Episode 61: Getting Curious About PreK Research (with Dr. Dale Farran)
Release Date: 01/03/2024
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 :
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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...
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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,...
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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:
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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_outlineDr. Dale Farran has spent the better part of the last 50 years researching early childhood education. But some of her most famous research has come about rather recently, as she directs the evaluation of the Tennessee Voluntary PreK Program. This study is one of the most fascinating pieces of recent research in early childhood education.
With a randomly controlled trial, Farran's team found that after an initial PreK year, children who participated scored higher than children who didn’t. After the two groups converged for their kindergarten year, however, that difference disappeared. That’s not too surprising – a “fade out” effect is often observed in early childhood research.
Where this study really started making waves was with the follow-up data. After the participating children completed their third-grade year, Farran and her team found that the PreK group actually scored *below* the other children on the math and science sections of their standardized tests - and by statistically significant margins. By the sixth-grade year, more alarm bells sounded. The PreK participants were scoring below the nonparticipants on not only math and science (and by a greater factor than was seen in third grade) but now, also on English language arts as well. Perhaps more concerning, they were also getting in more trouble at school and receiving more expulsions.
While some may have been tempted to bury unexpected results, Dr. Farran and her team decided to get curious and ask what could be learned. The rest of us get to make the same choice – ignore the research, or get curious and find something to learn.
Show Notes: https://notjustcute.com/podcast/episode61