"So great is my veneration for the Bible, that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hopes that they will prove useful citizens to their country and respectable members of society." --_John Quincy Adams_. {15} THE CHILD AND THE BIBLE THE MOTHER'S PART--HOW CAN I USE THE BIBLE STORY WITH MY CHILD? This is the most important part of the work, because it helps you to understand and use all the rest, and answers your questions in regard to the religious life of your child. These suggestions are largely for the use of "The Golden Book." 1. What Do I Have to Know in Order to Make the Best Use of THE BIBLE STORY with My Child? You must know three things:-- That a child will not appreciate and use this work at first unless you appreciate and use it too. That in order to appreciate and use it, you do not need to read all five volumes through at once. You may begin with any one of the suggestions here given, that pleases and interests you most, and use only what little time you may have. Little by little interest will grow and the child will be finding keen enjoyment in acquiring Bible knowledge for himself. That even though you had time for immediate and thorough reading, the work is of such proportion that its worth cannot be grasped at once. It is by constant daily use in the home that the beauty and effectiveness of THE BIBLE STORY are revealed and the Bible made an "open book" to many a child as well as adult. 2. How Can I Encourage My Child to Memorize Bible Verses? This is not difficult. Childhood is the time when verbal memory is most acute. The best way to encourage the memorizing of verses is {16} to make a game out of it instead of a task. Do this by using the Bible alphabet in "The Golden Book" (page 25) and thus linking up the Bible with something familiar. Teach a verse each week and ask for daily repetition of it. After several are learned, a drill on the verses is suggested as a spur to memory. Ask what verse in the Bible begins with A? B? C? etc. For the older children there are memory verses given, one for each week in the year, in the back of each of the first four volumes. Let the child himself, so far as he can, arrange these in alphabetical order. Memorizing is much quickened by making as many natural connections as possible, the known with the unknown. Many hymns are readily recalled by associating them with Psalms of which they are explanations. Children like to learn poetry. Give them the poems suggested below as well as the accompanying Bible passages to learn. Go over them first and let the children understand the parallelism. Psalm 23 ( 35 S.A.) Hymns (309, 291 G.B.) Psalm 117 (139 S.A.) Hymn (494 S.A.) Psalm 19 ( 30 S.A.) Hymn (434 G.B.) The Birth of Jesus (37 L.J.) Hymns (405, 409 G.B.)