$0.25.

George Hodges, _Training of Children_, chaps. i, ii, xv. Appleton,
$1.50.

G.A. Coe, _Education in Religion and Morals_, chaps. i, iv, xvi.
Revell, $1.35.

E.C. Wilm, _Culture of Religion_, chaps. i, ii. Pilgrim Press,
$0.75.

C.W. Rischell, _The Child as God's Child_. Methodist Book Concern,
$0.75.

E.E. Read Mumford, _The Dawn of Character_. Longmans, Green & Co.,
$1.20. See especially chap. xii on "The Dawn of Religion."

III. Topics for Discussion

1. How would you define education?

2. What is the difference between education and religious
education?

3. What makes the home especially effective in education?

4. Is it true that it is possible to discover the laws of growth
and so determine the development of character?

5. Recall any very early manifestations of religious character in
small children. What would you regard as the best kind of
manifestation?

6. What is the essential principle of the right life? How may we
develop this in childhood?

7. What are the things which most of all impress children?

8. Would you think it wise to bring a child under the influence of
a religious revival?

CHAPTER VI

THE CHILD'S RELIGIOUS IDEAS

How shall I begin to talk with my child about religion? Even the most
religious parents feel hesitancy here. It may not be at all due to the
unfamiliarity of the subject, though that is often the case; hesitation
is due principally to a conscious artificiality in the action. It seems
unnatural to say, "My child, I want to talk with you about your
religious life." And so it is. There is something wrong when that
appears to be the only way. That situation indicates a lack of freedom
of thought and intercourse with the child and a lack of naturalness in
religion.

Sec. 1. THE FUNDAMENTAL DIFFICULTY

The instinct is correct that tells us that we should be trespassing on a
child's rights, or breaking down his proper reticence, in abruptly and
formally questioning him about his religious life. The reserve of
children in this matter must be respected. The inner life of aspiration,
of conscious relationship to the divine, is too sacred for display, even
to those who are near to us. He violates the child's reverence who tears
away his reticence. Even though the child may not consciously object,
the process leads him toward t