"What then are the spiritual needs of children? Immediately I think of the need for some periods of quiet and solitude when they can escape the constant noise of chatter, radio, TV, and listen to the still small voice within. Because the spirits of children are not truly nourished by prepackaged answers, cold facts or even routine presentations of materials, they need opportunities to ponder some of the mysteries. Children have a right to be nourished spiritually in ways that leave the door open for deeply appropriate responses such as wonder, respect, and gratitude. There is the need to find meaning in their lives, the need to question why they are here and why the world exists as it does. Their spirits need reassurance that what they do matters. Their spirits need to know why it is better to act in one way and not in another.
In addition there is the need for something beyond themselves and the physical world, the need to connect to the universe, a need that cannot be satisfied except in relation to a Whole, a reality that is more than what they see in their everyday experience."
Aline D. Wolf, Nurturing the Spirit in Non-Sectarian Classrooms (1996), p. 23
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