, looks at it, shakes it, drops it, picks it up and conveys it to his mouth to apply the final test of tasting it.

He imitates everything within his sight and hearing — the swaying branches of the tree, the crowing of the rooster, the barking of the dog, the chirping of the birds, the whistle of the engine, the laughter of children, the gestures of people and the sound of their voices. By doing what he sees others do, he learns how to do certain things for himself and also begins to feel himself in sympathy with them. He has things in common with others.

One thing absorbs his attention and time from morning till night — his play. He lives in a veritable world of play, and evidences of his activities may be found in every room in the house. Here is a pile of blocks where once stood a wonderful tower or house; in the corner of the library is his fire-engine; the dining-room chairs standing in a row, one behind the other, are a train of cars, and the table has become a circus tent under which are all the toy animals from the nursery.

He turns from one thing to another, always playing at something suggested to him by what he sees about him. In so doing he is developing powers which he will need later on, for play is a preparation for life. The little girl who loves and cuddles, nurses and cares for her doll will some day be the better fitted to care for a real baby, and some day the little boy who now builds his block houses and dams and bridges will do his part in the great work of the world.

In speaking of play activity, Henry F. Cope says, " It is nature's best method of education, for when a child plays he is simply reaching forward in his activities to the realization of his ideals. Play is idealized experiences. There is always a significance of wider and maturer experience in children's play. . . . The special religious value of play lies in the fact that the child, in his games, is experimenting with life, learning its lessons; especially is he learning the art of living with other lives. The adequate care of a child's play-life will involve, in addition to the trained intelligence of the parents, provision for space in the house and also outdoors, willingness to subordinate our peace and our pleasure to the child's play at times, a reasonable though not necessarily expensive provision of play materials, attention to the character of the plays and playmates. The house will not lose its harmony and beauty if it is filled with playing children. Its function has to do with their development rather than the preservation of chairs." 1

Regarding the significance of early home education, Professor Athearn says, " A child of eleven months of age will recognize pictures. What are to be the first pictures in the nursery? Long before he can talk, the baby enjoys the harmony of sound,

1 Religious Education in the Family. Cope.

What are to be the first tunes that play upon the infant mind? By two years of age the average child has used five hundred different words. What should be the vocabulary of the home in which a human being is ' picking up ' a language? "

When does the little child become conscious of God? Who can tell? Before he can talk he absorbs religious impressions. Of course, he does not understand what his mother is doing when night after night she kneels beside his crib and speaks to One whom he cannot see, but an impression is indelibly registered.

Nurture in the Home

The nurture or training in the home may be summed up in the one word " habit." The child acquires habits very quickly, and if he is not helped in the beginning to form right habits, he will be growing all the time into wrong ones which he may, with great effort, have to undo in after years.

Habits begin to be formed from the moment the baby enters the world — habits which determine his character and destiny. The impressions received from those about him and the home atmosphere or environment are woven into his life, and although he cannot understand them, they form the greater part of his education. Thus the home becomes his first school and the parents are his first teachers.

Right habits which he should form maybe classified under three heads — habits concerning himself, habits of life in relation to others, and religious habits, or habits in relation to God.

(a) Habits concerning himself include those by which health is fostered and " the basis of a sound mental life is provided" by care which is given at regular times, such as regular times for eating, sleeping, dressing, playing, resting and caressing. The child soon learns what to expect at certain times and under certain conditions, and to respond happily, so that, as Professor Kirkpatrick says, " he will be a joy to himself and others, or he may become the fretful, irritable, irritating tyrant of the household."

As he grows a little older and can do some things for himself, he needs to form habits of cleanliness. He must learn that his body is the house in which the real self lives and that it must be kept pure and clean — face, hands, ears and teeth need his care.

The home must also help the child to form habits of independence and resourcefulness. He must be left to do things for himself.

It may take longer for a child to button his own shoes or put on his own rubbers than to do it for him, but as soon as he is able to do for himself he should not expect to have some one do these little things. In doing for himself he forms the habit of independence. He needs now direction and suggestions that will help him to act for himself. Habits of industry begin to be formed when the child is very young by having certain little tasks to perform.

(b) Habits of life in relation to others consist, primarily, in doing what others do and in sharing with them. This is the time when the example of those about him so greatly influences the child's conduct. Now he needs to be helped to form the social habits of courtesy, unselfishness, helpfulness, truthfulness and obedience. Professor Kirkpatrick says that " the two most important things to provide during this period are (1) pleasant, sympathetic relations between the child and those around him, and (2) the uniform conditions which are favorable to the formation of desirable habits of conduct. Obedience should, during this period, be more a matter of habit than of conscious volition."

(c) The first and perhaps the only distinctively religious habit that a child under io THE CRADLE ROLL

four years of age can be expected to form is that of prayer, and the training of his devotional life should begin long before he is able to understand or use language.

His ideas and habits concerning God as well as concerning other things are gained from his home surroundings, and if the home is Christian and father and mother pray in the presence of the baby, he will receive religious impressions long before he understands what they are doing, or before he even knows the name " God." The mother who kneels beside her baby's crib and prays for him is giving him his first lessons in prayer. In The Dawn of Religion in the Mind of a Child, Mrs. Mumford very beautifully describes the mother's prayer influence over her little one as follows :

" The tiny baby, now a few months old, is lying awake in his cradle, ready for his evening sleep; his mother is kneeling beside him, her head reverently bowed, her hand holding his in her warm, soft clasp. She is praying to God — praying that he will care for her baby through the coming night, care for him in the coming years of youth and manhood. The touch of her hand, the sound of her voice, the sight of her face, as she kneels there, from the first, in some dim way, vaguely modify the con-

THE BABY AND MOTHER n

tents of his little mind — even though, as yet, he can understand nothing of what it all means. Still, as each night she prays, as each night, month after month this same group of sense impressions has been passively received in his baby brain, invariably registered, then unconsciously analysed and compared, gradually the group, as a whole, stands out in his mind with a certain degree of definiteness. ... When his mother prays, her attitude, her tone of voice, her expression of face, the very touch of her hand, are different from what they are at any other time and under any other circumstances, and to this difference the child instinctively responds. Silently and unconsciously, her reverence, her love, communicated to him in some strange and exquisite way, along the chords of human sympathy, call forth in him, almost from the first, feelings akin to her own. What she feels, he, too, begins to feel, and a child is capable of religious feelings long before he is capable of religious thought."

As soon as the child has learned to talk, the mother should give him a little sentence prayer to say to God. He may not understand it, but the prayer habit is thus being formed and the understanding and meaning of prayer will come in due time.

Before he is old enough to attend the sessions of the church school, the child is capable of following simple stories of a religious nature in the home, and of learning his first lessons in the virtues of obedience, kindness, unselfishness and the like.

The Mother's Opportunity.

These years when the mother has her baby with her practically all of the time, when the home is his sole environment, are the years of her golden opportunity. Never again will she have him entirely under her watch-care. Other people and a larger environment will soon add their influence to hers. Now the little child is the product of the home, and the songs and stories, the play and work, the love and care, the ideas and habits of the home are built into his very life. Professor Kirkpatrick says, " The spirit of the people around the child, the atmosphere of the home, never enter so fully into the child's nature and become a part of it as during this time." The little child is " the individual in the making," and he is the mother's opportunity.

MY OPPORTUNITY

My opportunity! Dear Lord, I do not ask

That thou shouldst give me some high work of thine,

Some noble calling, or some wondrous task — Give me a little hand to hold in mine.

I do not ask that I should ever stand

Among the wise, the worthy, or the great;

I only ask that, softly, hand in hand, A child and I may enter at thy gate.

Give me a little child to point the way

Over the strange, 'sweet path that leads to thee;

Give me a little voice to teach to pray; Give me two shining eyes thy face to see.

The only crown I ask, dear Lord, to wear, Is this — that I may teach a little child

How beautiful, oh, how divinely fair

Is thy dear face, so loving, sweet and mild!

I do not need to ask for more than this.

My opportunity! 'Tis standing at my door. What sorrow if this blessing I should miss!

A little child! Why should I ask for more?

— Marion B. Craig.

Chapter II THE CRADLE ROLL STANDARD

CTANDARDS have long been adopted ^ as measurements of conditions and results. The thermometer records the temperature; scales test the weight; the bushel measures the bulk; the yardstick the length. Quantity and quality should both be " up to standard," but the custom has been more common to measure quantity.

In the development of the modern church-school work, it has become necessary also to erect standards by which the various courses, classes, departments and schools may be measured.

We realize that spiritual results cannot be checked and tabulated, as can points on organization and equipment, yet the latter are important as helpful toward the attainment of the spiritual aims.

Every Cradle Roll superintendent has in mind certain ideals and aims for her department. She has probably set for her department and her helpers a high standard, and she is ambitious to have her Cradle

u

THE CRADLE ROLL STANDARD 15

Roll reach up to that standard. In so doing she is on the road to success.

To help the superintendent to keep before her a high standard and to furnish a plan by which she may check up her work, a Standard of Efficiency has been prepared for the Cradle Roll.

A standard is an ideal toward which to work and a measure by which to test progress. The following standard was adopted by the Sunday-School Council of Evangelical Denominations in January, 1916, and by the International Sunday-School Association in February, 1916:

Standard for a Cradle Roll Department The church and church school may assist in the religious nurture of little children in the home, and insure their future membership in the church school. To this end, it is desirable:

1 To keep in touch with the children and parents, by :

(a) Organizing a Cradle Roll of children

from birth to three or four years of age, with a superintendent and any needed assistants.

(b) Recognition of membership in the

church school, a public roll and an accurate, permanent record of names, birthdays, promotions, removals, parents' names and addresses. (c) Public promotion not later than the fourth birthday to the Beginners' Class or Department.

2 To make definite provision for the child's early religious nurture, by:

{a) Suggesting to parents appropriate stories, prayers, songs or simple lessons preparatory to the Beginners' lessons, and furnishing helpful literature when necessary.

(b) Furnishing appropriate and simple pre-

liminary instruction and a sympathetic teacher for the Cradle Roll Class, if there is one in the Beginners' Department. 1

(c) Mothers' or Parents' Meetings or

Classes, in which topics concerning the early training of children shall be considered, and by providing a home library for their use.

3 To provide for social contact between church school and home, by:

{a) Visits, messages, and invitations for special days.

1 If children under four years of age attend the Church school, special provision should be made for them in a Cradle Roll Class.

THE CRADLE ROLL STANDARD 17

(b) Recognition of birthdays.

(c) A Cradle Roll Day annually.

(d) An occasional social affair for parents

and children.

Chapter HI ORGANIZATION

" Babies short and babies tall.

Babies big and babies small, Blue-eyed babies, babies fair, Brown-eyed babies with lots of hair, Babies so tiny they can't sit up, Babies that drink from a silver cup, Babies that coo, babies that creep, Babies that only can eat and sleep, Babies that laugh and babies that talk, Babies quite big enough to walk."

npHERE are babies everywhere. No A church is without them, but some churches have not as yet realized the value and blessedness of gathering them into the Cradle Roll and surrounding them during the impressionable years of life with Christian influences. If a church school has made no attempt to have a Cradle Roll, now is the time to start one.

Members

The material for organizing the Cradle Roll is right at hand. All that is needed for a start is one baby, and surely there is no community without a baby. Large numbers are not always indicative of an efficient department. Much better a small number enrolled and each child cared for personally than a large enrollment that stops there, for the Cradle Roll should be more than a waiting-list of babies who will one day become pupils in the church school.

Of course, large numbers are desirable and the church should strive to reach every baby and then provide for the nurture of all. Let there be no discouragement, however, if the number is small. Cradle Roll Departments with but one baby enrolled are not uncommon. If there is but one baby in the community it speaks well for the church that takes as much care of this one as it would of a hundred. It is probable, however, that if a thorough search is made, other babies will be found, for not only should the babies be sought in the homes of the church and congregation, but also in homes in the community, if they are not connected with another church. Indeed, on the rolls of many departments are names of babies living far away and reached by mail. One tiny rural school with a resident membership of less than twenty had a Cradle Roll numbering nearly two hundred. The families of which these babies were a part were not reached by any other church.

The membership of the Cradle Roll consists of children from birth to three years of age inclusive. On the promotion Sunday following the little child's fourth birthday, he should become a member of the Beginners' Department. Even if, for any reason, he cannot as yet attend the sessions of the school, the transfer to the Beginners' Department should be made, that he may come under the supervision of the Beginners' superintendent, or teacher, and receive from her the lesson folders and other material given to the Beginners. He thus becomes a member of the Home or Extension Department under the care of the Beginners' superintendent until he is able to attend the regular sessions of the school. It is a mistake to leave the child's name upon the Cradle Roll after the fourth birthday, but it is also a mistake to take it from the roll without seeing to it that he is either a regular attendant in the Beginners' Class or cared for by the Beginners' superintendent or teacher.

The Superintendent and Her Work

Given the babies, the next step in organizing a Cradle Roll is to find some woman in the church or school to whom the work may be intrusted. Very important is it that the right person be selected. In small schools it is often possible for the Beginners' superintendent or teacher to care for the Cradle Roll also, but it is better to have a superintendent for the one department only.

Certain qualifications for the superintendent are essential. She must be one who understands and loves little children and desires to help them and their parents. She must also love her church and school and be interested in their welfare. Furthermore, she must have sympathy and love for people and an insight into character which will enable her to discover the good in all. She must be tactful and sympathetic in working with others. She must have ability in directing the work and must be patient and brave and consecrated. Frequently a mother is glad to undertake the work, because of her love for her own children and her desire to help other mothers. Sometimes one whose own baby " could not stay," and whose mother-love goes out to other babies, accepts the Cradle Roll as her legacy. Whoever the superintendent is, she must be of sufficient maturity and have sufficient experience to be of help to the babies' mothers.

Her first work will be to study the situation in her community. From the records of church and school and with the assistance of the pastor and school superintendent, she will find the names of children under four years of age in families which are identified with the congregation. In all probability enough babies will be found in this way for a beginning. It might be well, also, to put an attractive notice on the church calendar, stating that a Cradle Roll is being started and inviting the people to suggest names of babies whose parents might be glad to have them become members. An opportunity may be given for parents and friends to furnish names of babies in their neighborhoods who might also be reached. Then tell the pupils about it in the various departments of the school. Children will often find babies overlooked by adults.

The date for the formal organization of the department should be set, and when that day comes, some form of recognition should be given to the charter members as a special feature.

The next work of the superintendent is to secure her helpers and direct them in their particular work, and with them visit the babies' homes, present the plan of starting the Cradle Roll and secure the names of the babies. Great care must be taken to present the work attractively, that the parents will be pleased to have their babies enrolled. At the time of enrolling the baby, complete records should be made — the baby's name and date of birth, names of father and mother, the address and date of enrollment. A certificate of membership should be given to each mother. These little certificates are valued as the recognition of the baby's first step in his course of religious education, his first enrolment in the church school.

When the preliminary work is completed, the entire school should be assembled for a brief recognition service, when the names are officially placed on the Cradle Roll and the school is made to understand that this new department is really a part of the school in which all should take an active interest.

In the case of large, graded schools, where the departments meet in their own separate rooms, this first recognition service is the only one held before the entire school. As babies' names are added to the roll on succeeding Sundays, the recognition services will be conducted in the Beginners' Department.

Cradle Roll Assistants

The Cradle Roll needs so much personal care that unless it is very small the superintendent will need some assistants. The number needed will depend entirely upon the size of the department, the territory covered and the scope of the work. A large Cradle Roll calls for many visits in the homes and considerable clerical work. It may also need a Cradle Roll class for the older members who are beginning to attend the school, but who are still too young to understand the Beginners' lessons.

The superintendent's helpers, in visiting the homes, should be adults who can be of real service to the mothers. The clerical work may be cared for by a secretary, who will keep the records complete and accurate, prepare application blanks and certificates, see to the delivering of the birthday cards which have been signed by the superintendent, send out notices and invitations and do whatever other clerical work is necessary. A young girl often takes great interest in doing this kind of work and receives, in doing it, training for larger service. In some schools this part of the work has been splendidly done by a " shutin," who has delighted in being able to do something for her school. In fact, in more than one case the entire work of the Cradle Roll has been cared for by an invalid, who, unable to get out herself, has so directed her assistants that they have carried it on with great success. One such invalid, who was confined to her wheel-chair, but who could use her hands, called to her assistance a group of Junior boys and girls, telling them that they must be " eyes and ears and feet " for her, and sending them out as her messengers. Many superintendents have found the Juniors of invaluable assistance. They are splendid messengers, running errands with willing feet, carrying notices and invitations, notes of sympathy when sorrow enters a home, programs, church calendars and other literature. In short, the Juniors are ready to do whatever is asked of them, especially if they are organized as a " Messenger Band," " Cradle Roll Helpers," "Little Mothers," "Cradle Roll Brothers " and the like.