ECE Unhinged

Technical difficulties couldn’t keep us away forever—we are finally back in the studio to wrap up our Colorado UPK series. Thank you for your patience while we sorted out the tech gremlins! In this finale, we’re tackling the final six questions you sent our way, digging past the state talking points to look at what Colorado’s 5-Year UPK Roadmap actually means for educators on the ground. In this e...

Colorado UPK sounds simple until you try to make it work in a real classroom. The 15-hour week, the hidden assessments, the confusing enrollment process, and the IEP roadblocks reveal a system that is far more complicated, and far more frustrating, than most parents or teachers realize. Brittany breaks down what educators are actually doing inside UPK classrooms to stay compliant while still keepi...

This episode discusses Colorado UPK, CCCAP, childcare funding, and provider economics based on publicly available information and our experiences working in early childhood education. Program rules, funding levels, eligibility, and enrollment policies can change, and individual counties may administer programs differently. We encourage listeners to check current state and county information for th...

Colorado’s Universal Preschool (UPK) program sounded simple… until we started digging.  In Part 1 of our UPK rabbit hole, we break down how the program works, who qualifies, the two major legal challenges surrounding UPK, and what Colorado’s own evaluation says about access, quality, teacher qualifications, and enrollment. We also take a closer look at the 15-hour vs. 30-hour conversation—because...

What happens when the director's husband suddenly becomes your “assistant director” — and starts showing up late, taking hour-long lunches, micromanaging classrooms, and undermining teachers in front of children? In this episode of ECE Unhinged, we're diving into a wild Sandbox Confessional about favoritism, nepotism, blurred boundaries, and what happens when the boss's spouse becomes...

Is ECE burnout actually burnout… or are we grieving the career we thought we were going to have? In this episode of Teachers After Dark, Brittany and Crystal dive into a pile of unpopular opinions, hot takes, frustrations, and uncomfortable truths from the early childhood education field. We talk about why educators may be experiencing more than burnout — including grief over what ECE used to be,...

Join us for our teachers after dark as we talk about some of the wild and crazy things licensing makes us do!

Unlock the hidden costs and surprising truths behind running a childcare center — from sky-high rent and razor-thin profit margins to mind-blowing innovations like AI teachers. If you're contemplating opening your own facility or are simply curious about what really happens behind the scenes, this episode is your wake-up call. Join Brittany and Crystal as they peel back the curtain on the fina...

Grab your coffee—or whatever you need to survive drop-off—and join Brittany and Crystal as they dive into the wildly hilarious, completely unhinged side of early childhood education. In this episode of Teachers After Dark, the duo swaps real stories submitted by educators, from innocent (and slightly concerning) kid logic to the absolute wildest parent requests imaginable. ​From toddlers asking if...

In this episode of ECE Unhinged, we return to our wage transparency series with a perspective we have not covered yet: an in-home childcare provider. Tashia Lush joins us from Illinois to share how she went from working as a teacher and director in childcare centers to opening a licensed program in her own home. She talks honestly about startup costs, licensing, ratios, food reimbursement, supplie...

Most teachers dream of inventions that could revolutionize childcare but what if some ideas are better left uninvested? On this playful episode of Teachers After Dark , we turn the spotlight on hilarious yet insightful "Shark Tank" style pitches, from toddler translators to self cleaning diaper stations. Imagine having a magic bubble wand that instantly ends tantrums or shoes that dodge bo...

The hidden cost of caring: why early childhood educators are worth so much more than their paycheckWhat if everything you thought you knew about your worth as an ECE teacher is backwards? Despite playing roles that span CEO, detective, clown, nurse, and counselor, early childhood educators are paid pennies compared to the value they bring—often working far beyond their job descriptions and sacrifi...

Description: ​Welcome to the very first episode of our new series, Sandbox Confessionals (aka Crisis in the Sandbox ). This week, we are pausing our financial transparency series to dive deep into the raw, unspoken realities of working in Early Childhood Education. ​In this episode, we share the true story of "Dani," a former toddler teacher in Colorado who reached out to us after leaving...

Would you charge parents 6 cents a minute for tuition? Retired University Director Ida Bauer joins the ECE Unhinged podcast to talk about her career and how she built a center from the ground up.

This week on Teachers After Dark, Crystal and I are diving into the hilarious, bizarre, and downright unhinged world of toddler logic. We aren't talking about typical classroom management here; we're talking about the moment a child has a full-blown meltdown because their grilled cheese was cut into squares instead of triangles. ​If you've ever felt like you were negotiating with a tin...

Many teachers feel frustrated by outdated practices in early childhood education. Brittany and Crystal explore the hidden reasons behind these routines, revealing how understanding their purpose can empower educators to advocate for change. From strict diapering policies to unnecessary safety rules, discover how these practices impact workload and burnout. Gain insights on fostering child-centered...

In episode 2 of our wage transparency series we're joined by center owner Katie McDonald for a raw no-filter conversation about the financial realities of running a private preschool. From the weight of commercial rent to the impossible struggle of balancing fair wages with tight margins, we're exposing the truth behind the "secretive" ECE industry. #EarlyEdInsights #TeacherSupport...

Proof of concept , trial episode! Let us know what you think and send in your story! Don't panic, Our regular episodes are staying the same! Crystal and I are still bringing you the same ECE Unhinged content you know and love but today we are dropping something a little different and fun! Welcome to our new cinematic audio docuseries format! We wanted to find a way to get everyone's voices...

What do you do for self care?

Join us for a conversation as we talk to a childcare director in New Orleans and see what keeps her center going!

In this episode of "ECE Unhinged," hosts Brittany and Crystal introduce a new series focused on wage transparency in early childhood education. They discuss the financial challenges faced by teachers, such as low wages despite high tuition fees. The series aims to uncover where the money goes by interviewing various center owners and directors. They emphasize the need for transparency and...

An Interview with a parent from the past! Most parents don't realize how much early childhood education has shifted in the last 35 years-sometimes for the worse. In this eye-opening episode, Chris, a father with over three decades of experience, reveals how childcare expectations, teaching practices, and industry standards have changed since the days when kids played outside all day and struct...

This weeks Teachers After Dark gets it's own episode! Are you drowning in the chaos of a lively classroom, desperately wishing you could hit pause or hit the delete button on some of the daily mess? Imagine if you could choose what stays, what goes, and what’s instantly forgotten-without the guilt. In this episode, teachers spill their most hilarious and relatable “room, exit, or burn” decisio...

 No sugarcoating. No filters. Just the messy truth. Today, Brittany and Crystal answer your questions about the "unhinged" life of an early childhood educator. From the "thong-scrunchie" disaster to the reality of SPED issues in private centers, we’re covering it all. Highlights: The Podcast Origin: Why Brittany "blamed" Crystal for starting this. Burnout 101: What we do wh...

In this episode, we talk with Tiffany Chacon, a teacher who left the classroom and is now behind the scenes, about burnout, the realities of early childhood education, and the deep purpose behind caregiving. She shares honest stories about the challenges educators face and the moments that remind us why this work matters, including how “the smallest little smile or song is going to form a child&#3...