That Early Childhood Nerd

Latest Episodes:

NERD_0382 Supporting Children’s Sense of Justice with Dr. Megan Madison Oct 01, 2025

Show notes

Author, educator and community organizer Dr. Megan Madison joins host Heather Bernt-Santy to talk about her First Conversations children’s book series, children’s developing sense of justice and fairness, book bans, and more. This conversation will leave you feeling determined and hopeful, as it did Heather.

More about the book series, including downloadables and other guides, here: https://www.firstconversations.com/

Find Megan on instagram as @meganmadison

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

Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/mry4md7b

Barnes and Noble: https://tinyurl.com/4vy5eyxy

Thanks for listening!

Save 10% on professional development from Explorations Early Learning and support the show with the coupon code NERD.

Like the show? Consider supporting our work by becoming a Patron, shopping our Amazon Link, or sharing it with someone who might enjoy it. You can leave a comment or ask a question here.

Click here for more Heather.

For a small fee we can issue self-study certificates for listening to podcasts.

NERD_0381 Free the Teachers! Calendar and Circle Times Sep 24, 2025

Show notes

It’s time for the second installment of Free the Teachers!

In this episode, Heather Bernt-Santy is joined by Richard Cohen, Carol Garboden Murray, Stacy Benge, and Tiffany Pearsall to talk through the ways we can be free of traditional calendar, circle, and other large group times and to share new ways of thinking about gathering with young children.

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

Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/mry4md7b

Barnes and Noble: https://tinyurl.com/4vy5eyxy

Thanks for listening!

Save 10% on professional development from Explorations Early Learning and support the show with the coupon code NERD.

Like the show? Consider supporting our work by becoming a Patron, shopping our Amazon Link, or sharing it with someone who might enjoy it. You can leave a comment or ask a question here.

Click here for more Heather.

For a small fee we can issue self-study certificates for listening to podcasts.

NERD_0380 Scrap Circle Time with Amy Reyes-Hauff Sep 17, 2025

Show notes

In this week’s episode, host Heather Bernt-Santy interviews Amy Reyes-Hauff, Early Learning Specialist with the Wyoming Department of Education’s school success divistion. They talk about traditional circle time practices in early childhood settings and Amy suggests that it’s time to scrap circle time in favor of more developmentally informed practices….and PLAY!

Amy is an advocate for outdoor learning and has integrated outdoor learning into over 200 classrooms across her home state of Wyoming with the Get Wild Wyoming Initiative. Amy is an early childhood speaker and motivator who firmly believes children learn best in outdoor learning settings where they are able to self regulate through natural colors, shapes, sounds, and feelings.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-reyes-a1b15844/

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

Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/mry4md7b

Barnes and Noble: https://tinyurl.com/4vy5eyxy

Thanks for listening!

Save 10% on professional development from Explorations Early Learning and support the show with the coupon code NERD.

Like the show? Consider supporting our work by becoming a Patron, shopping our Amazon Link, or sharing it with someone who might enjoy it. You can leave a comment or ask a question here.

Click here for more Heather.

For a small fee we can issue self-study certificates for listening to podcasts.

NERD_0379 A New Way of Looking at Children’s War Play with Ebba Theorell Sep 10, 2025

Show notes

Host Heather Bernt-Santy and fellow nerd Mike Huber talk with Ebba Theorell about her brilliant article, Transformative Aesthetic Dimensions in Young Boys’ War Play:
Exploring the World Through Kinesthetic Musicality, in which she discusses her research and thesis work examining war play through the lens of dance and choreography.

Find her article here: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/34/article/960063/pdf

Want to order Heather’s book Using Schema Play Theory to
Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood?

Teachers College Press: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243

Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/mry4md7b

Barnes and Noble: https://tinyurl.com/4vy5eyxy

Thanks for listening!

Save 10% on professional development from Explorations Early Learning and support the show with the coupon code NERD.

Like the show? Consider supporting our work by becoming a Patron, shopping our Amazon Link, or sharing it with someone who might enjoy it. You can leave a comment or ask a question here.

Click here for more Heather.

For a small fee we can issue self-study certificates for listening to podcasts.

NERD_0378 Free the Teachers! Tightly Controlled Schedules Sep 03, 2025

Show notes

Every now and then, host Heather Bernt-Santy and the other nerds in the TECN group chat hit on hot issues that we wish early childhood folks didn’t have to worry about. We decided to do a few episodes on these topics, calling it the Free the Teachers! series.

In this episode, we talk about how stressful tightly controlled daily schedules are for adults and for children, and discuss some alternatives.

Want to order Heather’s book Using Schema Play Theory to
Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood?

Teachers College Press: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243

Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/mry4md7b

Barnes and Noble: https://tinyurl.com/4vy5eyxy

Thanks for listening!

Save 10% on professional development from Explorations Early Learning and support the show with the coupon code NERD.

Like the show? Consider supporting our work by becoming a Patron, shopping our Amazon Link, or sharing it with someone who might enjoy it. You can leave a comment or ask a question here.

Click here for more Heather.

For a small fee we can issue self-study certificates for listening to podcasts.

NERD_0377 Slow Childhoods with Carol Garboden Murray and Amy Chiu Aug 27, 2025

Show notes

When host Heather Bernt-Santy talked with Amy Chiu (www.theworkofplay.com) on TECN episode 372, she knew she had to have a follow up conversation including Carol Garboden Murray (https://www.carolgarbodenmurray.com/). Join them all as they discuss the benefit of slowing down with children in our early childhood settings, including some great first-of-the-school-year practices that help build slow habits.

Want to order Heather’s book Using Schema Play Theory to
Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood?

Teachers College Press: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243

Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/mry4md7b

Barnes and Noble: https://tinyurl.com/4vy5eyxy

Thanks for listening!

Save 10% on professional development from Explorations Early Learning and support the show with the coupon code NERD.

Like the show? Consider supporting our work by becoming a Patron, shopping our Amazon Link, or sharing it with someone who might enjoy it. You can leave a comment or ask a question here.

Click here for more Heather.

For a small fee we can issue self-study certificates for listening to podcasts.

NERD_0376 Live from the 2025 Play Empowers Teacher Retreat! Aug 20, 2025

Show notes

Live from the lobby of the Claggett Retreat Center, listen in as attendees and presenters debrief the day’s events–what resonated, what challenged them, and dreams for what happens next. The Play Empowers Teacher Retreat is truly one of a kind.

Because it was a live recording of a large group, the volume levels vary a bit from person to person–this may not be an ear bud episode!

Thank you to Kisha Reid for bringing us all together!

Want to order my book Using Schema Play Theory to
Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood?

Teachers College Press: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243

Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/mry4md7b

Barnes and Noble: https://tinyurl.com/4vy5eyxy

Thanks for listening!

Save 10% on professional development from Explorations Early Learning and support the show with the coupon code NERD.

Like the show? Consider supporting our work by becoming a Patron, shopping our Amazon Link, or sharing it with someone who might enjoy it. You can leave a comment or ask a question here.

Click here for more Heather.

For a small fee we can issue self-study certificates for listening to podcasts.

NERD_0375 Trauma Informed Practices with Nikki Darling-Kuria Aug 13, 2025

Show notes

Nikki Darling-Kuria joins host Heather Bernt-Santy to share her growth as a trauma informed early childhood professional in an unpredictable world. The quote to start this conversation is from Katherine Anne Porter, who said, “The past is never where you think you left it,” meaning that events that we think are in the past and believe we should be “over” aren’t ever over. Nikki shares thoughts and resources about moving through our work and our lives with trauma informed practices.

For more information:

Listeners can get 10% off the book Trauma Responsive Strategies for Early Childhood from 7/7/2025-9/1/2025. Enter code: podcast10

https://www.redleafpress.org/Trauma-Responsive-Strategies-for-Early-Childhood-P2503.aspx

Listeners can get 10% off each of the four eLearnings from 7/7/2025-9/1/2025. Enter code: podcast10

https://www.thinksmall.org/trauma-informed/

Thanks for listening!

Save 10% on professional development from Explorations Early Learning and support the show with the coupon code NERD.

Like the show? Consider supporting our work by becoming a Patron, shopping our Amazon Link, or sharing it with someone who might enjoy it. You can leave a comment or ask a question here.

Click here for more Heather.

For a small fee we can issue self-study certificates for listening to podcasts.

NERD_0374 The Daycare Myth with Dan Wuori Aug 06, 2025

Show notes

For a century, America’s early childhood policy has been premised on a myth. This falsehood—which dictates that child care and education are somehow separate and distinct—not only suboptimizes the most important window into all human development, but costs American taxpayers an untold fortune. It’s time to think differently.

Written in plain yet provocative language by one of the field’s most respected bipartisan policy experts, The Daycare Myth makes the case for why the early years matter; why America’s longstanding early childhood policy approach sacrifices the needs of young children in favor of promoting adult employment; and why fixing the problem makes good sense, regardless of your place on the political spectrum.

With straightforward guidance for policymakers, practitioners, and parents, this incredibly timely book is a wake-up call for a nation that aspires to nothing less than the wholesale transformation of America’s early childhood landscape.

Thanks for listening!

Save 10% on professional development from Explorations Early Learning and support the show with the coupon code NERD.

Like the show? Consider supporting our work by becoming a Patron, shopping our Amazon Link, or sharing it with someone who might enjoy it. You can leave a comment or ask a question here.

Click here for more Heather.

For a small fee we can issue self-study certificates for listening to podcasts.

NERD_0373 When Children are Free to Pretend Jul 30, 2025

Show notes

Mike Huber is back to talk more about pretend play, children’s power, and the teacher’s liberation as we continue to discuss his new book The Power in Pretend: Supporting Children’s Power, Identity and Agency. Mike shares a story of powerful pretend play that started with taking chairs outside so that children could clean them and ended with the children’s own take on what happens when you go to church. So fun! And so powerful.

Buy Mike’s book here: https://www.redleafpress.org/Power-in-Pretend-Supporting-Young-Childrens-Power-Identity-and-Agency-Through-Play-P3107.aspx

Thanks for listening!

Save 10% on professional development from Explorations Early Learning and support the show with the coupon code NERD.

Like the show? Consider supporting our work by becoming a Patron, shopping our Amazon Link, or sharing it with someone who might enjoy it. You can leave a comment or ask a question here.

Click here for more Heather.

For a small fee we can issue self-study certificates for listening to podcasts.