How Choice Questions Build Ethical Thinking
“Would you rather wear your blue sweater or your red one?” Questions like this are a parenting staple and kids are…
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Paying Close Attention to Kids
At my daughter’s sixth birthday party, she invited her friends to decorate pots and plant marigolds. I watched as one…
MoreHoliday ‘Marker Talks’
Many of the children I teach come from households that celebrate multiple religious and cultural holidays. Others have…
MoreCultivating Intellectual Humility
“Saying something doesn’t make it so.” My grandmother would issue this reminder whenever my siblings or I would…
MoreDurable Spiritual Learning
Recently, I watched several young children explore finger labyrinths for the first time. Most would race to see how…
MoreHelping Children Explore Rules
No running in the house. Look both ways before crossing the street. Treat others with respect. These common family…
MoreVisible Spiritual Thinking
My kids used to love puzzles that involved figuring out an unknown object from a close-up photo. They developed a set…
MoreProject-Based Spirituality
A few years ago, my children’s school decided to sponsor two Habitat for Humanity home builds. The actual…
MoreA 5E Model of Spiritual Education
One of my eldest child’s favorite memories is a series of 5th grade class sessions where they explored scientific…
MoreHelping Children Set Meaningful Goals
Purpose is an important aspect of a healthy spiritual life. Children have hopes and dreams. They want to make a…
MoreHelping Kids Appreciate Facts
What is a fact? One basic definition is that facts are things that we know to be true because of experience,…
MoreAvoiding Seductive Details
Drawing children into learning activities can sometimes feel like Sisyphus rolling an immense boulder uphill. Just when…
MorePublic Learning
The common idea that spirituality is a private matter creates a dilemma for organizations that partner with families…
MorePublic Learning Reflective Process
For teachers and program facilitators who want to be reflective practitioners, Mills College School of Education…
MoreExploring Spiritual Traditions through Objects
One of my grown daughters will only drink grape juice if she has bread to dip in it. It’s a throwback to her…
MoreIdentity Portraits
Valuing who we are and respecting others’ identities are crucial to spiritual wellbeing. Every child wants to be seen…
MoreCritical Race Theory
When the University of North Carolina declined to tenure Nikole Hannah-Jones after recruiting her for a chair in…
MoreLetting Go of the ‘Main Point’
It’s often the first thing a teacher or group facilitator looks for in a lesson plan: a line near the top that…
MoreDecision Matrix
Learning to make good decisions is an essential spiritual skill. Becoming a self-reflective person requires children to…
MoreSpiritual Mirrors, Windows & Doors
“But mom,” my eldest complained, “why do I have to go to church school? They never talk about anything…
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