Talking About Kids

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In this mini Thanksgiving episode, I look at the "Rethinking Thanksgiving Celebrations: Native Perspectives on Thanksgiving" from the National Museum of the American Indian and read from the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address. Links to the article and the full address are at talkingaboutkids.com. Full-length Talking About Kids episodes will return next week (December 4, 2022).

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This is the second installment in a new segment in which a colleague and I examine classic and obscure books about kids from the past. We will be looking at what has changed and what has stayed the same to try to uncover universal truths and inspiration that you can use as you care for your own kids. This episode focuses on the introductory chapter of book from 1950 called How to Live with Children by Edith Neisser. My guest to help me with this effort is Lori Robinson, a social worker and therapist with years of experience working with children and families. She also is an autodidact with an exceptional capacity for contextualizing and putting into practice research on kids. More information about Lori is at talkingaboutkids.com.

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In this mini Veterans Day episode, I explore some of the reasons why the schools run by the  Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) are outperforming schools in the rest of the United States. Links to some of the materials I cite are at talkingaboutkids.com. Full-length Talking About Kids episodes will return next week (November 20, 2023).

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If you want the children and youth in your classroom, in your program, or even in your home to succeed, then you need to understand them, but gaining insights or even engaging them as cocreators of their experience is not always easy. Here to discuss what Rising Youth Theatre does to share decision making and activity leadership with the young people in its organization are two of Rising Youth Theatre’s Producing Artistic Collaborators, Ty Muhammad and Sarah Sullivan. This episode was intentionally produced to support the formation and coordination of adolescent-centered care and services, so you also will hear from Vinny Chulani of the Arizona Alliance for Adolescent Health. The episode was recorded live using a webinar platform to encourage questions from Alliance members and other listeners. If you would like to participate in the webinars, you can join the Arizona Alliance for Adolescent Health’s mailing list at healthyazyouth.org. More information about Ty, Sarah, Rising Youth Theatre, and the Arizona Alliance for Adolescent Health is at talkingaboutkids.com.

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My guest this episode to talk about the importance of a developmental-relational perspective in addressing and preventing bullying is a Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology at York University, the recipient of the Canadian Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Contributions to Public or Community Service, and my new friend:  Debra Pepler. Our conversation was recorded in front of a live audience the 2023 World Anti-Bullying Forum, in Raleigh, North Carolina. This is the first time that the Forum has been hosted in the U.S., and more than 500 researchers, practitioners, policymakers, educators, young people, and more have gathered for three days of panels, symposia, keynotes, and workshops with the goal of advancing our global understanding of and our work to prevent bullying. 2023 World Anti-Bullying Forum was hosted by the UNC School of Education and was powered by BRP, a global leader in powersports products who, through its Ride Out Intimidation program, takes a firm stand against intimidation. More information about Debra, her work, the UNC School of Education, BRP’s Ride Out Intimidation program, and the World Anti-Bullying Forum is at talkingaboutkids.com.

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Lice. We have checked for them, we have been checked for them, and we have worried about the.  But how much do we really know about lice?  In light of some relatively new guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics, I asked Ilene Steinberg – Founder and CEO of the Center for Lice Control and the so-called “Lice Queen” – to come on the podcast and help me comb through the myths and facts about lice. More information about Ilene and a link to her Professional Lice Treatment kits are at talkingaboutkids.com. Talking About Kids listeners receive 15% off the price the kit when they use the code CLCTAKE15OFF. 

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A couple of weeks ago, the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE) held its annual conference. At it, a study from 2015 received some new attention. That study is “Discipline and Participation:  The Long-Term Effects of Suspension and School Security on the Political and Civic Engagement of Youth” from the journal Youth and Society. My guests to talk about the study and its importance, are the study’s authors:  Thomas Catlaw and, long-time friend of Talking About Kids, Aaron Kupchik. More information about Tom and Aaron, including a link to their study, is at talkingaboutkids.com.

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Globally, the rights of indigenous kids are protected, in part, by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. For this mini Indigenous People’s Day episode of Talking About Kids, I briefly examine the adversities indigenous kids face, what the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child asserts about the rights of indigenous kids and all kids, and the United States’ position on those rights. Links to the materials I cite are at talkingaboutkids.com.  Full-length Talking About Kids episodes will return next week (October 16, 2023).

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For as long as there have been kids, people have offered advice on how to care for them. Talking About Kids is introducing a new segment in which a colleague and I examine classic and obscure books about kids from the distant and not-so-distant past. We will be looking at what has changed and what has stayed the same to try to uncover universal truths and inspiration that you can use as you care for your own kids.  In this episode, we analyze a chapter called, “The Bad Child,” from the 1920 book series, The Kindergarten Children’s Hour by Lucy Wheelock.  My guest to help me with this effort is KellyAnn Bonnell, the Early Childhood and Elementary Education Coordinator at Feather River College. KellyAnn has an encyclopedic knowledge of early childhood education theory, but she also is a skilled practitioner whom I have seen transform classrooms. More information about KellyAnn is at talkingaboutkids.com.

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Incorporating the arts into education helps students succeed academically and socially. Despite this, art programs continue to face cuts and even elimination. To help counter this, I enlisted the help of Art Roche. If you have been a fan of animation in the last 20 years, it is likely that you have seen Art’s work or work that he supervised. Art created the Cartoon Network series, Nacho Bear, and he continues to consult on Apple TV+’s Peanuts series, Camp Snoopy. But I asked Art on because of his two wonderful instructional children’s books, Art for Kids: Cartooning and Art for Kids: Comic Strips. If your kids are not getting enough opportunities to be creative, Art can help you get them drawing. More information about Art and his books is at talkingaboutkids.com.