Napcast

Back for part 2! Here we pick up our conversation on children as spiritual beings including how that relates to their souls, how we can reconnect ourselves to our inner child and our own spiritual energies, and what role does spirituality play in Indigenous, Black, and Brown liberation movements. If you haven't listened to part 1 yet, go and listen! We'll be here waiting as we continue to dialogue...

There's an energy, an empathic connection, a strong soul that resides in children. An awakening or perhaps a part of them that grounds them during troubling time, grows their inner wisdom, and brings them on pathways of wonder. But what do we mean when we say children are spiritual beings? How do we begin to understand their sacred play? What about that thing between separation of church and state...

Traumatic events affect people in all kinds of ways and there is nothing wrong with you if you find yourself struggling to heal from the impact of past abuse. In today's episode, we put our mental health first, and we talk about how each of us are healing through the use of art and play and what that could look like in our work with children and families. Join us as we cultivate curiosity and crea...

Mike: "Nick?" Nick: "Yeah, Mike?" Mike: "What would it look like if we created a school from scratch? Ya know, one that is Pro-Indigenous and Pro-Black?" Nick: "Well, we'd have a lot of things, but most importantly, we'd have a Napcast episode to discuss it." Join us as we hit record and think about what would our school include, what would we have to give up, and how we can combine a pro-BIPOC cu...

When we (un)intentionally push fathers and father-like figures to the side, we fail to recognize the impact that male figures have on a child’s life. It means we ignore the contributions and life lessons being taught in the shop as our barber cuts our hair. It means we ignore the lessons we learn about brotherhood after we see the older boys in the hood stand up for you after a bully knocks us dow...

Raise a hand if you’ve been asked by a preschooler, what’s a colonizer? No? Just us? Well, in this episode we talk about how we can teach US history to young children that isn’t whitewashed or appropriated. Using the truth to share valuable lessons, introduce unique new concepts and lay a foundation for further learning exploration, we share a story of how we used place based learning strategies t...

You'll sit there until you finish your food. Raise your hand if you ever heard that before. As you may know, getting children to eat can sometimes be a difficult task. But before you go to war with them to get them to clear their plate, have you ever stopped and wondered why they have a preferred taste? In this episode, we chat about how and why it could be more than just them being a picky eater....

Kindergarten Readiness. The term we all hold so dear. But instead of focusing on the future, how about we focus on the here and now? Have you ever wondered what does toddler-readiness look like? What about preschool-readiness? In this episode we chat about what we hope infant educators do to make young children ready for the terrific twos and what toddler educators would do to make them ready for...

In some states, regions, and programs, the word "equity" and "justice" are not allowed. So, how can you talk about concepts of fairness, justice, and equity without jeopardizing your job? Inspired by Dr. Barbara Cooper's decision to step down as Secretary of Education in Alabama rather than change her beliefs about teaching for justice, Nick and Mike speculate about how ear...

What role does water play in your life? In today's episode, Nick and Mike talk about the role that water plays in our lives as BIPOCs (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and as early childhood educators. We talk about our relationship with water, the ways water can restore us, the various ways children interact it with, and the important role it has in all of our lives. Join us as we listen t...

You might think that nature, art, and SEL are separate things but they aren't... It's actually a family affair! Chatting with writer, pianist, and environmental justice educator, Sylvia Hadnot (she/they), we learn why and how when we connect children to Mother Earth and Father Sky we are actually connecting them to the entire universe. Using storytelling to drop knowledge on how we can build relat...

In this keynote to the Los Angeles Community College District, Nick (he/him) and Mike (he/him), sends a message of resistance to the early childhood educators living and thriving in this region. For 90 minutes, we share our thoughts on how we as male educators of color are resisting racist and sexist curriculum,  policy that pigeonholes us, and the interactions in our learning environments th...

Professionalism isn't for our safety, it's to contain us, constrain us, assimilate us into a white narrative. And so how do we fight back? How do we allow our culture to wash over us and restore us? As we sit and conversate with Joana (she/ela), a former nanny turned DEI practioner who hails from Brazil, we chat about how we can raise and rear children from the joys and strengths of their culture....

Coming back for part 2 of 2, we continue our conversation with our colleague Suzette (she/they), an educator, mother, and advocate who currently serves as the Senior Education Specialist for the City of Seattle Department of Education and Early Learning. In this episode, you'll hear our thoughts around how we can create space for different needs and abilities, what healing for neurodiverse people...

Go outside and look at the trees, the sea life, the people you see. What do you notice? Each day we witness, marvel at, and celebrate the bio and cultural diversity of our world. But what about the diversity we can't quite see? How do we celebrate the diversity of our brains? In part 1 of 2, we chat with our colleague Suzette (she/they), an educator, mother, and advocate who currently serves as th...

"Dear Mike and Nick - Thank you for your conversations and your podcast. It's so refreshing hearing two male educators in our profession. I have a question though, do our toddlers really need to / have the capacity to be hearing about gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and reproductive organs?"  In this episode, we explore this question we received the other day by unpacking and ref...

Did you hear about the change of scenery Mike had in part 1 of 2? Head back there and check it out if you haven't! Then join us for Part 2 as Napcast co-hosts, Nick (he/him), and Mike (he/him), focuses on how we can support toddlers, preschoolers, and that new colleague of yours as they transition into new learning environments and deal with all the emotions that comes with it.   Since meetin...

It was roughly 18 months ago that Nick underwent a major life transition... now its Mike's turn. In part 1 of 2, Napcast co-hosts, Nick (he/him), and Mike (he/him), chats about the emotions that comes up when adults transitions to a new phase of their lives and lays the foundation for part 2 which will focus on what preschoolers may feel as they graduate and move onto Kindergarten.  Since mee...

America is failing Black birthing people. And so, when we talk about Reproductive Justice we need to include not just the right to bodily autonomy, but also the systems needed so that this person's health is centered throughout their birthing journey. Joined by Stephaine Courtney M.Ed (she/her), the Executive Director of The Learning Project Network (https://www.tlptraining.com/), Nick and Mike di...

This wasn't supposed to be an episode. It was supposed to be a meet and greet. But when you hear something so profound, you have to run with it right? That's what happened in this episode. Nick and I had a chat with Kristie Norwood (she/her), Education Manager living and working as an Early Childhood Professional in Chicago, IL. In this episode, we share a small portion of our conversation around...

In this episode, Napcast co-hosts Nick (he/him) and Mike (he/him), continues their conversation on how we can create an organizational culture in which your values align with your mission which aligns with your vision. If you missed Part 1, go back and listen to it! This is Part 2 of 2.  Nick Terrones (he/him) is a former educator at Hilltop Children's Center and Educator Institute where he h...

Building a new culture and organizational structure is a hard and tricky thing. How are you as a leader, being open to feedback? How are you, as an educator, inviting change into your program? How does this impact the community at large? In this episode, Napcast co-hosts Nick (he/him) and Mike (he/him), shares their thoughts on culture, change management, and the flexibility needed to thrive in 20...

Am I good enough? That feels like a question that we've all asked ourselves before. But have we ever wondered.. why do we feel this way? Where did that come from? What's really behind this feeling? For Nick (he/him) and Mike (he/him), we call this sort of self-doubt "saboteurs." These saboteurs makes you feel less capable than those around you. It tells you that your success is a result of luck. T...

You don’t have to be a white supremacist to reinforce white supremacy norms. There's lots that can be communicated non-verbally that could have harmful effects. So... what does your environments say? What does it communicate about your values and image of the child? How can we begin to shift our settings, so that it is not unintentionally having harmful impact on us all, and especially on our comm...

Patriarchy in ECE... Does it exist? Do we subconsciously cater to males wants and needs? How can we support young males in examining gender and their roles in the patriarchal society we live in? How can we use our privilege as males to help achieve gender-balance in our workforce? In this episode, Napcast co-hosts, Nick (he/him), and Mike (he/him), are joined by Meraf Tenaw (he/him), a Black male...