That Early Childhood Nerd

"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

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
 

Join host Heather Bernt-Santy and fellow Nerd Mike Huber as they talk with Rachel Payne about her new children's book Let's Rumble: A Rough-and-Tumble Book of Play. 
Find more information about Rachel and buy her book here: https://www.rachelgpayne.com/rumble
Order Heather’s book, Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood, today!
Teachers College Press  https://tinyurl.com/4rtccewb
Amazon  https://a.co/d/aQpOA2j
Bookshop.org  https://tinyurl.com/ppe66cms

Happy 2026! We're so glad you found That Early Childhood Nerd in its new feed! Heather knew she wanted this first episode of the "new era" to be special, and thankfully, Lisa Murphy agreed to be the guest!
Lisa is here to talk with Heather about her new book and the writing process. How fun! 
Order Heather’s book Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood today!
Teachers College Press  https://tinyurl.com/4rtccewb
Amazon  https://a.co/d/aQpOA2j
Bookshop.org  https://tinyurl.com/ppe66cms

Host Heather Bernt-Santy knew as soon as she read the Defending the Early Years blog post, “How Did Early Childhood Programs Become So Focused on School Readiness Skills” by Dr Dale Farran–she HAD to invite Dr Farran to discuss it. And here she is! 
 
Find the blog post here: https://dey.org/how-did-early-childhood-programs-become-so-focused-on-school-readiness-skills/

Author and educator Sally Haughey is here to discuss the incredible unfolding and blossoming that happens during play. Her new book Nurturing Brilliance provides a science-based approach to understanding and sharing about the inherent brilliance of children’s growth and development. 
Find Sally’s book here: https://www.redleafpress.org/Nurturing-Brilliance-Using-Play-Activated-Learning-to-Awaken-Childrens-Potential-P3103.aspx
More of Sally’s work: https://wunderled.com/about/
Have you ordered Heather’s book Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood yet? It's available now!
From Teachers College Press: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243
From Amazon: https://a.co/d/bvcJwIk

Carly Bedard, a play facilitator for adult early educators, joins host Heather Bernt-Santy to discuss the ways that self active play can transform early childhood practitioners’ practice with young children. Listen in as Heather shares the ways participating in one of Carly’s workshops at a recent teacher retreat reminded her of the importance of being an adult who plays in order to provide spaces and programming where children can play. 
Have you ordered Heather’s book Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood yet? It's available now!
From Teachers College Press: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243
From Amazon: https://a.co/d/bvcJwIk

Early childhood education researcher and advocate Emily Clark is back for another conversation with host Heather Bernt-Santy. In this episode, they talk about her work on children’s rights in early childhood programs. 
Here’s more from Emily: https://www.earlyedem.com/ 
Have you ordered Heather’s book Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood yet? It's available now!
From Teachers College Press: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243
From Amazon: https://a.co/d/bvcJwIk

Join host Heather Bernt-Santy in a conversation with Dr. Zlata Stankovic-Ramirez, Dr. Danielle McLellan-Bujnak, and Dr. Josh Thompson about their work regarding the idea of developmental cascades. The work presents a potential shift in the language used to describe child development as they propose moving away from the traditional ages-and-stages framework and incorporating the concept of developmental cascades.
Have you ordered Heather’s book Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood yet? It’s available now from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Bookshop.org or you can order directly from the publisher on the Teachers College Press website
Thanks for listening!

The book The Commodification of American Education: Persistent Threats and Paths Forward includers a powerful chapter by Denisha Jones, in which she writes, “To protect childhood, we must resist GERM and all its manifestations in early childhood education.” In this episode, host Heather Bernt-Santy has a conversation with Denisha about what this means, why we need to do more than just resist, and the impacts for children if we do not take action. 
Have you ordered Heather’s book Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood yet? It’s available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Bookshop.org, or you can order directly from the publisher on the Teachers College Press website. 
Thanks for listening!