Teacher Tom's Podcast: Taking Play Seriously

Nurturing Transformative Classrooms (Laleña Garcia)

Laleña Garcia discusses how comparison and competition among kids have deep societal roots. She shares insights on trans joy, community care, and building inclusive spaces. Through personal stories and projects, Laleña aims to foster understanding and support for all identities. Teacher Tom’s Podcast is all about taking play seriously. In each episode, Teacher Tom inspires early childhood educators, parents, and other listeners with information, techniques, and best practices to provide children an authentic play-filled childhood. “It’s really important for people with marginalized identities to see adults, to see happy, healthy adults who are in positions of power that share their identity.”  — Laleña Garcia Guest Bio: Laleña Garcia (she/her) is a kindergarten teacher, coach, trainer, and author living in Brooklyn, New York. A graduate of Yale University (BA, History) and Bank Street College of Education (MS, Early Childhood and Elementary Education), she’s been teaching in New York City since 2000. Laleña also works for the New York State Early Childhood Professional Development Institute as a Gender and Sexuality Trainer, helping early childhood professionals and families to create expansive and supportive understandings of gender, sexuality, relationships, and family structure. Host Bio: “Teacher Tom” Hobson is an early childhood educator, international speaker, education consultant, teacher of teachers, parent educator, and author. He is best known, however, for his namesake blog, Teacher Tom's Blog, where he has posted daily for over a decade, chronicling the life and times of his little preschool in the rain-soaked Pacific Northwest corner of the USA. For nearly two decades, Teacher Tom was the sole employee of the Woodland Park Cooperative School, a parent-owned and operated school knit together by Teacher Tom's democratic, progressive play-based pedagogy. Teacher Tom came into teaching through the backdoor, so to speak, having enrolled his own child in a cooperative preschool, where he began working daily in his daughter's classroom as an assistant teacher under the tutelage of veteran educators — although he'll be the first to tell you that most of what he learned came from the children themselves. When it was time for his daughter to move on, he “stayed behind.” Today, Teacher Tom shares his play-based pedagogy through online e-courses for early childhood educators; produces online early childhood conferences; consults with organizations about his “Family Schools” program; and inspires early-years audiences around the world (Greece, UK, Iceland, Australia, China, Vietnam, New Zealand, Canada, and across the US) both virtually and in-person with his engaging views on early childhood education, play, and pedagogy. He was pressured by his blog readers into authoring his first book, aptly named Teacher Tom’s First Book, and is thrilled about the 2023 release of Teacher Tom’s Second Book. Resources mentioned in this episode: Mirasee [https://mirasee.com/] Teacher Tom’s website: TeacherTomsWorld.com [https://www.teachertomsworld.com] Laleña’s website: RootedKids.org [http://rootedkids.org] The National Alliance for Children and Youth [https://nacy.ca/] English Language Arts [https://www.schools.nyc.gov/learning/subjects/english-language-arts#:~:text=In%20English%20Language%20Arts%20(ELA,and%20evidence%20from%20the%20text] First Conversations Series [https://www.firstconversations.com/creators] Credits: Host: Tom Hobson Producer: Michi Lantz Supervising Producer: Cynthia Lamb Audio Editor: Marvin del Rosario Executive Producer: Danny Iny Music Soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely [https://www.chadmichael.com/] Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio [https://www.homebrewaudio.com/] Music credits: Track Title: Blueberry Jam Jam Artist: Simen Andreas Writer: Simen Knudsen Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION [https://www.soundstripe.com/] Track Title: Childlike Wonder Artist: Reveille Writer: Brendan St. Gelais Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION [https://www.soundstripe.com/] Track Title: Tick Tock Artist: Ivy Bakes Writer: Erick Pena Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION [https://www.soundstripe.com/] Special effects credits: 24990513_birds-chirping_by_promission used with permission of the author and under license by AudioJungle/Envato Market. To catch the great episodes coming up on Teacher Tom’s Podcast, please follow us on Mirasee FM's YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@MiraseeFM]or your favorite podcast player. And if you enjoyed the show, please leave us a comment or a starred review. It's the best way to help us get these ideas to more people. Episode transcript: Nurturing Inclusive Classrooms (Laleña Garcia). [https://mirasee.com/nurturing-transformative-classrooms-lalena-garcia-transcript/]

Rethinking Kindergarten Readiness (Denita Dinger)

Deeply passionate about early education, Denita Dinger promotes cultivating curiosity and autonomy in young learners by fostering environments rich in opportunities for play and natural growth—guiding principles she lives by to help ignite a love for lifelong learning in children. Denita discusses the often-misguided focus on kindergarten readiness and how it can detract from the truly valuable skills of perseverance, independence, and teamwork. She emphasizes the importance of going beyond traditional academic metrics — allowing children to lead their play, take risks, and naturally develop critical thinking and motor skills at their own pace. As Teacher Tom and Denita share their insights, they delve into the harmful impact of fear-mongering in education and the importance of creating learning environments that foster genuine curiosity and lifelong learning. Teacher Tom’s Podcast is all about taking play seriously. In each episode, Teacher Tom inspires early childhood educators, parents, and other listeners with information, techniques, and best practices to provide children an authentic play-filled childhood.  “This idea of kindergarten readiness or school readiness is getting in the way of true readiness, of empowering children with the skills that they’re going to need much, much longer.”  — Denita Dinger  Guest Bio: Denita Dinger has traveled the globe since 2009 leading empowering and inspiring keynotes and workshops to all sorts of adults with children in their lives. As her work with children in her former family child care program — and current, child-led, multi-age school — has evolved, so has her message. What began as her first consulting company, Play Counts, evolved to a name that better reflects her message: Listen to the Children. Denita’s work includes operating Kaleidoscope Play School (a three-morning-a-week, child-led, ages 2-10 school), coaching, keynotes, workshops, and online training. She doesn’t just talk the talk; she walks the walk. Her trainings are inspired by what she learns from children. She has co-authored three books: Let Them Play: An Early Childhood UNcurriculum, Let's Play, and Let's All Play. Host Bio: “Teacher Tom” Hobson is an early childhood educator, international speaker, education consultant, teacher of teachers, parent educator, and author. He is best known, however, for his namesake blog, Teacher Tom's Blog, where he has posted daily for over a decade, chronicling the life and times of his little preschool in the rain-soaked Pacific Northwest corner of the USA. For nearly two decades, Teacher Tom was the sole employee of the Woodland Park Cooperative School, a parent-owned and operated school knit together by Teacher Tom's democratic, progressive play-based pedagogy. Teacher Tom came into teaching through the backdoor, so to speak, having enrolled his own child in a cooperative preschool, where he began working daily in his daughter's classroom as an assistant teacher under the tutelage of veteran educators — although he'll be the first to tell you that most of what he learned came from the children themselves. When it was time for his daughter to move on, he “stayed behind.” Today, Teacher Tom shares his play-based pedagogy through online e-courses for early childhood educators; produces online early childhood conferences; consults with organizations about his “Family Schools” program; and inspires early-years audiences around the world (Greece, UK, Iceland, Australia, China, Vietnam, New Zealand, Canada, and across the US) both virtually and in-person with his engaging views on early childhood education, play, and pedagogy. He was pressured by his blog readers into authoring his first book, aptly named Teacher Tom’s First Book, and is thrilled about the 2023 release of Teacher Tom’s Second Book. Resources mentioned in this episode:   Mirasee [https://mirasee.com/] Teacher Tom’s website: TeacherTomsWorld.com [https://www.teachertomsworld.com] Denita's website: Kaleidoscope Play School [https://www.kaleidoscopeplayschool.com/] Denita’s Facebook Page: Listen to the Children [https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064041760545] Denita's Intagram Page: @listen.tothechildren [https://www.instagram.com/listen.tothechildren/] Denita's Linkedin Page: Denita Dinger [https://www.linkedin.com/in/denita-dinger-11ba4418a/] Let's Play: (Un)Curriculum Early Learning Adventures Book [https://www.amazon.com/Lets-Play-Curriculum-Learning-Adventures/dp/1605541273/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=SFTWH&content-id=amzn1.sym.cf86ec3a-68a6-43e9-8115-04171136930a&pf_rd_p=cf86ec3a-68a6-43e9-8115-04171136930a&pf_rd_r=146-9829742-9519929&pd_rd_wg=HGK9Y&pd_rd_r=e8f80475-c9f1-4a35-afb9-7897d0d45071&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk]Peter Gray [https://www.self-directed.org/contact/media-and-interviews/peter-gray/] Credits: Host: Teacher Tom Hobson Producer: Michi Lantz Supervising Producer: Cynthia Lamb Audio Editor: Marvin del Rosario Executive Producer: Danny Iny Music Soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely [https://www.chadmichael.com/] Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio [https://www.homebrewaudio.com/] Music credits: Track Title: Blueberry Jam Jam Artist: Simen Andreas Writer: Simen Knudsen Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION [https://www.soundstripe.com/] Track Title: Childlike Wonder Artist: Reveille Writer: Brendan St. Gelais Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION [https://www.soundstripe.com/] Track Title: Tick Tock Artist: Ivy Bakes Writer: Erick Pena Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION [https://www.soundstripe.com/] Special effects credits: 24990513_birds-chirping_by_promission used with permission of the author and under license by AudioJungle/Envato Market. To catch the great episodes coming up on Teacher Tom’s Podcast, please follow us on Mirasee FM's YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@MiraseeFM]or your favorite podcast player. And if you enjoyed the show, please leave us a comment or a starred review. It's the best way to help us get these ideas to more people. Episode transcript: Rethinking Kindergarten Readiness (Denita Dinger). [https://mirasee.com/rethinking-kindergarten-readiness-denita-dinger-transcript/]

The Power of Play (Kisha Reid)

Welcome to Teacher Tom’s Podcast, which is all about taking play seriously. In each episode, Teacher Tom inspires early childhood educators, parents, and other listeners with information, techniques, and best practices to provide children an authentic play-filled childhood. Kisha Reid is an educational consultant and advocate of developmentally appropriate play-based education for young children. “I don’t want you thinking your child’s gonna sit down and do worksheets all day. I don’t want you thinking you’re gonna get report cards or anything that looks like what our school system looks like.”  — Kisha Reid Kisha Reid has been in the early-childhood field for 28 years. She’s a true veteran and continues to actively work in the classroom. She’s been a tenacious advocate of developmentally appropriate play-based education for young children for decades and has collaborated with the Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood, Explorations Early Learning, and many other initiatives. She sits on the board of Defending the Early Years, which is an early-childhood advocacy group.  “Teacher Tom” Hobson is an early childhood educator, international speaker, education consultant, teacher of teachers, parent educator, and author. He is best known, however, for his namesake blog, Teacher Tom's Blog, where he has posted daily for over a decade, chronicling the life and times of his little preschool in the rain-soaked Pacific Northwest corner of the USA. For nearly two decades, Teacher Tom was the sole employee of the Woodland Park Cooperative School, a parent-owned and operated school knit together by Teacher Tom's democratic, progressive play-based pedagogy. Teacher Tom came into teaching through the backdoor, so to speak, having enrolled his own child in a cooperative preschool, where he began working daily in his daughter's classroom as an assistant teacher under the tutelage of veteran educators — although he'll be the first to tell you that most of what he learned came from the children themselves. When it was time for his daughter to move on, he “stayed behind.” Today, Teacher Tom shares his play-based pedagogy through online e-courses for early childhood educators; produces online early childhood conferences; consults with organizations about his “Family Schools” program; and inspires early-years audiences around the world (Greece, UK, Iceland, Australia, China, Vietnam, New Zealand, Canada, and across the US) both virtually and in-person with his engaging views on early childhood education, play, and pedagogy. He was pressured by his blog readers into authoring his first book, aptly named Teacher Tom’s First Book, and is thrilled about the 2023 release of Teacher Tom’s Second Book. Resources mentioned in this episode: Mirasee [https://mirasee.com/] Teacher Tom’s website: TeacherTomsWorld.com [https://www.teachertomsworld.com] Kisha’s website: DiscoveryNaturalLearning.com [http://discoverynaturallearning.com] For show notes, visit The Power of Play (Kisha Reid) [https://mirasee.com/blog/podcasts/the-power-of-play-kisha-reid/] Credits: Host: Teacher Tom Hobson Producer: Michi Lantz Supervising Producer: Cynthia Lamb Audio Editor: Marvin del Rosario Executive Producer: Danny Iny Music Soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely [https://www.chadmichael.com/] Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio [https://www.homebrewaudio.com/] Music credits: Track Title: Blueberry Jam Jam Artist: Simen Andreas Writer: Simen Knudsen Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION [https://www.soundstripe.com/] Track Title: Childlike Wonder Artist: Reveille Writer: Brendan St. Gelais Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION [https://www.soundstripe.com/] Track Title: Tick Tock Artist: Ivy Bakes Writer: Erick Pena Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION [https://www.soundstripe.com/] Special effects credits: 24990513_birds-chirping_by_promission used with permission of the author and under license by AudioJungle/Envato Market. To catch the great episodes coming up on Teacher Tom’s Podcast, please follow us on Mirasee FM's YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@MiraseeFM]or your favorite podcast player. And if you enjoyed the show, please leave us a comment or a starred review. It's the best way to help us get these ideas to more people. Episode transcript: The Power of Play (Kisha Reid). [https://mirasee.com/the-power-of-play-kisha-reid-transcript/]

Presenting Neuroscience of Coaching (Ari Iny)

Ari Iny is the Director of Growth at Mirasee and co-host of the podcast Course Lab on Mirasee FM. “Often we’ll get something across our desks that feels urgent, that you feel like, okay, I really need to respond to this as soon as possible … when maybe you don’t.”— Ari Iny Ari Iny started at Mirasee in 2014 as the company’s Facebook ad coordinator. Since then, he has grown through working numerous roles in the organization, including head of human resources, mastermind facilitator, partner liaison, and head of strategy for Mirasee’s ACES business acceleration program. Today, he is Mirasee’s Director of Growth and co-host of the podcast Course Lab on Mirasee FM. Dr. Irena O'Brien teaches coaches and care professionals how to achieve better results for their clients through neuroscience. She is the founder of Neuroscience School, which helps practitioners understand and apply insights from cutting-edge neuroscience research. She loves seeing her students gain confidence in their ability to evaluate neuroscience findings and use them successfully in their own practices. Her Certificate Program in Neuroscience is certified by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) for Continuing Coaching Education credit. Dr. O'Brien has studied neuroscience for 25 years and holds a Ph.D. in the field from the Université du Quebec à Montréal (UQAM), where she did brain-imaging studies. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Centre for Language, Mind, and Brain at McGill University. Resources mentioned in this episode: Mirasee [https://mirasee.com/] Dr. Irena O'Brien website: The Neuroscience School [https://neuroscienceschool.com/] Ari’s podcast: Mirasee.com/podcast/course-lab [http://mirasee.com/podcast/course-lab] For show notes, visit Presenting Neuroscience of Coaching (Ari Iny) [https://mirasee.com/blog/podcasts/presenting-neuroscience-of-coaching-ari-iny-4/] Credits: Host: Dr. Irena O’Brien Producer: Cynthia Lamb Audio Editor: Marvin del Rosario Executive Producer: Danny Iny Music Soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely [https://www.chadmichael.com/] Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio [https://www.homebrewaudio.com/] Music credits: Track Title: Sneaker Smeaker Artist: Avocado Junkie Writer: Sander Kalmeijer Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION [https://www.soundstripe.com/] Track Title: Coo Coos Artist: Dresden, The Flamingo Writer: Matthew Wigton Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION [https://www.soundstripe.com/] Track Title: In This Light Artist: Sounds Like Sander Writer: Sander Kalmeijer Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION [https://www.soundstripe.com/] Special effects credits: 24990513_birds-chirping_by_promission used with permission of the author and under license by AudioJungle/Envato Market. To catch the great episodes coming up on Neuroscience of Coaching, please follow us on Mirasee FM's YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@MiraseeFM]or your favorite podcast player. And if you enjoyed the show, please leave us a comment or a starred review. It’s the best way to help us get these ideas to more people. Episode transcript: Presenting Neuroscience of Coaching coming soon.

Unpacking Life’s Curriculum (Teacher Tom Hobson)

Welcome to Teacher Tom’s Podcast, which is all about taking play seriously. In each episode, Teacher Tom inspires early childhood educators, parents, and other listeners with information, techniques, and best practices to provide children an authentic play-filled childhood.                 “We learn from having the time, space, and autonomy to question, explore, and experiment. We learn when we find ourselves in stimulating environments, especially those we are free to manipulate.”  — Teacher Tom Hobson “Teacher Tom” Hobson is an early childhood educator, international speaker, education consultant, teacher of teachers, parent educator, and author. He is best known, however, for his namesake blog, Teacher Tom's Blog, where he has posted daily for over a decade, chronicling the life and times of his little preschool in the rain-soaked Pacific Northwest corner of the USA. For nearly two decades, Teacher Tom was the sole employee of the Woodland Park Cooperative School, a parent-owned and operated school knit together by Teacher Tom's democratic, progressive play-based pedagogy. Teacher Tom came into teaching through the backdoor, so to speak, having enrolled his own child in a cooperative preschool, where he began working daily in his daughter's classroom as an assistant teacher under the tutelage of veteran educators — although he'll be the first to tell you that most of what he learned came from the children themselves. When it was time for his daughter to move on, he “stayed behind.” Today, Teacher Tom shares his play-based pedagogy through online e-courses for early childhood educators; produces online early childhood conferences; consults with organizations about his “Family Schools” program; and inspires early-years audiences around the world (Greece, UK, Iceland, Australia, China, Vietnam, New Zealand, Canada, and across the US) both virtually and in-person with his engaging views on early childhood education, play, and pedagogy. He was pressured by his blog readers into authoring his first book, aptly named Teacher Tom’s First Book, and is thrilled about the 2023 release of Teacher Tom’s Second Book. Resources mentioned in this episode: Mirasee [https://mirasee.com/] Teacher Tom’s website: TeacherTomsWorld.com [https://www.teachertomsworld.com] Education reformer John Dewey [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey] John C. Yiannoudis [https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnyiannoudis/]–Co-founder & Director at Dorothy Snot preschool & kindergarten For show notes, visit Unpacking Life’s Curriculum (Teacher Tom Hobson) [https://mirasee.com/blog/podcasts/unpacking-lifes-curriculum-teacher-tom-hobson/] Credits: Host: Tom Hobson Producer: Michi Lantz Supervising Producer: Cynthia Lamb Audio Editor: Marvin del Rosario Executive Producer: Danny Iny Music Soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely [https://www.chadmichael.com/] Making our hosts sound great: Home Brew Audio [https://www.homebrewaudio.com/] Music credits: Track Title: Blueberry Jam Jam Artist: Simen Andreas Writer: Simen Knudsen Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION [https://www.soundstripe.com/] Track Title: Childlike Wonder Artist: Reveille Writer: Brendan St. Gelais Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION [https://www.soundstripe.com/] Track Title: Tick Tock Artist: Ivy Bakes Writer: Erick Pena Publisher: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION [https://www.soundstripe.com/] Special effects credits: 24990513_birds-chirping_by_promission used with permission of the author and under license by AudioJungle/Envato Market. To catch the great episodes coming up on Teacher Tom’s Podcast, please follow us on Mirasee FM's YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/@MiraseeFM]or your favorite podcast player. And if you enjoyed the show, please leave us a comment or a starred review. It's the best way to help us get these ideas to more people. Episode transcript: Unpacking Life’s Curriculum (Teacher Tom Hobson). [https://mirasee.com/unpacking-lifes-curriculum-teacher-tom-hobson-transcript/]