Lois Ann Lorentzen is professor of social ethics in the theology and religious studies department at the University of San Francisco (USF) and co-director of the Center for Latino Studies in the Americas (CELASA).

The National Association of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a Christian organization that focuses on the religious formation of children using the Bible, liturgy and the educational principles of Maria Montessori. It’s based in Oak Park, Ill.

Annette Mahoney is a psychology professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She is co-director of the university’s Spirituality and Psychology Research Team and conducts research on the role, both positive and negative, that religion plays in families and in the transition that couples make to becoming parents.

Freda Shamma is a writer and curriculum development director from Cincinnati, and the mother of five. An essay she wrote, “Teaching Your Child About Islam,” encourages parents to be Islamic role models for their children and was presented at the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America. Shamma can also speak about the […]

Dorothy C. Bass is director of the Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith. This project, funded by the Lilly Endowment and based at Valparaiso University in Indiana, works to develop resources to help people live out the practices of Christian faith with integrity. Bass can speak about teaching children to resist the […]

Scottie May is assistant professor of Christian formation and ministry at Wheaton College in Illinois. Her emphasis is on children’s ministry, and her research includes how children come to faith. She is co-author of Children Matter: Celebrating Their Place in the Church, Family and Community.

Stuart Z. Charmé is a professor of religion at Rutgers University at the campus in Camden, N.J. For more than a decade, Charmé has interviewed Jewish children and teenagers about their religious beliefs and ideas – focusing particularly on how gender affects a child’s understanding of Jewish history and practice.

Thomas Lickona is a developmental psychologist and education professor at the State University of New York at Cortland. He also directs the Center for the 4th and 5th Rs (Respect and Responsibility), which emphasizes the development of character and ethics in children. He is the author of Character Matters: How to Help Our Children Develop Good Judgment, Integrity and Other Essential […]

Mollie Painton is a licensed psychologist and play therapist from Fort Collins, Colo., and founder of the SpiritPlay Institute. She is the author of the 2007 book Encouraging Your Child’s Spiritual Intelligence and says that spiritual children – compassionate and wise – can be healers and teachers for the world.