Not Just Cute, the Podcast: Intentional Whole Child Development for Parents and Teachers of Young Children
Episodes
Episode 86: Play-Based Learning - A Scoping Review of the Research
20 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
div]:bg-bg-000/50 [&_prediv]:border-0.5 [&_prediv]:border-border-400 [&_.ignore-pre-bgdiv]:bg-transparent [&_.standard-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,...
Episode 85: Making the Case for Joy in Playful Early Learning
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Joy is one of those concepts that everyone understands until you try to define it. And yet, the research is remarkably clear about what it does. In...
Episode 84: The Essential Role of Agency in Play and Early Learning
03 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Agency — the ability to make choices, act on them, and feel that those actions matter — is key to play and learning. In this episode, we dig into...
Episode 83: Schema Play Theory (with Heather Bernt-Santy)
04 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Professor and early childhood advocate Heather Bernt-Santy is widely known from her podcast as That Early Childhood Nerd. In this episode, Heather t...
Episode 82: Second Read - There's Good in the World. And It's Worth Fighting For.
10 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we revisit one of the most-read pieces published on Not Just Cute: "There's Good in the World. And It's Worth Fighting For." Written...
Episode 81: Not Just Cute Book Study - Best Moments and Big Ideas
01 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is play the missing piece in today's educational puzzle? That's the question we wrestled with during a three-part book study I hosted this summer with...
Episode 80: Actions of Play (with Heather Jackson)
10 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Unlock the secrets to transforming early childhood education by focusing on the actions — not just the topics — that captivate young minds. Join ...
Episode 79: Building a Blended PreK Model (with Machelle Scogin)
19 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This episode explores the transformative blended pre-K program at Prosper Independent School District in Texas, championed by Michelle Scogin, Directo...
Episode 78: We Could All Use the Science of JOY
19 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I had an experience a few months ago that began with a fantastic workshop with one of my favorite schools, and *seemed* to end with a broken down, bro...
Episode 77: Why Play? (With Rae Pica)
29 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rae Pica has been a fierce advocate for children and childhood for over 40 years. And during that time she's written a whole bookshelf full of book...
Episode 76: A Play-Based Evolution (with Amber Unger)
13 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When Amber Unger (also known as the Cream City Teacher) began her career in education, she thought she'd be working with teenagers. As her path led ...
Episode 75: Empowering Parents as Teachers - Mobile Early Education Outreach Team (With Play Smart Literacy)
08 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In episode 74, I introduced you to Michele Dineen-White, the creator of Play Smart Literacy in Chicago. Play Smart Literacy is a truly mobile outrea...
Episode 74: Innovative Early Education Outreach that Actually Reaches the Children - Play Smart Literacy (With Michelle Dineen-White & Talmage Steele)
08 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Michele Dinneen-White was working in an early education outreach program when she realized something. The program wasn't actually reaching out to th...
Episode 73: Challenging Behaviors in the Preschool Classroom (with Prerna Richards)
18 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Challenging behaviors seem to be on the rise in preschool classrooms. Prerna Richards, of Together We Grow, specializes in supporting educators with...
Episode 72: Fairy Tales and Resilience (with Stephanie Goloway, EdD)
04 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Once upon a time..... ...Happily ever after. These are common fairy tale phrases. But they're more than just staid story stems. These common phra...
Episode 71: Bringing Families to the Library with Play (with Tammie Benham)
14 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 Se...
Episode 70: Why We Need Play for All
29 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 t...
Episode 69: Why We Play with Art
27 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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, thin...
Episode 68: Why We Play Pretend
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode's focus is the dress-up area and dramatic play. We'll talk about the powerful developmental support that comes from preschoolers dressi...
Episode 67: Why We Play at the Sensory Table
20 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Episode 66: Why We Play with Blocks
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 imp...
Episode 65: Why We Play for Soft Skills
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 c...
Episode 64: Why We Play for Brain Development and Real Learning
09 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is the third episode in a nine-episode series! (Find them all here.) In this episode, we're digging into why we play for brain development an...
Episode 63: Why We Play for Mental Health
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we're digging into why we play for mental health. It's not just something we think is true or that sounds nice, it's a claim that's b...
Episode 62: The Why We Play Special Series
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I'm excited to be kicking off something special today. For years, I've been speaking at workshops and conferences about the power of play in the ear...
Episode 61: Getting Curious About PreK Research (with Dr. Dale Farran)
03 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Find Show Notes Here Dr. Dale Farran has spent the better part of the last 50 years researching early childhood education. But some of her most fam...
Episode 60: Calm the Chaos (with Dayna Abraham)
01 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Challenging behaviors are nothing new in early childhood education. And yet, there's something different going on. For a variety of reasons, chal...
Episode 59: Preparing Preservice Teachers (with Kelli Barker)
20 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I'm talking to someone I've wanted to share with you for a long time. One of my best friends from grad school, Kelli Barker. She's now the direc...
Episode 58: The Science of Reading in Action K-2 (with Malia Hollowell)
23 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Malia Hollowell is the author of The Science of Reading in Action and the creator of the site Playdough to Plato. She's a National Board Certified...
Episode 57: Science of Reading in Preschool?
05 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Have you been asked how your preschool room aligns with the Science of Reading? Or maybe you've seen videos of two year olds reading and the sales p...
Episode 56: Exploring the Science of Reading
05 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I've talked and written a lot about early literacy over the years, but I've avoided one very popular term: The Science of Reading. I decided to k...
Episode 55: Finding Your Voice for Advocacy & Writing (with Rae Pica)
23 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rae Pica is a force. As a speaker, consultant, and the author of over 20 books in addition to articles in many popular publications, Rae Pica has be...
Episode 54: Taking the Next Step for Your Program (with Shannon McGuire Bowman & Tara Beard)
06 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Childcare Resources of Indian River in Vero Beach, Florida began with three tenacious educators going out of their way to create something better for...
Episode 53: Whole Child Solutions to Brain Based Challenges with Dr. Nicole Beurkens
20 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When holistic psychologist Dr. Nicole Beurkens attends to a brain-based challenge, she doesn't look only at the ways she could change the brain. She...
Episode 52: Beyond the 30 Million Words (with Dr. Rachel Romeo)
15 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I'm talking with Dr. Rachel Romeo about her follow up research to Hart & Risley's famous 30 million word gap. She's sharing how language shapes deve...
Episode 51: The Legacy of Fred Rogers (with Dr. Dana Winters)
02 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I'm talking with Dr. Dana Winters, executive director of the Fred Rogers Institute about how the work of Fred Rogers continues today....
Episode 50: Rethinking the Entire Approach to Preschool (Diving into the NPR Article)
14 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Early last month, NPR published an article with the title, "A top researcher says it's time to rethink our entire approach to preschool". Maybe you ...
Episode 49: Leaders Lounge with Beth Cannon
05 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Find Show Notes at notjustcute.com/podcast/episode49 This episode comes from a livestream I did with Leaders Lounge summit organizer, Beth Cannon. ...
Episode 48: Connecting Through Music (with Laurie Berkner)
20 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you've spent much time listening to children's music, you've likely heard of Laurie Berkner. And if you haven't, you'll be thanking me for the in...
Episode 47: Supporting New Teachers (with Vanessa Levin)
23 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I'm talking with Vanessa Levin of PreK Pages and Teaching Trailblazers about how we can better support each other as educators!
Episode 46: The Power of Nature Play (with Meghan Fitzgerald of Tinkergarten)
16 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Meghan Fitzgerald has combined her many professional and personal experiences with her passion for learning, play, and nature, to create Tinkergarten,...
Episode 45: Getting Parents on Board with Play (with Rae Pica)
29 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I had a great conversation recently with my friend, Rae Pica, about how and why we should get parents on board with play-based, developmentally approp...
Episode 44: Fairy Dust Teaching (with Sally Haughey)
24 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
You may be familiar with Sally Haughey's amazing work through Fairy Dust Teaching, a site committed to respecting the whole child, community, play, an...
Episode 43: "The Uncontrollable Child" (with Matis Miller)
11 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Matis Miller is the author of the new book, The Uncontrollable Child. He's a licensed clinical social worker and therapist and the founder, director...
Episode 42: Thrivers (with Dr. Michele Borba)
25 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Borba's newest book, THRIVERS: The Surprising Reason Why Some Kids Struggle While Others Shine, combines scientific studies, input from dozens of...
Episode 41: Lessons from Remote Teaching (with Allison McDonald)
10 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
One year ago, Allison McDonald was teaching preschool in the state of Washington and writing her popular blog, No Time for Flash Cards. Like many o...
Episode 40: What's New with DAP?
07 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Show Notes: https://notjustcute.com/podcast/episode40 After the U.S.- based National Association for the Education of Young Children – or NAEYC –...
Episode 39: Let's Play, America! (with Pat Rumbagh)
11 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Several years ago, Pat Rumbaugh was nicknamed "The Play Lady." And the nickname stuck. After spending 25 years getting young people to play throug...
Episode 38: Finding the Verbs and the Magic in Early Childhood Education (with Heather Jackson)
24 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
I'm so excited for you to meet Heather Jackson, director of the Reggio-inspired Sunflower School. In this episode she shares her thoughts on verbs as ...
Episode 37: What if We Taught the Way Children Learn (with Rae Pica)
15 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Rae Pica is a force to be reckoned with. With her unapologetic straight-talk, she has been advocating for children and for whole child education for...
Episode 36: Resilience (with Dr. Nefertiti Poyner)
18 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Today I'm talking with Dr. Nefertiti Poyner of the Devereaux Center for Resilient Children and I'm going to to tell you right now, she is an absolute ...
Episode 35: A Back to School Pep Talk
14 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's back to school time, and normally that means getting back to the structure of something familiar….but this year is totally different. And it'...
Episode 34: Play, Standards, and Literacy (with Vanessa Levin)
10 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Today I'm talking with Vanessa Levin, experienced early childhood educator and creator of the wildly popular site Pre-K Pages, which is chock full of ...
Episode 33: Grieving the School Year We Thought We'd Have
22 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As states and districts begin this trickling process of making final announcements about the school year, many closing -at least physically – for th...
Episode 32: How Interactions Build Young Brains
21 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we'll cover a quick review of what serve and return interactions are as well as what the newest research tells us about why they're s...
Episode 31: Engaging Young Scientists, with Asia Citro
12 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Author of Zoey & Sassafras and creator of the publishing house, Innovation Press, Asia Citro is truly a woman on a mission to help young children thin...
Episode 30: Kids in the Kitchen, with Tiffany Dahle
13 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Cooking can be a powerful activity for young children. From literacy skills, math skills, fine motor skills, and sensory and science experiences, alon...
Episode 29: Acting Out (with Rae Pica)
08 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Why are there so many reports of children frequently falling out of their seats? Why is behavior becoming more and more of a challenge in the classr...
Episode 28: Second Read - Advanced Content at Kindergarten - What can we really learn from this controversial new study?
17 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Back at the beginning of 2019 a study made a bit of a splash as headlines claimed that it demonstrated that the increased academic expectations in the...
Episode 27: Planning a Parent Play Night at Your School
23 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Today I'm talking about how to get parents on board with play in your classrooms, right from the start. Just like the children, each parent in your cl...
Episode 26: The Artful Parent - Kids' Art and Creativity (with Jean Van't Hul)
23 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Today I'm talking with the Artful Parent, Jean VanHult. She is what she calls an "art enabler", a term that I love! She's also the author of the book,...
Episode 25: Online Preschool- Panacea or Placebo?
14 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Online preschool options are growing in popularity. Just this past spring, Ted Talk organizers created a bit of a stir in the early childhood commun...
Episode 24: Cribsheet with Emily Oster -- Making Decisions as a Parent
16 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
There are many decisions to make as a parent. Breastfeed or bottle? Cosleep or no? Where to find quality care? And when you reach out for more i...
Episode 23: Brave Learner - Finding Everyday Magic in Homeschool, Learning, and Life (with Julie Bogart)
28 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Julie Bogart is an accomplished writer and the creator of a popular language arts program, Brave Writer. She's also mom to five (now grown) childre...
Episode 22: Inspiring Wonder, Awe, and Empathy - Spiritual Development in Young Children (with Deborah Schein PhD)
18 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
development can be talked about in an academic construct, I received Deborah Schein's book (Inspiring Wonder, Awe, and Empathy- Spiritual Development ...
Episode 21: Your Mistakes Aren't Ruining Your Kids - The importance of active repair.
16 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This episode was inspired by a real-life conversation with a friend of mine who was venting about not handling a parenting situation the way she WISHE...
Episode 20: Second Read -- Play is Efficient!
30 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Play isn't what we do when we're done with the curriculum. Play IS the curriculum. Listen to a second read of the post, Play is Efficient. Learn more ...
Episode 19: Positive Discipline for Today's Busy (& Overwhelmed) Parent (Kristina Bill & Joy Marchese)
06 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
I am so excited today to be talking with Kristina Bill and Joy Marchese, who, along with Jane Nelsen, co-authored the book, Positive Discipline for To...
Episode 18: Ten Minutes for Early Childood Education
03 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
I was recently invited to speak for 10 minutes on the importance of early childhood education as part of a local private preschool's annual fundraiser...
Episode 17: Bounceback Parenting with Alissa Marquess
19 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Alissa Marquess is adamant that she is not a parenting expert. She's a mom who makes a lot of mistakes like we all do – but she's learned something ...
Episode 16: Advocating for Movement with Rae Pica
08 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Many of us are seeing that grief in the classroom as different policies and practices seem to forget that our children have bodies. As one of the fore...
Episode 15: Discovering the Culture of Childhood (Conclusion)
14 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode, I'm sharing the fifth and final installment in a series of conversations with Emily Plank, author of Discovering The Culture of Ch...
Episode 14: Finding the Right Preschool for Your Child with Deborah Stewart
02 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I asked Deb to join me for a conversation about how to choose the right preschool for your child. My hope is that what we share wil...
Episode 13: The Preschool Reading Dilemma
11 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Today, I'm taking on a couple of common questions about early education and reading. The questions seem to be opposites, but are really two sides of t...
Episode 12: Discovering the Culture of Childhood with Emily Plank (Chapters 5 & 6)
04 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This is the fourth installment of my book talk with Emily Plank, author of Discovering The Culture of Childhood. It's the read-along selection this...
Episode 11: Second Read- Performance Hang Ups
23 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Performance is the currency of education today. While assessments will always be important, I can't help but wonder about the overemphasis on performa...
Episode 10: Puzzling Out the Science of PreK
16 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Today, I'm talking about the Consensus Statement released by the Brookings Institute on the Current State of Scientific Knowledge on Pre Kindergarten ...
Episode 9: Second Read - The Vital Importance of a Strong Foundation
06 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This second read goes back all the way to 2014, but it's a concept I still use frequently when speaking to groups about the importance of the foundati...
Episode 8: Discovering the Culture of Childhood (Chapters 3&4) with Emily Plank
30 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Today, I'm talking again with Emily Plank, author of Discovering The Culture of Childhood. It's the read-along selection this year, for Not Just Cute ...
Episode 7: Kindergarten Redshirting
21 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Today, I'm talking about redshirting. You may know the term from college sports, where athletes can be redshirted for a year, keeping them out of the ...
Episode 6: Second Read- A Tale of Two Studies
06 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Today, I'm revisiting a post from 2016, which I wrote at the beginning of last year's read along, Rae Pica's book, What if Everybody Understood Child ...
Episode 5: Discovering the Culture of Childhood with Emily Plank (Chapters 1&2)
31 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Do we see childhood for what it really is? Are we ready to challenge our ideas and put on a new pair of spectacles? Emily Plank joins us for the secon...
Episode 4: Reader Q&A - Redirecting and the Effects of Negative Emotions on Learning
31 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I'm answering a reader's two-part question. First, what are some suggestions for redirecting children and second, what did I mean whe...
Episode 3: Discovering the Culture of Childhood with Emily Plank (Introduction)
14 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I discuss the introdcution of the book, "Discovering the Culture of Childhood", with its author, Emily Plank. (This is the read-along...
Episode 2: Second Read- And the Award Goes To...
14 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Second Read: And the Award Goes To... Following the season of Hollywood award shows, I got thinking about who really deserves an award for making a di...
Episode 1: The Story of Not Just Cute
14 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Here's the story behind Not Just Cute -- how it got its name and how it got started. A quick look at what drives the focus on intentional, whole child...