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!
Listen on:
Episodes
Monday Jul 03, 2017
Monday Jul 03, 2017
Host Heather Bernt-Santy is joined for this episode by Lizz (Cohen) Nolasco.
"She had been taught that this kind of music and movement activity was good for children, although she really didn't know why. She was 'doing early childhood' as she'd been taught but she didn't know the reasons behind her own developmentally appropriate practice."
From Social Emotional Development: Connecting Science and Practice in Early Childhood Settings by Dave Riley, Robert San Juan, Joan Klinkner, and Ann Ramminger.
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Monday Jun 26, 2017
Monday Jun 26, 2017
Continuing the exploration of ideas in Lilian Katz's article on intellectual vs academic skills in early childhood, Heather Bernt-Santy is joined by David Cahn.
"While intellectual dispositions may be weakened or even damaged by excessive and premature formal instruction, they're also not likely to be strengthened by any of the trivial if not banal activities frequently offered in child care, preschool, and kindergarten programs." (Lilian Katz)
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member at "Buy Me a Coffee."
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Monday Jun 19, 2017
Monday Jun 19, 2017
Host Heather Bernt-Santy welcomes Travis (Taggart) Manley to discuss education requirements, professional respect, and working with young children.
"When providers struggle with low pay, few benefits, and little job prestige, yet resist the kind of activity that has moved other workers, nurses for instance, from the world of paraprofessionals to the world of adequate pay, benefits, and job security, they're holding the entire field back." (Stacie Goffin)
Heather and Travis have....thoughts.
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Monday Jun 12, 2017
Monday Jun 12, 2017
Host Heather Bernt-Santy is joined in this episode by Tiffany Pearsall (and her Kate Bush impression) to discuss Lilian Katz's article on the difference between academic goals and intellectual goals in early childhood: https://dey.org/publication/kindergarten-readiness-academic-instruction-or-intellectual-goals/
"Children of very low income families may not have been read to or have held a pencil at home, but I suggest that it's a good idea to assume that they, too, have lively minds." (Lilian Katz)
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Monday Jun 05, 2017
Monday Jun 05, 2017
Host Heather Bernt-Santy and Bethany Corrie love Tamar Jacobson!
From her book Don't Get So Upset: Help Young Children Manage Their Feelings by Understanding Your Own":
"We set the tone in our classrooms. It is our mood that creates the climate."
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Monday May 29, 2017
Monday May 29, 2017
Host Heather Bernt-Santy is joined by Tiffany Pearsall to discuss adult responses to children's fears.
"Every time we remove a child's fear, we interrupt an opportunity to help her learn to manage her fears." (Emily Plank)
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Monday May 22, 2017
Monday May 22, 2017
Once again, Emily Plank provides food for thought, conversation and action in her book Discovering the Culture of Childhood:
"Conflict resolution skills require creativity and imagination, and children who have a chance to develop those skills in their early years have a broader set of conflict resolution skills as adults. Therefore, while educators worry about play themes, they should instead focus on play complexity."
Listen in as host Heather Bernt-Santy and Tiffany Pearsall dig in.
Monday May 15, 2017
Monday May 15, 2017
Y'all, we know the sound quality is rough in this episode...we were still learning!
BUT...you will want to join in on this conversation between host Heather Bernt-Santy, Lisa Murphy and Tiffany Pearsall.
Remember that NYT article about free play vs flash cards from a few episodes ago? Turns out we're not done thinking and talking about it.
Monday May 08, 2017
Monday May 08, 2017
Tiffany Pearsall is Heather's cohost for this episode, exploring leadership in teaching early childhood.
"Leaders are those who provoke or nudge or elevate others into thinking, feeling, or behaving in ways they would not otherwise have demonstrated." (Linda Espinosa)
Monday May 01, 2017
Monday May 01, 2017
By now you've probably noticed that host Heather Bernt-Santy LOVES Emily Plank's book Discovering the Culture of Childhood. It's. So. Good.
In this episode, she and Tiffany Pearsall discuss the implications of interrupting children's play.
From the book:
"Educators Elizabeth Jones and Renatta Cooper share a revealing conversation Jones overheard between her two children. An older brother was giving his younger sister advice about kindergarten. 'No point in starting anything here, they never let you finish. Don't get interested, you'll just get interrupted.' Because children might live with the reality that their play attempts might get interrupted at any moment, they defend their play fiercely."