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.

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. 

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)

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."

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

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!

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)

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."

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

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.

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." 

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

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)

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)

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 Lizz (Cohen) Nolasco to work through this quote from Heather Shumaker:  "Censoring speech has two major problems. One is practical-you can't control spoken words. Just as you can't force your child to sleep, you can't truly stop her from saying anything. The other is human nature. Banning anything gives it an elicit thrill."

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 their starting quote comes from Reflecting Children's Lives by Deb Curtis and Margie Carter: "Are our decisions developing capable people or are they suppressing competency in order to make life easier or more convenient for adults?"

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 to talk through something Lisa Murphy said in a text chat: "I won't be out of work until we treat our children as good as we treat our pets." 

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 David Cahn to discuss the issues and joys they have experienced as men working in a predominately female workforce, and the benefits men in child care provide for children and families.

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 and Travis (Taggart) Manley to discuss professionalism, starting with a quote from Stacie Goffin's book Early Childhood Education for a New Era: "Acknowledgment of expert authority marked by credentials or certification/licensure, is central to recognition as a profession."

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, and their conversation starts with this quote from the book Creative Block Play: A Comprehensive Guide to Learning through Building by Rosanne Regan Hansel. "Involving the children in organizing the block area will help them feel invested in keeping it orderly."