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!
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Episodes

Nov 27, 2024
Nov 27, 2024
51 min
Emily Clark, aka "EarlyEdEm" on instagram, has some thoughts to share about the impact of trying to make a profit off of attempts to assess quality in early childhood settings. Can true quality be commodified? Do attempts to make money off of quality child care fit with what research tells us are indicators of quality? We don't think so.
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!

Nov 20, 2024
Nov 20, 2024
39 min
In the third episode of this series on "quality" in early care and education, play advocate Kisa Marx joins host Heather Bernt-Santy for an important conversation about how too often, our standards for quality do not center the child. As part of the conversation, they discuss Heather's decision to reject the industry standard descriptor "developmentally appropriate" in favor of more child-centering terms like "developmentally informed" and "developmentally responsive."
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!

Nov 13, 2024
Nov 13, 2024
55 min
In this episode, care advocate and author Carol Garboden Murray and host Heather Bernt-Santy share stories of being told that if we want anyone to pay attention to early childhood, we need to stop talking about "care." How in the world did we get here? There is no "quality" without "care."
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!

Nov 13, 2024
Nov 13, 2024
38 min
In this first episode in a new series about quality in early care and education, host Heather Bernt-Santy talks with Deb Lawrence and Lisa Murphy about her concerns that some of our ideas and tools for measuring "quality" often lead to early care and education settings where play is devalued or simply doesn't exist.
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!

Nov 6, 2024
Nov 6, 2024
59 min
"Mike Asks Heather" is back! In the "Mike Asks Heather" episodes, Mike Huber has listened to a previous episode of the show, and asks host Heather Bernt-Santy some follow up questions. In this episode, Mike has relistened to TECN episode 226, where Heather interviewed Dr Lori Desautels, author of the book Connections Over Compliance.
The conversation starts with Mike inviting Heather to make some connections between that interview and her current work writing a book about schema play and advocacy.
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!

Oct 30, 2024
Oct 30, 2024
51 min
In episode 330, Bethany Corrie, Richard Cohen and Heather discussed the article "Stepping Back to Nurture." In this episode, one of the authors of the article, Jesse Coffino, joins in to keep the conversation going...
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!

Oct 23, 2024
Oct 23, 2024
43 min
Author Rae Pica has a new book out! It's called Why Play: How to Make Play an Essential Part of Early Childhood, and she joins host Heather Bernt-Santy in this episode to talk about why she keeps doing what she's doing--writing, talking and speaking to groups about play and movement in childhood.
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!

Oct 16, 2024
Oct 16, 2024
44 min
Author, speaker, lavender farmer, and long time friend-of-Heather Erin Ramsey joins the show this week to talk about the ideas in her book Inspired Work: Showing Up and Shining Bright. With an engaging combination of "woo-woo" and science, Erin has some great ideas for anyone who wants to work in a way that aligns with their authentic self.
Find more Erin here: https://erinramsey.com/
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!

Oct 2, 2024
Oct 2, 2024
1hr 1 min
Heather finally got to meet the crew behind her favorite podcast--"Teaching with the Body in Mind." Join in as Heather, Mike Huber, Tom Bedard, Joey Schoen and Ross Thompson talk about how we can honor children and help them flourish by understanding their need for, and right to, movement.
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!

Sep 25, 2024
Sep 25, 2024
52 min
In our final episode of our series of episodes focused on the contributions of Lilian Katz, Heather brings in Lizz Nolasco, Tiffany Pearsall and Samantha Balch to talk about...well, a lot. But it all starts with an article by Dr Katz called "The Benefits of the Mix."
Find it here: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED382411
Want to support the show and help keep it ad free? You can make a one time donation or become a member to get access to more TECN content at "Buy Me a Coffee:"
buymeacoffee.com/heatherf
Another way to support the show is to leave a review/rating on iTunes or Spotify, and to share on your social media networks!


