Not Just Cute, the Podcast: Intentional Whole Child Development for Parents and Teachers of Young Children

I'm excited to be kicking off something special today.   For years, I've been speaking at workshops and conferences about the power of play in the early learning environment, which sparked the series of parent letters I've written, called Why We Play.   This month, I'll be sharing a special podcast series with the same name: Why We Play.   Every Tuesday and Thursday in February, you'll find a new...

Find Show Notes Here Dr. Dale Farran has spent the better part of the last 50 years researching early childhood education.  But some of her most famous research has come about rather recently, as she directs the evaluation of the Tennessee Voluntary PreK Program.  This study is one of the most fascinating pieces of recent research in early childhood education. With a randomly controlled trial, Far...

Challenging behaviors are nothing new in early childhood education.  And yet, there's something different going on.  For a variety of reasons, challenging behaviors seem to be increasing both in intensity and frequency.  Dayna Abraham is no stranger to challenging behaviors.  As a board certified teacher and a mom to 3 neuro-divergent children, Dayna has sat on both sides of the table when it come...

I'm talking to someone I've wanted to share with you for a long time.   One of my best friends from grad school, Kelli Barker.   She's now the director of the Adelle and Dale Young child development lab school at Utah State University.  She's sharing what a lab school is as well as what she's learned about helping college students and preservice teachers understand human development and apply that...

Malia Hollowell is the author of The Science of Reading in Action and the creator of the site Playdough to Plato.   She's a National Board Certified educator who's helping to put the science of reading into action with playful, hands on experiences.   Her book, website, and Instagram are full of fantastic examples and resources.   Her primary focus is grades K-2, but depending on where your little...

Have you been asked how your preschool room aligns with the Science of Reading?   Or maybe you've seen videos of two year olds reading and the sales page headlines saying that simply applying the *science* can give all toddlers the advantage they deserve?   Well, in this episode, we're adding on to the basic background and history of the science of reading found in the previous episode, and diggin...

I've talked and written a lot about early literacy over the years, but I've avoided one very popular term: The Science of Reading.   I decided to keep my head down and my work research-based and just stay out of the fray of nailing down the specific jargon.  But with more and more states and districts requiring "Science of Reading compliant curriculum," it's important for early childhood educators...

Rae Pica is a force.  As a speaker, consultant, and the author of over 20 books in addition to articles in many popular publications, Rae Pica has been an outspoken voice for children and childhood for more than 4 decades.  Constant in that career has been her passion for protecting childhood and calling others to action.   In this episode, she's talking with me about her newest book on advocating...

Childcare Resources of Indian River in Vero Beach, Florida began with three tenacious educators going out of their way to create something better for 25 children.  Today, the ripple effect of their efforts has grown into something that impacts 3000 children and still growing.  In this episode I'm talking with Childcare Resources' executive director, Shannon McGuire Bowman as well as the director o...

When holistic psychologist Dr. Nicole Beurkens attends to a brain-based challenge, she doesn't look only at the ways she could change the brain.  She looks at the many things that impact the brain and starts there.  Nutrition, sleep, environment, input.  There's so much that contributes to the challenging behaviors we see -- and we have more control over many of them than we think we do! If you're...

I'm talking with Dr. Rachel Romeo about her follow up research to Hart & Risley's famous 30 million word gap.  She's sharing how language shapes development and why interactions matter beyond word counts. Show notes and links at https://notjustcute.com/podcast/episode52

In this episode, I'm talking with Dr. Dana Winters, executive director of the Fred Rogers Institute about how the work of Fred Rogers continues today. It's one of my favorites. You'll want the show notes.  Find them at: https://notjustcute.com/podcast/episode51

Early last month, NPR published an article with the title, "A top researcher says it's time to rethink our entire approach to preschool".  Maybe you saw it, or like me, maybe you had several people send it to you because they knew you'd find it fascinating. The article featured developmental psychologist and researcher Dr. Dale Farran and her reflections on the most recent round of startling outco...

Find Show Notes at notjustcute.com/podcast/episode49 This episode comes from a livestream I did with Leaders Lounge summit organizer, Beth Cannon.  We talked about her experience helping early education teams get clear about their purpose and about their process.  We take on a topic that makes many educators uncomfortable – business – and talk about how certain business concepts, help us build bet...

If you've spent much time listening to children's music, you've likely heard of Laurie Berkner.  And if you haven't, you'll be thanking me for the introduction later.  Laurie Berkner has a gift not only for creating engaging music that even adults actually like, but for truly seeing, hearing, and respecting children in the process.  For her, each performance is really about connection first.  If y...

I'm talking with Vanessa Levin of PreK Pages and Teaching Trailblazers about how we can better support each other as educators!

Meghan Fitzgerald has combined her many professional and personal experiences with her passion for learning, play, and nature, to create Tinkergarten, a program that supports caregivers in providing children with powerful outdoor play experiences.  In this episode, she shares her insights on how and why playing in nature benefits every child's development and supports healthier, happier growth. Sh...

I had a great conversation recently with my friend, Rae Pica, about how and why we should get parents on board with play-based, developmentally appropriate education. Show Notes: www.https://notjustcute.com/podast/episode45

You may be familiar with Sally Haughey's amazing work through Fairy Dust Teaching, a site committed to respecting the whole child, community, play, and education as a living, breathing art form. She began the site in 2010, as a place to collect and share her own thoughts as an early childhood educator.  In the eleven years since then, it has grown into a global community and has been the springboa...

Matis Miller is the author of the new book, The Uncontrollable Child .  He's a licensed clinical social worker and therapist and the founder, director, and supervisor of The Center for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy of New Jersey.  Certified in both cognitive and dialectical behavior therapies, Matis brings a unique perspective on the balance point between extremes – something that is often missing...

Dr. Borba's newest book, THRIVERS: The Surprising Reason Why Some Kids Struggle While Others Shine ,  combines scientific studies, input from dozens of researchers/experts focusing on resilience, and interviews with more than 100 young people from all walks of life.  Through all of that research, Dr. Borba found something surprising: the difference between those who struggle and those who succeed...

One year ago, Allison McDonald was teaching preschool in the state of Washington and writing her popular blog, No Time for Flash Cards.  Like many other teachers, her class was suddenly canceled when the pandemic hit and the world shut down.  After the initial shock, her school began talking about how they could safely move forward and continue serving children and families.  While working with he...

Show Notes: https://notjustcute.com/podcast/episode40   After the U.S.- based National Association for the Education of Young Children – or NAEYC – launched its national accreditation system for early childhood learning programs in the early 1980s, they made an interesting observation.  While their accreditation criteria frequently referenced the term "developmentally appropriate practice", when t...

Several years ago, Pat Rumbaugh was nicknamed "The Play Lady."  And the nickname stuck.  After spending 25 years getting young people to play through her work as a PE teacher and tennis coach, she co-founded Let's Play America and took on the task of encouraging people of ALL ages across the nation to prioritize play.  We'll be talking about why play matters and how we can do a better job of setti...

I'm so excited for you to meet Heather Jackson, director of the Reggio-inspired Sunflower School. In this episode she shares her thoughts on verbs as thematic units, slowing down to capture the true intentions of the children we work with, and the beauty and importance in the magical thinking of childhood. Whether you aspire to teach specifically from the Reggio philosophy or not, you will find so...