That Early Childhood Nerd
If you love thinking deeply about childhood, early childhood education, caring for children, and supporting children’s right to play, this is the podcast for you! Each week, host and self-proclaimed early childhood nerd Heather Bernt-Santy invites practitioners, writers, and thinkers who share her commitment to doing the very best we can for children, their caregivers and teachers, and their families to discuss big ideas, real life practices, and cool research. Let’s get nerdy!
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Episodes

Sep 18, 2024
Sep 18, 2024
1hr 5 min
Another episode celebrating the contributions of Lilian Katz! This time, Heather is joined by Lizz Nolasco, Samantha Balch and Mike Huber to talk through Dr. Katz's 2015 Exchange article "Distinctions Between Academic and Intellectual Goals for Young Children."
Find the article here: https://www.exchangepress.com/article/distinctions-between-academic-and-intellectual-goals-for-young-children/5022618/
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!

Sep 11, 2024
Sep 11, 2024
1hr 5 min
It's Heather and Lizz Nolasco again! After we recorded the episode on Lilian Katz's stages of preschool teacher development, Lizz had a great idea--a series of episodes focused on Lilian's work called "Katz Ladies!"
In this second episode of the series, they discuss an essay she wrote, published in a 1995 collection called Talks with Teachers of Young Children, where Katz discusses the differences between practices in early childhood that contribute to self esteem and those that tend more toward narcissism.
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!

Sep 4, 2024
Sep 4, 2024
55 min
Part one of a four episode series focusing on the work of Lilian Katz, in this episode Heather and Lizz Nolasco revisit Katz's 1972 article outlining her theory of the developmental stages of preschool teachers: survival, consolidation, renewal, and maturity. Find the article here: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED057922
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!

Aug 21, 2024
Aug 21, 2024
45 min
"Your image of the child, regardless of whether it is the first time you have reflected upon it, defines and determines the way you approach every interaction you have with children," writes Ron Grady in his book Honoring the Moment in Young Children's Lives: Observation, Documentation, and Reflection.
Ron joins Heather in this episode to dig deep into a phrase ("image of the child") that is becoming more and more common in our field. What does it really mean? Why does it matter so much?
Find more of Ron here: https://www.childology.co/
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!

Aug 14, 2024
Aug 14, 2024
50 min
Listen in as host Heather Bernt-Santy, and fellow ECE Nerds Bethany Corrie and Mike Huber, talk through the article When Boys Won't Be Boys: Discussing Gender with Young Children, where authors Hannah Katch and Jane Katch discuss the ways Jane is seeing gender roles enacted in her classroom.
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!

Aug 7, 2024
Aug 7, 2024
43 min
If you've listened to the show for a while, you know Heather is a big fan of Anji Play! In this episode, she is joined by Bethany Corrie and Richard Cohen to talk through the article Stepping Back to Nurture by Krystina Tapia, Emma Pickering and Jesse Coffino. Link to article: https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/fall2021/stepping-back-nurture
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!

Jul 31, 2024
Jul 31, 2024
55 min
In her article Both/And: Early Childhood Education Needs Both Play and Equity, consultant Ijumaa Jordan writes, "All children have a right to play. All children learn through play, not as enrichment but as a foundational context. Public outcry that play is disappearing from early childhood ignores the elephant in the room: this worrisome trend impacts young children unequally. Early education is segregated by race and class in the same way K–12 education is. Play-centered advocacy must dismantle oppressive educational systems that deny access to play based on race and class."
You'll want to hear this conversation! Find more from Ijumaa here: https://www.ijumaajordan.com/
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!

Jul 24, 2024
Jul 24, 2024
37 min
"Passion work is doing work you feel 'called to,' a job that makes you feel very obviously 'fulfilled,' a job that announces itself clearly as 'making a difference.'" (When Your Profession is on Fire by Anne Helen Petersen)
Tiffany Pearsall joins host Heather Bernt-Santy for a discussion of early care and education as passion work, systems thinking, burnout, and our love of everything Anne Helen Petersen writes.
Read the substack article here: https://annehelen.substack.com/p/when-your-profession-is-on-fire?utm_source=publication-search
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!

Jul 17, 2024
Jul 17, 2024
51 min
Kisa Marx and Samuel Broaden, authors of Rethinking Weapon Play: How to Encourage Imagination, Kindness and Consent in Your Classroom, join host Heather Bernt-Santy for a discussion of the ways adults respond to weapon play and challenge us to wonder what we're doing, why we're doing it, and who it serves.
Buy the book here: https://www.routledge.com/Rethinking-Weapon-Play-in-Early-Childhood-How-to-Encourage-Imagination-Kindness-and-Consent-in-Your-Classroom/Broaden-Marx/p/book/9781032649122
Find more of Kisa's work here: https://theplaylabnfpoakpark.org/the-play-labFind more of Samuel's work here: https://samuelbroaden.graphy.com/
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!

Jul 10, 2024
Jul 10, 2024
28 min
Host Heather Bernt-Santy is thrilled to have had this opportunity to talk to professor and author Dr. Lori Desautels about her book Connections Over Compliance: Rewiring Our Perceptions of Discipline. Find more of Dr. Desautels work here: https://revelationsineducation.com/
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!


