That's a Hard No

Joan Spoerl, of The Literacy Cooperative and Director of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library book-gifting program, a former kindergarten teacher of 10 years, avid volunteer, world changer and encyclopedia. From episode one to our last NEW episode of 2024, our last episode for our Literacy Cooperative series this woman and organization has done nothing short of knocking our socks off. Their passion and enthusiasm is tangible through an email and even more so through these episodes. How we enjoy all of their team's company and love the conversations we have been so lucky to have with Joan! This episode does a review of all the amazing guests and episodes we have had along the way as well as truly breaks down the Imagination Library and how the Literacy Cooperative gets books into the hands of many children throughout Northeast Ohio - let's help them make it ALL children. With the holidays rapidly approaching, if you want to give back to an incredible organization that is working to start at the root of the problem and support all ages with their literacy struggles...Donate to this amazing organization here. "It's $25 per child per year is what we need to raise locally. That's like two books in a bookstore." -What it costs to pay for a whole year of books for a child Key Takeaways How all our episodes in this series with The Literacy Cooperative connect to literacy and/or boundaries [00:03:43] Importance of play in development [00:05:52] Children's insights on bullying [00:10:41] Advocating for your child [00:15:07] Occupational therapy and literacy [00:18:08] Media literacy [00:23:15] Dolly Parton's Imagination Library [00:29:16] Importance of early childhood reading  [00:34:23] Joyful reading for children [00:37:12] Literacy and childhood development Where to Find Joan Email – [email protected] LinkedIn – Joan Spoerl Instagram – Joan Spoerl Where to Find The Literacy Cooperative Website – TheLiteracyCooperative.Org LinkedIn – The Literacy Cooperative Instagram – LiteracyCoop Facebook – The Literacy Cooperative Where to Find Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Website – ImaginationLibrary.com See if it's available for your little one's here!   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Lisa Huisman Koops is Professor of Music Education at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Her research and teaching on parenting musically spans twenty-five years. Lisa recently published the book "A Family Guidebook for Parenting Musically," intended for parents and families to use in weaving music into everyday life. Koops is host of the podcast "Parenting Musically," this podcast features award-winning musicians with responses from research in music education. Koops's research focuses on the vital role of the family in optimizing early childhood music development and education. In addition to teaching at CWRU, Lisa teaches early childhood music classes. Previously, she taught elementary school general music in Zeeland, Michigan and early childhood music classes at the Michigan State University Community Music School. Join in as she shows us how music can bring our families together, support us as parents and become a beneficial tool for educating our children. Join us for this next episode of our series with The Literacy Cooperative, Donate to this amazing organization here. Key Takeaways [00:03:17] Parenting musically and development [00:06:04] Benefits of using music while raising children [00:08:53] Practical Applications of Music in Daily Life [00:12:41] Music listening with grandparents [00:16:17] Music and literacy development [00:20:32] Found sounds and tidying game [00:25:37] Music and child development choices [00:36:26] Formal vs informal music experiences [00:40:44] Loose parts in music education [00:44:30] Classical music misconceptions [00:48:28] Parenting Musically Podcast Insights Where to Find Lisa Instagram – @ParentingMusicallyPodcast Facebook – Parenting Musically Podcast LinkedIn – Dr. Lisa Huisman Koops Contact & Bio – Case Western Reserve Faculty Page Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wendy Pavicic, Pediatric Occupational Therapist of over 20 years joins us to discuss the importance of involving play and your body in every learning experience (especially as a child). The basics of physical growth and development are directly correlated to literacy. It's as simple as crawling, these seemingly "easy" skills so early on support reading, motions for doing so, as well as writing. Wendy also points out the value of multimodal learning, which is the benefit of learning with multiple senses together which allows children to better retain material. Listen in to find ways to add more play & body work to your little one's day! Join us for this next episode of our series with The Literacy Cooperative, Donate to this amazing organization here. Key Takeaways [00:01:30] The importance of play for children "The opposite of play is not work, it's depression." [00:06:09] Importance of play for adults [00:12:01] Multimodal learning and senses [00:19:48] Pediatric occupational therapy explained "I like to say or like to think that we help kids do what they need to do and achieve their highest level of independence and individual potential regardless of what the skill is." [00:23:48] Movement Activities @ Home "Giving kids opportunity for heavy work, which is proprioceptive input, as well as kind of the calming movement." [00:29:30] All early body development and it's importance to literacy [00:32:20] Healthy boundaries in play "We're a whole person and that social emotional piece is key." [00:39:36] Finding help through word of mouth Where to Find Wendy Instagram – @WendyPavicic Email – [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a time where we are inundated with media, it's difficult to tell which side is up, and more importantly during an extremely polarizing election year we need to ensure we are doing our best to decipher that our sources of information can be trusted. Paul Brandus has been a member of the White House press corps and White House Correspondents Association since 2008. He is a columnist for Dow Jones/MarketWatch, and Washington bureau chief for Evergreen Podcasts. He is a successful author, podcast host, and has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, CNN, PBS, CSPAN, the British Broadcasting Corp., Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and others, hosted a Voice of America global affairs program for three years and is a weekly contributor to Washington’s all-news WTOP Radio. Previously, Brandus spent five years based in Moscow, including working as a U.S. Embassy staffer and then foreign correspondent, primarily for NBC Radio and the award-winning public radio business/finance program “MarketPlace.” In addition to criss-crossing Russia for many years, he has reported from China, Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and other locales. With his incredibly impressive background Paul joined us to discuss the importance of media literacy and how to responsibly consume the news and navigate it's complexities. Join us for this next episode of our series with The Literacy Cooperative, Donate to this amazing organization here. Key Takeaways [00:00:45] Election Season Overwhelm [00:01:51] Importance of Media Literacy [00:02:58] Misinformation vs. Disinformation [00:10:05] The Challenge of Fact-Checking [00:14:29] Confirmation Bias in Media Consumption [00:17:06] Setting Boundaries Around News Consumption [00:24:00] Politicians and Censorship Claims [00:26:09] Internet's Impact on News Consumption [00:33:24] Importance of Voting This serves as a reminder that voting is not just a civic duty, but a privilege that should be cherished and exercised! Where to Find Paul Website – PaulBrandus.com Instagram – @PaulBrandus Email – [email protected]   How to find us - Visit our website – hardnopodcast.com – for show notes, which include links to books and other helpful resources. Like what you hear? Please subscribe, rate and review so others can find us, and make sure to follow us on social media. We're @hardnopodcast on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn & YouTube! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We were lucky enough to share this conversation with TWO experts in the field of Speech Pathology in the next episode of our series with The Literacy Cooperative, Donate to this amazing organization here. Shavon and Tala join us to discuss common misconceptions around early speech abilities, easy ways to bring language learning into your daily routines, and setting boundaries around those who just don't understand. Shavon St. Germain is a licensed bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist & Audiologist with over 20+ years of experience helping families like yours, a mom of 3 and the creator of Listen Learn Talk. Shavon teaches parents simple, actionable steps that are easy to incorporate into their routine so they can feel confident teaching their children to be better communicators.   Tala Hershey is a speech-language pathologist with her own pediatric private practice, Hershey Therapy. Tala specializes in toddler language development and coaching for parents to learn research-based strategies to boost their toddlers' language for toddler’s who present with expressive language difficulties. Listen in to learn about the best practices for providing your child the best opportunity at language learning and literacy.  Key Takeaways [00:00:31] Language-rich environment importance [00:04:11] Importance of reading to children [00:10:05] Speech and language distinction [00:12:56] Signs of speech development issues [00:24:17] Early literacy skills development [00:29:03] Fun ways to encourage reading [00:39:33] Myths about speech delays [00:44:21] Trusting parental instincts in evaluations [00:49:02] Importance of parental involvement Where to Find Shavon  Website – ListenLearnTalk.com Instagram – @ListenLearnTalk Facebook – Listen Learn Talk LinkedIn – Shavon St Germain Email – [email protected] Where to Find Tala Website – HersheySpeechCoach.com Instagram – @HersheySpeechCoach Facebook – Hershey Speech Coach Email – [email protected] How to find us - Visit our website – hardnopodcast.com – for show notes, which include links to books and other helpful resources. Like what you hear? Please subscribe, rate and review so others can find us, and make sure to follow us on social media. We're @hardnopodcast on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn & YouTube! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices