Episode 40: What's New with DAP?
Release Date: 01/07/2021
Episode 73: Challenging Behaviors in the Preschool Classroom (with Prerna Richards)
Not Just Cute, the Podcast: Intentional Whole Child Development for Parents and Teachers of Young Children
Challenging behaviors seem to be on the rise in preschool classrooms. Prerna Richards, of Together We Grow, specializes in supporting educators with a behavior coaching program. In this episode, she shares what she believes is behind this increase, and what can be done to better help our youngest learners. Find Show Notes :
info_outline
Episode 72: Fairy Tales and Resilience (with Stephanie Goloway, EdD)
Not Just Cute, the Podcast: Intentional Whole Child Development for Parents and Teachers of Young Children
Once upon a time..... ...Happily ever after. These are common fairy tale phrases. But they're more than just staid story stems. These common phrases -- and the stories in between -- hold not only a recipe for imagination and fantasy but also for resilience. Stephanie Goloway (EdD) is a powerful advocate for the importance of imagination, play, and storytelling. As a now-emeritus professor, she’s taught young children as well as college students and has focused her research on how fairy tales align with and support child development. She’s written a book called, Happily...
info_outline
Episode 71: Bringing Families to the Library with Play (with Tammie Benham)
Not Just Cute, the Podcast: Intentional Whole Child Development for Parents and Teachers of Young Children
Most people associate the library with silence. But what if we associated it with play? In this episode, I’m talking with Tammie Benham, Youth Services Consultant for the Southeast Kansas Library System. Tammie believes that where libraries, children, and families intersect, magic is possible. And she’s set out to make that magic through a family engagement program focused on using play to teach, encourage, and support families in the communities she serves.
info_outline
Episode 70: Why We Need Play for All
Not Just Cute, the Podcast: Intentional Whole Child Development for Parents and Teachers of Young Children
We started this series with the overall argument for why play is essential for human development. The next three episodes dug deep into three main themes: Why we need play for mental health and wellness, for brain development and real learning, and for soft skill development. Then, we shifted to several shorter episodes, touching on specific types of play and how they contribute to development. In this final episode, I’m talking about why ALL children need play, even when others may think it’s time to help children “catch up” instead.
info_outline
Episode 69: Why We Play with Art
Not Just Cute, the Podcast: Intentional Whole Child Development for Parents and Teachers of Young Children
What does fingerpainting have to do with the Space Race? In this episode, we're talking about art and creative play and their role in learning, thinking, and innovating.
info_outline
Episode 68: Why We Play Pretend
Not Just Cute, the Podcast: Intentional Whole Child Development for Parents and Teachers of Young Children
This episode’s focus is the dress-up area and dramatic play. We’ll talk about the powerful developmental support that comes from preschoolers dressing up and playing pretend. Show Notes: https://notjustcute.com/podcast/episode68
info_outline
Episode 67: Why We Play at the Sensory Table
Not Just Cute, the Podcast: Intentional Whole Child Development for Parents and Teachers of Young Children
This episode’s focus is sensory play. We’ll take a look at why these bins full of rice, water, goop, and other media aren’t just a big mess waiting to happen, they’re a really important key to supporting healthy child development.
info_outline
Episode 66: Why We Play with Blocks
Not Just Cute, the Podcast: Intentional Whole Child Development for Parents and Teachers of Young Children
This episode’s focus is the block area. We look at what’s going on in those busy building centers of the early childhood classroom, and why it’s important to keep those big spaces open for construction, even when there’s pressure to move the blocks out to make room for “real school”. Don’t underestimate the simple nature of a collection of rectangles, squares, and triangles made out of hardwood maple. When children play with construction toys (which include the ever-present unit blocks, of course, but also other open-ended building toys like Legos, magnet tiles,...
info_outline
Episode 65: Why We Play for Soft Skills
Not Just Cute, the Podcast: Intentional Whole Child Development for Parents and Teachers of Young Children
While some schools may claim they’re moving away from play and toward more direct academic instruction as a way to prepare children for their future careers, business leaders repeatedly share that soft skills are becoming increasingly relevant in the workplaces of today and of the future. In this episode, we’ll talk about how pushing out play also pushes out prime opportunities for building essential soft skills. Soft skills that not only enhance careers, but improve life. FInd show notes at:
info_outline
Episode 64: Why We Play for Brain Development and Real Learning
Not Just Cute, the Podcast: Intentional Whole Child Development for Parents and Teachers of Young Children
This is the third episode in a nine-episode series! In this episode, we’re digging into why we play for brain development and real learning. There are many people who say they support play for young children, but question whether or not we need play in school, or who might argue that play is important, as long as we get the work of learning done first. So today, we’ll talk about why play and learning aren’t as separate as people might think. Find show notes at
info_outlineShow 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 they met with different people across a variety of programs, they found little agreement about what that term actually meant. In response, the association released a position statement in the mid-80s to help create a more cohesive understanding and application of the term across the field of early education.
In the same spirit of responsive care that they endorse, NAEYC revises and updates their position statement about every 10 years to respond to the current state of research and social discourse, and to clarify misunderstandings.
The Fourth Edition of NAEYC’s Position Statement was released at the end of 2020. If you’ve been curious about what kind of changes can be found in this latest edition, I’ll be jumping into some of the main concepts and key changes in this episode.