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That Early Childhood Nerd

Early Childhood Nerdwork
That Early Childhood Nerd
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404 episodes

  • That Early Childhood Nerd

    NERD 0409 Talk to Them Early and Often with Cara Tyrrell

    29/04/2026 | 42 mins.
    In Talk to Them Early and Often: A Caregiver's Guide to Intentional Language Development for Infants and Toddlers, Cara Tyrrell explains why early communication with infants and toddlers is so important and how to effectively talk to these young learners in a wide variety of circumstances. 

    And you know host Heather Bernt-Santy loves to talk infants and toddlers!

    Order Cara's book here: https://www.tcpress.com/products/talk-to-them-early-and-often_9780807783702

    Order Heather’s book, Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood, here: https://www.tcpress.com/products/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood_9780807783177

    Join our new Patreon community! For just $5 a month you can support all the Early Childhood Nerdwork podcasts AND join our Discord server to chat with the hosts and others who are working for children, their families, and their teachers: https://www.patreon.com/cw/EarlyChildhoodNerdworkbyThatEarlyChildhoodNerd

    Thanks for listening!
  • That Early Childhood Nerd

    NERD 0408 We Are Who We're Waiting For with Kisa Marx

    22/04/2026 | 43 mins.
    Order Kisa’s new book here: https://www.redleafpress.org/We-Are-Who-Were-Waiting-For-Transformative-Change-in-Early-Childhood-Education-P3172.aspx\

    Order Heather’s book, Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood, here: https://www.tcpress.com/products/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood_9780807783177

    Join our new Patreon community! For just $5 a month you can support all the Early Childhood Nerdwork podcasts AND join our Discord server to chat with the hosts and others who are working for children, their families, and their teachers: https://www.patreon.com/cw/EarlyChildhoodNerdworkbyThatEarlyChildhoodNerd

    Thanks for listening!
  • That Early Childhood Nerd

    NERD 0407 Screen Aware Early Childhood

    15/04/2026 | 51 mins.
    In Screen Aware Early Childhood: A Realistic Approach to Helping Young Children Thrive in a Digitally Complex World,  Patricia Cantor, Melinda Holohan, and Jean Rogers offer their Screen Aware for Early Childhood Framework (SAFEC) as an essential guide for “navigating the screenscape and making decisions about screen use.”

    They join host Heather Bernt-Santy in this episode to discuss why this is such an important resource, and to share the four guiding principles of SAFEC: development centered, research informed, protection oriented, and relationship based.

    Their message is centered on protective factors rather than risk factors and is a refreshingly hopeful contribution to an important conversation in our work with children and families.

    Order the book here: https://www.tcpress.com/products/screen-aware-early-childhood_9780807787281

    Find the Screen Aware Early Childhood Action Toolkit here: https://screentimenetwork.org/ECKit

    Order Heather’s book, Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood, here: https://www.tcpress.com/products/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood_9780807783177

    Join our new Patreon community! For just $5 a month you can support all the Early Childhood Nerdwork podcasts AND join our Discord server to chat with the hosts and others who are working for children, their families, and their teachers: https://www.patreon.com/cw/EarlyChildhoodNerdworkbyThatEarlyChildhoodNerd

    Thanks for listening!
  • That Early Childhood Nerd

    NERD 0406 American Kindergarten with Susan Engel

    08/04/2026 | 45 mins.
    Susan Engel is Class of 1959 Director of the Program in Teaching and a senior lecturer in psychology at Williams College, and the author of several books...all of which host Heather Bernt-Santy has read and LOVED! Her latest book, American Kindergarten: Dispatches from the First Year of School, is no exception. 

    In this episode, Susan joins Heather to talk about the book--"an unexpected portrait of the first year of school for America's youngest learners," written after spending time in kindergarten classrooms across the United States. You'll love hearing her talk about the promises kindergarten can make to children.

    Order the book here: https://a.co/d/0jjfd5pO

    You can order Heather's book here: https://a.co/d/03frXV0a

    Thank you for listening! Please consider leaving a review to help more people find the show!
  • That Early Childhood Nerd

    NERD_0405 Nerd Study Hall: The Hope and Promise of Teaching

    25/03/2026 | 57 mins.
    It's time for another Nerd Study Hall! In this episode, host Heather Bernt-Santy is joined by Richard Cohen, Aaron Neimark, and Mike Huber to discuss an article written by retired professor and former community organizer William Ayers, titled "The Hope and Promise of Teaching." It's a beautiful, challenging, inspiring, and validating article and the conversation reflects all of these elements. 

    Buy Heather's book Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood here: https://www.tcpress.com/using-schema-play-theory-to-advocate-for-free-play-in-early-childhood-9780807787243

    Join our new Patreon community! For just $5 a month you can support all the Early Childhood Nerdwork podcasts AND join our Discord server to chat with the hosts and others who are working for children, their families, and their teachers: https://www.patreon.com/cw/EarlyChildhoodNerdworkbyThatEarlyChildhoodNerd

    Thanks for listening!

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About That Early Childhood Nerd

If you love thinking deeply about childhood, early childhood education, caring for children, and supporting children’s right to play, this is the podcast for you! Each week, host and self-proclaimed early childhood nerd Heather Bernt-Santy invites practitioners, writers, and thinkers who share her commitment to doing the very best we can for children, their caregivers and teachers, and their families to discuss big ideas, real life practices, and cool research. Let’s get nerdy!
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