The Material Used
The material through which this purpose is to be attained is taken mainly from the Bible and treated as story, biography, history, or literature according to the period for which it is used. There are certain facts, not found in the Bible, the knowledge of which is essential if the pupils are to see God in the present day world. Therefore, many nature lessons are given to the little children, incidents in the lives of modern followers of the Lord are provided for the older children, and broader studies from the field of modern reform and of missionary movements for young men and women. There are also lessons on the Book itself and how it has come to us. All of these lessons start outside of the Bible and lead back into it for their explanation. The Bible lessons begin with the Word and go out into life for their application. The one is just as biblical as the other.
The Junior Course
Arrangement of Material
In the Graded System the Junior Course follows the two-years Beginners’ Course and the three-years Primary Course. In those earlier years the stories are not chosen chronologically but are grouped under themes. The sense of time dawns when the child is about nine years old, therefore the Graded Lessons for the Juniors are arranged chronologically, at first by periods and later in a straight chronological course from the Conquest of Canaan to the end of New Testament History.
The Aims
The aim for the Junior lessons as a whole is:
To help the child to become a doer of the Word, and to lead him into conscious loyalty to Jesus Christ.
The aims for each of the four years are these:
1. To awaken an interest in the Bible, and love for it; to deepen the impulse to choose and to do the right.