Romanticizing children may also heighten people’s protective instinct and the moral panic about men working with young children, perpetuating an atmosphere that discourages men from joining or staying in the field.

This was very helpful. Thank you.

i'm sorry the vast majority of boys have no intrest playing princess. they like play the super hero or ninja or thing of that calabur. what you doing is abuseing children by trying to push them in to play they don't like to gain your aproval. as for exclusionary play it will always happen. just l;ike adaults not every child is liked by every other child, and trying to force children to engage with children they don't like is abuse again. your entire metric is how we do abuse people in the behaving our way. it's no different than the systems you claim to be challanging.

Love All your videos and podcasts ❤❤

Heather! I just had to write down your quote: “I love having my mind blown by the competence of children.” I know what you mean!!! Sometimes I simply post pictures of our kindergarten room and say, “I love witnessing what they create.” You said it better!❤Looking forward to seeing you at the Free to Play Summit.

And from my point of view and experience- (24 years in the field) During/aftermath of Covid was the most difficult teaching years I’ve ever had…,because we all were struggling- we had very big (explosive) emotions that I’d never seen before. We as caregivers were struggling because we went from “heroes” to sacrificial lambs being expected to take care of everyone. Not ourselves. I went back to basics. 101… let’s talk, let’s play.. let’s forget about everything else.. let’s get into nature and sure enough my group is back to a new normal. But the caring is back.. the kind words, yes, we still struggle but we can calm down easier and it’s incredible to have gone through that process. Ohh.. I just love this entire conversation. I feel valid by your words and experiences and that has been missing soooo long in my career.

These “littles needing to do academics” type of comments drive me nuts…what about caring for the whole child? They are more than a test score, evaluation or assessment!

Teaching is a thing people do. When one does that, one is a teacher. Last month, my adult daughter filed a tax return for the first time. She reached out to me several times during the day for clarification and guidance and I listened and questioned and shared my knowledge. That was me teaching. I had information that she needed for what she was doing. I think an issue that is more central than what we should call ourselves is the one your guest articulated in saying something like, “There are things about they way people use the word teacher that we don’t want to be associated with.” Teaching is imparting what one knows. The approaches we use in early childhood include sharing vocabulary, asking questions, answering questions, getting to know the learners, offering stuff to engage with, reading, singing, telling stories, playing games, expressing emotions, comforting, redirecting, helping and not helping, and most importantly, being learners ourselves. I firmly believe that those approaches are the exact same ones that are the most effective with learners of any age. What’s wrong with the term ‘teacher’ is that our culture also uses it to describe lecturing, grading and keeping order. Those education strategies are most often used to describe what instructors of older children and adults, so that we who actually teach feel that it can’t describe us. The real problem is that many of those in K-12 and up education aren’t teaching, or at least they don’t understand that that part of what they do with their students is the most impactful part. I am a teacher who has worked with toddlers through middle schoolers and with adults in Community College. I co-founded a school that serves children in grades TK through 8th, that is based on constructivist learning theory and on a strong parent engagement component. Currently, I mentor teachers at the beginning of their careers. I love these conversations and I wish they were common between all of us who work with learners.

Child Whisperer’s

So much to ponder in this wonderful, rich conversation!!! I responded out loud with listening and driving! But of course no one heard, and now I can't remember. But EVERYONE should do a deep dive: this gets at the heart of some of our ongoing issues in early childhood! Thank you!!! So much wisdom!!!

This was incredible! I was left feeling energized, validated and most of all not alone. My two cents on what to call ourselves, I too cling to the term teacher. Until there is a massive societal shift the title is one of the only ways we have to achieve the respect our work deserves. I never hear the term educator without a questioning inflection tacked on the end of the word.

Such a rich and multi-layered tapestry of reflection, research, and evolving practice! Thank you, Heather, Miriam and Suzanne! This is for sure not a "listen once and done" podcast!!!

Great episode! Very eye-opening! Thanks for sharing this great information!

The beauty of this conversation! I’m so touched by the depth of respect for children and their relationship with loose parts. Pieces of the forest, touching the stories of in the intelligence of the materials that comes to life when children interact with them. There’s so much I love and appreciate about listening and learning in this space. Thank you, Heather.❤

One of the only correct statements in this talk is that there are things you don't understand about ABA. Please do more research before you speak on the topic. Everything that this man is doing is ABA.

SPOT on Tamar. Keep sharing this message - you have a tribe behind you that agrees with you, and we need to stop exclusionary discipline.

Go for it, Heather! I bet the conference would be amazing!!!!

Thank you for this talk! Looking forward to seeing Miriam this weekend at a conference!

I love this! "Genius is your/their/our creative fingerprint!" Great episode!!!

The early part of your conversation reminds me of a quote from AnjiPlay... "Don't underestimate the possible depth, complexity, and joy of the child sitting quietly and watching other children play."

I absolutely love your podcasts and I find myself referring to them often and going back and re watching ❤️❤️this one was wonderful thank you🙏

Now, if we could just get money-focused administrators and ill-informed ECE directors to actively listen to this…and then apply it by sharing and advocating for it!

Just ordered The Language of Art second edition! Cant wait to read

Love the conversation around Developmentalist - rings so true :)

With form constancy, I’m also thinking about how we want children to recognize shapes no matter their orientation, and then ask them to distinguish an M from a W, or b from d.

I just moved to Tennessee. Before moving here, I taught in a private, non-profit, Early Ed. Center in Vermont! Wonderful state to work in the Early Ed. field!!! #Let's Grow Kids! #Power to the Profession! Thank you Dale and Heather for this video! Let's push for better 'care' in the early years and compensate teachers in this field!!! -Hollie Labas

Gold🌟

You articulated that well, Lisa. The more committed we are to child-led learning, the less we need the “stuff”.

Yes! I loved the Steve Spengler’s presentations! It made me look outside the box with science.

Wow I am really glad I stumbled onto this today - great food for thought on a Sunday evening as I prepare for the week ahead (I teach 3-5 year olds for Head Start). Thank you all!

A go-to recipe book/box is such a great idea for highly requested words to learn how to write! Thank you💕 P.S. I second a math book too :)

I sure miss him.

Thank you Heather, for introducing us to another amazing person in our field❤

I enjoyed this, thank you!

So true about kiddos being “schoolified” before they hit a class that truly values play - these kiddos have been conditioned to not value play, which then causes them to have a hard time buying into what we are doing in order to grow and learn in our space. I can say that when we get one of these kiddos, the rest of the class quickly picks up on it and does not give up on welcoming these newbies into this precious world💕 My 10 year daughter did some onlooker play at the park yesterday when there were only teens there (she usually gets involved with others at the park, so this was different) - she must have known the age/developmental/“maturity” difference and decided that she would be happy to just watch these teenagers in their natural habitat (hopefully, no notes where taken!) lol

I found out this past weekend (in a schema and loose parts training) that Carol will be a ECE speaker in my area for a yearly conference we have - I’m going to be so star struck!! Maybe Heather the next one or one after?!

So many valuable insights! I especially loved Richard's comment about giving kids lots of chances to solve problems...of all kinds! This honors children, and as well as giving them the networks they need for true resilience...within the context of social interactions and PLAY.

Thanks Heather for another bringing another amazing conversation to us!!

Such a great conversation! As a kindergarten teacher who came up through the early years, I was just nodding my head over and over! Learning is a full body experience, not an isolated one. It's why we need more play, not just in the early years, but up through all grades. I will forever shout child led- play based learning from the mountaintops (or cornfields, depending on where I am). And I love the term, "Developmentalist"- perfect description!

Thanks Heather for spotlighting Helen - wonderful conversation!

What a wonderful discussion! Very inspiring! Thank you both for articulating our beliefs so specifically and passionately!

Such an important conversation! Thank you both.

This episode was spectacular! Would it be possible to provide a list of the books referenced? - Thank you for doing such amazing work!

Can’t wait to look at this book!! Thank you :)

Thank you, Heather, for finding the people who are true advocates for children. ❤

I cannot thank you enough for this episode. The trauma that ABA has caused for children and for adults who believed they were doing the "right thing" is beyond tragic.

What some people don’t understand is that if we push these littles too much with academic learning (because they can), their eagerness to learn will be destroyed. Our goal is to keep these kiddos wanting to learn and remain curious when they hit the doors of Kindergarten.