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Page 68
Drill lessons in the church school.--While the church-school teacher
will not require so much use of drill as the day-school teacher, it is
highly essential that drill shall not be omitted at points where it is
needed. There are some things which the child should learn very
thoroughly and completely in his study of religion. He should know a few
prayers by heart, so that their words come to him naturally and easily
when he desires to use them. He should know the words and music of
certain songs and hymns suited to his age. He should learn certain Bible
passages of rare beauty, and other sentiments, verses, and poems found
outside the Bible. He should come, as a matter of convenience and skill,
to know the names and order of the books of the Bible. In some churches
he is required to know the catechism. Whatever of such material is to be
mastered fully and completely must receive careful drill.
Principles for conducting the drill.--The first step in a successful
drill lesson is to _supply a motive_ for the drill. This is necessary in
order to secure alertness and effort. _Mere_ repetition is not drill.
Monotonous going over the words of a poem or the list of books of the
Bible with wandering or slack attention will fail of results. The
learner must be keyed up, and give himself whole-heartedly to the work.
Let the child come to feel a real _need_ of mastery, and one great
motive is supplied. Let him desire the words of the song because he is
to sing in the chorus, or desire the words of the poem because he is to
take part in a pageant, and there will be little trouble about
willingness to drill.
Again, the competitive impulse can often be used to motivate drill. The
child is ambitious to stand at the head of his class, or to beat his own
record of performance, or to win the appreciation or praise of teacher
or parents, or he has a pride in personal achievement--these are all
worthy motives, and can be made of great service in conducting classroom
or individual drills. The posting of a piece of good work done by a
pupil, or calling attention to the good performance of a member of the
class can often be made an incentive to the whole number.
Drill, in order to be effective, must not stop short of thorough
mastery. The matter which is barely learned, or the verse which can be
but doubtfully repeated is sure to escape if not fixed by further drill.
It is probable, as suggested in an earlier chapter, that we attempt to
have our children memorize too much Bible material which is beyond their
understanding and too difficult for them. On the other hand, there can
be no doubt that we fail to teach them sufficiently well the smaller
amount of beautiful sentiments, verses, poems, songs, and prayers which
should be a part of the mental and spiritual possession of every child.
Our weekly lessons provide for the memorizing of Bible matter week by
week, yet surprisingly few children can repeat any sensible amount of
such material. Better results would follow if we should require less
material, select it more wisely, and then _drill upon it until it is
firmly fixed in the mind as a permanent and familiar possession_.
THE APPRECIATION LESSON
It is quite as essential that the child shall come to enjoy and admire
right things as that he shall know right things. To cultivate
appreciation for the beautiful, the good, the fine, and the true is one
of the great aims of our teaching. One who is able to analyze a flower
and technically describe its botanical parts, but who fails to respond
to its beauty has still much to learn about flowers. One who learns the
facts about the life of Paul, Elijah, or Jesus but who does not feel and
admire the strength, gentleness, and goodness of their characters has
missed one of the essential points in his study. One who masters the
details about a poem or a picture but who misses the thrill of enjoyment
and appreciation which it holds for him has gathered but the husks and
misses the right kernel of meaning.
How to teach appreciation.--Appreciation can never be taught directly.
The best we can do is to bring to the child the thing of beauty or
goodness which we desire him to enjoy and admire, making sure that he
comprehends its meaning as fully as may be, and then leave it to exert
its own appeal. We may by ill-advised comment or insistence even hinder
appreciation. The teacher who constantly asks the children, "Do you not
think the poem is beautiful?" or, "Is not this a lovely song?" not only
fails to help toward appreciation, but is in danger of creating a false
attitude in the child by causing him to express admiration where none is
felt.
There is also grave doubt whether it is not a mistake to urge too much
on the child that he "ought" to love God, or that it is his "duty" to
love the church. The fact is that love, admiration and appreciation
_cannot be compelled_ by any act of the will or sense of duty. They must
arise spontaneously from a realization of some lovable or beautiful
quality which exerts an appeal that will not be denied.
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