relationships

The Case for Prioritizing Play in Kindergarten [Swartz]

On 09/14/2026, in education, education reform, ideas, instructional design, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, play, relationships, student-related, teachers, Uncategorized, United States, vision/possibilities, youth, by Daniel Christian

The Case for Prioritizing Play in Kindergarten — from the74million.org by Mark Swartz
Laura Bornfreund on how schools, families and policymakers can transform kindergarten to better support young children.

In order for these years to lay a sturdy foundation for everything that follows, the kindergarten experience should prioritize play and relationship-building, including connections with peers and teachers. Over the years, however, kindergarten has become increasingly “schoolified,” according to Bornfreund…

The book laments the state of kindergarten today, where classroom experiences are overly scripted and funding is insufficient in many communities. At the same time, Bornfreund finds teachers who are providing meaningful experiences for young learners against the odds. In the conversation below, she shares her perspective on what a strong kindergarten experience looks like and offers insights on how schools, families and policymakers can reshape kindergarten to help children thrive.

Some Scripture for us

On 09/10/2026, in Daniel S. Christian, Emotion, global, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, religion, youth, by Daniel Christian

Psalm 116:1-2

1 I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
2 Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.

Romans 12:4-5

4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

From DSC:
I remember several times in my career thinking — no…wishing — I had more skills or capabilities than what I possessed. I was trying to make significant contributions, and I didn’t have all the skills to carry out my ideas. But I was likely too ambitious in my younger days. I was taught to be that way from the start. But primarily it came from my background as an athlete — where I was taught to compete with other people. Not to be in relationships with them, but to compete against them. (Legions of athletes are currently in the same boat, I’m sure. That’s how we were taught to be. That’s often how competition works.)

So when a pastor told us a while back, “It’s not about you!” — that sounded shocking and confusing to my selfish, ambitious self. “You’re kidding me!,” I’m sure I felt and thought.

Romans 12:4-5 lets us know that we each have our God-given gifts and abilities — but no one person on this Earth has all of the gifts and abilities out there. We each play our role. Like the body, we each have different purposes and functions. It’s humbling. And it’s relational.

Ephesians 2:10

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Isaiah 46:4

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Psalm 121:1-2

A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

Some verses to help us grow in our relationship with the LORD

On 08/19/2026, in faith, global, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, religion, youth, by Daniel Christian

Colossians 3:16

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Hebrews 1:5

The Son Superior to Angels
For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father”?
Or again,

“I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son”?

Hebrews 1:13

To which of the angels did God ever say,

“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet”?

Hebrews 1:8

But about the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.

Some wisdom for us this week

On 08/05/2026, in ethics, faith, global, hearts -- matters of the heart, morals/values, relationships, religion, society, youth, by Daniel Christian

James 1:22

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Jeremiah 33:2-3

2 “This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it—the Lord is his name: 3 ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

Mark 9:7

Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

Psalm 25:4-5

4 Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.

Isaiah 41:10

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Some wisdom for us

On 07/26/2026, in Emotion, ethics, faith, global, hearts -- matters of the heart, morals/values, relationships, religion, by Daniel Christian

Psalm 62:8

Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.

Matthew 12:6-7

6 I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Proverbs 17:17

A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

Revelation 4:11

“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”

The most important Q&A of all time

On 07/22/2026, in Daniel S. Christian, faith, global, hearts -- matters of the heart, history, relationships, religion, by Daniel Christian

Matthew 16:13-20

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

From DSC:
To me, this is the most important Question & Answer (Q&A) of all time. I can’t think of a more important question that each of us will answer (or have already answered) — one way or another.

Some Scripture for us

On 07/15/2026, in Daniel S. Christian, ethics, faith, global, hearts -- matters of the heart, morals/values, relationships, religion, society, youth, by Daniel Christian

Psalm 138:8

The Lord will vindicate me;
your love, Lord, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.

From DSC:
“…do not abandon the works of your hands.”
I need to ask that fairly often when praying to the LORD.

Proverbs 3:13-18

13 Blessed are those who find wisdom,
those who gain understanding,
14 for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold.
15 She is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her.
16 Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
17 Her ways are pleasant ways,
and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her;
those who hold her fast will be blessed.

Revelation 3:20

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

Psalm 34:8

Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

Reconnecting Professional Learning — Reflections from [Lucy Gray’s] ISTE Panel

On 07/14/2026, in adult learning, Apple, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, collaboration, communities of practice, education, education technology, ideas, instructional design, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, pathways, professional development, reinvent, relationships, teachers, by Daniel Christian

Reconnecting Professional Learning — from elemenous.substack.com by Lucy Gray
Reflections from My Wednesday ISTE Panel

At ISTE this year, I facilitated a Wednesday morning panel on professional learning. The session I organized was titled, The Future of Professional Learning: Connecting Educators Across Borders. I was joined by fellow Apple Distinguished Educators Tami Brewster, Bethany LaDue Nugent, Marcus Borders, Jason Krug and global educator Julie Meltzer. Our focus: How do we move professional development away from isolated, one-time experiences and toward something more connected, meaningful, and human?
…
The panel was grounded in a few simple but powerful ideas: professional learning should nurture, guide, and empower. It should be relevant, contextual, reflective, and sustained. It should recognize educators as capable professionals, not as people who are broken and need to be fixed. Too often, professional development is still designed around deficit thinking. Too often, teachers’ needs are not the starting point, and sessions become dry, one-directional experiences where information is delivered at them rather than built through conversation and collaboration, with little choice, little personalization, and little connection to the realities of their classrooms. Our panel served as a call to action to re-think professional learning.

We explored six different approaches to professional learning, and while each model was distinct, a clear through line emerged: relationships matter most.

Virtual Conferences at Scale — Lucy Gray — Actionable Innovations Events / GLOW
Micro-Mentorship — Tami Brewster
Networked, Values-Driven PD — Julie Meltzer — Institute for Humane Education
AI-Personalized PD Pathways — Marcus Borders
Share Stories with Voice — Bethany LaDue Nugent
Speak Your Crazy — Jason Krug

Our Padlet – Share resources and introduce yourself
Our Slides – Meet our panelists and learn about our work
Our Google NotebookLM – This notebook contains dozens of resources related to research and best practices in educator professional learning
The Connected PD App – This is an app I’m building in Base 44 to help people plan great professional learning experiences

Also from Lucy Gray, see the following for some nice tips and resources:

How I Spent My Time at #ISTElive26: Learning, Connecting, and Looking for What’s Next
A few reflections on AI, global learning, libraries, coaching, creativity, and the conversations that made ISTE meaningful.

The Current State of Play: AI in Higher Education and the Road Ahead [Gamby, Kil, Koblic, LeBlanc, Moldoveanu & Siemens]

On 06/29/2026, in 21st century, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business side of he, career development, change, colleges, community colleges, corporate / business world, culture, emerging technologies, ethics, expectations, experimentation, faculty/staff, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, IT in HE, leadership, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, liberal arts, morals/values, organizational change, pace of change, parents/guardians, personalized/customized learning, policy, reinvent, relationships, skills, society, strategy, student-related, teaching & learning, trends, United States, universities, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

The Current State of Play: AI in Higher Education and the Road Ahead — from er.educause.edu by Tanya Gamby, David Kil, Rachel Koblic, Paul LeBlanc, Mihnea Moldoveanu and George Siemens

The conventional explanation for this strategic vacuum points to the speed of technological change; it is moving too fast for institutions built for deliberation. That is true. . . and incomplete. The deeper issue is cultural. In fairness to higher education, many industries are struggling to keep up with the pace of AI advances. Higher education, however, moves even more slowly and is not built for the kind of transformational speed now underway. Getting institutional stakeholders to engage, rethink the work, and move faster may be the central challenge facing presidents and chancellors today, and that’s saying a lot in such volatile times.

From DSC:
I highlighted this paragraph because it hits upon the key item involved here — culture. “The deeper issue is cultural.” I think that’s a very true statement.

Part of the culture and setup of many institutions includes giving faculty members full rein of their classes and their departments. Faculty members have a great deal of leeway and power in how they do things. So trying to get X faculty members to get on board — including the Department Chairs — is not an easy task.

Another part of culture involves being willing — or not — to change in the first place. Some institutions are like Google and are used to making changes and being more innovative. But those institutions are not the norm, at least in my experience. And this doesn’t even address another topic the article mentioned — the pace of these changes. As the authors point out, most institutions of traditional higher education are not equipped to deal with the current pace of change (nor are most of our other types of institutions and our corporations as well).

I’m going to end this posting with another brief excerpt from the article:

Institutions rooted in human relationships, committed to truth-seeking, and oriented toward the full development of persons play a central role. AI cannot manufacture the experience of mattering to another human being. It cannot model intellectual courage or ethical discernment. It cannot build the kind of community in which students discover who they are and what they believe.

These are not small things. They are, in fact, the things most worth doing. At their best, colleges and universities are not only preparing better workers but shaping individuals and strengthening society.

Some wisdom for us

On 06/24/2026, in Emotion, ethics, faith, global, hearts -- matters of the heart, morals/values, parents/guardians, relationships, religion, society, youth, by Daniel Christian

Psalm 103:13

As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear* him;

*From DSC:
Fear here refers to respect or to revere

Psalm 23:1-3

A psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.

Matthew 7:13-14

The Narrow and Wide Gates
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
.

— as seen originally here

Psalm 103:2-5

2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Psalm 100:4-5

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 68:4-5

4 Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds;
rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.
5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.

Proverbs 18:10

The name of the Lord is a fortified tower;
the righteous run to it and are safe.

A screenplay written by a Calvin Prison Initiative student while incarcerated is now screening at film festivals across the country. — from linkedin.com by the Calvin Prison Initiative

From DSC:
I used to work with Calvin film and media professor Geert Heetebrij — who was behind this endeavor. I went to the same church that he and his family attended. I can’t say enough good things about him. He’s just fantastic! By the way, he was there for me when twelve of us didn’t survive the fourth round of layoffs at Calvin (back then it was Calvin College). He periodically — but consistently — checked in on me as the job search continued. He prayed for me (and for my family). His steadfast encouragement meant a lot to me.

I also worked with Sam Smartt, who was also mentioned in the article. Go Geert! Go Sam! And go Calvin for continuing to do your prison ministries! You were one of the first to do this, if not thee first.

Some Scripture for us

On 06/14/2026, in faith, global, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, religion, youth, by Daniel Christian

Matthew 7:13-14

The Narrow and Wide Gates
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

.

Matthew 5:9

.

Psalm 28:7

The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.

Philippians 3:20

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Some further wisdom for us

On 06/04/2026, in Emotion, ethics, faith, global, hearts -- matters of the heart, morals/values, relationships, religion, society, by Daniel Christian

Romans 11:33
Doxology

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!

Proverbs 29:25

Fear of man will prove to be a snare,
but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

Romans 10:9

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

1 Chronicles 29:11

Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.

²⁸Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
³¹but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

Words are easy to say…and much harder for American businesses to back up. Alternative title: Cut the B.S. and actually care about your customers…like you say you do. [Christian]

On 05/28/2026, in 21st century, business, changing business models, communications, corporate / business world, Daniel S. Christian, ethics, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, telecommunications, United States, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Words are easy to say. Examples:

We are the leading ____ in the Midwest/Southwest/Northwest/etc. (says who? Prove it.)
Our patients’ care is important to us (no, it’s not…you only care if your customers’ accounts are paid in full. If patients’ care were actually important, you would fix what’s broken.)
Your call is important to us (no, it’s actually not. If it were actually important to you, you would have more customer service reps working so that the wait times were either non-existent or much shorter. The truth is that you would rather cut costs/headcount and have your customers wait. Be truthful about it. Stop the B.S.)

A vast number of American corporations don’t actually care about their customers — their concern focuses solely on obtaining their customers’ money.
One of the ways this plays out is that they hide behind the labyrinths that are designed into the call pathways in their Voice Response Units (VRUs). VRUs have been abused. Corporations hide behind them. It’s hard to actually reach a person or hold a person accountable for something.

And now, with executives getting rid of entry-level jobs in customer service, they seek to cut costs further as they implement AI-based systems…which rarely give us what we’re looking for.

But even in written communications, times seem to be changing…and not for the better. I had a customer service rep write me a letter recently (regarding an incident with our daughter’s experience at a blood lab). But in the letter, she didn’t even provide her last name or a direct phone # in her correspondence. This would NEVER have happened in business letters back in the day — her last name would have been present, for sure — and likely a direct phone #. This isn’t her fault. It’s her leadership’s fault. BTW, the issue was passed along to the lab’s leadership…and she closed her ticket out. But there was no mention of an actual fix or resolution. Nice hand washing job, don’t you think?

Another case in point. This time, involving Apple. (BTW, I’ve been a long-time Apple fan…until the last several years. They have lost some of their focus on customer service.) I wanted to ask a question about a purchase that showed up on our Visa bill from apple.com/bill. Do you think I could find an 800# to talk with someone at Apple? Nope. You can try to find things via their online-based support systems, but often their documentation doesn’t match up with one’s devices. I couldn’t even use their chat feature — their systems told me that their chat feature wasn’t available (and it was 11:30am EST).

I’m sure if you thought about it, you could come up with your own recent examples of poor customer service experiences — or examples of companies that you did business with who didn’t deliver what they said they would deliver.

The issue runs deeper than we think. It actually has to do with whether people actually care about each other or not. And here in America, actually caring about others seems to be in short supply.

Some Scripture for us

On 05/16/2026, in faith, global, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, religion, society, youth, by Daniel Christian

John 1:18

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and[a] is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

Psalm 32:8

Psalm 16:1-2
A miktam of David.

1 Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
.

Learning Ecosystems

Some Scripture for us

Some verses to help us grow in our relationship with the LORD

Some wisdom for us this week

Some wisdom for us

The most important Q&A of all time

Some Scripture for us

Some wisdom for us

Some Scripture for us

Some further wisdom for us

Words are easy to say…and much harder for American businesses to back up. Alternative title: Cut the B.S. and actually care about your customers…like you say you do. [Christian]

Some Scripture for us

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