Article October 23, 1948 Issue

Tiny Pupils and Their First Lessons

Of paramount importance to the teacher of the little tots is a recognition of the fact that it is natural for a child to learn spiritual truth and to be contented in the Sunday School. No one doubts the little one's ability to become more and more familiar with his visible surroundings and to become acquainted with persons about him. Neither should the teacher doubt the child's ability to respond to spiritual truth as presented in the first lessons of the Sunday School and to begin to become acquainted with the great characters of the Bible and our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy.

Sometimes a teacher of a primary class is tempted to believe that the little ones must be amused. But it should be remembered that a part of the Sunday School work is to teach the children to meditate quietly on the truths of Christian Science; hence anything in the nature of a game or of a radio quiz program is not an aid to teaching. One may be sure that Sunday School lessons illustrated by Bible stories which are presented in a simple manner and in a genuine spirit of love for God and man win the affections of the little ones. Then as the stories become better understood, the significance of the lessons defined by our Leader in Section 3 of Article XX of the Church Manual unfolds in the child's thought. The following narrative may serve to illustrate the teaching of the first lessons by means of Bible stories, but it should not be used as a form or pattern, since every teacher must seek inspiration for himself in carrying on his work:

"This is a story about the children of Israel. And it's a true story.

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