Our promises: 1. Our goal is to bring you high quality Christian publications at reasonable and affordable prices. Therefore all of our works are complete and unabridged unless specifically stated otherwise, which means that unlike some other independent publications you get what you see and pay for. No unplesant surprises. 2. We endeavour to bring you updated editions of classic works. Therefore this work is not a scan, but is a completely digitized version of the original. 3. Unlike, many other independently published works, our publications are easy to read. Therefore you won't find illegible, faded, poor quality photocopies here. Neither will you find poorly done OCR versions of those faded scans either, with illegible "words" that contain all kinds of strange characters like �, %, &, etc. Our publications have all been looked over and corrected by the human eye. 4. We can't promise perfection, but we're sure gonna try! A recent conference of educators was discussing the problem of vocational guidance, and canvassing the various ways in which schools and colleges may help young people to decide wisely the all-important question of their occupation in life. One speaker gave pungent expression to a conviction which met with the evident approbation of most of the teachers present: "I do not hesitate to say that in my opinion the children of today do not need vocational guides so much as they need a new set of parents; parents who have spunk enough to climb back upon the thrones in their own households which they have abdicated in favor of their children; parents who have energy enough to get their children out of bed in the morning early enough for them to wash their faces, comb their hair, and lace their shoes without the schools being obliged to give promotion credit for their doing so; parents who, when the shades of night begin to fall, look after their boys with the same degree of care that they give to their bull pup, which they chain up, lest he associate with the strange cur upon the street. We have state autocracy enough in education; what we need most is authority in the home." An utterance of this sort, propounded glibly, wins ready assent; but later begets misgivings. Just what sort of authority, we begin to wonder, did the speaker have in mind? Parents need more than spunk or energy if they are to deal wisely with their children; chaining up is a poor way to care for boys; and no household ought to have a throne. The speaker's phrases have a backward-looking, monarchical air about them that makes us pause. Yet his main point is true. The children of today do need a new set of parents. Better schools, more playgrounds, efficient health organizations, adequate laws properly enforced, social settlements, boys' and girls' clubs, and churches that have caught the vision of their educational opportunity and responsibility, may do much to determine the character of the next generation. But beneath all these, and more vital in its influence than any, is the home life of the child. Failure there is fundamental. And too many homes of today are failing, at one point or another, to be all that they ought to be, and to do all that they ought to do, for their children. The fundamental principles of child-training remain the same for generation after generation, for they depend in part upon the natural laws of the child's growth and development and in part upon the essential principles of human morality. Yet the particular problems of parents change with changing material and social conditions; new methods of observation and experiment bring more assured knowledge of the facts and laws of child-life; and moral ideals themselves develop as the race grows in experience.

Hints on Child-Training may be helpful, where a formal treatise on the subject would prove bewildering. It is easier to see how one phase or another of children’s needs is to be met, than it is to define the relation of that phase of the case to all other phases, or to a system that includes them all. Therefore it is that this series of Hints is ventured by me for the benefit of young parents, although I would not dare attempt a systematic treatise on the entire subject here touched upon. Thirty years ago, when I was yet a young father, a friend, who knew that I had for years been interested in the study of methods of education, said to me, “Trumbull, what is your theory of child-training?” “Theory?” I responded. “I have no theory in that matter. I had lots of theories before I had any children; but now I do, with fear and trembling, in every case just that which seems to be the better thing for the hour, whether it agrees with any of my old theories or not.” Whatever theory of child-training may show itself in these Hints, has been arrived at by induction in the process of my experiences with children since I had to deal with the matter practically, apart from any preconceived view of the principles involved. Every suggestion in these Hints is an outcome of experiment and observation in my life as a father and a grandfather, while it has been carefully considered in the light of the best lessons of practical educators on every side. These Hints were begun for the purpose of giving help to a friend. They were continued because of the evident popular interest in them. They are sent out in this completed form in the hope that they will prove of service to parents who are feeling the need of something more practical in the realm of child-training than untested theories. H. Clay Trumbull Philadelphia, September 15, 1890 This classic parenting manual includes the following chapters: 1. Child-Training: What Is It? 2. The Duty of Training Children 3. Scope and Limitations of Child-Training 4. Discerning a Child’s Special Need of Training 5. Will-Training, Rather than Will-Breaking 6. The Place of “Must” in Training 7. Denying a Child Wisely 8. Honouring a Child’s Individuality 9. Letting Alone as a Means of Child-Training 10. Training a Child to Self-Control 11. Training a Child Not to Tease 12. Training a Child’s Appetite 13. Training a Child as a Questioner 14. Training a Child’s Faith 15. Training Children to Sabbath Observance 16. Training a Child in Amusements 17. Training a Child to Courtesy 18. Cultivating a Child’s Taste in Reading 19. The Value of Table-Talk 20. Guiding a Child in Companionships 21. Never Punish a Child in Anger 22. Scolding is Never in Order 23. Dealing Tenderly with a Child’s Fears 24. The Sorrows of Children 25. The Place of Sympathy in Child-Training 26. Influence of the Home Atmosphere 27. The Power of a Mother’s Love 28. Allowing Play to a Child’s Imagination 29. Giving Added Value to a Child’s Christmas 30. Goodnight Words

A series of thirty articles on the nature and scope and methods of the wise training of children. This work is the ripest result of the lifetime study and experience of a Christian educator in the sphere of the home training of children. Every precept in its pages has been tested by the principles of Christian philosophy and by actual experiment in more than one generation of little ones. "This is next to the Bible decidedly the best book for parents ever published. It is worth its weight in gold to those who have the responsibility of training children....The greatest element of danger today in this country of ours is the lack of home training. Dr. Trumball has written many good books, but this is better than all the rest for the good it will do." -The North-western Monthly "It would be an unspeakable advantage to every parent to read this book. Its thirty chapters are full of condensed, practical Christian hints to those to whom God has entrusted the training of immortal souls for Himself. Its reading might change many of their views, help them to better habits, and suggest many ways in which they could influence their children's minds for good. How beautiful households would be, molded after the fashion outlined in this book." -The Treasury; a Magazine of Religious and Current Thought "Parents and others having the training of children would be all the better, whatever their experience, if they were to give it a careful perusal." -Glasgow Herald "We wish every parent could read a chapter headed 'Will-training, rather than Will-breaking.' and another on the duty not only of setting an example, but of training children so that special characteristics shall be modified or strengthened as circumstances require. This book is full of happy suggestions as to home atmosphere, interest in the children's pleasures and troubles, and, the evil of punishments inflicted just before bedtime....This admirable little work is 'the outcome of experiment and observation as a father and grandfather,' and may be usefully introduced to the notice of parents who are only in the theoretical stage of education....We wish it a large circulation and careful reading." -The Literary World "Eminently practical. He tells what training is, the duty of training; its scope shows that the training of the will is not will braking, and so on....The work is heartily commended." -Young Men CONTENTS. I. Child-Training: What Is It? II. The Duty of Training Children III. Scope and Limitations of Child-Training IV. Discerning a Child's Special Need of Training V. Will-Training, Rather than Will-Breaking VI. The Place of "Must" in Training VII. Denying a Child Wisely VIII. Honoring a Child's Individuality IX. Letting Alone as a Means of Child-Training X. Training a Child to Self-Control XI. Training a Child Not to Tease XII. Training a Child's Appetite XIII. Training a Child as a Questioner XIV. Training a Child's Faith XV. Training Children to Sabbath Observance XVI. Training a Child in Amusements XVII. Training a Child to Courtesy XVIII. Cultivating a Child's Taste in Reading XIX. The Value of Table-Talk XX. Guiding a Child in Companionships XXI. Never Punish a Child in Anger XXII. Scolding is Never in Order XXIII. Dealing Tenderly with a Child's Fears XXIV. The Sorrows of Children XXV. The Place of Sympathy in Child-Training XXVI. Influence of the Home Atmosphere XXVII. The Power of a Mother's Love XXVIII. Allowing Play to a Child's Imagination XXIX. Giving Added Value to a Child's Christmas XXX. Good-Night Words