Religious Education in the FamilyCope, Henry Frederick
Religion
Religious Education in the Family
Cope, Henry Frederick
Families -- Religious life; Religious education
First, make it the day of the _best_ plays. The participation of parents
will tend to have this effect. Sometimes some forms of play may be
reserved for this day.
Secondly, our play should never interfere with the rights of those who
desire to be quiet or to observe the day in ways differing from ours. We
must respect the rights of all.
Thirdly, our play must not cause additional or unnecessary labor.
Fourthly, our play must not interfere with the pleasures of others. For
instance, in the city children who can use the public tennis courts
every day should keep off them on Sunday in order to give opportunity to
those who can use them only on that day.
Having said so much on play on Sundays, we must not leave the impression
that play is the principal thing. It would be the principal thing for
children compelled to work or confined in crowded tenements on all other
days. This is a day of rest. Play should not be carried beyond the rest
and refreshment stage.
Nor must we assume that a recognition of play involves neglect of
worship and instruction. Both should be cherished among the delights of
the day. Every attempt to make the day a happy one, by normal play,
associates the emphasis on worship with increased happiness in the
child's mind.
§ 6. THE SUNDAY AFTERNOON PROBLEM
"What shall we do?" the children ask restlessly on Sunday afternoons,
and it is by no means a strange question. All the week they have their
school work, on Saturdays their play. No wonder Sunday afternoon seems
dull. Yet if we older ones use it aright this is our opportunity to give
them the best time of all the week. We can make this part of the day
really a holiday if we just take time to plan it right. There is
something wrong in the home in which the child, as he grows up, does not
look forward happily to his Sunday afternoons.
Sunday afternoon should be a family festival time. Keep it sacred to the
family. Business and social life claim us all the week, and the church
claims its share of this day; but these afternoon hours we can, if we
will, reserve for our own home life, for the closer drawing together of
children and parents. To hold this time sacred for the children and
their interests will help to solve "the Sunday afternoon problem."
1. _The child's question, "What shall I do next?"_--Children are
dynamic, perpetually active. They grow in the direction toward which
their activities are turned. Repression is impossible. We must either
find the best things for them to do, or let them chance on things good
or bad. The following outline for Sunday afternoon is given in the hope
that it may help to answer the "what next."
1. Begin to make _The Family Book_.
2. Give "festival name" to the day, and take an excursion in honor
of the one for whom the day is named.
3. Organize an exploring party to discover peoples and scenes of
long, long ago.
4. Get acquainted with some beautiful home thoughts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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