Eintrationat rmirttgrr An Exponent of the Theory and Practice of Christian Education Vol. 2 COLLEGE VIEW, NEB., .AllIGUST 15, 1906 No. 16 Nes•■■niiii "Me Little Foxes" Nolv.%4WIV- THE EDUCATIONAL MESSENGER "The work that centuries might have done, Must crowd the hour of setting sun." ALL READY FOR USE The Educational Convention recently held voted to inaugurate a great Missionary Educa- tional Movement, and among other ways sug- / gested that this be done "By promoting a w general, thorough, and continuous study of / home and foreign missions By encour- aging school boards to provide suitable litera- ture on missions for ure in their schools." Nothing better could be prepared for meet- ing these very ends than the recent book by Mrs. A. E. Ellis— THE MISSIONARY IDEA This is a 250 page bock, printed on heavy paper, and bound in cloth. There is not a page in the book, the reading of which will not fan to a living flame the sparks of mis- sionary fire in your heart. It is manifestly a book for the times and meets the greatest need of our denomination to day—more of the missionary spirit. Write the publishers to day for free sample pages, and descriptive circulars, or send them 75 cents and receive a copy postpaid. UNION COLLEGE PRESS College View, Nebraska Eburational Itirwirttgrr 4n Exponent of the Theory and Practice of Christian Education Vol. 2 COLLEGE VIEW, NEB., .RUGUST 15, 1906 No. 16 ON BENDED KNEE that has been written and spoken upon H. A. PEEBLES since the days of Solomon. On bended knee when rising day In every great controversy, there are Pictures our morning thoughts in gold, certain objective points to be gained, Aud smiling on us lights our way, and the leader who succeeds in taking And makes us bold. these points has largely turned the con- On bended knee at noon's high tide, flict in his favor. We are in the great While still our manhood says, "Be controversy between Christ and Satan; strong," Or yet the shadows that will glide and in the struggle to rescue our chil- Do make it long. dren and youth from Satan's control, On bended knee when twilight falls, there are certain objective points for us In quiet rest at Jesus' feet; to consider. To find and love, 'spite myriad calls, There are two periods of time brought God's mercy-seat. to view in our topic, childhood and And bending thus, be it our prayer youth; the period of childhood, which That when our twilights ended be, Our God may find His children there, covers the first twelve years of life, and On bended knee. the period of youth, 'which covers the La Ceiba, Spanish Honduras, C. A. next eight or ten years, and which 4 brings the individual to the full stature of manhood and womanhood. If we (6eurral At-Wits can, by the blessing of God, hold the confidence of our children for the first twelve years, we have taken a long step *THE TRAINING OF OUR CHIL- in advance and greatly increased our DREN AND YOUTH IN hope of success in the second period. THE HOME God said of Abraham, Gen. 18:19, "I know him, that he will command bis MRS. C. C. LEWIS children and his household after him, It is a great responsibility to occupy and they shall keep the ways of the the time in the closing hours of this Lord, to do justice and judgment." Ab- Convention, and it requires no small raham did not wait until the habits of amount of courage to write on a subject his children were formed before he trained them in the ways of the Lord. * Read before the General Conference Educational Convention, held at College View, Nebr., June He trained his servants also, those who 29 to July 10, 1906. were born in 49 house, Solomon says, 2 TH1 EDUCATIONAL MESSENGER "Train up a child in the way he should their children. They confuse the terms go, and when he is old he will not de- teaching and training. The training part from it." We have heard much must begin long before the teaching is said the past few days about "teaching" possible. Educators tell us, and the children and youth, but training begins Spirit of Prophecy tells us, that the lit- long before there can be any teaching. tle child in its mother's arms should be Some one has said that teaching is caus- trained in habits of self-control. It ing another to know. Teaching gives should be taught to eipect its food, its knowledge. Training gives skill. bath and its nap at regular periods. Teaching fills the mind. Training This will make it easy to obey in the shapes the habits. We teach a child the future. meaning of words. We train him in Perhaps there is no class of people so habits of study that he may learn the abused and so injudiciously treated as meaning of other words. Thus we see little children, and yet there is no class that training and teaching must go hand so petted and indulged. When the lit- in hand, but let us be sure to begin the tle one comes into the home, it requires training in time. Hinsdale in his book, most of the family to attend to its small "Jesus as a Teacher," says: "Jewish ed- wants; and every time it cries, it is ucation began with the mother, still it trotted and rocked and tossed about. If was the father who was bound to teach it is at night, the lamp is lit; it enjoys his son." the light; the next night it cries again; Sometimes we wonder why so many the light is turned on. It requires but a of our children and youth give up the few nights until the habit is formed. faith and go into the world. While it is By much the same process is formed the true that even in the best homes because habit in regard to eating. The child is of inherited tendencies or because of fed every time it cries; soon it cries ev- worldly associations children drift away ery time it is fed, and so we have two from the faith, yet usually it is because habits formed before the parents realize the early home training was neglected. the child is old enough to understand. I verily believe if this people had kept A little reflection, however, will teach humble and lived up to the light God us that the child does not have to reason gave us years ago in the training of our to learn these things; for by the law of children, there would not be so many association, these first lessons are young men and women lost to the cause learned in the same way as similar les- of the Third Angel's Message. As we sons are learned by the dumb animals. look over the last thirty years and see This should teach parents the value of how many children of our people have early training. In "Education," page drifted away from this blessed truth, it 290, we read: "Whatever it is found im- should cause us to seriously ask our- possible to change, the mind learns to selves what is the trouble. Have the adapt itself to." Therefore parents promises of God failed?—Nay verily. should observe regularity and firmness Deut. 6:24 says, "The Lord commanded in all the daily exercises of the children. us to do all these statutes, to fear the In this way the mind of the child grad- Lord our God, for our good always." He ually comes to operate in harmony with further says, "It shall be our righteous- the will of the parents. Professor Bain, ness, if we observe to do all these com- in his "Education as a Science," tells us mandments before the Lord our God." that the brain grows with great rapidity The trouble very largely is in the up to seven years of age. The increase early home training. Most people wait is much slower from seven to fourteen. too long before they begin to train This quiet time at home is the pareAt's TILE _EDUCATIONAL MESSENGER 3 opportunity. This is not a time for as the representative of God. The object formal education, but for observation, of all our training is to form a symmet- for experiment, a time for the parents by rical character. When God placed wise sympathetic assistance to lead the Adam and Eve in the garden, He gave child to understand its relation to them, them employment. One of the evils of to other members of the family, and to Sodom was abundance of idleness. the loving heavenly Father. Therefore we should see to it that our Our children should be taught rever- children are taught to work. It is per- ence. The first step in teaching rever- haps the strongest element in character ence is to teach respect to parents, to building that children be taught use- old people, and to superiors and assist- ful labor. We should take time and pa- * ants. Let the idea of God be early im- tience to teach them to do things suited pressed on the young mind. The heav- to their age and strength. It is natural enly Father supplies air, the sunshine, for children to want to do things. They and the rain, without which we could are always interested in creating things not have food or anything to sustain with their own hands.