Teaching Hints

Two years of time preferably should be allowed for the completion of these lessons. The International Association will grant a diploma upon the completion of the First Standard Course, provided at least one study year has been spent in pursuing the fifty lessons.

If the book is studied by a normal class, meeting at the time of the regular lesson period on Sunday, only a half-hour will usually be available; and in this case at least one hundred half-hour periods, extending over two teaching years, should be used for the fifty lessons. If full hour periods are available, the course may be completed within one year of fifty lesson periods.

The Book

Although the numbered lessons begin with the story of Adam on page 14, there are two chapters which may be used as preliminary material, if the leader chooses. One of these is "How the Bible Came to Us," by Professor Price, on page 123. There are fifteen numbered paragraphs in this chapter; if there are at least fifteen members in the class, a profitable hour could be spent by assigning a paragraph to a member, several days ahead, with the understanding that each one was to read the entire chapter, but to be specially prepared in his assigned paragraph. At the time of the lesson hour pencil and paper could be supplied to each member of the class. Then beginning with paragraph 1, all books closed, the assigned member could state from memory the contents of the paragraph, while all the others silently write down wrong statements or omissions—these to be brought out later.

The chapter on the Bible, page 11, should also precede the numbered lessons. The chart given is easily remembered and each member might reproduce this chart from memory and tell something of each of the several periods enumerated.

The Lessons on the Book.—It will be seen that each lesson is composed of several parts: (a) The historical outline, which is placed first; (b) the geographical work, in a statement of places and an outline map; (c) a paragraph designated "Significance of Events"; (d) the story of the period briefly retold in simple language. Note the following suggestions:

(a) The Historical Outline.—These outlines, taken altogether, constitute a complete statement of the essentials of Bible history. They are the framework upon which may be built as elaborate a Bible story as one may wish. The outlines may well be used for memory work and in question drills and reviews.

(b) The Geographical Work.—In most of the chapters the maps are so simply drawn that they may be used for geography drill, each student being asked to draw (without tracing) the simple map connected with the lesson, and locate the places mentioned.

(c) Significance of Events.—These paragraphs, taken together, form a concise story of the progress of redemption and revelation, and state the spiritual teaching of each period. The essentials of these statements may be memorized, but students should be required to express the thought in their own language.

(d) The Retold Bible Story.—Emphasis upon the memorizing of the other three parts of the lesson should not prove an excuse for passing by the Bible narrative here given. Without this the other work may prove dry and uninteresting—a task. The student who reads and rereads the narrative with care will find his memory work in the other portions invested with a vitality that will otherwise be missing. The narrative section will furnish abundant material for brief debates, informal discussions, assigned papers on special topics, and many other helpful methods. Bible study of historical facts in rigid outline may be made as dry as dust. Bible study aglow with human interest and enthusiastically pursued by diversified methods may be made the most interesting study that can be undertaken.

Using the Blackboard.—The blackboard may be used with great profit as an aid in reviewing a lesson, either at the close of a teaching period, at the beginning of a period following a lesson assigned for home study, or at intervals in the course after covering several lessons. No special blackboard outlines are offered in this book; it is urged that each leader shall construct his own blackboard review from the historical outlines at the beginning of each lesson on the Bible. Such a blackboard review should be accompanied by questions and answers. Here is an illustration of the blackboard use of the outlines of Lesson 1, The Book, page 14, after the entire lesson has been carefully studied and with all books closed.

Leader.—What are the great divisions of the Bible?

Answer.—Old Testament and New Testament.

(Here may follow a drill on the Books of the Old Testament in their order.)

Leader.—We will begin with the study of The Old Testament Division (write).

Leader.—How may this be divided?

Answer.—Into a prelude and five periods.

Leader.—What does the prelude tell about? (Write Prelude.)

Answer.—Story of creation (write).

Leader.—Where do we read about it?

Answer.—Genesis 1, 2 (write).

Leader.—Where do all things have their origin?

Answer.—In God.

Leader.—What does the first period tell about? (Write First Period.)

Answer.—The creation of Adam (write).

Leader.—What "beginnings" do we see in this period?

Answer.—The beginning of the human race, sin, and redemption (write).

Leader.—Where is this told about?

Answer.—Genesis 3 (write).

Leader.—Who is the leading person of the second period? (Write Second Period.)

Answer.—Noah (write).

Leader.—What event is chronicled in connection with Noah?

Answer.—The flood (write).

Leader.—What great structure was built in this period?

Answer.—The tower of Babel (write).

Leader.—What punishment came to the people for building this tower?

Answer.—Confusion of tongues (write)

Leader.—Where do we read about this period?

Answer.—Genesis 6-11 (write).

This method may be followed in the case of each of the Bible lessons. The blackboard outline for the entire first lesson would appear about as follows, after being built up step by step:

The Old Testament Division

Prelude.— Story of Creation (Genesis 1, 2)

First Period— Adam

The beginning of{ Human Race { Sin { Redemption

Second Period— Noah—the flood

Tower of Babel—confusion of tongues (Genesis 6-11)

Third Period— Abraham—chosen family

Egypt—prosperity—oppression

Moses—Exodus

Journeys

Canaan

Judges (Genesis 12 to Judges 1:21)

Fourth Period— Saul—David—Solomon

(1 Sam. 10 to 1 Kings 12)

Fifth Period— Captivity—return

Ezra, Nehemiah (2 Kings 25)

Each leader will thus be enabled to use the blackboard in his own way, basing the drill on the outline material at the beginning of each chapter; this blackboard review will be brought to the students with a freshness not secured when suggested outlines are printed with each lesson.

Familiarity with maps should be encouraged at every point. The leader may accustom the class to the question, "Where is that place?" nearly every time a town or locality is named. The average beginner in Bible study is afraid of a map; the more familiar he becomes with these maps, the more confidence he will have in his own Bible knowledge.

The New Testament Section.—In the several chapters beginning on page 71 the historical outline consists of a harmony of the Gospels. It is not intended that the student shall memorize this harmony; but the ability to reproduce from memory the journey map published in connection with each section of the harmony would give the student a very helpful grasp on the order of events in the life of Christ. The use of a journey map as a basis for telling the story of a chosen period will fix events and geographical location in mind at the same time.

The Pupil

The lessons on The Pupil enter a field of study with which the average teacher is perhaps less familiar than with the Bible section. Hence the leader will do well to begin slowly and to allow plenty of time for discussion in the class. Professional teachers who have studied the science of psychology may be very helpful in occasional talks to the class, provided you are assured in advance that they will not confuse the students by the use of technical terms. Such talks from outsiders should be brief, and confined to one phase of the subject, and time should be allowed for questions by the students and informal discussion.

Students should be encouraged to find their own illustrations for certain well-defined statements. Take, for instance, the paragraph Imitation under numbered paragraph 6, on page 144. One or more students may be asked to bring illustrations of this statement from their own home or Sunday-school experience in a given week. One will tell how he saw a neighbor's boy try to keep step with his father while on a walk. Another will describe the actions of a little girl she saw dressed in her mother's skirt—actions plainly imitative of the mother herself. Illustrations like these observed and reported by the students themselves will greatly aid in the study of the section, and will be much more valuable than illustrations ordinarily furnished in the text. The leader is urged, however, to challenge any illustration which misses the point or gives a wrong impression.

Bringing the Teaching to a Focus.—In some cases the superintendent of the department which includes the age under discussion (as, for instance, The Beginners Department), whether a member of the class or not, may be invited to tell in from five to ten minutes how far he or she is able to meet the opportunities, supply the needs, overcome the difficulties, and realize the results so clearly stated by Mrs. Lamoreaux in the closing paragraphs of each chapter. This would give the whole lesson a local setting and application.

The Teacher

The remarks in the first paragraph of the section under The Pupil, just preceding, apply equally here. Outside help is desirable, but simplicity in treatment must be maintained. Profound knowledge of a subject does not insure ability to restate that knowledge in simple terms. Better not have the profound knowledge displayed if it is going to leave the students in confusion.

The principle of home-made illustrations referred to above applies equally well to the section on The Teacher.

It is safe to say that each adult student in the class will remember teachers who have excelled in the points enumerated by Dr. Brumbaugh. The student should be encouraged to take a statement like that found in paragraph 4, page 182, and say to himself: "Which of my teachers was notably enthusiastic? How did this enthusiasm impress me? How did it help him in teaching great truths?" These observations may frequently need to be made quietly to the student's self. But they will greatly help him to master the laws of teaching.

The School

Here is a section dealing with a concrete subject, and illustrations will be within the range of vision of every one who is associated with Sunday-school work. At the very outset there may be found those who will take exception to many of the suggestions made, because they are deemed to be impracticable in "our school." This attitude should be firmly but patiently overcome. If discussion proves that the thing suggested is undesirable, or that a better method may prevail, that is a point worth making. But the argument that a thing is desirable but "impossible" should have no footing in a teacher-training class. Let the motto be, "If it ought to be, it can be."

The teacher may be inclined to skip a paragraph like that on The Secretary. "Of what interest is that to me?" she may ask. The answer is simple: No one is equipped to be a teacher who doesn't know the school as a whole; and no one knows the school as a whole who doesn't know it in its several essential parts. Only when the teacher knows the secretary's duties, for instance, is that teacher prepared to see how careful he should be in meeting his obligations to the secretary in the line of the latter's official work. Each teacher should be encouraged to study executive problems, such as those relating to the superintendent and other officers, as if they were his own; and at least he should discover his part as a teacher in helping the executive officers to make the school a success.

In many localities sections of the class may visit other schools and report back to the class upon the features in which these schools excel. This offers a practical laboratory method for the concrete teaching of these lessons. Of course, such visits should be made with the knowledge and consent of the superintendent of the school visited; and at such times and in such manner that the work of the school will not be disturbed. Teachers of regular classes will greatly profit by an occasional trip to another school; it is time gained rather than lost.

Teacher-training superintendents find a marked tendency in some classes to discontinue the work after the section on The Bible has been covered. It is a false notion that a knowledge of the Bible is the only thing necessary for Sunday-school teachers. Leaders should enthusiastically carry their classes past this common "dead-point" over into the sections on The Pupil, The Teacher, and The School; this special effort to arouse enthusiastic interest in what is to come after the Bible course will often prevent students from dropping out of the class.

In all the work "make haste slowly." It is more important to get the work done well than it is to get it done in a given time.