Exploring Struggle & Doing Good in Superman
Many things came easily to my daughter at school until she took her first spelling test. She came home in tears,…
MorePosts tagged: Advocacy
Exploring Lasagna Means I Love You
My family often makes soft caramels to share with family and friends. I stir the ingredients in the pot as the house…
MoreCelebrating Democracy
As preschoolers, my kids loved participating in our community Fourth of July festival. They would decorate their…
MorePracticing Resilience & Resistance on Juneteenth
As a seven year old, my eldest energetically campaigned for a Lt. Governor candidate in our home state. When asked by a…
MoreRainbow Spirituality
One of my favorite Taylor Swift songs is “You Need to Calm Down”. It’s a bouncy pop tune with a powerful message:…
MoreRemembering with My Lost Freedom
George Takei is an actor, best known for his role as Sulu on Star Trek. As a four year old, he was forced - along with…
MoreCelebrating Black History Month in an Anti-DEI Society
Three of the Executive Orders signed by the President on Inauguration Day roll back Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion…
MoreChoosing to Love with World of Wonder
Activism is often portrayed in the media as an angry response to injustice. But civil rights leader Valarie Kaur sees…
MoreHelping Kids Learn Civility
“I hate them!” “That idea is so stupid!” “Who do they think they are, saying things like that?!” In a…
MoreEncouraging Kids to Follow in MLK’s Footsteps
This year (2025), the U.S. presidential inauguration and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day both fall on Monday, January 20.…
MorePracticing Courage
Learning to be courageous takes a lot of work. It’s not the same as just being fearless or comfortable taking risks.…
MoreChildren’s Concerns about Climate Change
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that Earth’s temperature has risen just over a…
MoreKids, Eco-Anxiety & Gardens
Heat domes that elevate temperatures to unsafe levels and spark wildfires. Fierce hurricanes and tropical storms that…
MoreExploring Community Change with The Artivist
Recently, my children were discussing who might have made their clothes. We have talked about child labor in factories,…
MoreAffirming Neurodiversity
I was recently invited to talk with a group of interns working in non-profit settings with kids. One noted that he had…
MoreGender Identity & The Dress in the Window
“Paint my fingers and toes, too, mommy!” pleaded my four year old son. “I want to be sparkly like the girls!”…
MoreExploring ‘Freedom’ with Kids on Juneteenth
Every June 19th, the U.S. celebrates Juneteenth. It’s a national holiday commemorating the ending of slavery as a…
MoreBooks for Women’s History Month
I have a bumper sticker on my car that reads, ‘Well-behaved women rarely make history’. It’s a reminder to myself…
MoreWhen Children Interrupt
Interruptions are an expected issue when working with children. Sometimes they want to tell us about their new pet or…
MoreGuided Meditation: Housing Insecurity
Before the pandemic, churches in my city would take turns providing overnight accommodations for persons without…
MoreGuided Meditation: Healthcare Access
When I was growing up, money was tight. My mom took my siblings and me to the city health clinic for our childhood…
MoreGuided Meditation: Immigration
A few years ago, our family collected household items to help Afghan refugees relocating to our hometown. A local…
MoreGuided Meditation: Climate Change
My nephew is a science nerd. He collects facts about climate change and uses them to convince other family members to…
MoreNational Coming Out Day
My sister was 18 when she came out. It was a chaotic time in my family of origin, with lots of tears, threats of…
MoreExploring Identity with Loujain Dreams of Sunflowers
Sexism, racism, and classism are hard concepts for children to understand. Kids have a strong bias toward fairness and…
MoreCounting Kindness with Kids
Countless families and children become refugees when extreme poverty or violence force them to leave their homes. The…
MoreTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Spirituality
My kids used to grab paper and pens and create their own comics. Their scratchy designs would tell stories about their…
MoreExploring Values with The Good for Nothing Tree
I have a peach tree in my front yard. Some years, there are lots of peaches and we scramble to pick our share before…
MoreExploring Care for the Ocean with I Love You, Blue
My family lives close enough to the ocean that we can visit frequently. My children enjoy walking on the beach, playing…
MoreExploring Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The new Spider-Man movie, Across the Spider-Verse, is visually stunning, with different graphics for each universe. The…
MoreBooks for Earth Day
Americans have celebrated Earth Day since 1970, with other nations joining in beginning in 1990. The theme for 2023 is…
MoreEncouraging Children to Lead
“Mom, I saw some people asking for money by the off ramp. They didn’t have any coats and it’s pretty cold…
MoreChildren, Community Science & Climate Change
Earlier this month, the Pacific Ocean made news because it is shrinking faster than scientists expected. One reason…
MoreExploring Community Justice with Unfadeable
In Unfadeable, Bella Fades is a fierce tween girl who loves her community and wants to see it thrive. Her strong belief…
MoreBeing Antiracist with Kids
As a white researcher and teacher, I know I am susceptible to implicit bias. Even though I am committed to antiracism,…
MoreTalking with Kids about the Uvalde School Shooting
A school terrorized by an active shooter. A classroom of children injured and dead. Teachers killed trying to protect…
MoreProject-Based Spirituality
A few years ago, my children’s school decided to sponsor two Habitat for Humanity home builds. The actual…
MoreReading A Duet for Home
What can children do about a situation that seems unfair or unjust? How can they be allies? These are two of the…
MoreBooks for Earth Day
Every year on April 22, more than a billion people take time to reflect on the earth and its importance for human…
MoreExploring For Beautiful Black Boys Who Believe in a Better World
Like many parents, Michael W. Waters looked at his newborn son and thought him the most beautiful baby on earth. He…
MoreReading Fauja Singh Keeps Going
Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on the 3rd Monday in January reminds us that society needs strong leaders:…
MoreEnvironmental Justice for Preschoolers
As global leaders gather in Glasgow to discuss climate change, one message is clear: environmental justice isn’t just…
MoreChange Sings
Social change can be scary for children (and adults). Much of parenting young children involves teaching them to obey…
MoreWelcoming Afghan Refugees
Many of the refugees airlifted to the U.S. out of Afghanistan last month are currently housed at Fort Lee in Virginia,…
MoreIdentity Portraits
Valuing who we are and respecting others’ identities are crucial to spiritual wellbeing. Every child wants to be seen…
MoreCreate a Virtual Protest
Even as places open for in-person experiences, virtual engagements can continue to be part of children’s and…
MoreTalking with Kids about the Derek Chauvin Verdict
My family was doing our regular post-school, pre-dinner thing when the radio paused its scheduled programming to…
MoreEarth Day Spirituality
Nature plays a significant role in spirituality for people of all ages. During the pandemic, many families have found…
More