That Early Childhood Nerd

Susan Engel is Class of 1959 Director of the Program in Teaching and a senior lecturer in psychology at Williams College, and the author of several books...all of which host Heather Bernt-Santy has read and LOVED! Her latest book, American Kindergarten: Dispatches from the First Year of School, is no exception. 
In this episode, Susan joins Heather to talk about the book--"an unexpected portrait of the first year of school for America's youngest learners," written after spending time in kindergarten classrooms across the United States. You'll love hearing her talk about the promises kindergarten can make to children.
Order the book here: https://a.co/d/0jjfd5pO
You can order Heather's book here: https://a.co/d/03frXV0a
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It's time for another Nerd Study Hall! In this episode, host Heather Bernt-Santy is joined by Richard Cohen, Aaron Neimark, and Mike Huber to discuss an article written by retired professor and former community organizer William Ayers, titled "The Hope and Promise of Teaching." It's a beautiful, challenging, inspiring, and validating article and the conversation reflects all of these elements. 
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!

"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!

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!

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!

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!

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

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

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

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