That Early Childhood Nerd

NERD_0009 Heather & Alfie Sittin' in a Tree with T-I-F-F-A-N-Y (?)

Welcome to the rerelease of That Early Childhood Nerd! This episode originally aired in September 2016...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 discuss Alfie Kohn's ideas in his book Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community.

NERD_0008 Four Year Olds are Four Year Olds

Welcome to the rerelease of That Early Childhood Nerd! This episode originally aired in September 2016...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 Laura Spillman to continue the school readiness conversation from last episode. This time, their quote comes from the book Reflecting Children's Lives: A Handbook for Planning Your Child-Centered Curriculum by Deb Curtis and Margie Carter.
"Is it childhood or school readiness that guides your thinking when planning curriculum?"

NERD_0007 There's Room on the School Readiness Soapbox!

Welcome to the rerelease of That Early Childhood Nerd! This episode originally aired in September 2016...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. They start with the following quote from A Mandate for Playful Learning in Preschool: Presenting the Evidence by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Laura E. Berk and Dorothy G. Singer: 
"Emphasis on drilling basic skills--to the exclusion of attending to thinking, reasoning, problem solving, and emotional and social skills--does not serve children well. Children in the 21st century need not only basic skills but the ability to go beyond the facts--to synthesize, integrate, create and evaluate. They also need to collaborate and lead effectively to achieve significant innovation and change."
 

NERD_0006 Violin Cases and Barbie Heads

Welcome to the rerelease of That Early Childhood Nerd! This episode originally aired in September 2016...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 Laura Spillman to reminisce about the ways we played as children. They start with the quote, "We have forgotten what it's like to be little, so we inadvertently redirect, shut off, and stifle play because we think that we should be teaching. We must pause to remember that play is very much an intellectual activity overflowing with opportunities for problem solving and creativity. To really begin believing and understanding this, though, we must first allow ourselves to remember what it was like when we were children." (Lisa Murphy)

NERD_0005 Who's Got the Power?

Welcome to the rerelease of That Early Childhood Nerd! This episode originally aired in September 2016...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, and their conversation starts with this quote from Margie Carter and Deb Curtis: 
"A critical aspect of becoming a coach for children's learning is the belief that children are capable and deserving of the skills and information adults have power over." 

NERD_0004 Before We Knew Better

Welcome to the rerelease of That Early Childhood Nerd! This episode originally aired on August 22, 2016...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, and they start the conversation simply with the quote, "I refer to the early days of my teaching as 'before I knew better," from Lisa Murphy's book Play: The Foundation of Children's Learning.

NERD_0003 A Crystallizing Moment

Welcome to the rerelease of That Early Childhood Nerd!
This episode originally aired on August 15, 2016...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 Laura Spillman, with the following quote from the book Lisa Murphy on Play as their starting point: 
"Howard Gardner tells us that at any given moment of any given day we could be facilitating an experience that makes a lifelong impact. He calls this a 'crystallizing moment." And as teachers, we never know when one might occur."
 

NERD_0002 Be Like Zeke: What We Can Learn from Two Year Olds

Welcome to the rerelease of That Early Childhood Nerd! This episode originally aired on August 8, 2016...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 to discuss this quote from Seth Godin's book Linchpin:
“I’m sitting next to Zeke on the plane. Well, I’m sitting but Zeke isn’t. Zeke is two. He spends the entire flight standing, walking around, poking, smiling, asking, touching, responding, reacting, testing, and exploring. Is it possible that you were like Zeke? What happened? Somewhere along the way, we baked it out of you. And that’s a shame, because what Zeke has (and what so many have lost) is exactly what we need.”

NERD_0001 Little Women and Early Childhood Care and Education

Welcome to the rerelease of That Early Childhood Nerd! This episode originally aired on August 1, 2016...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 talk about the connection between this quote from Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" and our work with young children:
"Mr Davis knew any quantity of Greek, Latin, algebra, and ologies of all sorts so he was called a fine teacher, and manners, morals, feelings, and examples were not considered of any importance."