ice it to say
here that it is simply _planning the subject matter to fit the mind and
needs of the child_--arranging for the easiest and most natural mode of
approach, securing the most immediate points of contact for interest and
application, remembering all the time that the child speaks as a child,
thinks as a child, understands as a child.

Jesus' use of the psychological plan.--The teacher who seeks to master
the spirit of the psychological presentation of religious material
should study the teaching-method of Jesus. Always he came close to the
life and experience of those he would impress; always he proceeds from
the plane of the learner's experiences, understanding, and interests.
Did he want to teach a great lesson about the different ways in which
men receive truth into their lives?--"Behold a sower went forth to sow."
Did he seek to explain the stupendous meaning and significance of the
new kingdom of the spirit which he came to reveal?--"The kingdom of
heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed," or, "The kingdom of heaven
is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of
meal," or, "The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good
seed in his field."

And with this simple, direct, psychological, homely mode of approach to
great themes Jesus made his hearers understand vital lessons, and at the
same time showed them how to apply the lessons to their own lives. So
throughout all his teaching and preaching; the lesson of the talents,
the prodigal son, the workers in the vineyard, the wedding feast,
placing a little child in the midst of them--all these and many other
concrete points of departure illustrate the highest degree of skill in
the psychological use of material.

ORGANIZATION OF THE CURRICULUM AS A WHOLE

The material offered in the curriculum of our church schools is not,
taking it in all its parts, as well organized as that in our public day
schools. This is in part because the material of religion is somewhat
more difficult to grade and arrange for the child than the material of
arithmetic, geography, and other school subjects. But it is also because
the church school has not fully kept pace with the progress in education
of recent times.

A century or two ago the day-school texts were not well graded and
adapted to children; now, we have carefully graded systems of texts in
all school subjects. While the logical and the chronological method of
organization stil