Tom's back from his world travels! He's thinking about context and how we can't just copy an idea as we have to make it work for our particular environment. The group has questions about what he experienced in the context of Australian early childhood education during his time abroad.

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), but what do children do when they have these feelings and how should adults respond?

Where are the hidden moments of release in our work with young children? How doe we keep ourselves regulated alongside the children?

Mike wants to talk about documentation. He wonders if there are parallels between learning and performing. How does social media culture impact what we choose to share? Are we hiding the messy parts and just using it to show off our "good teaching"? Ross finds the connection between documentation, his best high school teachers, and his favorite recipe book. Mike reminds us that documentation is about reflection and continuing to learn about the children in our care.

Joey invites the group to look at our work with young children through the lens of tension building and tension relieving. Are we planning for and providing opportunities for tension release?

Rae Pica joins in the discussion this week to talk about her new book, Acting Out! Avoid Behavior Challenges with Active Learning Games and Activities. The group enjoys a wide-ranging conversation that touches on the negative consequences for children when adults have an inadequate understanding of child development. Rae wonders, what's gone wrong with this world in terms of expectations for children? The group finds hope in the opportunities to partner with parents. Rae offers resources to support this work. (https://www.raepica.com/product-category/reproducible-parent-letters/)

Mike is inspired after listening to an interview with psychologist Barbara Tversky. He's all fired up to talk about how movement and physical experiences in the world create the foundation for children's cognitive abilities. The group is reminded of how remarkable and under-celebrated young children's mental capabilities are.

Ross believes that failure is necessary for learning, but he worries that many children (and adults) just stop trying when their efforts are met with failure. The group wonders who defines failure? Does the desire to be "the best" make children care less about learning than the final score?

Ross leads the group in a freewheeling conversation about a variety of sounds in the classroom--children's non-verbal conversations, sound effects, background noises, shrieks, whines, and excited yelling. What needs do these sounds reflect? How do we respond appropriately to the many sounds in our early childhood environments?

Tom's grandchildren create their own "enrichment" activities on a family camping trip, and Tom observes that digging rocks is compelling work. The group ponders children's seemingly endless drive to dig.