Why Reading Aloud for Character Formation Shapes Moral Imagination

In recent years, many parents—especially thoughtful, attentive ones—have found themselves uneasy with the language of outcomes, benchmarks, and even social-emotional learning. Not because emotions don’t matter, but because something feels off when formation is reduced to skills that can be measured, checked off, or optimized. If you’ve ever thought, I want my children to be good and wise and…

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Growing Wisdom, Empathy, and Presence Through Story

For years, I practiced social-emotional learning long before I had a name for it. It happened on the couch during read-alouds, in the car after we closed a book and sat quietly with what lingered, and in the subtle ways one child felt deeply seen by a character while another felt unsettled and couldn’t yet…

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The Selfish Giant, Attachment, and the Landscape of the Soul

The Selfish Giant spiritual lessons

The Selfish Giant, Attachment, and the Landscape of the Soul When I read Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant, I didn’t expect to find myself in the Giant. But there I was—his anger, his loneliness, his long winter felt strangely familiar. The Giant built walls to protect what was his, and I realized I’ve done the same…

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Hospitality Through Story: Teaching Kids to Love Their Neighbors

When Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, His listeners were shocked. The hero of the story wasn’t the religious leader or the respected citizen—it was the person they least expected. A neighbor who crossed cultural, religious, and social boundaries to show mercy. That’s the heart of hospitality: creating space for someone else, even…

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