Each week, Mike, Tom, Ross, and Joey reflect on the connection between moving and thinking. The discussions remind us that teachers should be supporting children's bodies as well as their minds.
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TWTBIM_0301 Tiny Beautiful Celebrations
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Children often enact "tiny beautiful celebrations" where they express joy by hugging and piling up together. Tom has even noticed adults doing the same thing when they celebrate a sporting win. Big emotions elicit big movements. We see it every day in our classrooms as children create these joyous piles.…
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Why School? (ENCORE EPISODE)
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It's back to school season! Travel back in time to 2020 (still too soon?), when distance learning was a new invention and we were trying to make sense of it all. While school is more or less back to normal, the questions are still worth asking. Ross wants to talk paradigm shift. What lessons will we learn from the current disruption to our educatio…
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TWTBIM_0300 Episode 300!
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For our 300th episode celebration, we answer listener questions (and a few of our own). Learn about Mike practicing magic on his baby sister, Tom's three years in Hungary, Joey's run-ins with head lice, and Ross's dreams of being a professional skateboarder.
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TWBIM_0299 The Trouble with Development
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Tom invites us to take a closer look at what we mean when we talk broadly about "development." Developmental expectations can easily transform into standards of performance. What is the impact on the individual child? Are we trying to make all kids the same?
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TWTBIM_0298 The Trouble With Movement
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The trouble is that kids get in trouble for moving. Perhaps the problem comes from us due to poorly designed spaces and unreasonable expectations.
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TWTBIM_0297 They Know What They Need
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At the top of a steep and slippery hill, Joey had the chance to reflect on how children know what they need even if they can't always say it. When you provide opportunties to do what they need, they will show you how capable they are. It all makes Mike think of Ernest Hemingway.
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TWTBIM_0296 Teaching Fails
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Mike invites the group to shares stories from the classroom when things did not go to plan. Listen to find out more about preschool runaways, decapitated bears, and gathering coins to buy "whiskey."
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With summer in full swing, Joey wants to talk aboout children's foraging for berries and other tasty things. When we trust children's ability to meet their self-care needs in foraging, we can see how capable and competent they are. It's a whole body and mind practice as children rely on their executive function skills and experience immersive senso…
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TWTBIM_0294 Humans Love to Spin
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Tom had some time to catch up on his reading while he was away. He's back and ready to talk about spinning and the importance of vestibular development. Children find all kinds of ways to spin, such as twirling, rolling, somersaulting, and doing cartwheels. All this spinning is essential to developing the vesitibular system and--the hardest task of…
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ENCORE Episode: Run With It
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Children need to run. It's a way for them to express joy and excitement, feel powerful, tap into energy, and explore their environment. Since children need to run--and love to run--adults should want them to run. How can we provide for this basic need and source of joy for children? (Originally released April 2022)…
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TWTBIM_0293 The Perfect Episode
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Joey returns to Ross's favorite theme of disappointment, failure, and the illusion of perfection. If children are always told that they are correct, then everyone else must be wrong. The implications are not great in a world where everyone makes mistakes.
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TWTBIM_0292 On Ramp to Play
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Sometimes children are overwhelmed by choices and may struggle to get going in very open-ended, play based settings. What is the adult's role? Mike sees adults as the bridge to engagement. This bridge can lead to a highway where children need help navigating the on ramp to play. From there, children need to learn the rules of the road. We promise, …
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TWTBIM_0291 Long Ago Kid
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Ross wants to talk about navigating transitions. As the school year comes to a close, we often notice a ramp up in children's (and adults') level of dysregulation. How do we support children and teach the skills for managing the many inevitable changes of life? We talk about what is staying the same alongside what will be different...we practice ri…
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Encore Episode: Learning from Silence
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While we're on a brief recording break, enjoy this episode from the archive: Inspired by Stephen J. Smith from his book Risk and Our Pedagogical Relation to Children, Tom asks the group to consider the idea of silently observing children's movements as "reading their actions as they're being written." What more would we learn about children if we w…
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Mike leads us into a discussion about the importance of connection. Social connection is how children get through the hard things...Connections build resilience...Children are always looking for connection...All play is social and all learning is social...We're wired to learn from the group so why is assessment still tied to individual achievements…
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TWTBIM_0289 Inner Strength
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Joey wants to talk about the idea of emotional strength. How do we support children in building inner strength without making assumptions about what they can handle? Mike reminds us that stress--in the right amount--supports growth. Tom shares the experiences of listening to children and being an advocate for their feelings. We need to watch out fo…
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What is lost when adults let children win at all the games? Ross worries that it gives children the false sense that they can never lose. How do you keep games fun when the skill set is mismatched?... Do kids know what is happening when adults let them win?... Letting children win can be a form of power reversal play... It can be disrespectful when…
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TWTBIM_0287 Piles and piles
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Monkey piles, piggy piles, "pile on"--Tom has noticed that children often pile up together. This physical play provides close contact and a little unpredictability. What other needs are met in piling up?
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TWTBIM_0286 Environment (continued)
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The conversation about environment wasn't quite finished. Joey, Mike and Tom continue to work their way through the jargon in search of more practical and meaningful language.
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TWTBIM_0285 The Environment is Not a Blank Canvas
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Mike invites us to unpack the term environment as it is used in the field of early childhood. Does emphasis on "creating the environment" overlook the fact that you are in a specific place that already exists? Does it take into account the children and people who inhabit the space? How can we avoid fighting against the place we are in?…
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TWBIM_0284 Give Them Space
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How can we give children chances to explore space (and the feeling of having a lot of it)? Spending time outdoors is one of the best ways. Inside, perhaps children can experience a feeling of being in a separate space under a table. Spending time alone in an empty classroom can also tap into an expansive feeling. As Tom sums it up, it is an awesome…
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TWTBIM_0283 Cooperative Games
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Competition has been ramping up in Ross's class. Children compete over who gets to the door first and even who can complete a puzzle the fastest! The introduction of cooperative games has helped to change the tone. The group gets thinking about some of their favorite large motor cooperative play activities--freeze ball, bridge jumps, building with …
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TWBIM_0282 Spinnies and Ka-chunk
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Joey shares an experience with children "just playing on a swing" that was really so much more. Mike recalls a similar play episode with children playing on a flexible bridge. In both instances, children embodied high-level social skills: empathy, cooperation and collaboration. Tom reminds us that generosity flows naturally from the joy of play. Le…
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TWTBIM_0281 It's All Social
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Tom's been observing how children forge social connections through large motor play. Whether filling buckets with sand, negotiating space in big empty boxes or taking on roles in pretend play, children learn social skills by using their bodies.
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TWTBIM_0280 Path of Least Resistance
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On location at his new program, Mike points out design features that create the path of least resistance to support teachers' engagement with the children. The group discusses strategies to find paths of least resistance for other recurring challenges: material storage, reducing line leader fights, signing in for the day, reducing wait time and bot…
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Ross is feeling unresolved about the portraytal of problems in children's media. It's always a happy ending and "hooray we did it!" Does this have an impact on their ability to tolerate frustrations in the real world?
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Joey's classroom climate has been transformed by the introduction of a useful tool. This raises questions about our perceptions of who "deserves" help. Taking a close look at the skill of taking off boots reveals the ways in which we make judgements about children's character traits based off of their physical capabilities.…
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TWTBIM_277 Who Gets to Define Play?
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Tom is thinking about who defines play and the impact of those definitions. In the classroom, and in our community, the implications of adults' judgements about play can have serious consequences. We need to stay vigilant for bias in our perceptions and in our definitions of "proper" ways to play.
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TWTBIM_0276 Materials Limits, Part 2
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Turns out that there was more to be said about limit setting with materials. Tom stirs the pot with the suggestion that we could just get rid of the paint...
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TWTBIM_0275 Limit Setting with Materials
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Where is the line? If children can carry a block to the dramatic play area, can they bring the paint to the blocks? What about pom pom balls in the kitchen? Are children showing creativity or destroying materials? Mike works to help us process what to do when you get that "uh oh" feeling with children's unexpected uses of classroom materials. (With…
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Tom warns against being a "definer" of children. Teacher definitions can limit how children view their own capabilities and how others view them--sometimes for years to come. Mike points out that basing our interactions on predetermined labels takes us out of attunement. Joey suggests using "I wonder" phrasing to hold more possibilities open.…
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TWTBIM_0273 Why is the Rule the Rule
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IF we reflect on our rules and why we have them, what do we discover? Are some rules outdated? Do we know where they came from? Mike and Tom share skepticism about the practice of having children co-create the rules. Long lists of specific rules can lead to tattling and power struggles. Joey points out that rules have their place in helping childre…
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TWTBIM_0272 First Steps
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Mike has a front row seat to observe teachers (and children) taking their first steps to create an environment that allows for all kinds of learning and play--even running after bears in the classroom. No matter how many days--or years--of experience we have, taking baby steps and reflection are the keys to success. Tom recalls children successfull…
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TWTBIM_0271 Control Yourself
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What does it mean to be in control when teaching and caring for children? We often think it means we can control children's actions when in reality we can only control ourselves.
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Cabin Fever (Encore Episode)
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Looking for relief from cabin fever? Ross leads a discussion about how we can do big things in small spaces. What kinds of activities alleviate the stress of being cooped up when we're not able to go outside? How can we use our spaces differently to allow for the movement we crave? How can we plan ahead for success?…
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What Does Happy Look Like (Encore Episode)
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Who wouldn't want a room full of happiness? From the early days of the show, the group reflects on how to read happiness in children. From running free in a big open space to contentedly sitting in someone's lap, we can see children's joy in their physical actions. Can we create places where every child can feel happy?…
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How Much is Too Much? (Encore Episode)
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Travel back in time to the early days of the show for a conversation about materials and limit setting. How do we decide where to set limits when children are experimenting with squeezing (lots of) glue, pouring (lots of) water or stapling (lots of) paper into books? We may not get it right in the moment, but reflection is key. How can we involve c…
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TWTBIM_0270 Who Does Batman Call
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Who does Batman call when he's scared? Ross wants to know. Does Batman get scared? Is he allowed to show fear? Maybe he should call his mom. Hopefully his teacher would help. How can we help children who wear the mask of superheroes manage uncomfortable feelings rather than fight them away?
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TWBIM_0269 Scary Play is Important
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Scary play is important for children's development, but why? What is it about imaginary bears, snakes, and monsters that keep children coming back for more? Tom shares his recent research about the distinction between fear and "scared." Perhaps, in play, children build their tolerance for the physiological sensations of scary feelings that might ac…
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TWTBIM_0268 "I" is for Irritate
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Mike puts the I in "I statements" with irritate. The conversation also includes such I-word favorites as intention, interaction, and internal. As children learn to recognize and name a range of emotions, how do they continue to navigate their relationships among peers and teachers?
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TWTBIM_0267 Owning Authority
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Joey asks the group to help unpack the phrase, "own your authority." Along the way, we touch on the dangers of too much negotiation and a tendency towards manipulation.
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TWTBIM_0266 Playing with Power
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In the final episode of our power trilogy, we'll explore how children play with power roles when they engage with adults. "Teacher, that wasn't tea, it was really poison." This type of play is often a way that children can test their relationship with adults. Despite how it may appear on the surface, it shows that there is trust in the room.…
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TWTBIM_0265 Who Owns the Block Area?
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A follow up discussion of big block play takes a closer look the role of gender dynamics in this play. Who are the bosses? Who gets to be in charge of the block area? The answers are not all tied to gender, but if we pretend it doesn't have a role, we are missing something. The conversation extends to how our language and actions influence children…
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TWBIM_0264 Big Blocks, Big Power
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A listener question about big block play gets us deep into a discussion about navigating power dynamics. The scale of big block play, along with the relative scarcity of the material in the classroom, seems to create some universal patterns. We want children to feel strong, confident and powerful as they create with large blocks, but this means we …
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Spooky Stuff (Encore Episode)
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Eek! It's scary how fast the days go by. But don't be afraid, we found this classic episode to tide you over until a fresh one is ready next week. As his favorite holiday approaches, Ross wants to talk about spooky stuff. Being faced with scary things, from monsters to giant potatoes, is a big part of childhood. Fear will pass (like all emotions), …
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A child's newfound love of scissors has Joey wondering what is it about cutting that children love so much? Tom sees cutting as an act of agency. Mike and Ross note that scissors are a tool that offers the chance to act with a level of precision not usually available to a young child. A question for our practice is, if a child doesn't know how to u…
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The grandkids were playing with the laundry chute and now Tom is thinking about how much children like to drop things as part of their play. Is it a need? Should adults to create opportunities to experiment with dropping things or is it better for children to invent their own games? Mike has fond memories of his childhood laundry chute. Joey recall…
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TWTBIM_0261 Redefining Play
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Mike would like to broaden the definition of play and what it means to participate in it. Something is going on even when children "just watch" others at play. Tom reminds us that watching sports can be a fairly active pursuit. Ross remembers a highly engaged observer of wrestling play in his classroom. Joey wonders when concern is warranted if chi…
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TWTBIM_0260 Do they have to join in?
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Ross wonders who has to participate. Do children have to join in to be considered part of the group? Mike remembers the stress he felt as a child when he was pressured to participate in activities. Tom reminds us to take the child's point of view. Ross shares an aha moment from his early teaching days.…
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TWTBIM: #cute (Encore Episode)
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We'll be back soon with fresh conversations. Until then, enjoy this cute little episode. Is cute a meaningful attribute in creating environments for children? Is it how we would like to be described as professionals?
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