That Early Childhood Nerd

NERD_0045 Engaging in Conflict with Children

Here at That Early Childhood Nerd, we are BIG Dan Hodgins fans!
In this episode, Travis (Taggart) Manley is back with host Heather Bernt-Santy to heartily agree with, and talk about how to respond to, one of Dan's ideas:
"Adults working with young children waste a great deal of energy engaging in conflict with them, under the guise of discipline." 
https://www.danieljhodgins.com/product-page/get-over-it

NERD_0044 Academic vs Play Based...blah blah blahhhh

Welcome to That Early Childhood Nerd! 
Recently the New York Times published a piece called "Free Play or Flash Cards? New Study Nods to More Rigorous Preschools" and host Heather Bernt-Santy and Tiffany Pearsall have lots of thoughts about it! 
Here's the starting quote for this conversation: "But now a new national study suggests that preschools that do not mix enough fiber into their curriculum may be doing their young charges a disservice."
Spoiler Alert: They've got some issues with the premise!

NERD_0043 Loose Parts Play in Early Childhood

Welcome to That Early Childhood Nerd!
In this episode, host Heather Bernt-Santy is joined by family child care provider and fellow early childhood nerd Bethany Corrie to talk about loose parts play. 
"Another benefit of open ended materials is that kids of different ages can play at different levels of complexity." (Nancy Carlsson-Paige)

NERD_0042 Before We Knew Better part 2

Welcome to the podcast rebrand! "Cause an Effect" is now "That Early Childhood Nerd!" 
In this episode. host Heather Bernt-Santy is joined by early childhood teacher Alisha Schmitke to continue the conversation about how we can change and grow as teachers when we continue to learn and wonder. 
As Maya Angelou said, "Do the best you can until you know better, then when you know better, do better."

NERD_0041 Before We Knew Better

Welcome to the rerelease of That Early Childhood Nerd! This episode originally aired in 2017...back then the podcast was called Cause an Effect. A lot has changed since then, including the host's name (from Heather Wenig to Heather Bernt-Santy) but we hope you will tune in! 
In this episode, Heather is joined by child care practitioners Shawna Wilde and Amanda Schulz to share the stories of how we have grown and changed in our practices as we continue to learn. 
"Critical thinking involves calling into question the assumptions underlying our customary, habitual ways of thinking and then be ready to think and act differently after we've done that reflecting." ~Steven Brookfield

NERD_0040 Put Time Out in Time Out

Welcome to the rerelease of That Early Childhood Nerd! This episode originally aired in 2017...back then the podcast was called Cause an Effect. A lot has changed since then, including the host's name (from Heather Wenig to Heather Bernt-Santy) but we hope you will tune in! 
In this episode, Heather is joined by Ben Planton. Ben shares a quote he heard at a recent conference: "In terms of child abuse, time out is kind of on the low end of the scale." What does THAT mean? Ben and Heather dive in.

NERD_0039 Direct Instruction in Preschool

Welcome to the rerelease of That Early Childhood Nerd! This episode originally aired in 2017...back then the podcast was called Cause an Effect. A lot has changed since then, including the host's name (from Heather Wenig to Heather Bernt-Santy) but we hope you will tune in! 
In this episode, Heather is joined by Tiffany Pearsall to share their love of Erika Christakis's book The Importance of Being Little : What Young Children Really Need from Grown Ups. 
"There are two problems with the direct instruction-centric preschool universe. The first is that the rampant proliferation of DI in the early years too often leaves little time during the school day for the teachers to develop individual relationships so critical to young children. The second is that DI is too readily adopted as a pedagogic substitute when teachers lack the professional skills that studies show are essential elements in high quality preschool instruction." 

NERD_0038 Offense Does Not Equal Harm

Welcome to the rerelease of That Early Childhood Nerd! This episode originally aired in 2017...back then the podcast was called Cause an Effect. A lot has changed since then, including the host's name (from Heather Wenig to Heather Bernt-Santy) but we hope you will tune in! 
In this episode, Heather is joined by Tiffany Pearsall. You can find the interview they discuss here: 
https://www.museumofplay.org/app/uploads/2022/01/9-1-interview-playing-with-ideas.pdf

NERD_0037 Should We Stop Using These Words with Young Children?

Welcome to the rerelease of That Early Childhood Nerd! This episode originally aired in 2017...back then the podcast was called Cause an Effect. A lot has changed since then, including the host's name (from Heather Wenig to Heather Bernt-Santy) but we hope you will tune in! 
In this episode, Heather is joined by Travis (Taggart) Manley and Tiffany Pearsall and they discuss ways to be more authentic and real with children. 
"Children learn best through authentic interactions with adults and through meaningful experiences with the real world." (Michael Gramling)

NERD-0036 Art as Communication in Childhood

Welcome to the rerelease of That Early Childhood Nerd! This episode originally aired in 2017...back then the podcast was called Cause an Effect. A lot has changed since then, including the host's name (from Heather Wenig to Heather Bernt-Santy) but we hope you will tune in! 
In this episode, Heather is joined by another "bonus kid," Pat Stefaniak.
"To deny the child that experience [artmaking] would be to thwart a means of speech and communication as instinctive as speech itself." (American painter Mark Rothko)