About Us
The Heart Behind Christian Kiddo
On January 2, 2025, Linda Paalman felt led by the Holy Spirit to develop PDFs to help children learn their ABCs. She realized she wanted a Christian approach that speaks to the heart of a child. The ABCs Bundle grew into a space where children can feel safe and learn about the peace of God — His peace that helps them do hard things.
While children are still emotionally developing, they face constant challenges, and that can feel pretty overwhelming to them.
It's impressive to think about how many new things children learn in the first six to seven years of their lives. These early years lay the foundation for how they will cope — with confidence or without it — later in life.
What seems small to adults is big to them. And many small things together can form a heavy load on tiny shoulders. It's potty training, learning letters, trying new food, zipping a jacket, being kind… all at once.
A child's development is an ongoing stream of new skills and knowledge, and these early years are especially adaptable. Children can often learn and adjust quickly — yet they still need to be met where they are, so they feel seen, loved, and helped.
A Learning World Rooted in Peace
At Christian Kiddo, Linda creates learning bundles that acknowledge both children's development and the emotional impact of growing up. Instead of just learning the ABCs, the framework is a warm Christian family called the Phewie-Power Family — a family children can relate to. Christi and Uzzi aren't just learning the ABCs; they are learning how to live their lives with the peace and help of Jesus.
The way we behave and change is strongly connected to motivation — and to understanding the pros and cons before we make up our minds. There is a natural sense of peace when our decisions feel grounded and clear.
However, life can feel like an obstacle course. We tend to think, "After this [ ____ ], I'll finally feel relieved… I'll feel better." Yet from age zero to one hundred, new challenges keep coming.
So instead of focusing on the obstacle course, Linda gently puts Jesus at the centre of each product. The Phewie-Power Family models the difference between reacting with stress and frustration when facing a challenge — and pausing to access the supernatural peace of God that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7).
The Phewie-Power song invites children to ask Jesus for a "Phewie" — His peace — so they can try again. It's a simple way of experiencing that doing things together with Jesus makes things lighter, even when they feel hard at first.
Pause when something is hard,
Pray "Jesus, Phewie?"
Receive His peace that makes you go, Pheeewie-Heeey!
And try again.
This builds confidence and trust — not only in how a child behaves, but also in how they see God and develop a real relationship with Him, something others will quietly notice.
Inclusion & Deaf Awareness
Last, but surely not least, because of Linda's background in occupational therapy, inclusivity is something that's close to her heart. At her church (5F Church, Los Angeles), she connected with Mercy, who is Deaf. It deeply touched her to see Deaf people worship God with amazingly expressive facial expressions and hand gestures.
To affirm that we are all one in Christ, Linda chose to include ASL alphabet fingerspelling and several basic ASL signs. Not as a "nice add-on," but as part of learning the ABCs in different ways — listening, repeating, speaking, singing, tracing, dancing, and signing. This multi-sensory approach engages the brain through multiple pathways, helping children remember more naturally and confidently.
💛 If you'd like to see the ABCs Bundle in action, you can watch the preview videos. You're also welcome to explore the Christian Kiddo collection page for more details.
About Linda
Occupational Therapy Background
Linda went through the full four-year Occupational Therapy program at the Bachelor level. She did not obtain the final degree after the final examination. She respects that the medical field works with many standardized forms, but she feels most herself when meeting people with an open mind, without a stack of paperwork. However, her academic work remains a recognized contribution to the field.
Academic Contribution
During her studies, she authored an article published in Ergotherapie Nederland (the official journal of the Dutch Association of Occupational Therapy). Her article was later cited in the Dutch Grondslagen van de ergotherapie (Foundations of Occupational Therapy) as well as in the German version Grundlagen der Ergotherapie, a foundational textbook used in Dutch and German healthcare education.
Behavioral Change & Intrinsic Motivation
Linda took a minor in behavioral change, with an emphasis on intrinsic motivation. She learned to sit beside someone rather than in front of them — exploring pros and cons together so they can make grounded decisions.
References
For those interested in the academic foundations mentioned above:
The article that Linda wrote grew out of a semester of research linking a measurement scale to the International Classification of Functioning, Children & Youth (ICF-CY). The scale helps indicate how people with (severe) disabilities can function in the workplace.
Paalman, L., Moelder, J., Seifert, C., Bodenstaff, A., & Kuijer-Siebelink, W. (2010). Het koppelen van de taksatieschaal Arbeid aan de ICF-CY. Ergotherapie, 38, 18–21.
Van Hartingsveldt, M., & Van den Houten, J. (Eds.). (2017). Grondslagen van de ergotherapie (5e druk). Bohn Stafleu van Loghum.
Van Hartingsveldt, M., & Van den Houten, J. (Eds.). (2019). Grundlagen der Ergotherapie (5th ed.; M. Vieten, Trans.). Georg Thieme Verlag.
For more background on how the ABCs Bundle works in practice, visit the Knowledge Base.