Training the Teacher Part 38

12. By whom are the International Lessons selected?

13. What is the work of the International Sunday School a.s.sociation?

14. Describe its system of Auxiliary a.s.sociations.

15. What is the World's Sunday School a.s.sociation?

Lesson 2

The Sunday-school Equipped

#11. Buildings.#--A discussion of Sunday-school buildings properly comes under the head of equipment, but as that is a large topic by itself, it is not our purpose to consider it here but to confine ourselves to those features of equipment which may be used in any building. The buildings should be made with the needs and conveniences of the Sunday-school in mind. The department rooms and cla.s.s rooms are but expressions of this idea. The school deserves as good a room as the preaching service, and one as thoroughly adapted to its uses.

Department rooms and cla.s.s rooms can often be temporarily arranged by the use of curtains or screens, in a building where no regular part.i.tions have been provided.

#12. Seating.#--Chairs are better than pews. They should be comfortable, and adapted to the size of the pupils who are to use them. No one can sit quietly very long unless his feet can rest squarely on the floor. If the room is not carpeted, the chair legs should have rubber tips.

#13. Tables.#--Such of the officers as need to use desks or tables should have tables of their own, so that all of their books, blanks, and supplies may be kept in proper order. Cla.s.s tables are very desirable. They need not be very large. Each table should have a drawer or box in it for the song-books and other property of the cla.s.s. This economizes time and saves confusion, as nothing will need to be distributed.

#14. Cla.s.s Boxes.#--Where it is impossible to use cla.s.s tables, a cla.s.s box is next in value. It should contain the song-books and everything else belonging to the cla.s.s, and should be kept in a given place where some member of the cla.s.s can secure it before the school, and replace it after the school is closed.

#15. Blackboards.#--It is impossible to overestimate the value of blackboards in Sunday-school work when rightly used. There ought to be one in the main school, and one in every department room. It would be well, also, if there were a small blackboard in every cla.s.s room. It can be used for so many purposes, such as reviewing the lesson, announcing hymns or displaying reports. The revolving blackboard is the best for general use, and the most ornamental. Square crayons of half an inch, or one inch, in size are better than the ordinary round school crayon. Simple work is better than elaborate work. Anybody can use a blackboard to advantage, whether he can draw or not.

#16. Maps.#--If a school can have but one map, let it be the map of Palestine. Then add the following maps, in the order named: Bible Lands; a second map of Palestine,--one for Old Testament and one for New Testament; Paul's missionary journeys; a missionary map of the world; a missionary map of the denomination. A sand map is good for use in the later elementary grades, but should not wholly displace the wall map.

#17. Charts.#--Many helpful charts are now prepared for Sunday-school use; charts of the life of Christ, charts for missionary purposes and temperance teaching, charts with choice pa.s.sages of Scripture and hymns.

#18. Libraries.#--If possible, have two libraries, one for teachers, one for scholars. A teachers' library should contain Bible-study helps and books for Sunday-school workers, which treat of special phases of Sunday-school work. The scholars' library should be properly cla.s.sified so that the members of all departments will feel an equal interest in it.

#19. Missionary Curios.#--Material aid in creating missionary interest will be secured by showing woods, stones, plants, flowers, clothing, and birds from the various foreign fields, and by the use of pictures and models of their buildings, which reveal the customs of the lands under consideration. These things are abundant, and are comparatively inexpensive.

#20. Flags and Banners.#--Every school should have the flag of the nation displayed at each session. Many schools use the Christian flag, also, made of white silk with a blue field and red cross. The "Conquest Flag" is also popular. Banners for Star Cla.s.ses, Excelsior Cla.s.ses, Honor Cla.s.ses, etc., are desirable if properly used.

Considerable school spirit may be cultivated by having school colors embodied in a pennant, which is always displayed when the school is in session.

#21. Objects.#--Many objects are now prepared that are valuable in Sunday-school work, such as building blocks, models of the Tabernacle, globes, and birthday banks.

#22. Bibles and Music Books.#--Every member of the school who is old enough to read should bring his own Bible. Nevertheless, it is well to have a supply of school Bibles, as they should be used in the school instead of lesson helps. Select a good music book, and get plenty of copies. If every member has a book, the singing and the order will be better. Hymn banners and song rolls are useful adjuncts.

#23. Pictures.#--Choice pictures are not only beautiful, but valuable in many ways. The walls of the Sunday-school room, and especially of the elementary departments, should be well decorated with choice inexpensive pictures, ill.u.s.trating various Bible scenes; there may also be miscellaneous pictures of an equally elevating and refining character.

#24. Stereopticon.#--Here and there a school is able to have a stereopticon or magic lantern. This instrument is becoming more popular every day. If properly used, a stereopticon is very helpful in Sunday-school work.

#25. Lesson Helps.#--Supply yourselves with plenty of lesson helps for officers, teachers, and scholars. Get the very best, but _leave them at home on Sunday_.

#26. Records and Printing.#--Records that are worth keeping, at all, are worth keeping well, and in well-made books. All printing should be well done or not done at all. Business houses are judged by their printing; Sunday-schools likewise. Use good paper, occasionally colored inks, and let all the printing be neat and tasteful.

#27. Bells.#--Bells are useful, if not used too much. Do not use a gong. A small tea bell is large enough for an ordinary room. The less noise the superintendent makes, the less noise the scholars will make.

#28. Equipment for Hand-Work.#--This comparatively new feature of Sunday-school work is rapidly gaining favor. It is usually the most successful in the Junior Department, though it is used extensively in both the Primary and Intermediate departments. In this brief paragraph, we can but mention some of the phases of hand-work, as follows:--The sand map; the pulp map; map drawing; written lesson outlines; cutting and pasting pictures in blank books (with or without writing), treating of the current lessons, or missionary lands and themes; sewing; modeling Oriental objects in clay, pulp, etc., etc.

Test Questions

1. When there are no separate rooms for departments, what may be done?

2. Name some of the requisites in the most satisfactory seating.

3. Name two important articles of cla.s.s promotion.

4. What are some of the uses of a blackboard?

5. State what maps are needed in the school.

6. What kind of books should a teacher's library contain?

7. Suggest ways of creating missionary interest.

8. What banners and objects would be valuable?

9. Who should bring Bibles to the school?

10. What is the proper place for lesson helps on Sunday?

11. What are some of the things needed for hand-work in the school?

Lesson 3

The Sunday-school Organized

#29.# A Sunday-school is organized for work when (1) the official positions are filled; (2) there are teachers for all the cla.s.ses; (3) the scholars are properly enrolled and cla.s.sified; (4) and it has intelligently set itself thoroughly to accomplish, in a definite way, that for which a Sunday-school stands.

#30. Enrolment.#--The name of every member of the school should be enrolled either in a book or by the card system. The enrolment should show not only name and address, but date of entry, birthday, date of promotion from one department to another, date of uniting with the church, date and cause of leaving the school; date of death, if necessary.

#31. Cla.s.sification (or Grading).#--Cla.s.sification consists in placing the scholars in such departments and cla.s.ses as will secure for them and for the whole school the best results in the best manner. This will require that the scholars be advanced from one department to another at proper intervals, in order to meet their changing needs.

#32. Departments.#--Every Sunday-school should be divided into departments. Three or four departments are possible in the smallest schools, and more are desirable in larger ones. It is usually possible to maintain the following departments in an ordinary school:

(1) _The Cradle Roll_, for children too small to attend the regular sessions. These are usually under three years of age.

(2) _The Beginners_, for children from three to six.