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

This is the fourth installment of my book talk with Emily Plank, author of Discovering The Culture of Childhood.  It's the read-along selection this year, for Not Just Cute readers.  That means instead of one overview, I've been having several in-depth chats with Emily.  You can get caught up with previous episodes by going to the podcast homepage at notjustcute.com/podcast . I've enjoyed all of o...

Performance is the currency of education today. While assessments will always be important, I can't help but wonder about the overemphasis on performance to the detriment of real assessment, and ultimately our kids. Today I'm sharing a Second Read and also talking about some things I've observed lately that leave me scratching my head. You can get show notes at www.notjustcute.com/podcast/episode1...

Today, I'm talking about the Consensus Statement released by the Brookings Institute on the Current State of Scientific Knowledge on Pre Kindergarten Effects. Ten of the top scholars on issues of early learning came together and outlined what they agree is known and needs to be known about the pre kindergarten experience. They're tackling questions like what outcomes can we expect in the long and...

This second read goes back all the way to 2014, but it's a concept I still use frequently when speaking to groups about the importance of the foundational work in early childhood, and how it can -unfortunately- often be overlooked. Just like the foundation of our homes, foundational learning may sometimes be hard to see, but is critical to supporting everything that follows.

Today, I'm talking again with Emily Plank, author of Discovering The Culture of Childhood. It's the read-along selection this year, for Not Just Cute readers. That means instead of one overview, I get to have several in-depth chats with Emily. It's been an eye-opener for me, and I know I'm not the only one because I've been hearing a lot of great things from listeners as well! In this episode, we'...

Today, I'm talking about redshirting. You may know the term from college sports, where athletes can be redshirted for a year, keeping them out of the game but giving them an extra year of eligibility. Kindergarten redshirting is a similar concept, giving kids an extra year beyond their eligibility before enrolling them. I'll confess, I personally cringe at the term because I think it conveys—to so...

Today, I'm revisiting a post from 2016, which I wrote at the beginning of last year's read along, Rae Pica's book, What if Everybody Understood Child Development. (You can find links to that read along in the original post.) In the post, I shared some striking contradictions I'd notice as I'd been going over a few different pieces of research from early childhood settings. Contradictions between w...

Do we see childhood for what it really is? Are we ready to challenge our ideas and put on a new pair of spectacles? Emily Plank joins us for the second in a series of discussions about her book, Discovering the Culture of Childhood. In this episode, she talks about friendships in early childhood, the tricky task of entering play, and how adults can better support authentic social growth.

In this episode, I'm answering a reader's two-part question. First, what are some suggestions for redirecting children and second, what did I mean when I wrote that "teachable moments cannot occur when children are in an emotional state." With the first question, we'll examine what redirection really means, and how it differs from distraction. For the second question, I start by doing some clarify...

In this episode, I discuss the introdcution of the book, "Discovering the Culture of Childhood", with its author, Emily Plank. (This is the read-along book for NJC readers.) Emily tells us how she began to see childhood and child development through new eyes, and how that changed her as a teacher and parent. (Also, she tells us what the section heading "The Day My Three Year Old Brought Home a Con...

Second Read: And the Award Goes To... Following the season of Hollywood award shows, I got thinking about who really deserves an award for making a difference in the lives of children. Regular moms, dads, teachers, and care-givers. (Maybe we'd let a few Hollywood elites in too....)

Here's the story behind Not Just Cute -- how it got its name and how it got started. A quick look at what drives the focus on intentional, whole child development at Not Just Cute.