That Early Childhood Nerd

NERD_0404 Men, Risky Play, and Gentle Care with Mike Browne

"When we think of being “gentle” we might think of it as being slow-moving, of having a soft voice, of being non-threatening. But how I view gentleness in the context of risky play looks like being emotionally and energetically attuned. Whether we are hanging upside down on a tree, or playing monsters in the yard, being consistent, being present, being attuned are all ways we can be gentle with one another even through the chaos of it all."
Mike Browne, in his article for the winter issue of Exchange, focused on protecting play, wrote about his experience as a Black man working with young children and takes the reader through his deeply thoughtful process of reflecting on his experiences. 
Find the article here: https://hub.exchangepress.com/articles-on-demand/70878/
Buy Heather's book Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood here: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243
Join our new Patreon community! For just $5 a month you can support all the Early Childhood Nerdwork podcasts AND join our Discord server to chat with the hosts and others who are working for children, their families, and their teachers: https://www.patreon.com/cw/EarlyChildhoodNerdworkbyThatEarlyChildhoodNerd
Thanks for listening!

NERD_0403 Young Children, Care, and Imagination

In her article for Exchange Press's special issue on protecting play, Carol Garboden Murray writes, "Those of us who care for young children practice a caring imagination daily as we see the possibilities for the vulnerable competent child, and teach in a way that supports their unique unfolding and original direction. As we care, we teach children to care. Through care, we plant the seeds for a moral imagination to grow; an empathetic intelligence, attuned to the needs of others, one that transforms children into agents of care. Care and imagination are intertwined, and these are not soft skills. Care and imagination are the seeds of our humanity, and they grow to become the source of our connection, joy, trust, and survival in a broken world. A caring imagination supports our commitment to one another, our commitment to care."
Carol is one of TECN's favorite guests, and you won't want to miss this opportunity to hear her connect imagination and care, both in the context of children's imaginative play and the ways adults use their imaginations in caring for children.
Find Carol's article here: https://hub.exchangepress.com/articles-on-demand/70819/
Buy Heather's book Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood here: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243
Join our new Patreon community! For just $5 a month you can support all the Early Childhood Nerdwork podcasts AND join our Discord server to chat with the hosts and others who are working for children, their families, and their teachers: https://www.patreon.com/cw/EarlyChildhoodNerdworkbyThatEarlyChildhoodNerd
Thanks for listening!

NERD_0402 Free the Research!

Emily Clark is back on the show to talk about her new project, Liberating Childhood, and her commitment to connecting practitioners to important research to inform their work. 
On her website, Em writes: "This tool was born from years of living in the space between research and practice. As an early childhood educator, leader, and researcher, I spent years reading powerful studies—research that named exactly what I was seeing in classrooms. But outside the university, that research became harder to find and access.
I created this tool because that gap is not accidental—and it's not neutral. Early childhood education is political work, and educators need access to research to support liberation. Research stuck behind institutional walls cannot liberate childhood. This tool is one small way of opening those walls."
Find Em's work here: https://liberatingchildhood.org/
Buy Heather's book Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood here: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243
Join our new Patreon community! For just $5 a month you can support all the Early Childhood Nerdwork podcasts AND join our Discord server to chat with the hosts and others who are working for children, their families, and their teachers: https://www.patreon.com/cw/EarlyChildhoodNerdworkbyThatEarlyChildhoodNerd
Thanks for listening!

NERD 0401 Ten Types of Rest with Kerry Murphy

Kerry Murphy is an early years specialist, author, lecturer and trainer working in the field of neurodiversity-affirming and anti-ableist practice in early childhood education. She is the founder of Diverse Pathways for Early Childhood, a platform that supports educators, leaders, local authorities and families to critically rethink child development, play, behavior, communication and regulation beyond deficit-based and compliance-driven models.
In this episode, Kerry joins host Heather Bernt-Santy and Mike Huber to discuss ten types of rest she has identified, rejecting the deficit model in our work with children, and what self-regulation truly means. This conversation could have gone on for hours!For more of Kerry's work: https://diversepathways.org/
Buy Heather's book Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood here: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243
Thanks for listening!

NERD 0400 The 400th Episode of That Early Childhood Nerd!

We can't believe this is the 400th episode of That Early Childhood Nerd!
In this special episode, Richard Cohen has some questions for Heather Bernt-Santy after reading her book Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood. It's a fun interview and we hope you enjoy it!
Buy Heather's book here: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243

NERD_0399 Challenging Behavior or Age Appropriate Play with Sean Durham and Travis Morgan

What if the toddler behavior that drives you crazy is actually the meaningful behavior of a child driven to construct their knowledge by exploring their environment? How can a knowledge of Chris Athey's play schemas help you see these behaviors with new eyes and your own curiosity? Early childhood professors Sean Durham and Travis Morgan join host Heather Bernt-Santy for an enlightening conversation you won't want to miss. 
Find Sean and Travis’s article here: https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/spring2025
Order Heather’s book Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243

NERD_0398 Pretend Play IS Liberated Learning

Join host Heather Bernt-Santy as she talks with Mike Huber and Kisa Marx about pretend play, power, liberation, and their new podcast! 
From Mike's article The Power of Pretend Play: "At a time in their lives when they have very little control of their day-to-day life, young children frequently take on roles that involve some form of power. This allows them to experience power in ways they may not have otherwise."
From Kisa's article The Politics of Play: Protecting Children's Liberation in a World of Control: "As early educators, we often buckle under this pressure, trying to “play teacher” without recognition of the profound, foundational work we do in the first 1,800 days of a child’s life. In doing so, many of us become fluent in the language of the oppressed: silent. We stay quiet, afraid to make waves, fearful that raising concerns will disrupt the families we serve. We convince ourselves—mistakenly—that our silence will keep us safe."
Find Kisa’s article here: https://hub.exchangepress.com/articles-on-demand/70810/
Find Mike’s article here: https://hub.exchangepress.com/articles-on-demand/70870/
Order the Exchange winter 2025 issue on Protecting Play: https://hub.exchangepress.com/category/articles-on-demand/issue-280-winter-2025/
Access the recording of the Protecting Play online conference: https://hub.exchangepress.com/video/74364/
Order Heather’s book Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243

NERD_0397 Play IS Literacy

In her 2025 article The Key to Early Literacy is Child-Led Play, published in the winter 2025 issue of Exchange, Stacy Benge writes, "Child led play is the key to developing the foundations that support future reading and writing. And not just play that connects to the alphabet and books. All PLAY fosters the fundamentals needed for literacy, the development of the whole child." Stacy joins host Heather Bernt-Santy to dig deeper!
Find Stacy’s article here: https://hub.exchangepress.com/articles-on-demand/70867/
Order the Exchange winter 2025 issue on Protecting Play: https://hub.exchangepress.com/category/articles-on-demand/issue-280-winter-2025/
Access the recording of the Protecting Play online conference: https://hub.exchangepress.com/video/74364/
Order Heather’s book Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243

NERD_0396 Revisiting Journeys with Miriam Beloglovsky and Jessica Frazier

"Through the revisiting journey, children make sense of and give meaning to what they are learning. This journey is not linear or circular as children play and explore, then stop, then come back later and explore again in a different way. When we look closely, these complex journeys tell the story of each child’s learning. This book introduces a revisiting journeys framework to help educators understand these ways that children make sense of their learning and guide children in the next steps of their journeys. At the same time, it supports educators to create ecosystems that support messy revisiting journeys and to walk side by side with the children as they co-create their own journeys."
Listen as authors Miriam Beloglovsky and Jessica Frazier discuss their own journey to writing their book Revisiting Journeys: Understanding How Children Reflect, Reimagine, and Redesign Their Play and Learning.
Order Revisiting Journeys here: https://www.redleafpress.org/Revisiting-Journeys-Understanding-How-Children-Reflect-Reimagine-and-Redesign-Their-Play-and-Learning-P3127.aspx
 
Order Heather's Book Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood here:
Teachers College Press: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243

NERD_0395 Make Believe Play, Literacy, Resilience, and Joy!

In an article written for Exchange Press's special issue on Protecting Play, Stephanie Goloway wrote, "Like all forms of play, the magic of make-believe (AKA dramatic play, pretend play, fantasy play, sociodramatic play, etc) has deep roots in child development. It's the perfect playground for young brains to flex their growing capacity for representational thinking, the foundation of literacy."
Stephanie joins host Heather Bernt-Santy in this episode to discuss how make believe play protects and fosters children's development and joy. 
Find the special issue here: https://hub.exchangepress.com/shop/280-winter-2025/
Find more of Stephanie here: https://www.imaginationonthemove.com/about
Order Heather's book Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood here: 
Teachers College Press: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243
Exchange Press: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243