should appreciate the effort of all; everyone will want her comment even more than the praise of one another. The children should have the opportunity to use or play with what is made, as this will greatly enhance its value in their eyes. When they build a church with the large floor blocks, they may play going to church and may even reverently fold their hands and pray as they stand before its open doors; if they have made little baskets in which to carry crumbs to the birds, they may fill the baskets and scatter the crumbs from the open windows.

The order of procedure.-As has been suggested, the whole life of the little child is characterized by the play attitude. The play attitude, therefore, must characterize all of these activities when they are selected for purposes of religious education. They must be joyous, spontaneous, entered upon whole-heartedly, employed as a means of expressing the thought and feeling of the child if they attain the desired end. Moreover, they are so closely related in the life of the child, as in their development by the race, that in the expression of one experience song, story, conversation, prayer, dramatization, and handwork may be used. Pictures led to a conversation about the Christ-child. Then one of the children started to sing Luther's Cradle Hymn; another child wanted to show how to hold a little baby. Everyone dramatized holding a little baby very carefully. A story about the Christ-child was asked for, which was followed by framing a picture of the Nativity. The children were so delighted with the result that they skipped joyously around the room and then came to the piano wanting to sing about the Little Lord Jesus again. When the teacher suggested thanking God for babies and for the Christ-child there was a heartfelt response.

While it is desirable to have a tentative order of procedure,

it is equally desirable that this order should be elastic enough so that the different forms of activity may be utilized as they will best express the mood, the thought of the moment. The teacher who works with the emotional, veritable will-o'the-wisp which this child is, must be able to play up to his changing moods and flitting thoughts, to create her program with the help of the children, so that it may represent a real living together. This requires not less but more preparation; it is not an easy thing to do, but, rather, calls for the greatest skill.

With this ideal in mind, the lessons in this First Book in Religion are presented, not as a prescribed but, rather, as a suggestive course of study. The teacher who covets the highest measure of success must adapt them to her own group of children, and must remember that no organization beforehand can be substituted for the organization that must go on moment by moment in the classroom. The contributions or the reactions of the children are a variable quantity like the weather, which can never be prophesied with absolute certainty.

CHAPTER IV

THE SETTING

THE need for a suitable environment and its influence on the child have already been mentioned. It may be of help to give a few practical suggestions about the room, furnishings, and equipment.

The room. The child at this age demands not less but more space than the adult. The ideal room therefore should be large enough to hold the handwork tables, the sand-table, the chairs, and still allow space for rhythm and dramatic play. There should be no sense of crowding. The ceiling ought to be fairly high, from ten to thirteen feet, for good ventilation, and there should be a number of windows for light and air. If possible, the exposure should be southeast to secure the morning sunshine. The decoration may be in soft tones of green or tan with darker woodwork in brown. The green and tan are colors restful to the eyes and make the room light. The furniture and hangings should harmonize with the scheme of decoration.

The furnishings.—The piano is very important. It should be sweet-toned and in tune. The Mosher chair or one equally well made is desirable for posture and may be purchased in two heights to insure comfort to all the children. The round tables are preferable, as they seat more children for the space occupied and are more conducive to the social atmosphere. Chairs and tables should be correctly adjusted to one another and to the children.

Windows which open on a garden or overlook trees, grass,

or water permit the children to share in nature even when indoors. When the windows are raised in the spring and fall, the trees, the flowers, the birds, and the breezes are included in the environment. The covering for the floor may be linoleum or cork in dull brown or greens. If the floor is finished without covering, it is helpful to have rubber tips on the chairs as a quiet room conduces to a reverent spirit.

There should be a cloakroom or curtained alcove for the wraps and a rack or some zinc boxes for the rubbers and umbrellas. A chest of drawers or a built-in cupboard is almost a necessity to hold supplies. There should be a desk or table for the teacher, a few comfortable chairs for visitors, a movable blackboard, a small, low table for plants, and a picture screen. To give a touch of color blooming flowers may always be brought in by the teacher or the children.

The equipment. In addition to the sand-table which has already been mentioned and which can be made to order by a carpenter or purchased through one of the supply houses, there are several other necessary articles in the permanent equipment. A set of blocks such as the Hennessey may be used for building inclosures, houses, or churches. Scissors, crayolas in the eight colors, chalk, paints in at least three colors, brushes, paste, and toothpicks or slats for handling the paste, will all be needed at different times.

There should be a plentiful supply of manila paper, of construction or mounting paper in gray, brown and white, and of folding paper in the rainbow colors. Small pans or dishes may be used to hold the water when painting and for the paste. Plasticene, or preferably clay, is desirable for the modeling. Handwork boxes for the tables are a great convenience; desk baskets in the wire, reed, or wood may be secured from a desk-supply house.

One or more dolls with small chairs, and possibly a doll

carriage or cradle, will make the room more homelike and will occasionally be useful in the dramatization. A silk flag should be a part of the equipment of every room, and small flags are desirable in sufficient number so that each child may sometimes carry one in the march.

The pictures. As a final contribution the beauty of the room is greatly enhanced by a few well-chosen pictures on the walls. Every normal child is interested in pictures. They broaden his experience, they stimulate his imagination, they aid his understanding, and they develop his love of the beautiful. A little child was looking intently at Raphael's Sistine Madonna.

"Where was the mother when he painted her?" the child asked.

"She was not anywhere," the teacher replied. "He thought of her."

After a pause the child remarked, with intense admiration, "Say! but he must have thought she was beautiful.”

Children are attracted by bright colors or light in the picture, by suggested activity, by animals or children, by familiar objects, persons, or scenes; most of all by the picture which tells a story on their plane. The pictures which are brought to them should meet these requirements, and those which are permanent, presenting an appeal that is constant, should be the best art. The following is a suggestive list from which five or six may be selected as permanent:

Jesus Blessing Children, Plockhorst.
The Sistine Madonna, Raphael.
The Madonna of the Chair, Raphael.
The Good Shepherd, Plockhorst.
The Lost Lamb, Shroud.

A Little Child Shall Lead Them, Strutt.
The Infant Samuel, Reynolds.