Little Moments Count Radio Podcast

Hosted by Walter “Q Bear” Banks Jr. of KMOJ Radio, this conversation features Andre Dukes with the Northside Achievement Zone. Andre explains that kindergarten readiness goes beyond ABCs and 123s to include social-emotionaldevelopment shaped by everyday “serve and return” interactions. He encourages caregivers to talk, read, sing, and play, emphasizing vocabulary growth through descriptive languag...

Hosted by Katey DeCelle of  WFNU Frogtown Community Radio,this conversation features Dr. Artika Tyner, Rondo native, civil rights attorney and law professor, and author of 40 books. She shares why she focuses on early literacy after seeing manyclients learn to read in prison and noting reading failure as an indicator of future incarceration. She explains how literacy begins in the womb, how famili...

En este episodio de Little Moments Count, la presentadora Maya Santamaria de KMNV La Raza Radio da la bienvenida a Alicia García González de CLUES. Ella comparte cómo losprogramas de visitas familiares a domicilio apoyan a padres y cuidadores durante los primeros años de vida de un niño. Explica cómo el apoyo personalizado y culturalmente sensible puede fortalecer la relación entre padres e hijos,...

In this episode, hosted by Mike “Big Miic” Brooks of KRSM Radio, is joined by Crystal Stein, founder and CEO of Beret Publishing, a Minnesota-based children’s media company creating multi-sensory board books that integrate original music, poetry, Grade 2 braille, and storytelling to support early interactions between children and caregivers. Stein shares her transition from a 16+ year finance and...

Hosted by Walter “Q Bear” Banks Jr. of KMOJ Radio, this conversation features early childhood educator JamesettaDiggs, who trains educators and works with families and communities on early development. Diggs explains early relational health as a wellbeing rooted in everyday “serve and return” interactions that benefit both children and caregivers, supported by a broader community. She discusses Be...

In this episode, Native Roots Radio host Robert Pilot speaks with Barb Fabre, CEO of Indigenous Visioning and All Nations Rise and a White Earth Ojibwe Nation member, about a new report, “A National Agenda for Tribal Early Childhood Development,” created with representatives from 40–50 tribal nations to guide tribal leaders in building high-quality early childhood systems in reservation and urban...

Hosted by Walter “Q Bear” Banks Jr. of KMOJ Radio, this conversation features lifelong educator Dr. Artika Tyner. Dr. Tyner reframes summer learning loss, often cited as a 25–30% loss of school-year learning, as a chance for summer learning gains by making learning fun and using community resources such as Freedom Schools and library programs. She highlights NEA Big Read, hosted by her nonprofit P...

En este episodio de Little Moments Count, lapresentadora Maya Santamaria de KMNV La Raza Radio da la bienvenida a Xavier Vásquez, Director Ejecutivo del Centro Tyrone Guzmán, una agencia multiservicios que atiende a la comunidad latina en las Ciudades Gemelas. Xavier explica cómo la educación comunitaria fortalece a las familias latinasen todo Minnesota. El Centro se distingue por su enfoque inter...

Hosted by Walter “Q Bear” Banks Jr. of KMOJ Radio, thisconversation features Andre Dukes, Vice President of Community Power and Impact Programs at Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ), which has served residents since2010 and supports 2,200 scholars and about 1,000 families to help end multi-generational poverty in North Minneapolis by building a culture of achievement. Dukes describes NAZ’s Read-In e...

In this episode, Native Roots Radio host Robert Pilot speaks with Shashana Skippingday, Director of Maternal Child Health Programs at the Division of Indian Work, and Joe Tahdooahnippah, a Family Spirit home visitor. They explain the Family Spirit Home Visiting Program, a culturally tailored,tribally developed curriculum created with the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, consisting of 65...

En este episodio de "Pequeños Momentos Cuentan", la presentadora Maya Santamaria de KMNV La Raza Radio da la bienvenida a Xavier Vásquez, Director Ejecutivo del Centro Tyrone Guzmán, una agencia multiservicios que atiende a la comunidad latina en las CiudadesGemelas. Xavier habla sobre el importante papel de la educación temprana bilingüe y por qué los primeros cinco años de vida son cru...

In this episode, Native Roots Radio host Robert Pilot speakswith Nicholas DeShaw, a Bois Forte Ojibwe descendant, educator, author, and aspiring Ojibwe language speaker. DeShaw explains how reading with very young children builds connection, supports abstract thinking, and becomes a shareddaily experience. He discusses writing Loaf the Cat Goes to a Powwow to center contemporary Native life and of...

Hosted by Katey DeCelle of  WFNU Frogtown Community Radio, this conversation features Crystal Stein, founder and CEO of Minnesota-based Beret Publishing. Stein explains leaving a 16-year finance career after becoming a first-time mom during COVID and not finding children’s books about celebratedcomposers who looked like her, inspiring her to create Beret Books: multisensory board books integrating...

Hosted by Walter “Q Bear” Banks Jr. of KMOJ Radio, thisconversation features Minnesota author and nonprofitleader Sarah Warren, who began as a preschool and Head Start teacher and started writing because many classroom books lacked characters who shared her scholars’ backgrounds. Warren discusses her picture book biographies about women including Beyoncé, Stacey Abrams, Dolores Huerta, and an upco...

In this episode, hosted by Mike “Big Mic” Brooks of KRSM Radio, is joined by Jocelyn Pickreign of Simpson Housing Services discussing early childhood development and home visiting for families impacted by homelessness. Jocelyn explains Simpson’s mission to house, support, and empower people experiencinghomelessness and describes their team-based approach, including early childhood home visitors fo...

In this episode, hosted by Mike “Big Mic” Brooks of KRSM Radio, is joined by Kindra McGee of Diva Moms, a Minnesota Community Care program created in 2018 to support pregnant and postpartum African American moms with advocacy,education, and care. Kindra explains Diva Moms (Dynamic Involved Valued African American Moms), shares her personal experience with pregnancy loss and postpartum depression,...

En este episodio de Little Moments Count, la presentadora Maya Santamaria de KMNV La Raza Radio da la bienvenida a Xavier Vasquez, director ejecutivo del Centro Tyrone Guzman, una agencia de servicios múltiples que atiende a la comunidadlatina en las Ciudades Gemelas. Xavier aborda cómo la salud mental de los padres moldea el desarrollo de los hijos durante sus primeros cinco años de vida. Explica...

Hosted by Katey DeCelle of  WFNU Frogtown Community Radio, this conversation features Minnesota educator and literacy advocate Taylor Sorrells, founder of Read With Me Minnesota, a nonprofit that partners with local authors and illustrators to increase access to culturally relevant children’s literature through author visits, book donations, and community events. Sorrells explains culturally relev...

Hosted by Walter “Q Bear” Banks Jr. of KMOJ Radio, this conversation features Dr. Artika Tyner, a Rondo community native and leader in youth education. Tyner introduces Planting People Growing Justice, a local literacy nonprofit focused on helping young people read and lead, and announcestwo new books: She Before Me by local author Wisdom (released for Women’s History Month) and R Is for Rondo, wh...

Hosted by Walter “Q Bear” Banks Jr. of KMOJ Radio, this conversation features children’s book author, Justice Bell Bey. Justice discusses his work in Minneapolis through boxing programs, block parties, and prison ministries, and his children’s book “Bey Overcomes Bullying,” inspired by his niece’sexperience being bullied at a new school and learning to believe in herself. He explains how books hel...

In this episode, hosted by Mike “Big Mic” Brooks of KRSM Radio, is joined by educator, storyteller, and champion for culturally grounded literacy,  Keenan Jones. Keenan discusses his path from basketball to writing, his Loft Literary Center Mirrors & Windows Fellowship, and the need for more children’s books that offer “mirrors” through Black cultural spaces. He shares formative books like Wal...

In this episode, Native Roots Radio host Robert Pilot speaks with Rachel Smith and Kateri DeShaw from the MontessoriAmerican Indian Childcare Center , (MAICC) and the Economic Mobility Hub. They discuss MAICC as an Indigenous Montessori program blending the Montessori method with American Indian child-rearing practices, including language learning andcommunity connection for Native families. Rache...

Hosted by Walter “Q Bear” Banks Jr. of KMOJ Radio, this conversation features Dr. Artika Tyner, CEO of Planting People Growing Justice Press and Bookstore. Tyner explains that learning to read is foundational to imagination, problem-solving, and communication, and says her organization equips families and communities with tools to build literacy,especially where that “building block” is missing. S...

En este episodio de Little Moments Count, la presentadora Maya Santamaría de KMNV La Raza Radio da la bienvenida al Dr. Francisco Ramírez de M Health Fairview para explorarcómo los hábitos diarios sencillos, como leer juntos, pueden moldear el futuro de un niño. Dado que casi el 80% del desarrollo cerebral ocurre durante los primeros 1000 días, la lectura compartida se convierte en algo más que un...

Hosted by Walter “Q Bear” Banks Jr. of KMOJ Radio, this conversation features Brandon Jones, an executive leader, trainer, and consultant with degrees in sociology and community psychology. He discusses how parents and caregivers can help youth cope with fear and uncertainty related to community issues by maintaining calm, healthy routines, clear communication, and knowing children’s whereabouts a...