June 30, 2025 • 18 mins
Sometimes, information we think is true and have talked about for years turns out to not be so true. What do you think when a child "W" sits? What do you think about the importance of people who work with infants? This and more as Cindy and Alison discuss what we don't think anymore.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to How Preschool Teachers Do It.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
This is Alison Kentto's I am an early childhood educator.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
And this is Cindy terror Bush. I am an early
childhood consultant.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
This podcast is for parents and early childhood professionals.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Let our experience and research based knowledge become your guide.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Hey preschool peeps, Hi peepes. We hope you're being intentionable
this week.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
See we said to use it frequently.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
There it is. See what I did there. If you
don't know what I'm talking about, you need to go
and look at prior, prior titles of this. If you're
thinking intensible is not a word, go back, go back.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
We're making it a word.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Yeah. Today, however, we're here to talk about something else.
So we're going to start out with a very unusual
shout out. So here's what makes it very unusual. Ordinarily,
when we go to look at the statistics for this
podcast for each week, what we see when you look
at places around the world, when you go to what
countries are listening, we ordinarily see the United States in
(01:02):
first place, followed by Canada, Australia, the UK, New Zealand,
not necessarily in that order, but they're all usually in
the top five, yes, or six because we are English
speaking and it just sort of makes sense to me,
right that they would be in the tops of the rankings. However,
(01:26):
somehow today when we looked, the United States was number one,
and then hu Alisa, Spain, than India, than Japan, and
then Australia, New Zealand the UK. Right, so somehow in
(01:47):
our rankings, who was it?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
SpainIn India and Japan.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Spain, India and Japan are now listening with more intensity
to this podcast in tension, nobility within they are yes
with intentionability, new form of the word okay. They are
now their populations, more of their populations were listening in
(02:14):
the past week or so than the typical usual suspects. Yes,
so hey we are.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
You know how the international countries get me all excited?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, I was super excited by that.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
This was we went, we went to it and went, oh, so,
we want to give you a extra special shout out
for beating out places like Canada in our rankings. We
do you are our neighbors to the north, like I, yeah,
we're really we do love you Canada.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Different language speakers.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
I love visiting Canada, but you are now no longer
number two in our rankings. Yeah, Canada, where you've been
step it up.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
But you know who else I'm really excited to shout
out today in the United States?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Do tell is Honolulu, Hawaii?
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Oh my god, so so cool, so cool, so beautiful,
so very cool. Yeah, thank you. Hawaii a place I
hope to get to me too, I've always wanted to do.
You know, I have cousins who live on the West
Coast and they go to Hawaii frequently.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Today. Yeah, I know somebody who moved from New Jersey
to Hawaii. Yeah, the dream.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
I'm on the East coast. It's like a little bit
more of a schlep. Yeah, I know, but I'm sure
a worthy one. Yes, all right. Today's topic the things
we don't think anymore. So there's you know, folks, there
are so many things that we think are facts or
were facts at that time, but then we get better
information you realize we don't. That's not we should We
(03:48):
need to stop thinking of that. But in order for
something to become something that we know now is not true,
it can take a long time. People tend to hang
on to these old beliefs, yes, right, and we just go, no,
that's and then someone will come with a new belief
and we go, no, that's not true. Here's what I
learned about that.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
Here's what I learned in nineteen sixty about that, So
that can't be true.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Here's what they what you know, I was told this
in nineteen ninety. Yeah, you don't have to go back
to six stay fact. Yes, still fact. So we thought
we would shout out several of the things that we
no longer think. And I think the first one is
going to surprise the majority of our listeners and viewers.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
It will because it surprised me me too when you said,
I will admit it.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
I didn't know this, did not know this one.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
I didn't know this, and I am glad to have
learned it. And it actually has been published in a
variety of places. So there you go. We didn't know.
We used to think, but we don't think anymore more
that when children sat with their legs in a W
shape that that always indicated like a neurological challenge. And
(04:58):
when I say W shape, I mean they're sitting on
the floor, their legs are positioned so that the lower
part of the leg and the feet go out and
it sort of creates a W with their legs. Yes,
so we used to think this was indicative of some
sort of diagnosable problem with the brain. Yeah, we don't
think that anymore. We now understand that actually many children
(05:24):
sit in that shape of a W because Alison, we
wrote it down.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
The rotation of their bones.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
It's like something to do with the the rotation of
their hips is more forward rather than I guess it's
supposed to sit back more.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
I also read it could have to do with the
rotation of how their bones are in the lower leg
that it's.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Your knee has to be a certain way.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
I would think too, I would think, but it has
to do with the rotation of the bones. And so
actually for them, sitting in a W is.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Not painful, yeah, whereas me, I can't even get my
legs in that position.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
No, so somehow sitting in that W is more comfortable
for them.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Uh. And so just know this is not necessarily an
indication like, please don't go to families and say we're
concerned that your child is W sitting just based on
the W sitting.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Well, yeah, because I remember I worked at a school,
not my current school, but a previous school, where back
to school, I would have to give out this entire
like pamphlet or notice about w sitting and if you like,
and why we should stop them from doing that. So
like now we would know not to send that home,
But this was like maybe I don't know, ten years
(06:38):
ago we would send that home with the parents.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
But when you think about it, ten years ago, it's
not that all that long ago, that long ago. So
as recently as like ten years ago, poor Alison was
sending home pamphlet saying if your child is w sitting,
what did it say?
Speaker 4 (06:49):
It's a It had all this like the reasons why
this might be a cause of concern, what to look for,
and to always make them stop.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Yeah, we shouldn't make them stop. It's how they're comfortable.
But it might be a cause for concern. Like if
I was the parent, right, I would be saying to
the pediatrician, is there something going on with my child's
hips or bones that maybe my child needs some something,
some physical therapy, some something. Right, So not that it's
not necessarily cause of some kind of concern, but don't
(07:22):
be surprised even if they check it out and say, yeah,
I wouldn't worry about it their child. As your child
grows and their body grows, it'll straighten out or whatever.
I wouldn't be surprised about that either, So we can
stop setting off alarm bells when we see a child
sitting in the shape of a W. Similarly, we used
to think, but don't think anymore, that the best way
(07:44):
for children to sit on the floor is crisscross.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
This one drives me crazy because even I cannot sit
crisscross on the floor for more than like maybe four.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Minutes, okay, until I'm like, I gotta move. I can't.
It makes my hip area and upper thigh is that
a thigh? Is this? It cramps up? Okay, so it
can't do it.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yeah, it's but I remember when.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
We were in elementary school, they used to say, you
have to sit that way.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Yeah, all the time, you have to sit that way.
You have to sit that way. And I remember being uncomfortable,
don't you remember, folks. We would sit like crisscross. I
remember shuffling my feet in the other direction.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Like switching the one that was on time.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Yeah, I remember switching.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Trying to like discreetly just move it this way, and
every time the teacher were like, no, crisscross.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Yeah, I remember being very uncomfortable, even as a child.
I remember feeling when when it was time to get up,
I remember feeling my legs were cramped. Yes, yes, so
we now know, we don't think that anymore. We don't
think crisscross is the best way. We now know that
all children need to be allowed to sit on the
floor in the way that is most comfortable for their bodies.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Yeah, do what you gotta do. That's what I'm doing it.
When i'm holy meeting, I'm sitting. However, I feel comfortable.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
If I were to sit out sit on the floor,
my legs would be out in front of me. And
I've seen many adults in that position.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Yes, when I.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Sit on the floor, because I sit on the floor
a lot for when I do my meetings is I'm
constantly shifting around.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
So I might start maybe in.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
Crisscross, but I can't do that for more than three
or four minutes. So then on my feet are out,
and then maybe my feet are like four or they're
like I am constantly in a ten minute period, I
must be in like five different positions.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Wow, I can't.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
I cannot do it.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
So and I'm old, You're not that old, but older
than three.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
Okay, So if I'm old and I can't do this
for fifteen minutes or whatever it is, then neither can
they they.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
You know, we, I guess we think children are flexible
and we're not. But the truth is that's just an
uncomfortable position. What do you think about when you think
about the action of crisscross? You are cutting off blood
circulation with their legs bent like that.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
See how crisscross is any different than the w sit
if you think about it in some ways like maybe
they gif you're talking about like cutting off the circulation
and moving your legs, it's really just moving them inward
rather than outward.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Yeah, you're right, you're right, all right. So we used
to think that criss cross was how children just have
been sent on the floor, and we don't think that anymore.
Here's another one we used to think but don't think anymore,
that infants were less capable or not as smart as
older children, and so they didn't require like caregivers who
(10:26):
understood or child development. They didn't require that. They're just infants.
We don't think that anymore. We don't say just infants. Yeah,
the most rapid brain development takes place between the ages
of birth and three years old. It is starting in
infancy that children are learning about themselves in the world
around them, and there's so many neurons firing in their
(10:48):
brains that that's one of the reasons why they get exhausted. Yes,
the brain is working so hard with all of this
new information to try and figure out which information needs
to be kept in the brain and which information can
be pruned away. Yes, they call it pruning in brain development.
And so we're constantly doing things with them that repeat
(11:11):
actions so that their brains learn this is a connection
you need to keep. There are so many neurological connections
in infancy that are being made that we now actually
know that children infants are far more capable than we
have given them credit for being intelligent, for observational skills,
(11:32):
for taking in the world and making meaning out of it.
So we do need people who understand child development working
with children of all ages, including the infants. Please. So
much development takes place in the years of birth to
one and one to two, and that's laying the foundation
(11:54):
for the brain connections that will carry them through their lives.
I want to look up some of you know who
are frequent listeners and watchers of this podcast. I sometimes
on the spur of the moment, look things up. So
neurons connecting in the brain in infancy, all right, it
(12:17):
says rapidly, we know that. Okay, all right, check this out.
To arrive at more than one hundred billion neurons that
are normal the normal complement of a newborn baby, the
brain must go at a rate of two hundred and
fifty thousand nerve cells.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
It's cut off.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
It's cut off two hundred and fifty nerve cells per
a minute on average, through the porsche of pregnancy. Pregnancy,
that's through pregnancy, and then when they are infants, that
like continues, folks, It is an unbelievable speed of neurons connecting.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Also, you you know they're smart. How they are so
young when they start to recognize their own caregivers. They
are so young when they start to realize who will
take care of them, who will not, and how to
get what they need. They are unbelievably young. And actually
there's a there's an episode we might want to do
in the future about kind of like at one age
(13:21):
is do they start to prefer certain caregivers we didn't
do this, right, I don't know, will it TLL looks. Yeah,
at what ages do they have a preference for who
takes care of them? And it's really young. It's in
the infant ear preferences and to just yeah, so we'll
go back to that in research and see if we
(13:42):
did it, and if not, you know, stay tuned. Will
do it because there's science that shows when they start
to prefer particular people to help meet them meet their
needs and it's amazing. So we now know that infants
are very capable and very smart and learning a lot.
So we need to be sure that the people who
(14:03):
are caring for them either were or are becoming educated
in child development. All right, I think we have time
for one more. Let's do one more. We used to
think that children could not be independently creative, and so
we had to show them what to do, what to make,
(14:25):
and how to do it. But we don't think that anymore.
We now know that children can be very creative at
extremely young ages. I've been in rooms with very very
creative young toddlers who are taking toys and using them
in ways that I never would have anticipated.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
Yeah, right, things that I would not even think of, like,
the flexibility of their mind.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Is unbelievable, right, unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Well, maybe part of this is we didn't think that
creativity was as highly valued as knowing facts or something.
But folks, they're going to need to be able to
be creative in today's world because living in an inventive world. Yeah. Yeah,
and you know how much of your life requires creative thinking.
I know a lot of mind does.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
I think my whole life is that.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
So we want to foster creativity. So we used to
think that we needed to show them samples of what
to make, guide them and what to make, tell them
what to.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Make, provide like detailed directions on.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
How to make it right. You should model the use
of art materials with them and then allow them to
be fully creative. They get to make whatever they want.
You can model how to participate in the dramatic play area,
but then they get to be fully creative and create
whatever scenes they want, which means you need a lot
of different props than you probably have. It's not just
(15:47):
a kitchen. They can make whatever they want. You didn't
hear me say this because your boss might get mad,
But you know what, take that kitchen and turn it
around and let it face the wall and let them
make the back of it whatever they want, whatever they want,
all right, don't have them right to me. Your bosses,
your supervisors, don't want to hear from them. But I'm
telling you, turn that kitchen around and then they can
(16:07):
make it that area whatever they want. Yeah, we don't
have to say this is up in the dramatic play area.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
I've told the story on this podcast before, so forgive me.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
But like my favorite school, it ever watched because I
went to go observe the school, I.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Didn't work there was they didn't have a kitchen. They
had to build the kitchen. So they had these huge They.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Should even be told to build a kitchen.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
Yeah, if they wanted a kitchen, they had to build it.
If they wanted it to be an airport, they built it.
If they wanted it to be a bus.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Depot, they built it.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
They built it.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
So then then first so first they had to build it.
Then they played in it, and every single time they
were in there, it was something different, Right every time.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
We don't need to tell them what the dramatic player
there should be. We don't need to tell them what
to make in the art area. We don't even need
to tell them what to do with music.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
All day long.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
They should be able to create on their own. Yeah.
So we used to think that children were not independently creative,
but if you would just give them the space, we
now know they are extremely creative human beings, and that
creative thinking builds a lot of cognitive skills, including attention span,
which so many people complain they have no attention span. Well,
(17:14):
we need to give them the opportunity to build it.
Yeah right, Yeah, I hope that this helps you think
about more of these things we used to think and
now we know better. Now we know And I really
hope that that one about w sitting made you go,
wait what.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Yeah, because that's new for me, like even still, like
it's so new to me that when I see it still,
I'm so like, oh wait, oh no, I don't have to.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Stop that, right, Yeah, I don't need to stop that.
I don't need to tell the child to sit another
way because the other way is going to hurt them, right,
And I don't need to set off major alarms with
the family. You know, you can say we noticed your
child sitting this position. You might want to check with
the pediatrician about you know, about their legs and their hips,
and you know, is everything okay, unless, of course you're
(17:59):
seeing a million other red flags for a neurological issue.
But you need to have other red flags, folks. You
we can't just any longer say ooh, W sitting. I
bet there's an issue there, because when you do that,
you know what happens. Because you're a human, you look
for the other issues. You start to go, oh, I
think now this behavior connects to that W sitting when
(18:19):
really it doesn't. All right, preschool peeps, you know where
to go for the facts, or at least the research
based facts. That's us. So we will catch you next
time on the podcast in the month of July, right,
I think we're inly. I think we're in July. All right, folks,
(18:39):
catch you next time on the podcast. Pe
Welcome to How Preschool Teachers Do It.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
This is Alison Kentto's I am an early childhood educator.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
And this is Cindy terror Bush. I am an early
childhood consultant.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
This podcast is for parents and early childhood professionals.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Let our experience and research based knowledge become your guide.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Hey preschool peeps, Hi peepes. We hope you're being intentionable
this week.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
See we said to use it frequently.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
There it is. See what I did there. If you
don't know what I'm talking about, you need to go
and look at prior, prior titles of this. If you're
thinking intensible is not a word, go back, go back.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
We're making it a word.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Yeah. Today, however, we're here to talk about something else.
So we're going to start out with a very unusual
shout out. So here's what makes it very unusual. Ordinarily,
when we go to look at the statistics for this
podcast for each week, what we see when you look
at places around the world, when you go to what
countries are listening, we ordinarily see the United States in
(01:02):
first place, followed by Canada, Australia, the UK, New Zealand,
not necessarily in that order, but they're all usually in
the top five, yes, or six because we are English
speaking and it just sort of makes sense to me,
right that they would be in the tops of the rankings. However,
(01:26):
somehow today when we looked, the United States was number one,
and then hu Alisa, Spain, than India, than Japan, and
then Australia, New Zealand the UK. Right, so somehow in
(01:47):
our rankings, who was it?
Speaker 2 (01:50):
SpainIn India and Japan.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Spain, India and Japan are now listening with more intensity
to this podcast in tension, nobility within they are yes
with intentionability, new form of the word okay. They are
now their populations, more of their populations were listening in
(02:14):
the past week or so than the typical usual suspects. Yes,
so hey we are.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
You know how the international countries get me all excited?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, I was super excited by that.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
This was we went, we went to it and went, oh, so,
we want to give you a extra special shout out
for beating out places like Canada in our rankings. We
do you are our neighbors to the north, like I, yeah,
we're really we do love you Canada.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Different language speakers.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
I love visiting Canada, but you are now no longer
number two in our rankings. Yeah, Canada, where you've been
step it up.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
But you know who else I'm really excited to shout
out today in the United States?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Do tell is Honolulu, Hawaii?
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Oh my god, so so cool, so cool, so beautiful,
so very cool. Yeah, thank you. Hawaii a place I
hope to get to me too, I've always wanted to do.
You know, I have cousins who live on the West
Coast and they go to Hawaii frequently.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Today. Yeah, I know somebody who moved from New Jersey
to Hawaii. Yeah, the dream.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
I'm on the East coast. It's like a little bit
more of a schlep. Yeah, I know, but I'm sure
a worthy one. Yes, all right. Today's topic the things
we don't think anymore. So there's you know, folks, there
are so many things that we think are facts or
were facts at that time, but then we get better
information you realize we don't. That's not we should We
(03:48):
need to stop thinking of that. But in order for
something to become something that we know now is not true,
it can take a long time. People tend to hang
on to these old beliefs, yes, right, and we just go, no,
that's and then someone will come with a new belief
and we go, no, that's not true. Here's what I
learned about that.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
Here's what I learned in nineteen sixty about that, So
that can't be true.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Here's what they what you know, I was told this
in nineteen ninety. Yeah, you don't have to go back
to six stay fact. Yes, still fact. So we thought
we would shout out several of the things that we
no longer think. And I think the first one is
going to surprise the majority of our listeners and viewers.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
It will because it surprised me me too when you said,
I will admit it.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
I didn't know this, did not know this one.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
I didn't know this, and I am glad to have
learned it. And it actually has been published in a
variety of places. So there you go. We didn't know.
We used to think, but we don't think anymore more
that when children sat with their legs in a W
shape that that always indicated like a neurological challenge. And
(04:58):
when I say W shape, I mean they're sitting on
the floor, their legs are positioned so that the lower
part of the leg and the feet go out and
it sort of creates a W with their legs. Yes,
so we used to think this was indicative of some
sort of diagnosable problem with the brain. Yeah, we don't
think that anymore. We now understand that actually many children
(05:24):
sit in that shape of a W because Alison, we
wrote it down.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
The rotation of their bones.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
It's like something to do with the the rotation of
their hips is more forward rather than I guess it's
supposed to sit back more.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
I also read it could have to do with the
rotation of how their bones are in the lower leg
that it's.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Your knee has to be a certain way.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
I would think too, I would think, but it has
to do with the rotation of the bones. And so
actually for them, sitting in a W is.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Not painful, yeah, whereas me, I can't even get my
legs in that position.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
No, so somehow sitting in that W is more comfortable
for them.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Uh. And so just know this is not necessarily an
indication like, please don't go to families and say we're
concerned that your child is W sitting just based on
the W sitting.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Well, yeah, because I remember I worked at a school,
not my current school, but a previous school, where back
to school, I would have to give out this entire
like pamphlet or notice about w sitting and if you like,
and why we should stop them from doing that. So
like now we would know not to send that home,
But this was like maybe I don't know, ten years
(06:38):
ago we would send that home with the parents.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
But when you think about it, ten years ago, it's
not that all that long ago, that long ago. So
as recently as like ten years ago, poor Alison was
sending home pamphlet saying if your child is w sitting,
what did it say?
Speaker 4 (06:49):
It's a It had all this like the reasons why
this might be a cause of concern, what to look for,
and to always make them stop.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Yeah, we shouldn't make them stop. It's how they're comfortable.
But it might be a cause for concern. Like if
I was the parent, right, I would be saying to
the pediatrician, is there something going on with my child's
hips or bones that maybe my child needs some something,
some physical therapy, some something. Right, So not that it's
not necessarily cause of some kind of concern, but don't
(07:22):
be surprised even if they check it out and say, yeah,
I wouldn't worry about it their child. As your child
grows and their body grows, it'll straighten out or whatever.
I wouldn't be surprised about that either, So we can
stop setting off alarm bells when we see a child
sitting in the shape of a W. Similarly, we used
to think, but don't think anymore, that the best way
(07:44):
for children to sit on the floor is crisscross.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
This one drives me crazy because even I cannot sit
crisscross on the floor for more than like maybe four.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Minutes, okay, until I'm like, I gotta move. I can't.
It makes my hip area and upper thigh is that
a thigh? Is this? It cramps up? Okay, so it
can't do it.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yeah, it's but I remember when.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
We were in elementary school, they used to say, you
have to sit that way.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Yeah, all the time, you have to sit that way.
You have to sit that way. And I remember being uncomfortable,
don't you remember, folks. We would sit like crisscross. I
remember shuffling my feet in the other direction.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Like switching the one that was on time.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Yeah, I remember switching.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Trying to like discreetly just move it this way, and
every time the teacher were like, no, crisscross.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Yeah, I remember being very uncomfortable, even as a child.
I remember feeling when when it was time to get up,
I remember feeling my legs were cramped. Yes, yes, so
we now know, we don't think that anymore. We don't
think crisscross is the best way. We now know that
all children need to be allowed to sit on the
floor in the way that is most comfortable for their bodies.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Yeah, do what you gotta do. That's what I'm doing it.
When i'm holy meeting, I'm sitting. However, I feel comfortable.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
If I were to sit out sit on the floor,
my legs would be out in front of me. And
I've seen many adults in that position.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Yes, when I.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Sit on the floor, because I sit on the floor
a lot for when I do my meetings is I'm
constantly shifting around.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
So I might start maybe in.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
Crisscross, but I can't do that for more than three
or four minutes. So then on my feet are out,
and then maybe my feet are like four or they're
like I am constantly in a ten minute period, I
must be in like five different positions.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Wow, I can't.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
I cannot do it.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
So and I'm old, You're not that old, but older
than three.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
Okay, So if I'm old and I can't do this
for fifteen minutes or whatever it is, then neither can
they they.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
You know, we, I guess we think children are flexible
and we're not. But the truth is that's just an
uncomfortable position. What do you think about when you think
about the action of crisscross? You are cutting off blood
circulation with their legs bent like that.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
See how crisscross is any different than the w sit
if you think about it in some ways like maybe
they gif you're talking about like cutting off the circulation
and moving your legs, it's really just moving them inward
rather than outward.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Yeah, you're right, you're right, all right. So we used
to think that criss cross was how children just have
been sent on the floor, and we don't think that anymore.
Here's another one we used to think but don't think anymore,
that infants were less capable or not as smart as
older children, and so they didn't require like caregivers who
(10:26):
understood or child development. They didn't require that. They're just infants.
We don't think that anymore. We don't say just infants. Yeah,
the most rapid brain development takes place between the ages
of birth and three years old. It is starting in
infancy that children are learning about themselves in the world
around them, and there's so many neurons firing in their
(10:48):
brains that that's one of the reasons why they get exhausted. Yes,
the brain is working so hard with all of this
new information to try and figure out which information needs
to be kept in the brain and which information can
be pruned away. Yes, they call it pruning in brain development.
And so we're constantly doing things with them that repeat
(11:11):
actions so that their brains learn this is a connection
you need to keep. There are so many neurological connections
in infancy that are being made that we now actually
know that children infants are far more capable than we
have given them credit for being intelligent, for observational skills,
(11:32):
for taking in the world and making meaning out of it.
So we do need people who understand child development working
with children of all ages, including the infants. Please. So
much development takes place in the years of birth to
one and one to two, and that's laying the foundation
(11:54):
for the brain connections that will carry them through their lives.
I want to look up some of you know who
are frequent listeners and watchers of this podcast. I sometimes
on the spur of the moment, look things up. So
neurons connecting in the brain in infancy, all right, it
(12:17):
says rapidly, we know that. Okay, all right, check this out.
To arrive at more than one hundred billion neurons that
are normal the normal complement of a newborn baby, the
brain must go at a rate of two hundred and
fifty thousand nerve cells.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
It's cut off.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
It's cut off two hundred and fifty nerve cells per
a minute on average, through the porsche of pregnancy. Pregnancy,
that's through pregnancy, and then when they are infants, that
like continues, folks, It is an unbelievable speed of neurons connecting.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Also, you you know they're smart. How they are so
young when they start to recognize their own caregivers. They
are so young when they start to realize who will
take care of them, who will not, and how to
get what they need. They are unbelievably young. And actually
there's a there's an episode we might want to do
in the future about kind of like at one age
(13:21):
is do they start to prefer certain caregivers we didn't
do this, right, I don't know, will it TLL looks. Yeah,
at what ages do they have a preference for who
takes care of them? And it's really young. It's in
the infant ear preferences and to just yeah, so we'll
go back to that in research and see if we
(13:42):
did it, and if not, you know, stay tuned. Will
do it because there's science that shows when they start
to prefer particular people to help meet them meet their
needs and it's amazing. So we now know that infants
are very capable and very smart and learning a lot.
So we need to be sure that the people who
(14:03):
are caring for them either were or are becoming educated
in child development. All right, I think we have time
for one more. Let's do one more. We used to
think that children could not be independently creative, and so
we had to show them what to do, what to make,
(14:25):
and how to do it. But we don't think that anymore.
We now know that children can be very creative at
extremely young ages. I've been in rooms with very very
creative young toddlers who are taking toys and using them
in ways that I never would have anticipated.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
Yeah, right, things that I would not even think of, like,
the flexibility of their mind.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Is unbelievable, right, unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Well, maybe part of this is we didn't think that
creativity was as highly valued as knowing facts or something.
But folks, they're going to need to be able to
be creative in today's world because living in an inventive world. Yeah. Yeah,
and you know how much of your life requires creative thinking.
I know a lot of mind does.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
I think my whole life is that.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
So we want to foster creativity. So we used to
think that we needed to show them samples of what
to make, guide them and what to make, tell them
what to.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Make, provide like detailed directions on.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
How to make it right. You should model the use
of art materials with them and then allow them to
be fully creative. They get to make whatever they want.
You can model how to participate in the dramatic play area,
but then they get to be fully creative and create
whatever scenes they want, which means you need a lot
of different props than you probably have. It's not just
(15:47):
a kitchen. They can make whatever they want. You didn't
hear me say this because your boss might get mad,
But you know what, take that kitchen and turn it
around and let it face the wall and let them
make the back of it whatever they want, whatever they want,
all right, don't have them right to me. Your bosses,
your supervisors, don't want to hear from them. But I'm
telling you, turn that kitchen around and then they can
(16:07):
make it that area whatever they want. Yeah, we don't
have to say this is up in the dramatic play area.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
I've told the story on this podcast before, so forgive me.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
But like my favorite school, it ever watched because I
went to go observe the school, I.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Didn't work there was they didn't have a kitchen. They
had to build the kitchen. So they had these huge They.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Should even be told to build a kitchen.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
Yeah, if they wanted a kitchen, they had to build it.
If they wanted it to be an airport, they built it.
If they wanted it to be a bus.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Depot, they built it.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
They built it.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
So then then first so first they had to build it.
Then they played in it, and every single time they
were in there, it was something different, Right every time.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
We don't need to tell them what the dramatic player
there should be. We don't need to tell them what
to make in the art area. We don't even need
to tell them what to do with music.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
All day long.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
They should be able to create on their own. Yeah.
So we used to think that children were not independently creative,
but if you would just give them the space, we
now know they are extremely creative human beings, and that
creative thinking builds a lot of cognitive skills, including attention span,
which so many people complain they have no attention span. Well,
(17:14):
we need to give them the opportunity to build it.
Yeah right, Yeah, I hope that this helps you think
about more of these things we used to think and
now we know better. Now we know And I really
hope that that one about w sitting made you go,
wait what.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Yeah, because that's new for me, like even still, like
it's so new to me that when I see it still,
I'm so like, oh wait, oh no, I don't have to.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
Stop that, right, Yeah, I don't need to stop that.
I don't need to tell the child to sit another
way because the other way is going to hurt them, right,
And I don't need to set off major alarms with
the family. You know, you can say we noticed your
child sitting this position. You might want to check with
the pediatrician about you know, about their legs and their hips,
and you know, is everything okay, unless, of course you're
(17:59):
seeing a million other red flags for a neurological issue.
But you need to have other red flags, folks. You
we can't just any longer say ooh, W sitting. I
bet there's an issue there, because when you do that,
you know what happens. Because you're a human, you look
for the other issues. You start to go, oh, I
think now this behavior connects to that W sitting when
(18:19):
really it doesn't. All right, preschool peeps, you know where
to go for the facts, or at least the research
based facts. That's us. So we will catch you next
time on the podcast in the month of July, right,
I think we're inly. I think we're in July. All right, folks,
(18:39):
catch you next time on the podcast. Pe
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