I’d love to introduce you to my guest today – Jennifer Pickett. Jennifer is a seasoned Dietitian with a Master’s in Human Nutrition and over 26 years of experience. Transitioning into Functional Medicine, she now specializes in women’s hormones as a Certified Midlife Specialist and Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach. Jennifer coaches women virtually, helping them reclaim their spark and revitalize their bodies.  As the creator of The Hormone Huddle and host of the Healthy Harmony podcast, she brings humor and real-life insight to her empowering work with women 40+. She is bringing some super practical ideas to help us start 2025 off on the right foot.  She’s anti-shame and guilt and definitely PRO-realistic goals and habits. 

Today she is going to share with us how we can tend to our overall well-being with FREE and practical steps, like stepping outside into natural sunlight first thing in the morning or waiting to have coffee until after you’ve eaten some protein. Jennifer will also talk us through things that impact our overall health including spiritual and mental health–not just the typical things when we think about weight loss.  She has so much wisdom to share and we can’t wait for you to hear her heart on this topic.

Additional Resources: 

Jennifer's website - https://www.inspirehealthyharmony.com/ and her midlife health course info https://thehormonehuddle.com/

Jennifer's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/inspirehealthyharmony/

Jennifer's Facebook Group for women's health - https://www.facebook.com/groups/748795618938682

ECCN Habit Tracker - https://earlychildhoodchristiannetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Habit-Tracker.pdf

As always, we would love to connect with you on Instagram and on Facebook 

It’s our 50th episode of the Reimagine Childhood podcast! Thanks for making it this far with us. We hope it’s been beneficial to you and those you are tending to. Today, I am going solo and diving into a topic that I am very passionate about–the importance of building strong partnerships between church weekday ministries and the overall church community. 

More than likely, your weekday program is serving both church members and non-church members, which means you have a prime opportunity to reach families who may not regularly attend church. I have found that many young families today prioritize activities, hobbies, and community outside of traditional church attendance and I firmly believe weekday ministries can be a vital link to connect these families with the church. Today we will discuss the importance of weekday ministries being deeply integrated into the mission and work of the church, rather than feeling like separate, disconnected programs. We will talk through not only why this is important, but also how you can go about creating a unified culture with your weekday and weekend ministries. I can’t wait for you to tune in.

HERE is a link to a list of ideas for connecting the families in your weekday ministry with your church family.

Need more resources? Check out the Resources Page on our website!

As always, we would love to connect with you on Instagram and on Facebook

We’re having a conversation with a longtime friend and advocate for faith-based early education, Peggy Osborne today. Peggy has journeyed alongside her husband, Chris Osborne, in pastoral ministry for over 40 years. Having served faithfully at Central Church in College Station, Texas for over three decades, she now finds herself in Fort Worth, supporting her husband's teaching role at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary as a mentor for pastor's wives and female seminary students. Peggy has a broad knowledge and experience base as a classroom teacher and administrator in the Early Childhood Department of the College Station Independent School District. Since December 2010, she has collaborated with her daughter, Lauren, providing consultancy services to Faith-Based Schools, childcare centers, school districts, and Head Starts across the nation.

Today we are going to talk all about character development and why teaching virtues like kindness, love, joy, patience, etc. are important in early childhood. We’re laying a foundation of faith for young children years before they make a decision to follow Jesus. Peggy will give us insight into how to use concrete, visual examples, and repetition to help young children understand abstract virtues. Things like, Intentionally "spotlighting" and praising specific acts of virtue in children, rather than just general praise, and connecting virtuous behavior to biblical stories and principles, are incredibly impactful in building their internal sense of character. She will share just how creating a classroom culture that prioritizes and celebrates biblical virtues can positively shift the overall environment.

She cares so deeply about teaching the next generation in the ways of God. Finding ways to intentionally teach children these virtues (the fruit of the spirit) will repay big dividends. Just as you will learn from her in this episode, you’re building the culture of your classroom! We know that the Holy Spirit’s power is what makes those “morals” or “virtues” significant but just think…YOU are introducing many of these families to the Truth of God by intentionally teaching their children to walk in Jesus’ ways. 

Additional Resources: 

Instagram: @deuteronomy14.2

Website: https://youaremytreasure.com/product/the-fruit-project/

Facebook group: Treasured (You Are My Treasure)

As always, we would love to connect with you on Instagram and on Facebook 

Today on the podcast, my guest is Shela Mobarak. Shela is passionate about high-quality early learning for everyone. She has a wide array of experiences, from corporate HR to faith-based weekday leadership, and she is the founder of Be The Seed of Change, a consulting and professional development organization based in Plano, Texas. She is known for her passion for the early childhood profession and collaborates with a variety of teams at all levels. Shela has a Masters degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution and is working on a PhD in Early Childhood Leadership and Advocacy. She is well-researched in infant/toddler development and believes that high-quality care in the early years is paramount for a healthier, more well-rounded society as a whole!

Our topic today is the importance of intentional and developmentally appropriate support for the physical development of infants and toddlers. We know educators play a crucial role in fostering the development of infants and toddlers in their classes, and we hope this episode will help you feel well-equipped to make the most impact in these critical years. We will talk through how you can encourage physical development that encompasses gross motor, fine motor, and health/well-being skills that align with research-based developmental milestones. Together we will share how environments for infants and toddlers should encourage exploration, movement, and sensory experiences and how you can partner with families to support the whole child. 

Overall, Infant and Toddler teachers, we want you to know your work MATTERS! After this episode, we hope you learn or are reminded that the ways you interact with young children, the care and nurture you show, and the intentionality you use in planning and creating experiences for these tiny disciples, are the foundation of all other learning.  It’s a huge responsibility and also the best privilege! 

Additional Resources: 

Instagram: @BeSeedChange

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeSeedChange/

Links we mentioned in the conversation:

The link to the Texas Infant-Toddler Specialist Network is Texas ITSN – Texas Infant-Toddler Specialist Network

Links to brain-building activities for young children - https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/brainbuildingthroughplay/

As always, we would love to connect with you on Instagram and on Facebook 

My guest today is Melissa Leach, the owner, and president, of Leach Literacy Training (LLT), Melissa is a sought-after literacy change leader for her knowledge of literacy and her ability to make success in every component feel achievable. Melissa has been a dynamic classroom teacher, a state-level Literacy Specialist, a Professional Learning Designer for the District of Columbia Public Schools, and a K-12 ELAR and SLAR Specialist. She currently works full-time alongside her team of literacy staff developers to run Leach Literacy Training from her home state of Texas. It is Melissa’s life work to make an impact on student achievement. Leach Literacy blends the research and knowledge of best practices and hands-on application to real-life classroom settings. Melissa’s excitement about early childhood and the joys of learning with young children shines through in this episode.

Today we are discussing "sharing the pen" with young children in early childhood classrooms. It involves co-constructing messages and writing experiences with students, allowing them to contribute letters and words to build confidence and joy in the writing process. We will journey through key factors in this process like providing a consistent, permanent space (e.g. name chart) where children can find and interact with letters and words; Using tools like "booboo tape" sparingly to fix mistakes, focusing more on the process than perfection; Engaging the whole class in the writing experience through multisensory activities and verbal prompts; Tailoring support for more reluctant writers by providing visual aids and sharing the pen responsibilities; and Emphasizing the "pre" in preschool by reimagining early childhood experiences as joyful, developmentally-appropriate learning rather than narrow preparation for school.

There are many great nuggets of information in this episode with Melissa and I can’t wait for you to dive in and grab for yourself.  

Visit Melissa’s website or connect with Melissa on Instagram and Facebook

As always, we would love to connect with you on Instagram and on Facebook

Today’s episode will be valuable to all of you at this time of year.  I’m looking forward to introducing you to Claire Turner.  As an educator with two decades of experience, Claire provides a unique perspective on positive behavior interventions, collaborative communication, and other valuable team-building topics. Claire is a Kindergarten teacher and serves as the Director of Programs and Lead Educator for W.I.L.D., a ministry of SUMMIT focused on equipping women to root, bloom, and flourish while disciplining others along their journey of leadership development. Claire strives to inspire personal and professional growth in leaders and educators through interactive training courses, including everything from conferences to camping trips. 

 Claire and I are talking about the motivation behind behavior in young children today.  This episode is a little bit longer than usual, but I think you’ll be glad you listened in. We’ll focus on attention-seeking behaviors as well as control-seeking behaviors and what you can do in your classroom to reinforce specific positive behaviors. We will also spend some time on the four main motivations of behavior: escape, sensory input, attention, and esteem. 

 I think what we will really learn is there are underlying motivations in all of our behaviors – adults included. This time of year with more candy, more celebrations, more everything (except sleep!) children can be a little extra challenging…and we have a little patience for their behavior.  I hope this episode gives you a few new tools to use as you help these little ones learn healthy behavior patterns to meet their needs.

Additional Resources: 

Find Claire online at SummitLead.org and on Instagram

As always, we would love to connect with you on Instagram and on Facebook 

Our guest today is Samantha Phillips, aka, That Sparkly Insurance Chic! She’s spent over a decade coaching childcare leaders about risk management and empowering them to make wise business protection choices.  She is nationally recognized as an advocate for early childhood, breaking ground by educating educators in an often overlooked area. She’s not just an insurance expert (although she definitely is that), she is a valuable resource and a beacon in the early childhood community adding a sparkly touch to the vital task of protecting what matters most! She’s also the VBS coordinator at her church and teaches a Kindergarten Sunday School class. She’s passionate about doing what’s best for children in early childhood so I’m excited to bring you this conversation with Samantha Phillips.

Today, she is going to share her insights on Insurance companies that are dropping childcare centers, leading to concerns about insurability. Samantha will also discuss with us why classroom teachers need to understand the impact of insurance on their job security and what can be done to increase insurability (like thorough documentation of procedures and compliance, property maintenance, and proactive measures). Samantha is going to share her heart with us on why Insurance is critical for early childhood programs, and following procedures and policies is essential!

I know insurance is not something most of us think about regularly, but have you ever thought about the fact that your school has to carry a pretty substantial insurance policy just to be in business at all?  With so many things having the potential of becoming a lawsuit these days, we’ve got to take some things more seriously.  So, your part in all of this is to be intentional in asking yourself, am I doing my very best to be sure that there is the least amount of risk possible to me and the children in my care? Maybe even take a moment and see if there’s something YOU see that your director might not have thought of yet that would make a difference in the safety and security of your children. Take compliance with licensing standards seriously – even the ones that you think are ridiculous. Every school must have insurance and If compliance is low, insurance opportunities will disappear.  

Links from today’s episode:

Samantha has provided a free narrative template for you as you help your church prepare for Insurance renewal - View it HERE

Email Samantha at [email protected]

Find her on Facebook

As always, we would love to connect with you on Instagram and on Facebook 

Stacy Benge is an ECCN favorite.  She is a frequent presenter at our events and we enjoy having her on the podcast from time to time.  She’s the author of “The Whole Child Alphabet: How Children Actually Develop Literacy” – linked in the show notes.  She is passionate about whole-child development and shares her knowledge readily with practical, engaging, and fun content.  Stacy has a master of science degree in Human Development, over a decade of experience in the classroom, and another twenty years of consulting, training, and research in early childhood spaces.  

Our conversation today focuses on physical development as a foundation for literacy development! Stacy is going to share with us just how important it is to allow children to engage in free movement and play to develop the necessary physical skills for literacy. We will touch on topics such as the long-term consequences of restricting physical movement in early childhood and the need for early childhood educators to understand and communicate the value of physical development to parents and administrators. Through the conversation today, we will learn that trusting children's intuitive need for movement is key to supporting their overall development.

Stacy’s focus on whole child development just makes sense when you think about how God designed little bodies to grow. In our quest to help children reach their full potential, we sometimes skip to the things that we can control, right?  Stacy always reminds me that the simple things matter – sometimes they matter the most! Crawling, climbing, spinning, running, leaning, reaching, grasping…all of these simple things that happen when children are playing are actually the foundation of literacy skills. When we curate environments that allow and encourage movement in children, we’re actually helping them become better readers and writers in the future.

Additional Resources: 

The Whole Child Alphabet 

Stacy's website, Instagram, and Facebook 

Child-Centered Learning: A Discussion of Emergent Curriculum (a course on our website!)

As always, we would love to connect with you on Instagram and on Facebook

My guest today is Melissa McKenzie.  Melissa holds a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from Stephen F. Austin University and is one of our favorite presenters at live conferences every year. She is an Early Childhood Professional who is committed to making learning a joyful journey. She has written faith-based and movement curricula and taught in a large Early Childhood Center, she was the FCS Childhood Guidance/Human Resource Practicum Teacher, and Preschool Director for Cypress Ranch Preschool for the last seven years. Today, she is a new grandmother and takes care of her grandson while his parents are at work.

In this podcast episode, I get to ask Melissa about her passion for teaching young children about God's word. She is going to emphasize the importance of making the Bible concrete and relatable for children, rather than just telling them stories, and share with us her conviction that children rely on adults to teach them about God and it is an important task we shouldn’t take lightly. Melissa shares practical examples of how she teaches the Bible to babies and toddlers, using object lessons and active participation. She also will discuss the importance of praying with young children and making it a personal and meaningful experience for them. She will give us insight into how repetition and reinforcement of lessons through various methods, such as weekly notes home and monthly activities for families can help as a tool. Overall, Melissa emphasizes the need for adults to approach teaching children about God with creativity, passion, and a deep understanding of the impact it can have on their lives.

It’s easy to tell that Melissa is passionate about teaching young children the truth of God’s word at their level. I hope you will be inspired (maybe even a little bit convicted) to do better as you teach these little souls who God is.  Weave spiritual truth into your everyday interactions as much as you can and also be intentional about what you’re teaching.  Melissa is a wonderful resource and you can find her on her website (linked below).  We’d love to hear how YOU make God more real to the young children in your care!  Let us know your best ideas via email or our social media channels.  We’d love to connect.

Melissa’s website: https://mosaicconceptions.com/

As always, we would love to connect with you on Instagram and on Facebook

In today’s episode, I had a great conversation with Jennifer McCarville, founder of Marvelously Made - The School for Young Children just outside of San Antonio, TX.  Jennifer has spent three decades studying early childhood education and child development. She is a steadfast and unapologetic advocate for children and their right to a play-filled and developmentally appropriate education. Her work training teachers and educating parents is equipping others to understand how children learn and what they need to thrive. Known for her genuine respect for young children and her trust in the God-designed process of growing and learning, Jennifer is changing the conversation around early education and the importance of saving childhood.

Today Jennifer is going to discuss the importance of creating beautiful spaces for children and the role of process art in early education. She will share with us her heart for children to get to experience nurturing and visually appealing environments that help stimulate their creativity and learning–as well as her discernment on the difference between process art, which focuses on the child's experience and exploration, and product-based art, which is more about the end result. We are going to talk about the potential concerns of choosing to not implement process art and what can be done to help introduce it in the classroom. Together we will share our thoughts on how teachers can shift their mindset from being instructors to being observers of children's learning and to embrace the process of learning and growth.

After listening to today’s episode, we would love to hear your thoughts…What would your next step be in your classroom in trying out some process art?  How would you communicate to a parent what their child learned?  I hope you will be challenged to step back and evaluate your own classroom and activity plans.  Let us know how you do art in your classroom!

Links from the episode: 

Marvelously Made - The School for Young Children - https://marvelouslymadeschool.com/

Save Childhood - https://www.savechildhood.org/

Root & Twig - The Marvelously Made Store - https://rootandtwigstore.com/

As always, we would love to connect with you on Instagram and on Facebook