ys more powerful than that which lodges only
in the head. During the first six years of life the child is
peculiarly sensitive to every influence that comes to him out of his
environment, and these,--not instruction,--determine what he shall be.
No amount of teaching upon the subject of flowers and birds and trees
can arouse the joy and gratitude which a drive through the country on
a glorious spring morning awakens. No number of lessons upon
self-control will make the impression upon the heart which the sight
of it in another makes. The child cannot understand the nature and
necessity of reverence, but he will feel it, if that be the influence
of the Sunday-school hour.

(2) _Shaping character through imitation._ The actions in this period
which result from instruction are few compared to those which come
from the instinct of imitation; therefore what the teacher is unable
to do through precept she can accomplish through the power of example
and story.

(3) _Imparting simple spiritual truths._ These must be truths with
whose earthly likenesses the child is familiar. This will make
possible stories of God's power as Creator, his love and care as
Heavenly Father, stories of Jesus as the loving Friend and Helper of
little children, and the necessity of obedience to his commands.

#8. Needs of the Beginners Age.#--If the opportunities of this period
are to be realized, four things are necessary:

(1) _A Christlike teacher._ While influences go out from
everything,--people, circumstances, conditions, even inanimate,
senseless things,--a human life radiates the strongest influence. It
has a twofold effect upon a little child: he not only feels the
influence, but it also moves him to imitate the person. He may forget
the lesson, he may not have comprehended it at all, but he has
absorbed the teacher during the hour and he will try to reproduce what
she has said and done even to her very tone, expression, and manner.
If his model be a gentle voice or a loving word, the very act of
imitating it makes him gentler and more tender, and what exhortation
may not secure, influence and imitation will bring. Therefore a
teacher will do her strongest work with a beginner by being like Jesus
Christ.

(2) _A suggestive atmosphere._ Atmosphere represents the sum total of
all the influences at a given time. The soft music of the organ, the
dim light, the stillness, the attitude of prayer, all create an
atmosphere to which reverence a