generalize and makes very surprising applications. His questions show the dawn of rational inquiry.

"How do little children get to God when they die?" asked Jean, aged four and a half.

"God just takes their little hearts," answered the perplexed mother.

"If God took only Bobbie's heart, then how will Bobbie know his mother when she gets there?" demanded Jean.

This child is very suggestible; one idea starts a whole sequence. He is very credulous too; his lack of experience makes him an easy mark for the adult or older child who wants to tease or is too lazy to think out an honest answer that will satisfy. He is continually putting together, in new ways, his images gained through sensory and motor experience, and there are apt to be confusion, inaccuracy, and lack of attention to detail. Truth is not a virtue of the child of this age. His emotions are both intense and transitory. Laughter and tears are near the surface and it is only a moment's journey from one to the other. Joy and sorrow are immediately and violently shown by outward behavior. He acts impulsively in responding at once to any stimulus, having, as already stated, little power of inhibition.

Spontaneous interests.-This child is interested in such objects and materials as invite investigation on a sensory plane; in vivid colors, in noises, in moving things, in pleasant odors, in things to eat, in soft and silky textures, in fire and water, in simple toys, in blocks and clay and sand. He is interested in pictures, especially those with bright color, few objects, and familiar activity. He is interested in living things; in plants, in birds and fish, in all animals, particularly pets such as the cat, the dog, and the rabbit. He is interested in babies, in other children, in the members of the family, in the workers who touch the home, as the milkman, postman, and car

penter; in such community protectors as he sees-the policeman, the fireman, and the soldier. He is also interested in activities, many of which have already been mentioned-investigating and observing, manipulating and making things, talking and singing, listening to and telling stories, bodily movements which may or may not be rhythmic, representative and dramatic play, and a few very simple social games.

CHAPTER II

CHILD NATURE AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

WITH a picture of the characteristics and implied needs of the child from four to six before us, it is apparent that religious education cannot be predominantly intellectual; but, as Kirkpatrick says, "it must be of the heart more than of the head, and perhaps even more of the hand, a training in doing." What, then, are the possibilities for and the demands upon religious education at this age?

Conditions favoring health and growth.-In view of the physical basis it is evident that for the sake of the child's present and future good it is very essential that we provide a room or rooms with adequate lighting, plenty of sunshine, an abundance of fresh air, and an even temperature between sixty-five and sixty-eight degrees. Because of the susceptibility to contagions and the serious consequences in these years, a most careful quarantine should be maintained and all children with coughs and colds kept apart from the other children. Because of the plasticity of the bony structure of the body it is particularly important that chairs which fit should be provided, and that the child should be taught to sit well back in the chair with feet flat upon the floor.

As the inhibitory centers mature slowly the child should be allowed much motor activity and should not be required to "sit still" except for very short periods, varying from five to ten minutes. A variety in the activities, together with the short periods suggested, will prevent physical and mental fatigue.

Need of rich sensory-motor experience.-The child is

hungry for sensory experience and for physical activity. If in teaching religion we can furnish an environment rich in things to investigate with the senses-as flowers, birds, pets, pictures—and if we will allow the freedom for this testing, we shall not only satisfy a need of the child but we are providing for a wealth of clear, accurate imagery. Such imagery lays the basis for a comprehension of religious literature and for all spiritual experience which must employ imagination.

The span of attention, we have said, is short; memory is desultory, recall being along sensory-motor lines; suggestibility is great; the mind holds few things at once; the imagination is limited and crude. Therefore the material provided for song, story, and dramatic play should be concrete, full of action, vivid with sensory quality, with short plot, few characters, and largely familiar facts. Such material will be appreciated, comprehended, and used by the child.

Use of handwork.-There is a growing interest in manipulating, drawing, and constructing. This interest may be satisfied by the provision of suitable materials and utilized in illustrating story and song and thus in expressing thought and feeling. Results are crude but meaningful to the child. He has all the joy of a Raphael as he reads in his daubs of glorious red and yellow, tulips and daffodils and dandelions.

The process of learning is not complete until the cycle of impression-expression-impression has been made. The child understands the story of the Good Shepherd much better after he has worked out that story in the sand or built a sheep fold with the blocks and taken in and out his imaginary flock.

Value of communication.—The child is naturally communicative; he wants to talk constantly. He likes to tell his experiences to a sympathetic friend. As his social world enlarges to take in other children he enjoys conversing with them. Conversation, therefore, is a spontaneous interest. The

teacher may utilize it as a medium through which she may gain an insight into the child's mind, may know what his thoughts and feelings are, always remembering that these may be interpreted by the revelations of the body as well.

Not only does the child convey ideas to the teacher and the teacher to the child through conversation, but the children influence and inform one another. Prayer or communion with God should be a talking to God and, therefore, is based upon this instinct to communicate.

Importance of habit formation.-The nervous system is very plastic in these years and the forming of habits goes on apace. Not only physical and mental, but social and religious habits are being acquired. Behavior is becoming very prominent in this child's world; he criticizes William, who fails to put the blocks away properly, and he finds fault with the way Mary holds the doll.

Good examples are very important in stimulating the formation of the right habits, and approval and disapproval from the teacher is recognized. "I like the way John is standing," from the teacher is sufficient to secure an immediate straightening of twenty small figures and the simultaneous demand, "See how I am standing!" Habits of neatness, cleanliness, consideration for others, prompt and cheerful obedience, should be formed.

Stimulating moods of morality.-Not only does the child notice behavior but he is quick to catch the spirit of behavior. The teacher may provide pattern experiences from the life about him and she may give him stories with right moral issue, encouraging dramatic imitation based on these sources. The experience of feeding winter birds was spontaneously dramatized by a group of children. Some were birds and some were children feeding them; the little birds came and ate the crumbs that the children threw to them. By this play all the