That Early Childhood Nerd

Apr 09 2025 300 ep. 41 mins 243
That Early Childhood Nerd Podcast artwork

Each week host Heather Bernt-Santy and a member of the ECE Nerd Collective share and discuss a quote with a focus on effecting change in the early learning world.

  Education  Kids & Family
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NERD_0358 The Sleepover Sessions–Data is Not Evidence

Apr 09 2025 42 mins  
It’s spring break 2025, which means it’s time for the second Nerd Sleepover in beautiful Indianapolis! In this episode, Mike Huber invites us to consider whether “data” and “evidence” are the same thing, and as you might have guessed from the title, we decided it’s not! Listen in as host Heather Bernt-Santy and some of her favorite nerds ha

NERD_0357 Play is Inherently Political with Kelsie Olds, the Occuplaytional Therapist

Apr 02 2025 51 mins  
In February 2025, occupational therapist Kelsie Olds, who hosts a facebook page called The Occuplaytional Therapist, published a post that struck a nerve–leading to almost 4000 reactions to date, and almost 2000 shares. The post is a powerful statement on the political nature of play, of respecting children, of supporting families, and taking care of each other. Listen in as

NERD_0356 Play and the Hesitant Child

Mar 26 2025 40 mins  
In another episode that was originally intended as a session in a virtual NerdCon conference that didn’t happen, Richard Cohen, Lizz Nolasco and Bethany Corrie talk about children who seem hesitant to join in play. Want to support the show? You can make a one time $5 or more gift, or become a member for bonus content! Find more information here: buymeacoffee.com/heatherf T

NERD_0355 Young Children’s Learning in Physics

Mar 19 2025 61 mins  
Physics learning for children under 5? What? Join host Heather Bernt-Santy, Mike Huber and Krystina Tapia as they discuss one of the best articles Heather has read in a long time—“Young Children’s Learning in Physics: A (Dis-)Trustful Play with Gravity, Friction and Counterforces?” by Sofie Areljun, Lena Backstrom, and Evelina Grenemark. Seriously, it’s so good. Want to

NERD_0354 Fake Play in Preschool?

Mar 12 2025 56 mins  
Can play in preschool be “fake?” In this episode, host Heather Bernt-Santy is joined by Gemma Medina, Bethany Corrie and Stacy Benge to discuss the article “Vygotskian Analysis of Fake Play in Preschools: What it is and How to Distinguish it From Real Play” by Elena Yudina and published in the American Journal of Play. Want to support the show? You can make

NERD_0353 Nerd Study Hall: Teacher Preparation in “Don’t Say Gay” Times

Mar 05 2025 68 mins  
It’s time for another round of Nerd Study Hall, where we record a series of episodes discussing research articles connected to working with young children and their families.  In this episode, host Heather Bernt-Santy is joined by Mike Huber and Lizz Nolasco to dissect and connect ideas from a paper titled “Preparing democratic early childhood teachers in Don’

NERD_0352 Risky Play And Mental Health With Author Frances Carlson

Feb 26 2025 52 mins  
In what may be the first ever Nerd episode that starts with a quote from a LinkedIn post, author Frances Carlson joins Heather to unpack her idea that, “Since anxiety is a by-product of an aversion to risk, and young children are suffering from increasing amounts of anxiety, does it not makes sense that we intentionally plan for and cultivate a healthy amount of risk in their

NERD_0351 Anti Ableist Play with Mike Huber and Kisa Marx

Feb 19 2025 62 mins  
This episode was originally recorded to be part of a “Nerd Con 2” virtual conference….and then Nerd Con 2 didn’t happen. The good news is you get it as a podcast now! Listen in as Mike Huber and Kisa Marx dig into the idea of supporting play for ALL children, really ALL children, in authentic ways.  If you love the podcast, or want to say “thank y

NERD_0350 Wild Child with “350th Episode Sweepstakes” Winners Gemma Medina and Valley Varma

Jan 22 2025 42 mins  
It’s the 350th episode of That Early Childhood Nerd! To celebrate, host Heather Bernt-Santy invited listeners to submit a quote that they would like to come on the show and talk about…and here it is! Please welcome listeners Gemma Medina and Valley Varma to the show! The quote: “They caught all the wild children and put them in zoos. They made them do sums and wea

NERD_0349 The Academic Pushdown Harms Children AND Teachers

Jan 15 2025 63 mins  
In the fall of 2024, IPA-USA (the American Association for the Child’s Right to Play) celebrated its 50th anniversary by releasing an extensive collection of white papers on play topics across the lifespan. Host Heather Bernt-Santy contributed one of the papers.  In this episode, Carol Garboden Murray interviews Heather about her white paper on the history and harm of th